UGAMUNC XX
FEBRUARY 7-9, 2014
Change We Can Believe In:
The 2008 Presidential Campaign of
Barack Obama
Hello delegates!
Welcome to UGAMUNC XX, and the Change We Can Believe In: The 2008 Presidential
Campaign of Barack Obama committee. We are working very diligently to ensure that this year’s
twentieth annual conference is the best to date. As your Chair, I am genuinely excited about the
committee and am confident that we are going to offer some truly challenging, alternative views in this
year‘s Change We Can Believe In crisis committee. The functioning of this committee will be
fundamentally different from most of the other bodies at UGAMUNC, and from other committees that
you have participated in before. Rather than operating under a traditional structure with three topics,
this crisis will depend on how you choose to handle the various election hurdles that will inevitably
cause you to be creative in your pursuit of victory. You are to follow the crises and events told to you
throughout the conference rather than the events and outcome that actually transpired in 2008. The
background information follows in the coming pages. However, if they fail to adequately answer your
questions, please feel free to email me, Mitchell Turner (mturner1@uga.edu), or alternatively Anna
Helgøy (ahelgoy@uga.edu), your Co-Chair.
I‘m a third-year senior here at the University of Georgia, originally from the small town of
Tyrone, Georgia. I‘m currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in International Affairs, and I plan to
graduate in May 2014. This is my third year on the UGAMUN team, and my second as a member of
the team's Secretariat. When I am not devoting my time to academics, I love to cook, play tennis, and
watch sports and television! You will definitely see me cheering on the Dawgs whenever I have the
chance! I enjoy basking in the downtown Athens music scene, and spend many weekends at the
Georgia Theatre or 40 Watt Club at concerts. I work at Chick-fil-A, where I have been employed since
2009. Again, please contact me to resolve any discrepancies or address any other concerns you may
have.
Anna is currently in her second year at the University of Georgia. Born in Bremen, Germany and
raised in Bergen, Norway, Anna is studying International Affairs and Political Science at UGA's School
of Public and International Affairs. Aside from constantly following the news and politics, Anna
enjoys contemporary art and photography. She also loves to travel, and has had the privilege of visiting
numerous countries across the world. In addition to Model United Nations, she participates in AIESEC
and The Borgen Project on campus. Do not hesitate to ask her any questions you may have.
Best,
Mitchell Bradley Turner
Chair, Change We Can Believe In: The 2008 Presidential Campaign of Barack Obama
Head Delegate, University of Georgia Model United Nations Team
Delegates,
This portion of the guide is common to both sides of the crisis, as it explains the framework of the
committee to you so you know what to expect come first committee session. The most fundamental
differences between a crisis committee and a traditional General Assembly-style body is that we will
not operate with a speaker's list, and you will not strive to pass resolutions. This committee is almost
like a giant game of Risk in that you will be huddled around tables with maps and numbers trying to
outsmart and outlast your opponents. You will have a crisis staff operating behind the scenes
specifically on our committees; they will interact in the obvious way by announcing crises during
sessions, but they will also function as guest speakers, including Senators Obama and McCain. Each
character will receive a folder containing their portfolio powers prior to the first session starting. These
powers will be unique and specific to each character, and they are a way of you interacting with the
crisis staff in order to gather information necessary for committee. The chief pollster, for example, can
write to crises to obtain polling numbers that then become factual information that can be used in the
committee. You will not work towards solving problem a, then b, then c as you would in a traditional
GA committee. Rather, you will be starting on January 1, 2008 in the heat of the primary elections and
will be given an event to start with, but as crises begin you must simultaneously put your energy and
wits into multiple issues. Many candidates are not still in the running, but Hillary Clinton and Mike
Huckabee are making it a tight race for Obama and McCain, respectively. You are advised to not only
research your own character, but also those with whom they interact. Understand that anything that
occurred in real life after January 1, 2008 has not yet happened in this committee, and will not happen
in the same way. Only what has happened up until this date is factual information that we will operate
on. As the weekend goes on, you will be updated on the timeline (usually at the beginning and/or end
of committee sessions.) Following is a guide written just by your chair and co-chair that includes
character descriptions for each person, as well as a more detailed message from your respective dais.
