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2008 United States presidential election

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United States presidential election, 2008
← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
 
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Arizona
Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin
Electoral vote 365 (projected) 162 (projected)
States carried 28+DC+NE-02 21
Popular vote 66,679,600 58,227,508
Percentage 52.7% 46.0%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states/districts won by McCain/Palin, Blue denotes those won by Obama/Biden, Gray denotes those states not yet decided. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. Obama won one electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd congressional district while McCain won the other four of the state's electoral votes. Missouri has not been projected for either candidate by more than one news organization.
President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

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The United States presidential election of 2008, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, was the 56th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election to select the electors from each state who will vote in each state capital for President and the Vice President of the United States on December 15, 2008.

The Republican Party's nominee was John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona; the Democratic Party's nominee was Barack Obama, the junior United States Senator from Illinois. The Libertarian Party nominated former Congressman Bob Barr; the Constitution Party, pastor and radio talk show host Chuck Baldwin; and the Green Party, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Ralph Nader declined to seek the Green Party nomination and ran as an independent candidate.

Obama won the number of electors necessary to be elected President. He is the president-elect and will be inaugurated on January 20, 2009.[1]

The 2008 election was the first time in U.S. history that an African American was elected President.[2] It was also the first time two sitting senators ran against each other, as well as the first time an African American was a presidential nominee for a major party. Since the Republican nominee for vice-president was a woman, Governor Sarah Palin, the eventual winning ticket was bound to be historic, as neither an African American nor a woman had achieved either of the respective offices. If John McCain had been elected, he would have been the oldest first-term president. Senator Joe Biden is the first Roman Catholic to be elected vice-president.

The election coincided with the 2008 Senate elections in thirty-three states, House of Representatives elections in all Congressional districts, and gubernatorial elections in eleven states, as well as various state referenda and local elections.

Characteristics

Template:Wikinewshas

No incumbents

The 2008 election marked the first time since the 1952 election that neither the incumbent President nor the incumbent Vice President was a candidate in the general election, and the first time since the 1928 election that neither one sought his party's nomination for president.[3][4] The incumbent President, George W. Bush, was serving his second and final term and was barred from running again by the term limits in the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Vice President Dick Cheney chose not to seek the presidency. From 2001, Cheney frequently stated he would never run for President: "I will say just as hard as I possibly know how to say...If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."[5]

In the three previous two-term Presidential administrations — those of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — the incumbent vice president had immediately thereafter run for president. Richard Nixon lost the 1960 election, George H. W. Bush won the 1988 election, and Al Gore lost the 2000 election.[6][7] The 2008 election was the first in which the sitting Vice President was not a candidate for either the presidency or the vice presidency since Nelson Rockefeller in 1976.

Leading candidates were senators

For the first time in history, both major party nominees were serving United States Senators: Republican candidate John McCain (Arizona) and Democratic candidate Barack Obama (Illinois).[8] The 2008 election marked the first time since the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960 that a sitting Senator was elected President of the United States, and the third time ever in American history (Warren G. Harding in 1920 was the first). It was also the second time ever in American history, after John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960, that the successful presidential and vice-presidential candidates (Barack Obama and Joe Biden) were both sitting Senators. With Obama's victory, Biden, having been a Senator since January 1973 and having served for the past 36 years, became the longest serving Senator in history to become Vice President. For his part, McCain would have, if elected, become the first prisoner of war since Andrew Jackson to become President as well as the first to become President after having won at least four Senate terms. (Senator John Kerry was the Democratic nominee in 2004 during his fourth Senate term.)

Leading candidates' origins

Either major party candidate would have become the first president born outside the continental United States, as Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and McCain was born at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, a U.S. naval base. A bipartisan legal review agreed that McCain, if not born a natural-born citizen, was in 1937 "retroactively rendered... a natural born citizen, if he was not one already" of the United States; being a natural-born citizen is a constitutional requirement to become president.[9] Obama, having a white mother and Kenyan father of the Luo ethnic group[10] will be the first president to be black and to be biracial. McCain would have been the first president from Arizona, while Obama will be the third president elected from Illinois, the first two being Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant[11] (Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois, but was a former governor of California). The last candidates to run from these states were Adlai Stevenson (D) of Illinois, who ran and lost in 1952 and 1956, and Barry Goldwater (R) of Arizona, who ran and lost in 1964. Obama will also become the first president born in Hawaii.

