Second Place Rick Loomis Los Angeles Times
"Prelude to a Dream"
From a virtual unknown at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, then Senator Barack Obama completed his unlikely campaign to become the first African American to be elected President of the United States. He captured the attention of the American people during the primary season as crowds grew bigger with each stop he made in rural Iowa. His unlikely road to the presidency led first through Iowa, where he won over a state that is 94% white. When his stage hadn't arrived for a planned rally because the delivery truck had struck a deer, he made use of a what was available.