Thank you for your participation in this joint crisis committee, and good luck!
Mitchell Bradley Turner
Head Delegate
University of Georgia Model UN
Ryan Scott Diffley
Treasurer
University of Georgia Model UN
Congratulations!
You have all been selected by Senator Barack H. Obama to be members of his campaign staff! In the
coming committee sessions you will be challenged with issues including fundraising, platform issues,
picking a running mate, and the ever important poll numbers! At the end of the session one of the two
committees will emerge victorious, and I'm fairly certain that will be ours. Ryan Diffley and Sarah
Huddleston, the Chair and Co-Chair of the McCain campaign, respectively, have worked with Anna
and myself to ensure that this will be the best experience you ever have at a Model UN conference.
I would like to begin this portion of the guide by advising you to not only research your own character,
but those who your character associates with. Each delegate in this committee will receive portfolio
powers prior to the beginning of the first session. Essentially, these powers are specific to each
person's position, and using them to your advantage is how we will win the election! I would also like
to remind you to research the fundamental differences on the character list; Obama's campaign is more
media and communications oriented, whereas McCain's is centered around a myriad advisors. The
following information will bring you up to date, ending promptly on December 31, 2007. Enjoy and
good luck!
Barack Hussein Obama quickly climbed the political ladder after graduating from Columbia University
in 1983. He worked as a community organizer in Chicago until he attended Harvard Law school,
where he graduated in 1991 and began work as a civil rights attorney. Barack Obama's first political
position came when he was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996 at the age of 35. He was reelected
again in 1998 and 2002, losing an election to the United States House of Representatives in 2000.
In January 2003, just five short years ago, Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the United
States Senate. Obama won the primary election by a surprisingly large margin, gaining him attention
within the Democratic Party. In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic
National Convention, where John Kerry was officially nominated as the candidate for President of the
United States in 2004. Four months after speaking at the Convention, Obama defeated Alan Keyes for
the Senate seat; Keyes lost his third bid to be the Republican candidate for President during this
election, when he couldn't garner enough support to keep up with the likes of McCain and Huckabee.
Senator Obama announced his candidacy for President just eleven months ago, when he gave a speech
on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. The main issues he emphasized to start his
platform were withdrawing troops from Iraq, establishing a universal healthcare system, and
diversifying energy production methods.
The competition has so far been intense, and none of the candidates have withdrawn yet. The
candidates include Senator Chris Dodd (CT), Senator Joe Biden (DE), Former Senator John Edwards
(NC), Governor Bill Richardson (NM), Representative Dennis Kucinich (OH), Former Senator Mike
Gravel (AK), Senator Clinton (NY) and Senator Obama (IL). Senator Evan Bayh (IN) and Former
Governor Tom Vilsack (IO) withdrew before the primaries. It is anticipated that the competition will
thin severely in the coming month.
Senators Obama and Clinton are not the only ones trying to pull away with a victory this early in the
race; the Republican race is just as much of a competition. The candidates still in the running for the
Republican nomination inlcude Former Governor Mitt Romney (MA), Former Governor Mike
Huckabee (AR), Representative Ron Paul (TX), Former Senator Fred Thompson (TN), Former U.S.
Ambassador Alan Keyes (MD), Representative Duncan Hunter (CA), and Former Mayor of New York
City Rudy Giuliani. Senator Sam Brownback (KS), Former Governor Jim Gilmore (VA), Former
Governor Tommy Thompson (WI), and Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO) all withdrew before the
primaries began.
So far, Senator Obama's campaign has had an unprecedented use of media as a method of outreach to
potential voters. His user-friendly website makes donations easier and more frequent, and his
campaigns on Twitter and Facebook, along with other internet advertising, have secured a large amount
of support from the younger voting demographic. Obama's eloquent delivery during public speeches
was first noticed during the Convention in 2004, but since then his smooth rhetoric has made him a
favorite in the Democratic primaries thus far. Can Obama's momentum to date carry into the next 11
months and deliver the Democratic Party its first victory since 1996? Only you can assure that!
I would suggest that you focus on character biographies and potential portfolio powers of each prior to
coming to committee. Focus on your position and how it could relate to possible crises rather than
researching the events of the election. Think about the types of problems that could arise on a political
campaign, how they could be addressed, and more specifically what your character's role in that
solution would be. Again, feel free to contact myself or Anna with any questions, as this guide is more
of an instructional letter than what you are used to seeing. Good luck and I look forward to meeting all
of you come February! Go Dawgs!
Mitchell Bradley Turner
Chair, Change We Can Believe In: The 2008 Presidential Campaign of Barack Obama
Head Delegate, University of Georgia Model United Nations Team
Character Bios:
Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign of 2008
David Plouffe: Campaign manager
Being the architect of Obama’s 2008 campaign, Plouffe is considered to be one of the greatest political
minds in the Democratic Party. Plouffe has had a long, impressive career in politics despite his
somewhat limited efforts regarding his education; he left the University of Delaware after his junior
year of college to work on the Delaware Senate Campaign of Sam Beard. He has worked his way up in
the political field ever since.
Steve Hildebrand: Deputy Campaign Manager
President of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting, Steve Hildebrand is known for being one of the best
political strategists the Democrats have access to. He has had an impressive career in politics and
worked as the campaign manager for campaigns such as the U.S. Senator Tim Johnson’s winning reelection in 2002 and Al Gore’s 2000 Iowa caucus victory. He has also served as the Executive Director
of the South Dakota and Minnesota Democratic Parties and Political Director of the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Claire McCaskill: Co-chairman
Claire McCaskill has served as a Missouri senator since 2006. She is the first female elected senator in
her own right, and was also one of the first senators to decided to endorse then-Senator Barack Obama
in his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election of 2008. Her support was
absolutely crucial for Obama’s strategies in the Missouri primary. She is often mentioned as a possible
vice presidential candidate nominee for Obama.
Tim Kaine: Co-chairman
A Harvard Law School graduate, Kaine practiced law for 17 years in the Richmond area, known for
representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of their race or disabilities. He
got into politics by being elected to the city council of the independent city of Richmond and was
eventually elected mayor of Richmond in 1998. He then went on to become Governor of Virginia in
2006. Kaine endorsed Senator Obama’s presidential bid in February 2007 – the first endorsement from
a state-wide elected official outside of Illinois. There is media speculation that Kaine was a potential
nominee for Vice President. Kaine is a relatively popular governor of a Southern state with serious
religious ties, and Obama announced “Tim Kaine has a message of fiscal responsibility and generosity
of spirit. That kind of message can sell anywhere.”
Paul Hodes: Co-chairman
Paul William Hodes is an attorney, musician, and former U.S. Representative for New Hampshire 2nd
congressional district, serving as the first Jewish representative from the state. Hodes is known for his
creativity and great support for the arts – he graduated from Dartmouth University in 1972 with a
double major in French and Theater. He then went on to Boston College Law School and graduated in
1978. Hodes endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries in 2008, when he was also running
what was to be his last House campaign.
Robert Gibbs: Communications Chief
A well-respected political commentator and advisor, Robert Gibbs has worked with Obama since 2004,
and served as his communications director before the presidential campaign. Gibbs is a particularly
experienced political advisor as he has worked on several senatorial campaigns and been the
communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Penny Pritzker: National Finance Director
Pritzker is a business executive, entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist who is currently serving
as the 38th United States Secretary of Commerce. Chicago Magazine has named her one of the 100
most powerful Chicagoans, and she is allegedly the 263rd richest person in the U.S. and the 651st richest
person in the world, being the founder of PSP Capital Partners, the Pritzker Realty Group, and cofounder of Artemis Real Estate Partners. She was also named one of the 100 most powerful women in
the world. In the 2008 presidential campaign, Pritzker deals especially with the strategy of reaching out
to small donors. She is Obama’s first choice for Secretary of Commerce.
David Axelrod: Media Strategist
As a very well-known and respect political advisor from Chicago, he is best known for being a top
advisor to President Bill Clinton and his efforts as an advisor to President Barack Obama in 2008.
