Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton

In the 2008 Presidential Election, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York was, by far, the favorite to win the Democratic primary. Because of this, she had spent little time and effort raising funds for the primary election, focusing instead on the bigger prize, the presidency. So, when Senator Barack Obama of Illinois shot up from out of nowhere, she was completely unprepared. While many liked Hillary because she offered a new perspective as a woman, Obama gave this same factor as an African-American. For this reason, many groups who didn't normally vote, like minority groups or younger generations, showed up in spades to the voting booths. This gave Obama the boost he needed in the polls to spur ahead of Hillary, first beating her in Iowa, and, while still close, eventually beating her in a lead of 2,272 to 1,978 delegate votes. In general, Hillary's strategy was to go for the biggest areas, New York, Florida, etc., who would provide the most votes, whereas Obama focused on hitting every single state, big or small, which eventually meant that the people were more in touch with him and voted for him when it came down to it.