Was Candidate Obama A Celebrity?

It is so interesting that this week’s discussion was about celebrities and what it means to be a celebrity. It is interesting because just before I got to class, I was thinking about President Obama and whether he is a celebrity or not. I started to think about this after listening to NPR’s morning news in which President Obama’s campaign was being analyzed. NPR mentioned how popular Obama became during his 2008 presidential campaign, especially among young voters. That campaign was immensely supported by young voters’ use of social media. There is no doubt that President Obama changed the way politicians and campaign managers had been thinking and strategizing reaching voters and raising money.  I guess candidates and politicians in general inevitably become well known. They have to be somewhat popular in order to be elected. However, President Obama, maybe not at the moment, but definitely during his 2008 campaign, seemed to be more than just popular. People adored him. They followed him on twitter and were his fans on facebook.  President Obama was able to raise an enormous amount of money due to his social media strategy. So I wonder, was candidate Obama (before being elected) a celebrity? Can we say that people attributed him a celebrity status during the 2008 campaign? I honestly cannot say for sure. I will leave these questions open for discussion. If anyone has anything to share, please do so. I would love to hear other people’s opinions.