Axelrod is a potential candidate to be appointed Senior Advisor to Obama following the election. He
was originally chosen as media strategist because of his background in the press; he is a former
political writer for the Chicago Tribune and also the founder of AKPD Message and Media, as well as
the former operator of ASGK Public Strategies. Axelrod holds a particularly unique position in the
2008 election. He contemplated taking a break from politics during that time because the fire
candidates – Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, and Tom Vilsack – were all
past clients of Axelrod’s. Personal ties to Hillary Clinton made it especially difficult for Axelrod to
campaign against her, as Clinton had done significant work on behalf of epilepsy causes for a
foundation co-founded by Axelrod’s wife and mother, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy
(Axelrod’s daughter suffers from developmental disabilities associated with chronic epileptic seizures).
In the end, he ultimately joined the Obama campaign, and is developing the campaign’s theme of
“Change”, which he thought of as a counter theme to Clinton’s bad decision to base her campaign on
being the “Washington insider” when people wanted change.
Joel Benenson: Chief Pollster
Benenson is considered to have a very significant role in the 2008 Obama campaign as the chief
pollster. Previously, Benenson has also been a pollster and key strategists for U.S. senators, governors,
and mayors from all over the country, and he is known for having played an integral role as a pollster
for the DCCC in 2006, when the Democrats won back the majority in the House of Representatives. He
was then involved with 10 races, of which 8 were victories, including 3 in which incumbents were
defeated. Benenson offers a unique combination of communication expertise and an aggressive
analytical approach to produce messaging strategies that work in the most difficult situations.
Bill Burton: Spokesperson
Burton holds a significant responsibility in the 2008 Obama election, as he helps propel Barack Obama
to the presidency and is hoping to sign on as White House deputy press secretary after the election. He
got into politics through congressional politics at first, as press secretary to then-Representative Bill
Luther (D-Minn). Burton is working as a senior strategist with Priorities USA Action and Priorities
USA, which as political organizations focused on advancing policies and candidates that provide the
strongest and most sound outcomes for middle class families.
Eric Holder: Vice Presidential Search Committee Member
Eric Holder previously served as a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia after being
appointed by President Bill Clinton and a United States Attorney. He was the first black American U.S.
attorney in that office. On December 1, 2008, Barack Obama announced that Holder would be his
nominee for Attorney General. Obama complimented his “toughness and independence”, and said that
“Holder is deeply familiar with the law enforcement challenges we face: from terrorism to counterintelligence, from white-collar crime to public corruption”. As a response to the nomination, Holder
emphasized national security as a priority, “We can and we must ensure that the American people
remain secure and that the great Constitutional guarantees that define us as a nation are truly valued”.
Jim Johnson: Vice Presidential Search Committee Member
James A. Johnson is above all a Democratic Party political figure, and the former CEO of Fannie Mae.
He was selected by Obama in May of 2008 to be part of the Vice Presidential Search Committee as an
unpaid member, but there has been some controversy regarding Obama’s decision: apparently, a report
showed he had received what may have been reduced rates on loans from Countrywide Financial
Corp., a mortgage lender with business ties to Fannie Mae. He has also criticized for other
compensations and perks he received as an official of Fannie Mae. Regardless, Johnson has been a
major supporter of Barack Obama since 2004. He donated the maximum amount of money to his
campaign, and rose between $200,000 and $500,000 for the presidential candidate. He also works with
Obama to recruit former Clinton supporters to the 2008 campaign.
Caroline Kennedy: Vice Presidential Search Committee Member
The daughter of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, and was recently approved by Congress to serve
as the U.S. ambassador to Japan. Kennedy was involved in the 2008 campaign in various ways – the
first announcement of her support came on January 27, 2008, when she wrote an op-ed piece in the
New York Times entitled, “A President Like My Father”, where she endorsed Obama in the presidential
election. Her well-known concluding lines of the piece were, “I have never had a president who
inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have
found the man who could be that president – not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.”
Her endorsement was, to some extent, surprising, considering this was the only presidential candidate
Caroline Kennedy had ever endorsed except for her own uncle, Ted Kennedy, who ran in 1980.
Additionally, Kennedy had contributed $2,300 to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign committee
on June 29, 2007, and she had previously contributed a total of $5,000 to Clinton’s 2006 senatorial
campaign. However, on September 18, 2007, she contributed $2,300 to Barack Obama’s presidential
campaign committee.