Leading candidates' ages

Had McCain been elected president, he would have been the oldest U.S. president upon ascension to the presidency at age 72 years and 144 days,[12] and the second-oldest president to be inaugurated (Ronald Reagan was 73 years and 350 days old at his second inauguration).[13] Barack Obama and John McCain are 24 years and 340 days apart in age. This is the largest age disparity between the two major party presidential candidates, surpassing Bill Clinton and Bob Dole (23 years and 28 days apart in age) who ran against each other in the 1996 presidential election.

Outcomes

  • Virginia and Indiana were each carried by the Democratic nominee for the first time since 1964; North Carolina likewise had not been carried by the Democratic nominee since 1976.
  • Barack Obama was the first Democratic nominee to win an absolute majority (>50%) of the popular vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
  • Obama won a larger proportion of the national popular vote than any Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
  • Obama was the first Democratic nominee to win the presidency without winning West Virginia since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.
  • Obama was the first Democratic nominee to win the presidency without winning five or more states of the South. He was the first presidential candidate of either party since 1968 to win the presidency without winning Louisiana and Arkansas, as well as Tennessee and Kentucky since 1960.
  • Obama is only the third person to go directly from the U.S. Senate to the presidency, the other two being Warren G. Harding in 1920 and John F. Kennedy in 1960.
  • Neither candidate on the winning ticket was a Democrat from the states of the old Confederacy; not since Harry Truman and Alben Barkley in 1948 had such a Democratic ticket won (although a few Republican tickets with two northerners won). Although a few losing Democratic tickets during that time had two northerners (in 1968, 1972 and 1984), this was the first time that such a ticket won a majority of the vote in even one Southern state.
  • Nebraska split its five electoral votes for the first time, with the electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd congressional district going to Obama and the other four (2 for each of the other congressional districts, and two for winning the overall popular vote) to John McCain. Until this election, Nebraska had not given any electoral votes to a Democrat since 1964. The only other state that could split its electoral vote this way, Maine, has yet to actually do so.
  • If Missouri is ultimately called for McCain, this will be the first time since 1956 that it did not cast its electoral votes for the winner of the presidential race and the second time since 1904.
  • Obama was the first candidate of any major political party ever to win the election without winning any of the presidential primaries of Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico.

Election controversies

A number of pre-election controversies revolved around challenges to voter registration lists, involving techniques such as caging lists alleged to constitute voter suppression. Reporter Greg Palast predicted many 2004 United States election voting controversies could recur,[14] and voter list purges using unlawful criteria caused controversy in at least six swing states: Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina.[15] On October 5, 2008 the Republican Lt. Governor of Montana, John Bohlinger, accused the Montana Republican Party of vote caging to purge 6,000 voters from three counties which trend Democratic.[16] Allegations arose in Michigan that the Republican Party planned to challenge the eligibility of voters based on lists of foreclosed homes,[17] which led to a lawsuit from the Obama campaign[18] and a letter from the House Judiciary Committee to the Department of Justice calling for an investigation.[19] The highly publicized ACORN scandal, in which citizens trying to register new voters used the names of nonexistent persons (mostly designated as Democratic), led to legal investigations of fraud in several states.

