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They Said This Day Would Never Come: Chasing the Dream on Obama's Improbable Campaign Audiobook
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The thrilling, unlikely story of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, as told by the volunteers and staff who propelled the longshot candidate to the presidency
In the year leading up to the Iowa caucuses, few thought a freshman senator named Barack Hussein Obama would be able to win the Democratic nomination--not to mention become the most popular leader in the world.
But something was stirring. Hundreds of young people from all over the country began assembling first in Iowa. These "kids" became the foundation of one of the most improbable presidential campaigns of the modern era.
Chris Liddell-Westefeld was one of those kids. He and thousands of other staff and volunteers dedicated every minute of their time, intelligence, and resources to help elect Barack Obama, as what started in the midwest spread nationwide. Drawn from more than 200 interviews with alumni including David Axelrod, David Plouffe, Alyssa Mastromonaco, Dan Pfeiffer, Valerie Jarrett, Josh Earnest, Tommy Vietor, Jon Favreau, and President Obama himself, They Said This Day Would Never Come takes readers deep inside the most inspirational presidential campaign in recent history.
This audiobook is voiced by the following contributors: The Author, Chris Liddell-Westefeld, Ally Coll, Alyssa Mastromonaco, Anne Filipic, Annick Febrey, Ava Hinds Lawson, Barack Obama, Bess Evans, Brynne Craig, Carianna Suiter, Chelsea Kammerer, Chris Wyant, Cody Keenan, Dan Pfeiffer, David Axelrod, David Plouffe, Danielle Crutchfield, Dean Fluker, Elizabeth Wilkins, Emily Parcell, Esther Morales, Francis Iacobucci, Graham Wilson, Greg Degen, Howli Ledbetter, Jackie Bray, Jamal Pope, James Schuelke, Janice Rottenberg, Jason Waskey, Jeremy Bird, Joe Cupka, Joe Paulsen, Jon Carson, Jon Favreau, Josh Earnest, Kal Penn, Katherine Onyshko, Kristin Avery, Lauren Champaign, Lauren Kidwell, Maggie Thompson, MaryGrace Galston, Megan Simpson, Meghan Goldenstein, Michael Blake, Michael Halle, Mitch Stewart, Nicole Young, Patricia King, Paul Tewes, Paulette Aniskoff, Pete Rouse, Rachel Haltom-Irwin, Shannon Valley, Stephanie Speirs, Steve Dunwoody, Tom Zimmerman, Tommy Vietor, Tony Rediger, Tripp Wellde, Tyler Lechtenberg, Valerie Jarrett, Victoria McCullough, Yohannes Abraham
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"A readable collective chorus of hopeful voices tirelessly promoting Obama's patriotism, moral clarity, and honorable leadership.... As a campaign diary, the book succeeds in gathering representative perspectives from those who participated in its success.... Adulatory reflections on a historic presidency sure to fuel hope for future elections."
— Kirkus Reviews
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They Said This Day Would Never Come tells the story of Barack Obama's historic 2008 campaign through the voices of the people who made it happen, but it's about so much more than one election. It tells a story about the power of everyday people to shape the course of our country and change the world.
— Dan Pfeiffer, cohost of Pod Save America and author of Yes We Still Can -
Chris's book reminds us that politics doesn't have to feel hopeless or slimy if we're willing to put in the effort--this is a beautiful and genuinely moving oral history of how young people who believe in something and are willing to actually DO something about it can change the world.
— Amanda Litman, cofounder of Run for Something -
The Obama campaign of 2007-2008 in Iowa was a wondrous story, authored by a corps of young activists and people hungry for change. In They Said This Day Would Never Come, Chris Liddell-Westefeld brilliantly captures the spirit of that effort.
— David Axelrod, director, University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN senior political commentator -
An amazing read in the words of the organizers on the ground who elected Barack Obama president. If you care about bringing about change, there are lessons in this book for you.
— David Plouffe, former campaign manager and White House senior adviser for Barack Obama
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About Chris Liddell-Westefeld
Chris Liddell-Westefeld joined the Obama for America campaign in 2007 and went on to spend five years on the Obama White House staff. Since 2014, Liddell-Westefeld has documented the story of the Obama presidency through oral history interviews.
About the Narrators
Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, elected in November 2008 and holding office for two terms. He is the author of two previous New York Times bestselling books, Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope, and the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. In addition to his work as a community organizer, he practiced as a civil rights attorney before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Obama is especially proud of being a husband and father of two daughters.
Dara Rosenberg is an accomplished voice-over artist who has been recognized nationally for her extensive work in audiobooks and commercials. She has a BFA in drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, where she majored in drama and musical theater.
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.
Ron Butler is a Los Angeles–based actor, Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator, and voice artist with over a hundred film and television credits. Most kids will recognize him from the three seasons he spent on Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP. He works regularly as a commercial and animation voice-over artist and has voiced a wide variety of audiobooks. He is a member of the Atlantic Theater Company and an Independent Filmmaker Project Award winner for his work in the HBO film Everyday People.
Tracey Leigh is an audiobook narrator and actor with numerous theater, television, and radio credits.
Graham Halstead, an Earphones Award and Audie Award–winning narrator, is a professionally trained actor and voice artist. As an actor, he has worked internationally in Edinburgh and London, as well as at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. His youthful, easy-flowing voice can be heard on television and radio voicing spots for Airborne and Allegra.
Lisa Flanagan is a classically trained soprano, comedian, voice-over artist, and Earphones Award–winning narrator.
Sarah Mollo-Christensen is a voice talent and an audiobook narrator. A stage and voice actor, she received her BA from Dartmouth College and graduated from the Atlantic Theater Company’s Acting Conservatory in New York City. As an actress, she has appeared on prestigious regional stages, including the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.
Dan Pfeiffer is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Yes We (Still) Can and a cohost on Pod Save America. One of Barack Obama’s longest serving advisers, he was White House director of communications under President Obama from 2009 to 2013 and senior adviser to the president from 2013 to 2015.
Joniece Abbott-Pratt has narrated many audiobooks for children, young adults, and adults. She has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards and in 2021 was a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Fantasy Narration. She earned an MFA degree in acting from the University of Iowa and has performed on regional theater stages across the country, including the Public Theater in New York City. She has also appeared on television shows, including The Good Fight, Law and Order: SVU, Luke Cage, and Orange Is the New Black, and has voiced commercials and projects for US Bank, Johnson & Johnson, and others.
Kiff VandenHeuvel, voice talent and audiobook narrator, is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is an alumni of the Second City comedy theater. He is an accomplished improviser and sketch comedy director, and he teaches voice-over, improv, and directing at Second City Hollywood. He has appeared in hundreds of television and radio commercials and is well known in the video game community as the voice of Zachary Hale Comstock in Bioshock: Infinite.
David Plouffe served as the campaign manager for Barack Obama’s primary and general election victories in 2008 and later joined the White House as a senior advisor, with responsibility for his re-election victory in 2012. He was previously a senior executive at Uber and currently leads policy and advocacy efforts at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.