Betsy Myers: Chief Operating Officer
Myers has an impressive résumé, working towards and advocating change in the nature of leadership
around the world. Before working for Barack Obama, she served as President Clinton’s White House
senior adviser on women and Executive Director of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government Center
for Public Leadership. She is especially known for her strong stand on promoting female leaders and
talking about the role of women in politics, and is a very sought-after speaker. She is an expert when it
comes to leadership through a campaign lens, something that will hopefully help the 2008 Obama
campaign significantly. Her tasks involve the challenge of building a $100-million organization and
successfully establish a campaign with a business corporate model and customer-service mentality.
Additionally, Myers was appointed chair of the Women for Obama committee and travels around the
country to speak to undecided voters, particularly about women’s outreach.
Howard A. Learner: Senior Environmental and Energy Policy Advisor
Learner is a Harvard Law School graduate and an experienced attorney who is currently serving as the
President and Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center. He has a long track
record with Barack Obama; they met in the early 1990s, when Obama had just finished law school and
Learner was a general counsel at Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, a Chicagobased law and policy center. Learner joined Obama’s successful campaign for the Illinois state Senate,
and he was involved in efforts to require state utilities to generate some of their electricity from
renewable resources, which, according to Learner, lead to the renewable-electricity bill eventually
adopted by the Illinois Legislature. He also worked on Obama’s U.S. Senate race. “I got to know
Michelle and Barack Obama as public-spirited, public-interest lawyers in Chicago who were looking to
make a difference – everybody recognized that they were tremendously talented”, Learner recalls.
Cassandra Butts: Domestic Policy Advisor
A United States lawyer, policy expert, Butts is a potential candidate for Deputy White House Counsel
following the election. Butts is on the advisory board for presidential candidate Obama’s presidential
transition team. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to
Harvard Law School where she was a classmate of Barack Obama. The two of them became close
friends. Before the 2008 campaign, Butts worked as the senior vice president for domestic policy at the
Center for American Progress, and is primarily responsible for advising Obama on domestic policy
during his campaign.
Arne Duncan: Education Policy Advisor
Before the 2008 presidential campaign, Duncan served as the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. He
graduated from Harvard University with a degree in sociology in 1987. His education policies are
known to work to improve G.W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” policies, which according to Duncan
could cause 82% or the nation’s public schools to fail. Obama himself has stated, “When it comes to
school reform, Arne is the most hands-on of hands-on practitioners. He is not beholden to any one
ideology, and he’s worked tirelessly to improve teacher equality.” Which has lead to speculation that
Duncan is a possible candidate for Secretary of Education.
Cody Keenan: Speechwriter
Keenan first got into politics by working as an aide in the mailroom of Senator Ted Kennedy. He
worked for Kennedy for three years, rising to the level of legislative aide, before heading to the
Harvard Kennedy School for a master’s degree. Keenan first started working for Obama in the summer
of 2007, when he interned in the speechwriting shop of the then-presidential primary candidate. He
went back to school to finish his degree before returning as a full-time speech writer for the campaign
in 2008. Keenan does not like publicity, and has stated, “The ideal presidential aide should be
possessed of high competence and a passion for anonymity”.
Austan Goolsbee: Economic Policy Advisor
Austan Dean Goolsbee is a well-respected economist and a professor of economics at The University
of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He formerly served as the Chairman of the Council of
Economic Advisers and is one of the younger members on Obama’s campaign staff. Goolsbee started
out by advising Obama during his 2004 U.S. Senate race and then went on to the 2008 presidential
campaign as Economic Policy Advisor. He additionally attends many televised debates with John
McCain’s economic advisers.
Denis McDonough: Foreign Policy Advisor
The beginning of his political career consisted of being an aide to the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, where he focused on Latin America. After that, he served as senior foreign policy advisor
to Senator Tom Daschle, and went on to be a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in 2004.
McDonough started working for Barack Obama in 2007, when Obama’s original chief foreign policy
advisor, Navy reservist Mark Lippert, was called into active duty and therefore recruited McDonough
to serve as his replacement.