SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — It wasn't so long ago that Barack Obama himself considered the idea of a President Obama to be "hooey."
Four years later, he's headed for the White House, after a campaign that had more than its share of bizarre twists, unexpected controversies and the occasional stroke of bad luck.
A look back at some key moments:
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HERE'S LOOKING AT YOUTUBE
The Illinois senator's presidential campaign showed how it gained pop culture status when it inspired the "Obama Girl" video that became a hit on YouTube.
Millions of people watched a busty woman in a tight Obama T-shirt lip-synch such lyrics as "You're into border security, let's break this border between you and me."
Then another video came along to give Obama a different kind of boost. Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas set an Obama speech to music and invited a red-carpetful of celebrities to sing along.
There was Scarlett Johansson purring, "We want change," and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talking about blazing "a trail toward freedom." John Legend, Kate Walsh and Herbie Hancock declared, "Yes, we can."
Suddenly, earnest patriotism was hip.
---
TEARDROPS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton battled for months before he clinched the Democratic nomination, but the Primary That Wouldn't End almost came to an early close in January.
Obama had beaten Clinton in the Iowa caucuses. If he had done it again in the New Hampshire primary, her campaign would have been mortally wounded.
Everything looked good for Obama, but then came a Clinton moment that shook things up. Her campaign mask seemed to crack briefly.
Asked by a sympathetic voter how she kept going in the grueling campaign, Clinton replied, "It's not easy. It's not easy." Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice grew hoarse.
It would be silly to think Clinton won New Hampshire solely because of that moment, but there's no doubt it helped.
---
"BITTER" REGRETS
Obama's worst gaffe of the campaign was his statement that some voters in depressed rural areas "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."
He made the comment at a private fundraiser. It went public thanks to a blogger with a tape recorder who was present. Once it was out, the remark reverberated across the country.
For many, it confirmed their beliefs that Obama didn't share their values, that he didn't understand their concerns and looked down on them.
Obama has called it his "biggest bonehead move." He said he was trying to say that those voters have a right to be frustrated because Democrats haven't addressed their cultural concerns.
Other Obama gaffes: saying he'd visited 57 states, brushing aside a female reporter by saying, "Hold on one second, sweetie," and complaining to an Iowa crowd about the cost of arugula at Whole Foods, even though Iowa doesn't have a Whole Foods store and arugula doesn't exactly make him sound down-to-earth.
---
PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN
Obama endured repeated questions about his patriotism. He's the son of an African man, sports a strange name and spent part of his childhood in Muslim Indonesia. Could he truly be a red-white-and-blue American?
Critics found lots of reasons to say no.
They produced a picture of him without his hand over his heart during the national anthem and claimed that he had refused to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.
They accused him of dissing the Stars and Stripes by refusing to wear a flag pin on his lapel - ignoring the fact that he did wear such pins occasionally and that other politicians often didn't wear one.
And they leaped on his wife's statement that, "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country."
Michelle Obama wound up explaining that she has always been proud of America and that her comment was about pride in the political process. Barack Obama began wearing a flag pin.
---
PARIS, BRITNEY AND BARACK
Republican John McCain used Obama's popularity and Hollywood connections to try to portray the Democrat as just another vapid celebrity.
"He's the biggest celebrity in the world," a McCain ad said amid camera flashes and images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. "But is he ready to lead?"
The ad exploited an Obama weakness - that he was relatively unfamiliar to most Americans, known more for giving speeches than getting things done.
But the ad also inspired a wave of criticism that McCain was going negative and attacking Obama unfairly. It also inspired mockery, including a video response from Hilton, who pretended to take McCain's comments as an endorsement.
"Thanks, white-haired dude," she said. "I want America to know I'm, like, totally ready to lead."
---
(HOT) AIR PRESSSURE
For a few days in August, tire pressure was the hottest issue on the campaign trail.
McCain repeatedly mocked Obama for saying his energy plan included encouraging Americans to step up their conservation efforts - for instance, by making sure their tires are properly inflated.
McCain claimed Obama's entire energy plan consisted of inflating tires. His campaign even distributed pressure gauges labeled "Obama Energy Plan."
But the attacks faded away after McCain admitted that, you know, he actually agreed with Obama.
McCain later accused Obama of insulting vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin with a reference to putting "lipstick on a pig," but then admitted Obama never called her a pig.
---
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
If the Obama campaign is remembered for anything (aside from raking in hundreds of millions of dollars), it will be big events. Obama liked to take familiar political scenes and make them seem fresh, usually by turning them into outdoor events that were as much concerts or revivals as political speeches.
So when he launched his campaign, it was in front of the former Illinois Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served - never mind that thousands of people had to spend hours waiting in 15-degree weather. And when he announced his vice presidential pick, it was back to Springfield and all the Lincoln symbolism.
Accepting the Democratic nomination? Forget about dropping balloons - move the entire event to a football stadium and shoot off fireworks.
Touring foreign countries? What could be better than an outdoor speech to 200,000 people in Berlin?
Celebrating Election Day results? Sounds like the perfect time for partying in a Chicago park with 70,000 invited guests and 55,000 gawkers.
