It's not entirely possible to predict what a person will be like as President from the way he clawed his way to the top, but the battle for the world's most powerful office does offer some insight into the character of the person who eventually makes it to the post. .
The American presidential race is, in its essence, an audition. It is the litmus test of a candidate's personality, temperament, views, good (or bad!) judgment, ability to strategize, organize, and, in many cases, rise from adversity to success. In November of 2008, in a history-making moment, the nation's voice spoke. And it clearly lauded the man we will call President Barack Obama.
To win the race, senator-turned-president Obama beat out not only the Republicans but also Hillary Clinton, whom many people believed would win the Democratic nomination. In doing so, he got the upper hand on two of the country's two biggest political powerhouses, and he did it by building from scratch a campaign that would make Americans an offer they couldn't refuse. .
Although in the end Obama's victory was decisive, his eventual success wasn't always so clearly ordained. During the primary season, he and McCain were neck-and-neck in a Gallup Poll. In the 85 Gallup Poll Daily tracking reports published between March 12 and June 7, thirty-one of them showed McCain was shown to be ahead of Obama by at least one percentage point. In the remaining reports the two candidates were tied. And in April/May, McCain pushed even further ahead, gaining leads of around five percentage points. It is probably no coincidence, though, that this was also about the same time that Obama's camp was trying to do some damage control over the publicity regarding his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and for comments Obama made about "bitter" Pennsylvania votes in reference to having lost the primary in that state to Clinton.
When summer hit, Obama secured the Democratic nomination and support for his cause immediately gained momentum.