Libertarian candidate Bob Barr filed a lawsuit in Texas petitioning to have Obama and McCain removed from the ballot in that state.[20] The suit alleged that both the Republicans and Democrats missed the deadline to file, and were present on the ballot contrary to Texas election law. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit without giving an explanation.[21]

Virginia election authorities were ordered by a federal judge to preserve late arriving absentee ballots sent by active-duty military personnel following an allegation that the absentee ballots were sent late to servicemen.[22] According to federal law, absentee ballots must be mailed to troops in foreign countries at least 45 days prior to an election. The charge against Virginia was that the ballots were not printed until after the deadline and therefore were mailed late to soldiers abroad.[23]

Campaign

See also: United States presidential election, 2008 timeline

Pre-primary campaign

"Front runner" status is dependent on the news agency reporting, but by October 2007, the consensus listed about six candidates as leading the pack. For example, CNN listed Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Rudolph Giuliani, Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney as the front runners. The Washington Post listed Clinton, Edwards and Obama as the Democratic frontrunners, "leading in polls and fundraising and well ahead of the other major candidates".[24] MSNBC's Chuck Todd christened Giuliani and John McCain the Republican front runners after the second Republican presidential debate.[25]

Three candidates, Clinton, Obama, and Romney, raised over $20 million in the first three months of 2007, and three others, Edwards, Giuliani, and McCain, raised over $12 million; the next closest candidate was Bill Richardson, who raised over $6 million.[26] In the third quarter of 2007, the top four GOP (Republican) fund raisers were Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, and Ron Paul.[27] Paul set the GOP record for the largest online single day fund raising on November 5, 2007.[28] Hillary Clinton set the Democratic record for largest single day fund raising in a primary on June 30, 2007.[29]

Primaries and caucuses

Main articles: Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008 and Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008

Although the nomination process for each of the two major political parties technically continues through June, in previous cycles the candidates were effectively chosen by the March primaries. This trend continued in 2008 on the Republican side, with John McCain locking up the nomination with victories in Texas and Ohio on March 4, but Democrat Barack Obama did not win the nomination until June 3, after a long campaign against Hillary Clinton. Obama had a wide lead in states won, but Democratic state delegate contests have been decided by a form of proportional representation since 1976.[30] Clinton claimed a lead in the popular vote, but the Associated Press found her numbers accurate only in one very close scenario.[31]

During late 2007, both parties adopted rules against states moving their primaries to an earlier date in the year. For the Republicans, the penalty for this violation is supposed to be the loss of half the state party's delegates to the convention. The Democratic Party only allowed four states to hold elections before February 5, 2008. Initially the Democratic Party leadership said it would strip all Democratic delegates from Florida and Michigan, which had moved their primaries all the way into January. All major candidates agreed officially not to campaign in Florida or Michigan, and Edwards and Obama had their names removed from the Michigan ballot. Clinton won a majority of delegates from both states (though 40% voted uncommitted) and subsequently led a fight to fully seat the Florida and Michigan delegates.[32]

Political columnist Christopher Weber notes that while this was self-serving, it was also pragmatic on the part of Clinton should Florida or Michigan voters not vote for Democrats in the general election based on the Democratic Party's decision regarding the seating of delegates.[33] This led to speculation that the fight over the delegates could last until the convention in August. However, on May 31, 2008, a deal was reached by the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic Party that allows for delegates from Michigan and Florida to receive half a vote each.[34]

January 2008

Around the start of the year, support for Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama began rising in the polls, passing longtime front runners Romney and Clinton for first place in Iowa: the two upstart campaigns were triumphant. John McCain displaced Rudy Giuliani and Romney as the front-runner in New Hampshire.

While Huckabee had little money and was hoping for a third place finish, Obama was the new front runner in New Hampshire and the Clinton campaign was struggling. However, in a turning point for her campaign, Clinton's voice wavered with emotion in a public interview broadcast live on TV.[35] By the end of that day, Clinton won the primary by 2 points, contrary to the predictions of pollsters who had her as much as twelve points behind on the day of the primary itself. McCain also staged a turnaround victory, having been written off by the pundits and in single digits less than a month before.[36]

With the Republicans stripping Michigan and Florida of half their delegates, the Republican race was based there, while the Democrats focused on Nevada and South Carolina, which were given special permission to have early contests; in South Carolina Obama got 55% of the vote. Meanwhile, McCain managed a small victory in South Carolina, setting him up for a larger and more important victory in Florida soon after.

