Eight years ago, Barack Obama was a state legislator who had just lost a primary

[liberalpragmatist]

If you had posed the question back in 2000, who would be the 2008 Democratic nominee, I don't think anybody in the world would have named Barack Obama, an unknown, part-time state senator from Chicago who had just been crushed in a congressional primary.

His rise really is astounding, especially for the modern era.

[liberalmuse]

1. The first I had heard of him...

in 2003 or 2004, before the DNC speech, I knew he would be the first black President. I just had no idea it would be this damn soon!

[TheDonkey]

2. I remember following him in the IL primary before the 2004 DNC

I was rooting for him because he was liberal and had a chance to be the first black senator in a long time. When I saw his DNC speech in Boston. I knew he'd be President and a great one.