Four years later, he's headed for the White House, after a campaign that had more than its share of bizarre twists, unexpected controversies and the occasional stroke of bad luck.
A look back at some key moments:
---
HERE'S LOOKING AT YOUTUBE
The Illinois senator's presidential campaign showed how it gained pop culture status when it inspired the "Obama Girl" video that became a hit on YouTube.
Millions of people watched a busty woman in a tight Obama T-shirt lip-synch such lyrics as "You're into border security, let's break this border between you and me."
Then another video came along to give Obama a different kind of boost. Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas set an Obama speech to music and invited a red-carpetful of celebrities to sing along.
There was Scarlett Johansson purring, "We want change," and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talking about blazing "a trail toward freedom." John Legend, Kate Walsh and Herbie Hancock declared, "Yes, we can."
Suddenly, earnest patriotism was hip.
---
TEARDROPS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton battled for months before he clinched the Democratic nomination, but the Primary That Wouldn't End almost came to an early close in January.
Obama had beaten Clinton in the Iowa caucuses. If he had done it again in the New Hampshire primary, her campaign would have been mortally wounded.
Everything looked good for Obama, but then came a Clinton moment that shook things up. Her campaign mask seemed to crack briefly.
Asked by a sympathetic voter how she kept going in the grueling campaign, Clinton replied, "It's not easy. It's not easy." Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice grew hoarse.
It would be silly to think Clinton won New Hampshire solely because of that moment, but there's no doubt it helped.
---
"BITTER" REGRETS
Obama's worst gaffe of the campaign was his statement that some voters in depressed rural areas "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."
He made the comment at a private fundraiser. It went public thanks to a blogger with a tape recorder who was present. Once it was out, the remark reverberated across the country.
For many, it confirmed their beliefs that Obama didn't share their values, that he didn't understand their concerns and looked down on them.
Obama has called it his "biggest bonehead move." He said he was trying to say that those voters have a right to be frustrated because Democrats haven't addressed their cultural concerns.
Other Obama gaffes: saying he'd visited 57 states, brushing aside a female reporter by saying, "Hold on one second, sweetie," and complaining to an Iowa crowd about the cost of arugula at Whole Foods, even though Iowa doesn't have a Whole Foods store and arugula doesn't exactly make him sound down-to-earth.
---
PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN
Obama endured repeated questions about his patriotism. He's the son of an African man, sports a strange name and spent part of his childhood in Muslim Indonesia. Could he truly be a red-white-and-blue American?
Critics found lots of reasons to say no.
They produced a picture of him without his hand over his heart during the national anthem and claimed that he had refused to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.
They accused him of dissing the Stars and Stripes by refusing to wear a flag pin on his lapel - ignoring the fact that he did wear such pins occasionally and that other politicians often didn't wear one.
And they leaped on his wife's statement that, "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country."
Michelle Obama wound up explaining that she has always been proud of America and that her comment was about pride in the political process. Barack Obama began wearing a flag pin.
---
PARIS, BRITNEY AND BARACK
Republican John McCain used Obama's popularity and Hollywood connections to try to portray the Democrat as just another vapid celebrity.
"He's the biggest celebrity in the world," a McCain ad said amid camera flashes and images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. "But is he ready to lead?"
The ad exploited an Obama weakness - that he was relatively unfamiliar to most Americans, known more for giving speeches than getting things done.
But the ad also inspired a wave of criticism that McCain was going negative and attacking Obama unfairly. It also inspired mockery, including a video response from Hilton, who pretended to take McCain's comments as an endorsement.
"Thanks, white-haired dude," she said. "I want America to know I'm, like, totally ready to lead."
---
(HOT) AIR PRESSSURE
For a few days in August, tire pressure was the hottest issue on the campaign trail.
McCain repeatedly mocked Obama for saying his energy plan included encouraging Americans to step up their conservation efforts - for instance, by making sure their tires are properly inflated.
McCain claimed Obama's entire energy plan consisted of inflating tires. His campaign even distributed pressure gauges labeled "Obama Energy Plan."
But the attacks faded away after McCain admitted that, you know, he actually agreed with Obama.
McCain later accused Obama of insulting vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin with a reference to putting "lipstick on a pig," but then admitted Obama never called her a pig.
---
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
If the Obama campaign is remembered for anything (aside from raking in hundreds of millions of dollars), it will be big events. Obama liked to take familiar political scenes and make them seem fresh, usually by turning them into outdoor events that were as much concerts or revivals as political speeches.
So when he launched his campaign, it was in front of the former Illinois Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served - never mind that thousands of people had to spend hours waiting in 15-degree weather. And when he announced his vice presidential pick, it was back to Springfield and all the Lincoln symbolism.
Accepting the Democratic nomination? Forget about dropping balloons - move the entire event to a football stadium and shoot off fireworks.
Touring foreign countries? What could be better than an outdoor speech to 200,000 people in Berlin?
Celebrating Election Day results? Sounds like the perfect time for partying in a Chicago park with 70,000 invited guests and 55,000 gawkers.
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