February 2008

On February 3 on the UCLA campus, celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Caroline Kennedy and Stevie Wonder, among others, made appearances to show support for Barack Obama in a rally led by Michelle Obama.[37] Obama trailed in the California polling by an average of 6.0%; he ended up losing the state by 8.3%.[38] Some analysts cited a large Latino turnout as the deciding factor.[39] On the Republican side, John McCain was endorsed by Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani (who had dropped out of the race following the Florida primary), giving McCain a significant boost in California state.[40] Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, endorsed Obama.[41] By February 4, it was apparent that McCain might be able to wrap up the nomination quickly, while the Democratic candidates were hoping for a swing of momentum following the February 5 primaries.

Super Tuesday: On February 5, 2008, the largest-ever simultaneous number of state United States presidential primary elections was held.[42] Twenty-four states and American Samoa held either caucuses or primary elections for one or both parties on this date, leaving the Democrats in a virtual tie, and John McCain just short of clinching the Republican nod.[43] A few days later, Mitt Romney suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed McCain, leaving Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul as the only major challengers of McCain in the remaining Republican primaries.[44]

Louisiana and Washington voted for both parties on February 9, while Nebraska and the U.S. Virgin Islands voted for the Democrats and Kansas voted for the Republicans. Obama swept all four Democratic contests, as well as the Maine caucuses the next day,[45] and Huckabee also came out on top in Kansas, winning by an even greater percentage. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia voted for both parties on February 12 in what was referred to as Potomac primary. Obama won all three for the Democrats (giving him eight consecutive victories after Super Tuesday) and McCain took all three for the Republicans.

Obama carried both Hawaii and Wisconsin, the last two states that voted for the Democrats in February, on the 19th.[46] Wisconsin and Washington voted for the Republicans on February 19; John McCain won these states.[46] The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico closed February for the Republicans, on the 23rd and 24th.

March 2008

For the Republicans, on March 1 American Samoa voted. March 4 was dubbed by some as this year's Mini Tuesday,[47] when the delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio, along with Rhode Island and Vermont, voted for both parties. Wyoming then voted for the Democrats and Guam voted for the Republicans on March 8. Mississippi voted for both parties on March 11.

On March 4, Hillary Clinton carried Ohio and Rhode Island in the Democratic primaries; some considered this a surprise upset,[48] though she led in the polling averages in both states.[38][49] She also carried the primary in Texas, but Obama won the Texas caucuses held the same day and netted more delegates from the state than Clinton.[50] John McCain clinched the Republican nomination after sweeping all four primaries, Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, putting him over the top of the 1,191 delegates required to win the GOP nomination.[49] Mike Huckabee conceded the race to McCain, leaving Ron Paul, who had just 16 delegates, as his only remaining opponent for the Republican nomination.[51] In the Wyoming Democratic caucuses, Obama edged out Clinton to gain 7 delegates to her 5, and three days later he beat her again, 59%–39%, in Mississippi.

April through June 2008

Only one state voted in April: Pennsylvania, which held a primary for both parties on April 22. Hillary Clinton won this Democratic primary, with approximately 55% of the vote. Barack Obama won the Guam caucuses on May 3 by 7 votes out of more than 4,500. On May 6, Hillary Clinton won the Indiana primary with 51% of the vote while Barack Obama won in North Carolina with 56% of the vote. Nebraska's Republican and West Virginia's Democratic primaries were held on May 13. In West Virginia, Clinton won with 67% of the vote and 20 of 28 pledged delegates. On May 20, Kentucky and Oregon held primaries for both parties. In Kentucky, Clinton won with 65% of the vote to Obama's 31%. In Oregon, Obama defeated Clinton, by a margin of 18%. Idaho voted for Republicans only on May 27. On May 31, Democratic Party officials, after a tense meeting between Clinton supporters and Obama backers, voted to seat all of Florida and Michigan's delegates at the party's convention, with each getting a half-vote.[52] Puerto Rico held a Democratic primary on June 1, which Clinton won with 68% of the vote to Obama's 32%. The primary season ended on June 3, with contests in New Mexico (Republican), Montana (Democratic), and South Dakota (both parties). Clinton won South Dakota's primary, while Obama was victorious in the Montana primary. As expected, John McCain won all the states during this time period handily, though typically 20-25% of the vote in the Republican primaries went to Huckabee and Paul, despite the fact both had already been mathematically eliminated from contention for the nomination.

