The delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, have officially nominated President Barack Obama (D) to stand for reelection as the Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States. He will face-off in the November general election against the Republican nominee, former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA).
Obama has been the presumptive Democratic nominee since securing a majority of pledged party convention delegates in April, running essentially uncontested. Today’s convention vote makes that nomination official. Obama is joined on the Democratic ticket by his running-mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden (D).
Buoyed by the highest voter turnout rate since 1968, especially among young and minority voters, Obama secured the presidency in 2008 with an impressive 365-173 electoral landslide. Previously he had served two terms in the Illinois state senate, followed by a single partial term in the United States Senate.
Obama, the son of a white, American mother and a black, African father, is America’s first mixed-race president (though he is often erroneously identified as our first black or African-American president). His ascendance to high office only a few short decades after racial integration represents an important cultural triumph over bigotry. Biden is also noteworthy for being the first Catholic vice president.
Today’s Democratic nominations officially complete the major-party tickets for the November general election. The Republican Party formally nominated Romney and Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) as their party’s presidential ticket at last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.