Barack Obama Elected 44th U.S. President

Plus, Obama had incredible resources behind his campaign. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he had outraised McCain by nearly $300 million.

Obama ran a campaign in all 50 states during his primary battle with Clinton. The struggle with Clinton allowed him to build a strong machine to drive voters to the polls. Voters became familiar with him and his background, and this blunted many of the negative attacks by McCain.

The top issue among voters in the election, unsurprisingly, was the economy, and change was the biggest priority for voters in selecting a candidate, according to MSNBC.

In exit polls, 37% said they were looking for change, one of Obama's key election themes. Values ranked second, with 31%, and experience -- one of McCain's talking points -- getting 22%, according to the network.

The economy was the top priority among 62% of voters. Iraq came in next with 10% of those polled, while terrorism and health care tied with 9% each.

Early voting had a dramatic effect on the election. More than 31 million Americans voted early, surpassing the total numbers in 2004. The two campaigns utilized divergent methods in their get-out-the-vote campaigns. Obama was well-prepared for months and got voters to the polls. Due to funding constraints, McCain waited until the final weekend.

Most pundits assumed the reports of heavy turnout would favor Obama. This stands to reason given the huge voter registration drives of Democrats over the last year.

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