July 2008

Further information: Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008 § "Israel for Obama" Campaign

The Illinois Senator Barack Obama took a Middle East trip from Afghanistan to Iraq, Jordan and Israel where a small "Israel for Obama" rally was held for him.[53][54][55]

Party conventions

Presidential and vice-presidential debates

Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2008

Four debates were announced by the Commission on Presidential Debates:[56]

  • September 26: The first presidential debate took place at the University of Mississippi. The central issues debated were foreign policy and national security. The debate was formatted into nine nine-minute segments, and the moderator (Jim Lehrer) introduced the topics.[57]
  • October 2: The vice-presidential debate was hosted at Washington University in St. Louis, and was moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS.
  • October 7: The second presidential debate took place at Belmont University. It was a town meeting format debate moderated by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, and addressed issues raised by members of the audience, particularly the economy.
  • October 15: The third and final presidential debate was hosted at Hofstra University. It focused on domestic and economic policy. Like the first presidential debate, it was formatted into a number of segments, with moderator Bob Schieffer introducing the topics.

Another debate was sponsored by the Columbia University political union and took place there on October 19. All candidates who could theoretically win the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election were invited, and Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, and Chuck Baldwin agreed to attend. Amy Goodman, principal host of Democracy Now!, moderated. It was broadcast on cable by C-SPAN and on the Internet by Break-the-Matrix.[58][59]

Campaign costs

Main article: Fundraising for the 2008 United States presidential election

The reported cost of campaigning for President has increased significantly in recent years. One source reported that if the costs for both Democratic and Republican campaigns are added together (for the Presidential primary election, general election, and the political conventions) the costs have more than doubled in only eight years ($448.9 million in 1996, $649.5 million in 2000, and $1.01 billion in 2004).[60] In January 2007, Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael E. Toner estimated the 2008 race will be a $1 billion election, and that to be taken seriously, a candidate needed to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007.[61]

Although he had said he would not be running for president, published reports indicated that billionaire and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg had been considering a presidential bid as an independent with up to $1 billion of his own fortune to finance it.[62] Bloomberg ultimately ended this speculation by unequivocally stating that he would not run.[63] Had Bloomberg decided to run, he would not have needed to campaign in the primary elections or participate in the conventions, greatly reducing both the necessary length and cost of his campaign.

With the increase in money, the public financing system funded by the presidential election campaign fund checkoff has not been used by many candidates. John McCain,[64] Tom Tancredo,[65] John Edwards,[66] Chris Dodd,[67] and Joe Biden[68] qualified for and elected to take public funds in the primary. Other major candidates eschewed the low amount of spending permitted, or gave other reasons as in the case of Barack Obama, and have chosen not to participate.

Internet campaigns

Howard Dean collected large contributions via the internet in his 2004 primary run. In 2008 candidates went even further in reaching out to Internet users through their own sites and through sites such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook.[69][70] Republican Ron Paul[71] and Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama were the most active in courting voters through the Internet.[72] On December 16, 2007, Ron Paul collected more money on a single day through Internet donations than any presidential candidate in US history with over $6 million.[73] Anonymous and semi-anonymous smear campaigns traditionally done with fliers and push calling have also spread to the Internet,[74] and organizations specializing in the production and distribution of viral material, such as Brave New Films, emerged; such organizations have been said to be having a growing influence on American politics.[75]

Criticism of media coverage

Significant criticism has been leveled at media outlets' coverage of the presidential election season. Erica Jong commented that "our press has become a sea of triviality, meanness and irrelevant chatter."[76] ABC News hosted a debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 16 and moderators Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos were criticized by viewers, bloggers and media critics for the poor quality of their questions.[77][78]

Many viewers said they considered some of the questions irrelevant when measured against the faltering economy or the Iraq war, such as question on the incendiary comments of Obama’s former pastor, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s assertion that she had to duck sniper fire in Bosnia more than a decade ago, and Senator Barack Obama's not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel.[77] The questions from the moderators were considered to be focused on campaign gaffes and trained mostly on Obama,[78] which Stephanopoulos defended by saying that "Senator Obama was the front-runner" and the questions were "not inappropriate or irrelevant at all."[77][78]

A similar event occurred earlier at a debate in February where Tim Russert of NBC News was criticized for what was perceived by some as disproportionately tough questioning of Clinton.[77] Among the questions, Russert had asked Clinton, but not Obama, to provide the name of the new Russian President (Dmitry Medvedev),[77] an event which was subsequently parodied on Saturday Night Live. In October 2007, liberal commentators accused Russert of harassing Clinton over driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and other issues.[78] In an op-ed published on 2008 April 27 in The New York Times, Elizabeth Edwards bemoaned that the media covered much more of "the rancor of the campaign" and "amount of money spent" than "the candidates' priorities, policies and principles."[79]

The Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy conducted a study of 5,374 media narratives and assertions about the presidential candidates from 2008 January 1 through 2008 March 9. The study found that Obama and Clinton received 69 percent and 67 percent favorable coverage, respectively, compared to only 43 percent favorable media coverage of McCain.[80] This trend widened following the presidential conventions, with an October 29 study of 43 news outlets finding 29 percent of stories about Obama to be negative, compared to 57 percent of stories about McCain being negative. This was most apparent on MSNBC, where 73 percent of McCain stories were negative compared to 14 percent for Obama.[81] Public perception of the media mirrored this trend, with an October 22 Pew Research Center poll finding that 70 percent of registered voters believed journalists wanted Barack Obama to win the election, as opposed to 9 percent for John McCain.[82]

Election Day

Final poll closing times on Election Day.
  7PM EST [00:00 UTC] (6)
  7:30PM EST [00:30 UTC] (3)
  8PM EST [01:00 UTC] (15+DC)
  8:30PM EST [01:30 UTC] (1)
  9PM EST [02:00 UTC] (15)
  10PM EST [03:00 UTC] (4)
  11PM EST [04:00 UTC] (5)
  1AM EST [06:00 UTC] (1)

After Election Day

  • December 15, 2008: Members of the U.S. Electoral College meet in each state to cast their votes for President and Vice President.[needs update]
  • January 8, 2009: Electoral votes officially tallied before both Houses of Congress.[needs update] Members of Congress may object to the certification of a state's electoral votes at this time.
  • January 20, 2009: Inauguration Day.[needs update]

General Election candidates

Main articles: List of candidates in the United States presidential election, 2008; Comparison of United States presidential candidates, 2008; Republican Party (United States) presidential candidates, 2008; Republican Party (United States) vice presidential candidates, 2008; Democratic Party (United States) presidential candidates, 2008; Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential candidates, 2008; Third party (United States) presidential candidates, 2008; 2008 Democratic National Convention; Republican National Convention; and 2008 Libertarian National Convention
Presidential candidate/running mate Party Campaign site Ballot Access (states/districts)[83]
Barack Obama/Joe Biden (campaign) Democratic, South Carolina United Citizens,[84][85] New York Working Families[86] barackobama.com 51
John McCain/Sarah Palin (campaign) Republican, New York Independence, New York Conservative johnmccain.com 51
Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle (campaign) Constitution, Alaskan Independence Party, Kansas Reform, Independent Greens of Virginia baldwin2008.com 37
Bob Barr/Wayne Allyn Root (campaign) Libertarian bobbarr2008.com 45
Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente (campaign) Green votetruth08.com 32
Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez (campaign) Independent, Independence-Ecology,[87] Peace and Freedom, Michigan Natural Law, Delaware Independent, Oregon Peace, New York Populist[86] votenader.org 46
Gene Amondson/Leroy Pletten Prohibition geneamondson.com *
Róger Calero/Alyson Kennedy Socialist Workers themilitant.com *
Charles Jay/Thomas L. Knapp Boston Tea CJ08.com *
Alan Keyes/Brian Rohrbough (campaign) Independent, America's Independent alankeyes.com *
Gloria La Riva/Eugene Puryear Socialism & Liberation votepsl.org *
Brian Moore/Stewart Alexander Socialist, Vermont Liberty Union Mississippi Natural Law Party votesocialist2008.org *
Thomas Stevens/Alden Link Objectivist objectivistparty.us *

* - Candidate did not have major national ballot access

Election results

Grand total

Popular vote totals are unofficial.[88] Electoral vote projections per television network coverage (primarily CNN, ABC News, NBC News).

Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote 		Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Barack Obama Democratic Illinois 66,744,472 52.7% 365 Joe Biden Delaware 365
John McCain Republican Arizona 58,272,729 46.0% 162 Sarah Palin Alaska 162
Ralph Nader — Connecticut 697,128 0.6% 0 Matt Gonzalez California 0
Bob Barr Libertarian Georgia 510,477 0.4% 0 Wayne Allyn Root Nevada 0
Chuck Baldwin Constitution Florida 181,769 0.1% 0 Darrell Castle Tennessee 0
Cynthia McKinney Green Georgia 152,243 0.1% 0 Rosa Clemente New York 0
Total 126,558,818 100% 538† 538†
Needed to win 270 270

† 11 electoral votes not yet projected

Turnout

Popular vote by county. Red represents counties that went for McCain, Blue represents counties that went for Obama. Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont had all counties go to Obama. Alaska and Oklahoma had all counties go to McCain.

The voter turnout for this election was broadly predicted to be very high.[89] One widely publicized early estimate predicted turnout of 136.6 million people or 64% of the voting population—which would have been the highest rate in 100 years.[90] However, the total number of votes stands at ~127 million, just 5 million more than in the 2004 election.[91]

Results by state

States/districts won by McCain/Palin
States/districts won by Obama/Biden
States/districts not yet decided

Vote totals

Further information: [[:United States presidential election: The popular vote on Election Day]]

Projections based on published official or unofficial state election board results, where available; otherwise, on television network coverage. Notes identify sources. Bold indicates actual vote count leader.

