Working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide; the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build measurably better lives; the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Hed go into a room of five people or 5,000 and he could light up the room. I want our Political Party to match a conservative mind with a compassionate heart. Peter jennings says al gore won florida. Let me get this straight, youre retracting your concession . You came here because you believe in what this country can be. I went to work for barack obama for free because i believed in that guy. I knew exactly what he stood for. We will respond with that timeless creed, yes we can. [upbeat music] the son of a former president and the son of a kenyan and a kansan, a texas oilman and a Community Organizer from hawaii. At first glance, neither george w. Bush nor barack obama screamed oval office. Yet both men ended up in the exclusive club of twoterm president s. Using a combination of pitchperfect messaging, carefully crafted strategy, and a team of rivals that only lincoln would love, they won clear and decisive victories over bigtime opponents like john mccain, mitt romney, and al gore. Now, they made missteps, sure, but 43 and 44 are famous for absorbing the blame for the team, learning from their losses, and moving on. In doing so, this compassionate conservative and this audacious change agent have become textbook cases of how contender becomes a winner. My initial reaction was dont underestimate this man. He is a very, very quick study and hes much, much smarter than what you think. And if in fact you go into this Political Campaign season underestimating him, youre gonna do so at your own peril. The narrative about george w. Bush was that he was somebody that people would want to go have a beer with. I think in order to be a good president , first and foremost you have to know where you want to lead. I want to lead this country to a day that, everybody in this country feels that the Great American dream belongs to them as much as anybody else. Hed go into a room of five people or 5,000 and he could light up the room. [upbeat rock music] george w. Bush differed from his father in a number of ways. He differed from him in being more conservative. His father had been from connecticut. He was raised in texas. And he really played that up. He, you know, he had the cowboy boots. If you look at the stories of, uh, the bush family, he was not the one who was expected to make it to the white house. Jeb was seen as more credible. Jeb was seen as, maybe, smarter. The whole family took the 1992 loss incredibly hard. We have a whole run of president ial projections for you, they all belong to bill clinton. He has passed the magic number of 270. I, William Jefferson clinton, do solemnly swear they had to redeem the family name through winning another election. And of course, the great question became whether it was gonna be jeb or george w. George w. Had all kinds of things in his past related to, uh, erratic behavior, his record at yale was questionable at best george w. Bush back then was uh, perceived to be an alcoholic. He was sort of a screw up. He didnt make it in business. He tried to run for congress when he was very young. He lost badly. I think he was trying to win an election in his own family as much as he was to win an election in the nation. When his father was in the white house as Vice President , he had this kind of epiphany that it was time to finally turn his life around. I did stop drinking, 11 years ago. Why . Because i was drinking too much. Hm. Laura suggested it was either me or jim beam. [laughter] me. Her. Yeah, her or jim beam. After knocking around in the oil business, he worked out this deal to become the developer of the Texas Rangers new ballpark. And that was a big deal he put together. Thats the president s son. He wanted to go into politics. And i think he used his ownership of the Texas Rangers as a kind of pivot point. But it was really meeting karl rove, this texas political guru, who thought that bush had a chance to be governor. Rove saw someone with some natural political skills that had not been well developed and thought, you know, i think i could work with this guy. My dream is for texas to look like no place else. For texas to be a beacon state. A state so different and unique that when people look at us, they say thats where i want to live. In 1994, he ran against ann richards, a very popular governor. When he first said he was interested in running for governor, people didnt take him very seriously. He was considered a long shot. I think that the business of running government, uh, for good or ill, is different than running a private business. And i think an attempt to smear my Business Record is simply a diversion away from trying to determine whats best for texas. Listen he won in a landslide in 1994. Texas is ready for a new generation of leadership, and i will provide that. [cheering] from that night, george bush was seen as potential president ial material. I think the Campaign Began almost at that moment. [chanting together] go, george, go go, george, go hey. National reporters started coming to texas to see the governor who was so popular. In his first term, he overhauled the welfare system and the education code, made major strides in tort reform there is tremendous speculation that youre going to run for the white house ill tell you this, i know what im going to do, im going to run for reelection, and i intend to win. He won reelection with a huge margin, carrying even very democratic parts of the state of texas, winning a huge percentage of the hispanic vote. How are you all . Mucho gusto. He campaigned very vigorously for the latino vote in texas, which was crucial to his winning the governorship in each of those elections in texas. There was a lot of goodwill for him among republicans. A lot of goodwill for him among republican donors, among republican officials. It didnt hurt that his brother was also, by 1999, the governor of florida, another big state thats important