The Obameter
Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
Other ways to browse the Obameter
PolitiFact has compiled more than 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns and is tracking their progress on our Obameter.
We rate their status as Not Yet Rated, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.
The report card above provides an up-to-the-minute tally of all the promises.
Promises we’ve rated recently
Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center
"As president, Barack Obama will close the detention facility at Guantanamo."
End the war in Afghanistan in 2014
"President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq and will end the war in Afghanistan in 2014."
Help restore Gulf Coast wetlands that protect against hurricanes
“Barack Obama will help the Gulf Coast restore the wetlands, marshes and barrier islands that are critical to tamping down the force of hurricanes. He will work with local governments to develop the best strategies for protecting and expanding wetlands. As president, Obama will immediately close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which experts say funneled floodwater into New Orleans.”
Restore housing in New Orleans
"Will work with the state to establish a goal for approving all Road Home applications within two months...Will also work to increase the supply of rental property, which is particularly important in New Orleans where 57 percent of pre-Katrina residents were renters."
Direct revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection
"Will also direct revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection."
Improve transportation in New Orleans
"Will help the New Orleans area develop regional transit partnerships so that public transit can be integrated across parish lines, providing seamless transportation options, including a possible light rail line to connect New Orleans and Baton Rouge through the petrochemical corridor in between."
Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
"Will finish rebuilding the region's criminal justice system so that we do not have to rely on the National Guard to patrol city streets..Will establish a special "COPS for Katrina" program to allow communities impacted by the storm to hire and retain new officers and community prosecutors, develop community-based crime fighting strategies, and rebuild their lost infrastructure... Will strengthen Drug Enforcement Administration efforts to stop the reestablishment of drug gangs across the region...Will help local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies come together to establish an integrated regional crime control partnership so that each police chief and sheriff doesn't have to face these crime problems alone."
Strengthen the levees in New Orleans
"Will ensure that New Orleans has a levee and pumping system to protect the city against a 100-year storm by 2011, with the ultimate goal of protecting the entire city from a Category 5 storm."
Rebuild hospitals in New Orleans
"Will rebuild broken facilities and provide incentives, such as loan forgiveness, to lure medical professionals back to the region. They will fight to establish a major medical complex in downtown New Orleans that will serve the entire community. They will also push to quickly build a new, state-of-the-art Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in New Orleans so that the city's veterans can get top-quality care."
Rebuild schools in New Orleans
"Will help communities in the Gulf make necessary school infrastructure investments so all kids from all backgrounds have safe and supportive environments to learn."
Support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
Will support "repeal (of) the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions."
Urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws
As president, "will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws."
Recognize the Armenian genocide
"Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."
We will crush al-Qaida
“What I have said is we're going encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants. And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaida. That has to be our biggest national security priority.”
Sign a "universal" health care bill
"I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president ... ."