Obama takes recent U.S. crises in stride

CHICAGO -- The keys to Barack Obama's decisive victory — and clues for how he will conduct himself as the 44th president — emerged amid his unexpected defeat in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.

Obama was in Nashua, N.H., on Jan. 8, awaiting returns that he thought would put him on a clear path to his party's nomination. The Illinois senator already had won the Iowa caucuses, and pre-election polls showed him with a 10-point lead over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.

If he won, the New York senator would be weakened. Instead, political adviser David Axelrod had to tell Obama: "We're going to fall a few points short."

In his speech that night, Obama made the case for change and gave what had been written as his victory address. He took the crowd from downcast to electrified with the chant that became his campaign signature: "Yes, we can."

On his 21-month roller-coaster ride to the White House, Obama repeatedly turned setbacks into triumphs and crises into learning opportunities. Disappointment was never his enemy. "Everytime we've been knocked down, he's been the one who picked us up," Axelrod said. "That's a great quality to have in a president."

Obama's religion and patriotism were questioned repeatedly, and the explosive issues of race and gender simmered just below the surface. He "never took the bait," American University political scientist James Thurber said.

Along the way, Obama transformed the use of the Internet as a fundraising tool, helping him tap more than 3 million donors and bring in $640 million as of Oct. 15. The money advantage over Republican nominee John McCain, who was limited by the $84.1 million he accepted in taxpayer funds, allowed Obama to mount effective ground operations in "red" states such as Montana and Indiana and flood the airwaves with his message.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said "machinery doesn't mean anything if it isn't backed up by a great candidate."

In the end, what most set Obama apart from McCain and his Democratic competitors was his discipline. Some ways Obama displayed that and other keys to victory: