There's no doubt the brilliantly designed Obama "O" logo became one of the most recognizable brands in the country if not the world. Here are some of the actual designs that didn't make the cut. This one is really awful:
Making the already difficult last name of a relatively unknown candidate totally unreadable would've been a huge mistake. And the similarity between the "8" and an "S" would've really fueled the "Osama" idiocy.