Why did Obama get elected president of the United States?

Barack Obama almost unanimously won the black vote plus won the majority of young (18-29) voters, the majority of college educated voters, and the majority of suburban voters. McCain won a large majority of the older white male vote, a large majority of the rural vote, and a majority of the working class vote. The Republican party has been very successful for the last 40 years winning the conservative white vote by opposing minority civil rights, desegregation and affirmative action. This worked because they could afford to loose the black vote as long as they won most of the much larger Southern and rural white vote. America is getting to be a more diverse country and Barack Obama won the presidency even though he lost the white vote. The strategy of winning conservative white votes at the expense of loosing the black vote is not as winning a strategy as it was in the past.

It was a mistake :/

Because more than half of the entire United States population had a simultanious brainfart.

There is a movement to effectively gut the electoral college. The National Popular Vote Bill requires states that enact it to award all of their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. 9 states possessing 132 electoral votes have signed on. The bill becomes active when the number of electoral votes controlled reaches 270 since at that point the states that have signed onto the bill would be guaranteed of deciding the outcome. As it stands now candidates only campaign in battleground states. It is a waste of time and money to campaign in states where they have a comfortable lead or are hopelessly behind. Since 2/3s of states are firmly Democratic or Republican and most states award all of their electoral votes to the winner of that state, most votes have no possible impact on the outcome.

I don’t think it’s right anymore to say that conservatives oppose civil rights or any of the above. Look at all the African-American conservatives who are speaking out in the past few years. It’s liberals who use the word conservative like a swear word. Conservatism is about common sense and equal opportunity by finding ways to create jobs rather than just hand out money. It’s about dignity for everyone through self reliance. Herman Cain (a black man) said it best: “The best way to end racism is to stop talking about it” I, a conservative, really liked him and hate that the stupid sexual harrassment stuff done him in. Had he become a nominee, and after hearing debates, I would very likely have voted for him if I was pleased with what he stood for. People need to start looking at Obama for what he has or has’nt done and leave this damb race thing out of it. There are bigger fish to fry.

instead of you the selected wrongly . . .

Republicans still appeal to racism. It is no longer acceptable to make overtly racist comments so the trick now is to use code words to get the point across. The push for state rights in the 1960’s was to appeal to racists in Southern states who wished to maintain segregation in spite of the demands of the Federal government. Note Reagan’s characterature of “Welfare Queens” collecting multiple checks and driving Cadillacs. He also talked about “strapping young bucks” using food stamps. With the Willie Horton spots George H W Bush used the image of a menacing black man to scare white voters into voting for Republican to protect them from the “criminal underclass” that Democrats coddle. The constant barrage of challenges to President’s Obama’s citizenship and patriotism are meant to reinforce the idea “he’s not one of us” to the racist segment. Newt Gingrinch’s references to Obama’s alleged Kenyan anti-colonist worldview was wasn’t exactly subtle nor is his description of Obama as the “food stamp president.” Not sure where you live but where I live in Texas “liberal” is considered lower than what you scrape off the bottom of your shoe after walking through after walking across a cow field. Not many words are as demonized as liberal in the South. As far as creating jobs go; the private sector has enjoyed a great deal of deregulation and their taxes have been slashed so where are the jobs? Look at expensive federal programs. The interstate highway system; seems to be good for jobs and allowing companies to get their goods to larger areas has been great for business. Look at the amount of technology transfer from the space program. Integrated circuits developed for NASA paved the way for personal computers and in one way or another in every modern product we use. Weather satellites save industries $billions with more accurate forecasts and GPS now controls nearly all air travel and finds the way for lost motorists. ARPANET was a federal defense program that evolved into the Internet which we are enjoying now and has been the biggest generator of wealth for years. Government spending isn’t just about “handing out money” but it is about investing in our future. Just like young people sometimes have to take out a loan to go to college and most families have to take out loans for cars and homes sometimes governments have to borrow money in order to have the tools for a productive future. The idea that government is only a impediment to prosperity and an expense to be minimized is a conservative mantra ignoring the fact that government has been and can be an engine of innovation, a generator of value and wealth and a resource for our future.

it was not a mistake to elect obama. it was a mistake on your part if you thought in 4 years he could fix 8 years worth of US government plundering it’s people he will also not have it finished in the next four years it often take 2 years to repair every year worth is negative processes