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Abstract
Using a grassroots effort grounded in social media, Barack Obama became the candidate of the people. Obama's expert use of social media tools reinforces the notion that everyone is included and that this movement is actually a conversation to which everyone is invited (McGirt, 2008, p. 89). Rawthorn (2008) says this embrace of social media is exactly what a Web 2.0 generation wanted and needed; Obama came to personify that connected voter. The Obama brand is everywhere, and while politics is about spectacle (Edelman, 1988), there is a danger in relying on candidate branding. Referring to the president as a brand has several implications, which this essay will explore briefly. Transforming the president into a brand has three implications: commodification of the person and office, candidate-centered marketing instead of platform-centered marketing, and presidential simulation. Obama was not the first to usher in political marketing, but the first to perfect the tactics. He is Brand Obama.