2008 presidential election coverage highlights

2008 would be my second US Presidential election, having covered several primaries and the general election in 2004, as well as President George W. Bush's second inaugural for Fuji TV. 

In January, when Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton split the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, the prospect of potentially the first woman or African American US President garnered tremendous interest and excitement in Japan. And while I spent time at GOP as well as Democratic events in New Hampshire, my subsequent coverage was directed to focus nearly exclusively on the Democrats throughout the remainder of the primary season. From Nevada and South Carolina, Super Tuesday, the Potomac primaries, Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana and elsewhere I had the privilege of documenting this historic and ground breaking nomination contest. 

Here are two examples of from the primaries.

( More videos follow below )

The video on your left is from the Nevada caucus, where I focused on the dynamic within Local 226, the Culinary Workers Union, whose leadership awarded its endorsement to Obama, and as my report shows, many, especially female union members openly backed Clinton. I profiled one such supporter, who along with a group of enthusiastic co-worlers was very vocal in expressing her preference for Clinton, especially at the caucus site. It was support from women and hispanic voters that gave Mrs. Clinton her edge in Nevada.

Observing the caucus at the Paris Hotel Casino was a surreal experience with stage performers in full costume caucusing alongside cooks in chef's hats and aprons, and maids in uniform.

The video on the right is from Texas, where Senator Obama was attempting to whittle votes away from Senator Clinton's strong support among Latinos in the state. I profiled two different families who were split in their choice of candidate. Mary Montes of San Antonio surprised her husband Robert of 53 years when she informed him that she would not be supporting his choice for president for the first time in their marriage, and would be backing Senator Obama. Mr. and Mrs. Montes recounted that recent kitchen table conversation for us, and the reasons each supported their preferred candidate.

 I also spent time with the Garcia family. 26 year old Matthew, who was inspired to get involved in politics for the first time by Obama's message of change, rejected his parents suggestion that Clinton would be a more reliable choice for their family and community. I documented their family discussions as Matthew tried to make the case for Obama to his parents, who turned the tables on their son and began to persuade him to vote Clinton. Pew went on to demonstrate that it was Clinton's strong support among two thirds of voting Hispanics that enabled her to squeeze out a close win in the Texas primary.

Later in the campaign season I was in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, and thanks to Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, I got to spend a week in Alaska where I interviewed Gov. Palin's parents and profiled her home town of Wasilla and local political base.

Leading up to Election Day, I was reunited with veteran correspondent Shinsuke Kasai, for whom I field produced coverage in Florida and Ohio on Election Day 2004. We went to Ohio once again, where we spent the weekend before Election Day with a Dayton area couple who had lost decent auto industry jobs in recent years as more and more local factories closed. Both Shawnie and Matthew Peters previously voted for George W. Bush, but as they contemplated relocating to another state to look for work to support their young children, the couple described to us how they were putting their hopes on Obama, choosing to vote Democratic for the first time in their lives. 

After covering candidate Obama in Cleveland, we were off to Chicago where I produced the following reports : 

The video below on the left aired the day before Election Day and is an introduction to "Obama's Chicago", where we visited the future president's neighborhood, and also got an on camera tour inside the Obama campaign's national headquarters. The segment also includes a look at 7-11's "7-Election", or "coffee cup poll" where the convenience store chain offers choices of paper cups with artwork supporting each of the two candidates for president. One store location we visited had run out of Obama themed cups.

The video on the right is our election day report live from Grant Park, Chicago. In the morning we covered Barack Obama's visit to his local polling place and the surrounding spectacle. As Obama's chances for election victory became more promising, and the prospect of a Democrat taking Indiana for the first time since 1964 becoming an actual possibility, we changed our plans to document the security measures around Grant Park, and went off to Indiana. If Obama was to take the traditionally red state, reporting indicated that he would need to do well in the Chicago suburb of Lake County, with its more Democratic leaning population, so that's where I took our team. At a Lake County, Indiana polling place, I met some young African American voters being turned away from the polls, despite being neighborhood residents. We showed how the work of a volunteer attorney who was on site to watch for such issues, was able to ensure that the young voters were able to cast their ballots. Election observers cited the strong support in Lake County in helping Obama take the state with an only 1% margin.

This segment also contains a short excerpt of my interview with former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, the first ever African American elected governor, who recalled his advice to Senator Obama about dealing with racially charged threats to his life.  

The interview aired at greater length, including our discussion of the Bradley effect, Gov. Wilder's own historic electoral victories, and more, on Fuji TV's Sunday evening prime time news magazine program, Sakiyomi.