in republican president ial primaries. It was very clear that his fellow governors viewed governor bush as their leader, and the potential nominee. Im running for president of the United States. Theres no turning back, and i intend to be the next president of the United States. [cheers and applause] what does it take to become president of the United States . Well, first of all, it takes ambition, uh, which, in most instances, is not a particularly attractive human commodity. But you better want to be president. And if you dont have it, dont get in it. If youre a son of a former president , youre going to face the argument that we shouldnt have a political dynasty, that you havent earned the right to run for president. Part of the strategy was to present george w. Bush as a new direction for the country. It was the change election before, you know, hope and change became part of the political lexicon. We thought that we could sort of weave our way past Lamar Alexander and elizabeth dole, and that we would have a challenge from steve forbes, who had a personal wallet and was sort of the true believer conservative, and that we thought we would have some problems with rambunctious john mccain, but not big. We could reposition him as what he was a successful governor who cared about education and juvenile Justice Reform and welfare reform. Im going to run a campaign that is optimistic and hopeful and positive. The most important thing i think we did was define bush very early as a compassionate conservative. Im running because i want our Political Party to match a conservative mind with a compassionate heart. A great phrase, right . I mean thats fantastic, right . Compassionate conservative says, lets take care of you. You fall on hard times, im gonna be good to you. But yeah, im not gonna spend a lot of money. I dont think bush was any more compassionate than than anyone else. The Republican Leadership loved george w. Bush because he was a blank slate and they could create whatever character they wanted. It was a core part of the Bush Campaign strategy to appeal to the christian right. Karl rove recognized the influence that the evangelical community would play. There was one question that i remember very vividly during a primary debate when someone said, who is your hero . Who do you look up to . Well, people said ronald reagan. People said barry goldwater. People said, you know, my mom or my dad. George w. Bush said the lord jesus christ. When you turn your heart and your life over to christ, when you accept christ as a savior, it changes your heart, it changes your life. [cheers and applause] and thats what happened to me. This is revolutionary thinking. So a lot of primary opponents at that time didnt know how to take this person. Tonights recordshattering victory is the victory of a message that is conservative and is compassionate. [cheering] bushs strategy and roves strategy was a strategy of overwhelming force. He just tried to make a case that it was an unstoppable juggernaut. Uh, but he hit New Hampshire. Im gonna work all day long to turn out the vote here in New Hampshire. I think weve got a very Good Opportunity to win. What people remember in the 2000 republican primary was that it was a pretty heated fight between john mccain and george w. Bush. John mccain had the Straight Talk express. And that was very appealing to people. I was there, and boy, he was delighted. He was having the time of his life, and it worked. Thank you very much. [cheers and applause] we assumed there would be an upset, but we didnt assume it would be that upset, or that it would be that big. I remember when president bush called me in the room and said the the exit polls are out and theyre bad and i said, how bad . And he said really bad, 19 points down. He said, i let him define me. Were not going to let that happen any more. Were going to go out of here and were going to win this thing. And if you watch his speech, that night in New Hampshire, hes very gracious, he concedes defeat, but it is not a speech of defeat. Its a speech of, of were going to go all the way to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. [cheers and applause] and now this campaign heads to delaware and South Carolina. [cheers and applause] i like my chances in delaware, and South Carolina. Is bush country. [cheers and applause] it was clear we had to win in South Carolina or basically the campaign would be over. After what had happened in the New Hampshire primary, john mccain was the the principal competition. The george Bush Campaign thought, we gotta do something about this. And they went for the jugular. Female announcer the wall street journal reports his conservative hometown paper warns there was a Whisper Campaign that john mccain had fathered a black child, when in fact this was his adopted daughter from bangladesh. Im calling on my good friend george bush to stop this now. He comes from a better family. He knows better than this. Lets treat the voters of South Carolina with some respect. We werent involved, period. You know, imagine what would happened if the campaign had been behind that. In the modern era, that kind of stuff gets found out. That is playing with dynamite, and we werent that desperate. I dont know who made this call, but i dont believe it was from my campaign, and if it is from my campaign, uh, theyre not going to be on my campaign anymore. Mccain got really angry about what was being done to him. And started flinging a lot of accusations back at bush. And bush kept his cool. Are you going to respond to, uh, senator mccains unilateral disarmament . Ah, theres an old trick in american politics. Its run a bunch of negative ads and then say, lets do no more. The tactics worked. Exit polling found that voters felt that george w. Bush had actually run a more positive campaign than john mccain. He had a team that was particularly skilled at doing a lot of dirty work to defeat his opponents without it ever being directly associated in the eyes of the voter with george w. Bush the candidate. Laura and i are honored and humbled by the