Title: A New Era Begins: The Significance of the Barack Obama Victory, 2008 •
Headings: A New Era Begins: The Significance of the Barack Obama Victory, 2008
A New Era Begins: The Significance of the Barack Obama Victory, 2008
The Candidate
The Electorate
The Circumstances

Content: Obama won Hispanics, Asian Americans, African Americans and the most educated Americans, and young voters, who’ve seen so many black presidents on TV they don’t blink at the idea. Ninety-five percent of black voters chose Obama, but not because he made any promises to us. Ron Walters, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, said, “He would not have been able to raise a black agenda in this campaign.” Walters said black folks voted for Obama because of our “hope and trust” that he will be fair. The Hispanic vote turned Florida blue, and Bositis said Texas and Georgia are moving in that direction. The U.S. political landscape is changed forever. The Circumstances
So, Obama was a unique candidate who faced a new American electorate. There is a third factor that both contributed to his victory and suggests another way in which it is significant. The times in which we live played a role in his election. Obama made himself the candidate of change at just the right moment.