2012 United States Presidential Election (ITEOAH)

The **2012 United States presidential election** was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Republican ticket of Incumbent President Barack Obama and Vice President Mike Huckabee defeated the Democratic ticket of Incumbent New York Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton and former Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.

As the incumbent president, Obama secured the Republican nomination without serious opposition. The Democrats experienced a competitive primary. Clinton was consistently competitive in the polls and won the support of many party leaders, but she faced challenges from a number of more progressive contenders. Clinton secured her party's nomination in May, defeating Incumbent Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders, and Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren, among other candidates.

The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues, and debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, and the future of social insurance programs. Foreign policy was also discussed, including the end of the Iraq War in 2011, military spending, the Iranian nuclear program, and appropriate counteractions to terrorism. The campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from nominally independent Super PACs. A surprise occurred in August, when Clinton's popularity and public image were tarnished by concerns about her ethics and trustworthiness, and a controversy and subsequent FBI investigation regarding her improper use of a private email server while serving as senator, which received more media coverage than any other topic during the campaign. Clinton's popularity then fell off harder than it was in June.

Obama defeated Clinton, winning a majority of both the Electoral College and the popular vote. Obama won 436 electoral votes and 55.8% of the popular vote, with his 78 million votes breaking the record his total 73 million in 2008 set 4 years earlier. This also compared to Clinton's 102 electoral votes and 42.9% of the popular vote. Obama was the first two-term president since Ronald Reagan to win both his presidential bids with a majority of the nationwide popular vote (50% or more), and the first Republican to do so since Reagan.

Obama managed to flip 12 states, those states being Oregon, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Maryland, and Delaware, winning the most amount of states in an election since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Obama served his second term as president and was succeeded by Democrat Bernie Sanders, who was elected president in 2016, defeating Vice President Mike Huckabee in the process. The main issues of this election were Clinton's email scandal, the environment, LGBTQ+ Rights, and abortion.

## Primaries:

### Republican Primaries:

Obama was quick to announce his run for re-election in 2012, and almost immediately, the GOP came swarming to support him. No major candidate ran against Obama, and he and Vice President Huckabee easily won the nomination for the bid.

 Barack Obama

### Democratic Primaries:

Despite being mainly considered by many as the main Democrat who could take Obama down, New York Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton would face several competitors from the progressive revolution of 2010, namely, Incumbent Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Despite these challenges, Clinton would narrowly win the nomination, and named former Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as her running mate, making her the first female Presidential candidate on a major party American ticket.

 Hillary Clinton

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Republican Campaign:

Obama campaigned the massive successes he and the GOP had during his term, while saying a Clinton dynasty in the White House would be a disaster. He gained even more traction after Clinton's leaked email scandal, which helped him gain even further ground in the election.

### Democratic Campaign:

The Democrats painted Obama as an extremist, and somebody who wanted to halt progress of LGBTQ+ Rights and abortion, and they also claimed a Clinton election would rewrite American history in favor of women.

### Clinton's Email Scandal:

In August 2012, an FBI investigation regarding Clinton's improper use of a private email server while serving as senator had been undergone. While no major crimes were charged against her, Obama declared it outrageous that somebody under an FBI investigation should be allowed to run, and he also gave serious heat to Clinton's trustworthiness.

### The Environment:

The Paris Climate Accords had been in the works to prevent climate change since 2011, and many felt the US should join. Obama disagreed citing concerns on jobs and the ongoing wars in the Middle East. Clinton planned to instead withdraw from the wars and join the agreement.

### LGBTQ+ Rights:

During Obama's Presidency, many had criticized his handling of LGBTQ+ Rights, those resentments grew harder than ever in 2010, when Obama put the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law back in place after Al Gore repealed it. Obama also did not support any laws to make same-sex marriage legal, rather he said the states should make that decision. Clinton accused Obama of homophobia and doing nothing for LGBTQ+ people in America, especially in the south, which was extremely against LGBTQ+ Rights.

### Abortion:

Obama had made exponential progress to stop abortion in his Presidency, as he believed while a woman's life mattered, the child has the right to life as well. In 2011, Obama signed the Heartbeat Act, illegalizing abortion 6 weeks into pregnancy, which is when a heartbeat is usually detected. However, Obama also made exceptions in the case of rape or if the mother's life was in danger. Despite the bill being voted down by the Democratic-controlled Senate, and Obama's exceptions, Clinton called him stupid for wanting to remove these rights, and claimed he was taking away women's rights.

## Results and Aftermath:

Obama defeated Clinton in a landslide, winning even more votes and states than in 2008. Clinton only won 4 states, those being New York, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC, and California, Obama also broke his record of 73 million votes won in 2008, with 77 votes in 2012, flipping the states of Iowa, Oregon, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware, in the process.

Obama and Huckabee were sworn in to their second terms on January 20, 2013. Obama continued to remain popular and left office in January 2017 with an over 65% approval rating.