huge victory we had here in South Carolina. [cheers and applause] after South Carolina, mccain never really came back. He did well in michigan, but at some point it becomes a delegate counting game and it was clear that mccain wasnt gonna be able to amass enough delegates, with the victories bush had had in the south. Republicans and conservatives from all across the country have said they want me to lead the Republican Party to victory in november, and i am ready and i am eager to do so. [cheers and applause] people were really sniffing around to see if in fact george w. Bush had the policy chops to be able to command the issues on the world stage. Can you name the general whos in charge wait a minute, is this a is this a is this a 50 questions . No, its four questions of four leaders in four hot spots. The new pakistani general whos just been elected, hes not been elected, hes a guy that took over office. He appears hes going to bring stability to the country, and i think thats good news for the sub and you can name him . General. I can name the general. And its general. When i started covering the campaign, the first thing i was struck by was of course his incredible inarticulacy. And youre working hard to put food on your family. I know that human being and fish can coexist peacefully. I mean there needs to be a wholesale, um, effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate children. I think he was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. When he got nervous and if he was in a press conference situation or an interview situation, and you know how it is, when you overthink it and youre trying so hard, sometimes you get tripped up. Im a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans. At the end of the day bush had the last laugh about bushisms because it was the elite making fun of him for not being able to speak well. And when we did that, i think a lot of ordinary people said we dont necessarily speak that well either. When youre making fun of him youre making fun of us. We brought in a group of really smart policy thinkers from around the country. The press mocked them as tutorials as if somebody had to study to learn to be president. But what they really were was bigpicture thinking that you would hope someone who wanted to be the president would do. You have been honest enough to say that you are comfortable admitting what you dont know. That you are learning along the way. Doesnt that leave you open to criticism that maybe youre not ready for the white house yet . Nah. See, what i know is what i believe. Im a man of strong convictions and strong principles. I also know, and most americans know, that one person is not cant do the job of being the president of the United States. It was our job to give the governor, and help him develop places that he would be comfortable playing offense in foreign policy. Bringing in Vice President cheney was somebody that he could lean on and trust. Cheney had been briefing him on the selection process. And when they joined us for lunch, and somehow in the midst of lunch, governor bush just very nonchalantly says, you know, the person i really want to be the Vice President is sitting at this table. [laughs] and i think we all kind of looked at each other like, what . So im proud to announce that dick cheney, a man of great integrity, sound judgment and experience is my choice to be the next Vice President of the United States. Coming off of bill clinton, record levels of job creation, record level of economic growth. But there was something there was still an underbelly there, and the republicans could tap on it. Remember, george bush was like, im a return to honesty and integrity to the white house. This was right after the Monica Lewinski scandal. So, people were still reeling from that. Gore wanted to run as his own, man, and not be affiliated with clinton gore but im like, youre affiliated with clinton gore whether you like it or not. This is a campaign that i am running on my own. And as ive said on previous occasions, i am who i am. Here you had ralph nader has taken up energy. If george w. Bush is elected, i would be disappointed. If al gore is elected, i would be disappointed. Because theyre really racing for the white house to see who takes the marching orders from their corporate paymasters. You had al gore not doing anything to distinguish himself. So were caught in a catch22. If you couldve gone back and given gores team advice now, what would you have told them they should have done in order to have definitely won that election . Well in a macro sense, they shouldve picked which al gore was going to run and stayed with him. Thank you for the biggest victory in the history of the contested caucuses. Authenticity is one of the most important attributes of a president ial candidate, how theyre perceived. Is that real . Is that who you really are . We had moments, though, in the campaign where we were able to define, Vice President gore. We saw him as being sort of opportunistic and willing to not being as principled, or being willing to sort of roll out anything to be elected. Female announcer well, theres al gore, reinventing himself on television again. Like im not gonna notice . I couldnt believe that al gore, Vice President , could not defeat a bumbling governor from texas who couldnt put six sentences together and who had a terrible record on childrens issues, pollution issues and, uh, favoring the big corporations in texas. But the problem with al gore is, he never knew who he was. In the last weeks leading up to the campaign, it was very close. We knew it, we saw the polls. Wednesday night is the last night in which weve got a clear lead, we were pretty consistently in the lead in the final weeks of the campaign until the dwi story broke. A reporter from a local television station learned that george w. Bush had been arrested 24 years ago for driving while under the influence. On thursday it breaks that george w. Bush had gotten a dui 20 years before. How much did you have . How many beers . Yeah. [chuckling] enough to have been in violation of the law. I cant remember how many beers. It was 24 years ago. Of course the news spreads like wildfire. It looked like a Goldfish Bowl when you sprinkle the food in. And all the fish come, you know. [laughs] the press was just surrounding me. We had a big lead in maine, like eight or nine points. And we dropped ten points in four days. Come election day, win or lose, at least its over. But we are now able to make the projection in the state of florida. Abc news projects that al gore wins the state of florida and its 25 electoral votes, give him the first big state momentum of the evening. Peter jennings said al gore won florida. And im like, its over. Thank you, lord. We won. Were sitting at 300 congress, the headquarters. And they call florida while theres still an hour of voting left to go, all on the basis of what turned out to be incorrect exit polling. And these, uh, a state like florida, for example im going to wait until they count all the votes. And i think america ought to wait before they count all the votes, too. And then the numbers started changing and they started getting actual numbers from florida. And then they retracted the call of florida. And at some point, Vice President gore called to concede. Im like, you cant call. I mean, whaits not over. But he had made the decision. Ill never forget, i was horrified. Jeb bush was still at the computer, and he was looking at the numbers saying, i dont see this. I dont know what theyre seeing. He was saying that it was closer than than it should have been for al gore to concede. I go back upstairs, his father is standing there and Vice President gore has called and he sayshe said something to the effect of, let me get this straight, youre retracting your concession . This race is simply too close to call. And until the results the recount is concluded and the results of florida become official, our campaign continues. [cheering] i was like, yes you know, im like, game on. Well recount this son of a bitch, you know . I was ready for that fight. Boy, but that fight was brutal. Last night was obviously an historic moment. And uh, its going to be resolved in a quick way. And im confident that the secretary and i will become the president elect and the Vice President elect in short order. I think bushs own attitude from that point on was i won, and this guys trying to steal it from me. I gotta play hardball. It is an advantage to coming from a political family that has played at the president ial level on a repeated basis. You had this whole other infrastructure of lawyers and political operatives who, you know, literally landed in full planes coming into florida to do that recount fight. Demonstrators demanded a Second Chance to choose the president. Its not about confusion, its about an illegal ballot. We had an illegal ballot in palm beach county. [chanting together] we want gore we want gore our democratic process calls for a vote on election day. It does not call for us to continue voting until someone likes the outcome. It appears that more than 20,000 voters in the palm beach county, who in all likelihood thought they were voting for al gore had their votes counted for pat buchanan or not counted at all. Normally, at that point, you could be planning the transition, you would be having meetings about personnel, and there we sat, and nobody really quite knew what to do. Should the verdict that has been announced thus far be confirmed, well be ready, and i think thats what the country needs to know. The battle over the ballot moves from the counting room to a courtroom. When the Supreme Court at 2 00 halted the vote, i knew that was over. Because, you know, when scalia and those guys get involved youre like, theyre not oh, what, really . I think that the reality was bush had a better operation and it was a sufficient operation to prevail when the other guys made mistakes. My husbands a lawyer, and when we heard the Supreme Court had stopped the counting, i called him. And i said, what does this mean . The Supreme Court has apparently stopped the counting and he said i think it means were moving to washington. I know american wants reconciliation and unity. I know americans want progress. And we must seize this moment and deliver. Bush was a head scratcher for a lot of americans, right up until 2001 and september 11th. I dont think the country was, uh, expected to see what they saw in the days after 9 11 when he literally rallied the country and served as a focal point of national unity. When september 11th happened, everything changed. Iin many ways, that was Inauguration Day for george w. Bush. People who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. The American People expect someone to be there who will take the hard decisions so that they can go on about their lives. They can take their kids to School Without fear, of, uh, terrorism. If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long. You didnt wonder if he was racked with doubts and unsure andyou want a guy who makes a decision and will stick with it, and he did. I will never relent in defending america, whatever it takes. It wasnt until things unraveled in, uh, iraq and, uh, afghanistan that, uh, you know, all that was rethought. He went into the family business; bizarrely turned out to be more successful than anybody else. George bushs model as a candidate, uh, particularly, was to, you know, accept that he wasnt always great at everything, but to barrel on and do his best. It turns out he was a better candidate than a president. Bush knew who he was whether you liked that or not. He was secure in this identity he had developed. And it was a populist identity. I remember very vividly driving senator santorum to the next Campaign Event and so i said to the senator, i said, senator. I said, how was it being on the airplane with with governor bush . Does he know his stuff . And the senator looked at me and said he knows his stuff politically. He went state by state by state and said, im gonna win this state. Im gonna lose state. and guess what . im gonna lose florida, i think. But think im gonna win ohio and still win the presidency. George W Bush really had a feel r the american electorate and he knew exactly what he was doing. Im here to tell you, iowa, he is the one. The advantage for the Obama Campaign is better tacticians. The campaign did not relent. They fought for every single vote. Dont tell me things cant happen in this country. [upbeat music] the reason our campaign has always been different is because its not just about what i will do as president , it is also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it. The single most important thing in american politics is have a candidate who people can believe in. [crowd chanting] obama obama you have to have a strategy and connected to that, a message. And i think one thing we did well is, we stuck with ours. Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can. [cheering] tonight is a particular honor for me because, lets face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. Everybody in the party is like, wait a minute. Who is this goodlooking, fabulous young africanamerican who is going going to be the senator from illinois . My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in kenya. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in kansas. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an african name, barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant america, your name is no barrier to success. He was this harvard educated, fairly young guy with sort of a nontraditional upbringing, growing up in hawaii in his grandparents home, grandparents who were white. You will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office, so help you god. I do. I do. Congratulations. [applause] senior members of the white house staff are detailed to have relationships with members of the senate one of my charges was barack obama. I got to observe him up close, and he had enormous talents and enormous charisma, really smart. Over the course of time and particularly in the spring of 2006, leading into the summer, everywhere he went he was drawing huge crowds and at each event, people would say, you really ought to think about running for president. Do you have a process in place for your own thinking on this, your own Decision Making regarding 2008 . Im focused on 2006. After the election, im gonna sit down and take a deep breath and take a look at whats going on and figure out how i can be useful, both in my current job and whatever plans i may have for the future. Barack obama was advised to run for president before he assembled a legislative record full of votes that could be used against him. And that was savvy advice. It is more difficult to attack someone who brings a deep legislative record to an election. And build their communities and their lives. Before barack obama ever has the opportunity to cast a vote in the senate, he makes a speech against intervention in the iraq war. I dont oppose war in all circumstances. What i do oppose is a dumb war. Its that speech that he is able to use to argue that he has the judgment needed to be president of the United States. I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of america. His 2008 campaign, he launched it at the courthouse in springfield, illinois, where another illinois politician, Abraham Lincoln, had given the speech. It was a way of broadcasting the message that i am going to be a unifying leader. Its humbling to see a crowd like this, but in my heart i know you didnt just come here for me. You came here because you believe in what this country can be. [cheers and applause] i think barack obama was different than his predecessors because he was younger, so he didnt, sort of, have the baggage that people associate with the Civil Rights Movement or blacks more generally. I wouldnt be here if it had not been for reverend al sharpton running for president , and Carol Moseley braun and Jesse Jackson and shirley chisholm. They paved the way, and i stand on their shoulders. He never shied away from his blackness. At the same time, he didnt want his race to necessarily be a distraction or the defining thing about his presidency or his qualifications. If i get support from the Africanamerican Community or the white community, or the hispanic community, i dont want it to be because of my status or what i look like, i want it to be because of what ive done and how ive lived and the principles i stand for. Id worked on campaigns for 20 years, i was a cynical [bleep] hack, right . I won democratic campaigns. But i went to work for barack obama for free. Because i believed in that guy. I knew exactly what he stood for. I knew that he was not gonna be a typical politician. [crowd chanting] Obama Obama Obama thank you the primaries of 20072008 are giving democratic voters a choice between two historic candidacies. Hillary clinton comes into the election the presumed frontrunner. She has a lot of advantages. For example, in war chest. And a large part of the democratic establishment endorsing her. Barack obama comes in with three advantages. The first is, hes not tied to the establishment. As a result, he is a candidate of change. The second is, he is tactically being advised by people who have a better understanding of how the primary system aggregates delegates. And the third advantage is mobilizing the young to take his message door to door, but also simultaneously to use their online expertise to identify those voters. Hey everybody, its David Plouffe, baracks Campaign Manager, and we just wanted to spend a few minutes today with you, updating you on where the race stands and what our opponents are up to. I hope that you use this website as a tool to organize your friends, your neighbors, and your networks. His Campaign Manager is sending out Text Messages for campaign donations. He bought advertisements on video games. He has a presence on facebook and other social media outlets. I think not only democrats but republicans and independents are looking for something new. Everyone said theres no way obama can keep up with the hillary fundraising machine. And the first report comes out, and they had tied in money. And the average contribution for obama was under 25. Were having meetups where 150 people would show up, and every one of them would give online, and start volunteering. Thanks so much. Oh, thank you. Good to see you. Ive read your emails and read your letters, ive been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. That combination of the time and social media and the internet really were the perfect recipe to make Barack Obamas campaign a revolutionary campaign. This is going to be my first time voting. He made me believe i can actually do something to help america. Youre part of something really historic today, and weve got 10,000, 15,000 people around the country right now, as we speak, knocking doors and attending events and spreading the message about the campaign. That campaign was self organizing. You couldnt walk nowhere in america and say, i am here to open up an office for barack obama because the people had already opened up the office. They opened it in their homes, they opened it in their basements and their union hall. You cant be a huge success on the internet and but not be successful on the ground. You cant be successful on the ground without being Successful Online and the thing that the Obama Campaign did was marry those two things together. [chanting] fired up people ask me, why do you think you can win iowa . And i think if were in a close race these kids, theyre gonna win it for us. Thank you guys they think theyre changing the world. The good news is, i think they are. The next president of the United States [cheering] what led me to believe that he could win the nomination, was the speech in des moines, the Jefferson Jackson day dinner speech. You can just see the crowd reacting to this. I dont wanna pit red america against blue america. I want to be the president of the United States of america. [cheers and applause] for the very first time in my life, i feel compelled to stand up and to speak out. Talk to me about that oprah endorsement. How important was that in your mind . It was a really big deal, because it was a it was a moment where mainstream america started to wake up to barack obama. Im here to tell you iowa, he is the one. [cheers and applause] he is the one. Barack obama [cheers and applause] barack obama, the senator from illinois, the junior senator from illinois, has won the iowa caucuses. Hes got good ideas, good qualities and thats what we need. Well win New Hampshire in five days andand then well feel really good. Hillary clinton is coming back to a state that shes spent a lot of time in and is seen on television in a diner where a woman basically asks, how do you just keep on going . And Hillary Clinton almost looks as if shes not gonna be able to answer the question. You know, i have so many opportunities from this country, i just dont want to see us fall backwards you know . So [applause] i remember thinking at that moment, i dont know how this is going to play, because one of the things that had plagued her was the sort of lack of authenticity, and humanity, and here was this very human moment and whether she was crying because she was losing or not, she was showing an emotion people could relate to. Heres when democrats in New Hampshire will make their minds up and independents tomorrow the debate, how will hillary perform . She does well in debates. What can you say to the voters of New Hampshire on this stage tonight, who see your resume and like it, but are hesitating on the likeability issue, where they seem to like barack obama more . Well, that hurts my feelings. [laughter] im sorry senator, im sorry. [applause] i dont think im that bad youre likeable enough, hillary, no doubt about it. Thank you so much. [laughter] that moment when he said, they like you well enough, hillary, that was an unbecoming comment that ricocheted back on him. Look, the pollsters were dead wrong, they were predicting seven, eight to a dozen points for obama. We had virtually canonized obama and said hed been born in bethlehem. The press has been telling us shes gone and the women came out and said, no, shes not. The voters in New Hampshire walk into the voting booths and say, were gonna keep this candidacy alive. [cheering] thank you we were riding so high after iowa. The africanamerican candidate had won a white state, right . And then we get slaughtered in New Hampshire, which were supposed to win. And it said to everyone, hey, youre not gods gift to political organizing. Im going to my supporters over the next couple of days and saying, i think this is a good thing. Um, uhwe have to earn this. I think that moment of humility ended up making us a million times better in the campaign. We ended up building organizations in every state in the country. When weve been told were not ready or that we shouldnt try, or that we cant, generations of americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can. [cheering] yes we can. Yes we can. [crowd chanting] yes we can yes we can yes we can. Yes we can yes we can. To opportunity. To opportunity and prosperity. And prosperity yes we can. The will. I. Am video takes the words of barack obama, puts them in the voices of recognizable individuals. We know the battle ahead we know the battle ahead this video goes viral. It becomes part of the cultural experience of young voters. This is the most powerful messaging you can have. And all of those people are inviting the audience to speak the words along with them, as they share the video with all of their friends. Early on, barack obama avoided race. He is running as the president of the United States, not the president of black america. At the same time, it was the elephant in the room, and ultimately, he had to confront it. Race is at issue throughout the primary season. The electorates trying to make sense of this. Who is Hillary Clinton in relationship to bill clinton and the democratic past . And who is barack obama in relationship to the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the democratic future . When it came to treating its citizens of african descent fairly, america failed. She put them in chains, the government put them on slave quarters Jeremiah Wright had been the pastor of obamas church for a long time. And somebody that he was really close to. Passes a threestrike law and then wants us to sing god bless america. No, no, no. Not god bless america, god damn america, thats in the bible for killing innocent people. The emergence of the reverend wright tape is potentially so damaging to many in the electorate. The question becomes, have we gotten barack obama wrong . Is that what he believes . But race is an issue that i believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. He said that a lot of africanamericans had these attitudes toward our country for understandable reasons. Rooted in our history of treating blacks very, very badly. Obamas candidacy needs to fight against the perception that someone who is black is going to be angry in politics. Barack obamas style is a low key, thoughtful style that makes it virtually impossible for the opposing candidate to play him into those sets of stereotypes. The profound mistake of reverend wrights sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. Its that he spoke as if our society was static. As if no progress had been made as if this country a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black, latino, asian, rich, poor, young and old is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. We dont have many opportunities to actually watch a candidate on the National Stage talk to us about who he is and what he wants us to think about a very complicated national issue. Barack obama, in that moment, is giving us a chance to say, what would a president obama sound like . We are hunkering down for a very long some would say grueling primary season. The Hillary Clinton strategy had presupposed she was going to win early, and as a result, she didnt have a long game. And now the advantage for the Obama Campaign is better tacticians who knew how to get individual votes coming out of those primaries that would carry delegates into the convention. Congressman john lewis of georgia, a superdelegate supporting clinton, told nbc news he is officially switching to obama. I love bill clinton, i love Hillary Clinton, but something is happening in america. Something is unbelievable. A year ago, lewis linked arms with clinton on the anniversary of bloody sunday, the selma alabama march which lewis helped lead in 1965. Two weeks ago, we were 20 points behind in the National Gallup poll, and tonight were basically fighting her to a draw and winning states in her own backyard. You know, look at these. Now utah, minnesota, north dakota, kansas, i mean, there you go what began as a whisper in springfield has swelled to a chorus of millions calling for change. [cheers and applause] i think the Campaign Just did not relent. They fought for every single vote, and didnt quit. Breaking news senator barack obama is, as of this hour, the Presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States. [cheering] i accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. [cheers and applause] [upbeat music] tonight, i have a privilege given few americans. The privilege of accepting our partys nomination for president of the United States. [cheers and applause] a word to senator obama and his supporters. Well go at it well go at it over the next two months. You know, thats the nature of this business. The 2008 general election is contested in the middle of the worst recession the country has experienced. And what the Obama Campaign argued was that mccain would be an extension of a failed bush presidency and obama was change. The collapse of Lehman Brothers set off when Lehman Brothers went and wall street began to crash, barack was steady, straightforward. Ive put forward, consistently, some Core Principles that would protect taxpayers. John mccain, as part of a larger statement says the fundamentals of our economy are strong that statement is taken out of context by the Obama Campaign. Maybe youre struggling just to pay the mortgage on your home. But recently, john mccain said the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Hmm. It is cast as a statement that suggests mccain is out of touch. When asked how many houses he owns, mccain lost track. He couldnt remember. That ad hurt perceptions of john mccains competence to deal with the economy. The second thing the Obama Campaign did was allied john mccain with george w. Bush. Senator obama, i am not president bush. Im gonna give a new direction to this economy and this country. If i occasionally mistaken your policies for george bushs policies, its because on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities, uh, you have been a vigorous supporter of president bush. Now, youve obama did very well in the debates. That increased the perception that he was up to the job. [cheers and applause] the 2008 campaign is a Breakthrough Campaign because of the sophistication with which it identified target audiences and specifically speak to their needs and their interests. [crowd chanting obama] he is somebody who didnt look at a state like indiana and think, this state has never voted for a democrat before or there could be some racism here. He thought, these are people who remind me of my grandparents. Lets keep talking to these people. Hi, cindy . [camera shutters clicking] this is barack obama; how are you . To flip a state like indiana, you had to have huge organization on the ground. Every weekend, we sent bus after bus of obama volunteers into indiana, month after month. A bunch of our lead africanamerican organizers came to me and David Plouffe and said, youve got let us use rappers. And we had a big, long fight about jay z where the majority of undecided voters are white. And are we gonna put a rapper up there . The president made the call, as he always did, and hes like, look, if these people can help register people, were going to do this. Its who we are. Im voting for barack obama [cheers and applause] we had an event with jay z with 75,000 people in detroit and registered a record amount of voters. The next weekend, had an event in philadelphia with Bruce Springsteen and registered a record amount of voters. I feel change in the air. [cheers and applause] after 21 months, we are one day away from changing america. [cheers and applause] one day. [cheers and applause] im 63 years old. Ive been crying since 4 00 this morning. Barack obama is projected to be the next president of the United States of america. He will be the first africanamerican president of the United States. [campaign team cheers] [upbeat music] he will forever and for always be the first black president of the United States. He needed that victory to be clear. Record youth turnout. Record africanamerican turnout. Record latino turnout. I mean, we got a guy who started out 38 points behind in iowa elected president of the United States. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause continues] tonight, because of what we did on this day in this election at this defining moment, change has come to america. [cheers and applause] yeah, dont fall through. That would really mess up our whole inauguration. In a vintage railroad car, president elect barack obama rolled out of philadelphia today, embarking on a whistle stop train tour full of symbolism. [train whistle blows] in 1861, Abraham Lincoln began a 13day, 8state journey from his home in springfield to his inauguration in washington. Were standing there, and all of a sudden it hit me. When dr. King was killed in 68, the city was burned. And i said, the idea that im standing here 40 years later waiting for an africanamerican to pick me up and ride 128 miles to be sworn in as president and Vice President of United States. I said, dont tell me things cant happen in this country. [cheers and applause] first black president. Its history. Martin luther king say that we shall overcome. We did today. [cheers and applause] it really, is in the end, is about one thing convincing the American People that you have a vision for their future. Thats it. Barack obama best campaign, best candidate ive ever witnessed. [triumphant music] [cheers and applause] on this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; that noble idea passed on from generation to generation the godgiven promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. [cheers and applause] gems glittering symbols of wealth and beauty. Naji sammoon its the beauty of the stone. You can just sit for hours just drooling over it. But what do they tell us about our planet . Our earth is a master chef. She knows how to cook. Now, the stories behind the most exquisite treasures of the earth. On novtomorrow at 9 00, 8 00 central, only on pbs. Female announcer the contenders 16 for 16 is made possible in part by the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide; the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build measurably better lives; the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Election 2016 on pbs Jerram Swartz ready awere rolling. Please. Action. Norbert leo butz this season were going to get right into the nitty gritty, right away. Annasophia robb its action packed. Lisa q. Wolfinger in season 2, we definitely up the romance factor. We heighten old relationships. We spark some new loves. Hannah james there are love triangles. There are romances that fade. There are ones that spark and grow. Mary Elizabeth Winstead mary and jed are feeling very warm towards each other. Theyve been through a lot, so theyre really bonded at this point. Josh radnor everything that a viewer might have loved in season 1 is present in season 2 and more. Jack falahee the Second Season is wild. Annasophia robb there is a lot of deception. I love playing a spy. Jack falahee its in this gigantic overwhelming backdrop of violence and all these interesting characters coming in and out. David zabel the nucleus of the show in season 1 was very much the hospital. Season 2, its taking us that much closer to the battle. Norbert leo butz this season theyre going to push that envelope a little bit, in terms of really depicting the atrocities of the civil war. David zabel the contraband story, its an element that we touched on last season, but we really dive in more deeply this season. And the way that weve been able to do that is by introducing this character charlotte jenkins. A former slave who comes down here to help take care of the contrabands and help teach them how to be free. Patina miller my character, charlotte jenkins, is a northern abolitionist. Shes heard about whats going on and she takes it upon herself to see to these people because no one is really caring about them right now. Mckinley belcher iii everyday samuels revealing more of his medical ability and he gets a sense that this may not just be a dream anymore. It may be able to become a reality. David zabel theyre all engaged deeply in this cataclysmic moment in American History and in the middle of a war. People are dying or surviving based on the choices that doctors and nurses are making. So theres a lot to lose and a lot to be gained. The faces you know the news you rely on, anytime you want anywhere you are. Man i really value pbss News Coverage because i think its very rigorous journalism woman clear and concise reporting man both thoughtful and thought provoking woman mind blowingly honest and open woman information that will help me make a good decision with so much at stake, this Election Year one place has the news you need to decide pbs your favorite pbs shows ready to watch, when you are anytime, any place find more ways to explore than ever before at pbs. Org slash anywhere propeller whirring explosion narrator in the last days of november 1950, 12,000 men of the first marine division, along with a few thousand army soldiers, found themselves trapped high in the mountains of north korea near a reservoir called chosin. Their leaders had been caught off guard by the sudden entrance of the peoples republic of china into the fivemonth old korean war. The americans were surrounded, outnumbered,