State Obama McCain Nader Barr Baldwin McKinney Others
Alabama 811,764 1,264,879 6,616 4,984 4,303 0
Alaska 105,650 168,844 3,248 1,353 1,435 0 1,456
Arizona 975,051 1,165,275 10,699 11,890 0 3,209
Arkansas 418,289 632,187 12,819 4,709 4,002 3,433 La Riva 1,089
California 7,274,447 4,458,704 94,746 59,666 0 33,417 35,553
Colorado 1,216,793 1,020,135 12,542 10,264 5,872 2,573 5,545
Connecticut 1,000,293 628,041 18,497 9,376 5,419
Delaware 255,394 152,356 2,401 1,108 626 385 58
Florida 4,274,370 4,039,848 28,087 17,191 7,901 2,882 6,307
Georgia 1,844,137 2,048,744 3,273 28,812
Hawaii 325,588 120,446 3, 821 1,314 1,013 976
Idaho 235,219 400,989 7,096 4,725 3,649
Illinois 3,319,237 1,981,158 30,311 19,122 8,135 11,690 1,236
Indiana 1,370,211 1,343,623 295 29,209 350 25 40
Iowa 818,240 677,508 8,115 4,675 4,470 1,530 1,534
Kansas 499,979 685,541 10,242 6,564 4,051
Kentucky 751,707 1,048,113 15,372 5,986 4,670
Louisiana 782,989 1,148,275 6,997 2,581 9,187
Maine 421,484 296,198 10,763 9,903 2,874
Maryland 1,593,431 947.058 14,477 9,676 3,694 4,650
Massachusetts 1,891,083 1,104,284 28,520 12,999 5,023 6,528
Michigan 2,875,308 2,050,655 33,126 23,740 14,759 8,662
Minnesota 1,573,323 1,275,400 30,154 9,176 6,787 5,172 10,319
Mississippi 520,864 687,266 3,727 2,425 2,447 1,086 470
Missouri[92] 1,439,366 1,444,352 17,790 11,370 8,189 822
Montana 229,725 241,846 3,649 1,341 Paul 10,499
Nebraska[93] 329,132 448,801 5,306 2,684 2,927 1,002
1st Dist. 118,588 146,140 1,934 906 1,023 392
2nd Dist. 134,168 132,908 1,502 533 560 292 mail-in ballots[94]
3rd Dist. 71,867 167,212 1,789 789 1,335 305
Nevada 531,894 412,007 6,140 4,258 3,191 1,408 6,251
New Hampshire 384,826 316,534 3,503 2,217 531
New Jersey 2,085,051 1,545,495 20,336 8,044 4,732 3,941 2,299
New Mexico 472,211 346,824 5,327 2,428 1,597 1,551
New York 4,357,360 2,573,368 37,975 22,520 12,015
North Carolina 2,142,569 2,128,390 25,722 Write-ins: 13,942
North Dakota 141,278 168,601 4,189 1,354 1,199
Ohio 2,784,344 2,582,174 40,696 19,094 12,105 8,128 6,686
Oklahoma 502,496 960,165
Oregon 1,026,995 731,700 18,407 7,559 7,608 4,473 Write-ins: 12,757
Pennsylvania 3,234,949 2,634,115 42,684 19,739
Rhode Island 296,571 165,391 4,829 1,382 675 797 122
South Carolina-Official 862,449 1,034,896 5,053 7,283 6,827 4,461
South Dakota 170,886 203,019 4,267 1,835 1,895
Tennessee 1,085,571 1,477,160 8,559 8,185 2,490 2,335
Texas 3,521,164 4,467,748 3,053 56,398 3,418 415 840
Utah 301,804 555,607 7,644 6,461 11,131 908 246
Vermont 219,262 96,974 3,339 1,067 500
Virginia 1,959,307 1,726,417 11,486 11,062 7,474 2,345 write-in: 6,326
Washington 1,684,627 1,195,025 28,391 12,225 9,102 3,613 1,256
Washington, D.C. 223,231 15,816 905 539 1,053
West Virginia 302,273 394,922 7,182 2,454 2,356
Wisconsin 1,670,474 1,258,181 17,402 8,795 5,022 4,234 1,545
Wyoming 82,868 164,958 2,525 1,594 1,192 1,521
U.S. Total 67,170,935 58,604,962 698,053 533,648 190,611 153,800 144,456

Electoral College

Main article: Electoral College (United States)

Projections based on television network coverage. Notes identify networks of projection. Bold indicates actual vote count leader.

Cartogram of electoral vote projection (based on popular vote) with each square representing one vote.
Graph of electoral vote by state (based on popular vote) sorted by 2008 percentage, compared with 2004.
State McCain Obama Others/Notes
Alabama 9 0 0
Alaska 3 0 0
Arizona 10 0 0
Arkansas 6 0 ABC, NBC projections
California 0 55 -
Colorado 0 9 0
Connecticut 0 7 CNN projection
Delaware 0 3 CNN projection
D.C. 0 3 CNN projection
Florida 0 27
Georgia 15 0 CNN projection
Hawaii 0 4
Idaho 4 0
Illinois 0 21 CNN projection
Indiana 0 11
Iowa 0 7 CNN projection
Kansas 6 0 NBC, ABC projections
Kentucky 8 0 CNN, FOX News projections
Louisiana 9 0 ABC, NBC projections
Maine 0 2 CNN projection
1st Dist. 0 1 -
2nd Dist. 0 1 -
Maryland 0 10 CNN projection
Massachusetts 0 12 CNN projection
Michigan 0 17 CNN projection
Minnesota 0 10 CNN projection
Mississippi 6 0
Missouri - - -
Montana 3 0 CNN projection
Nebraska 2 0 Nebraska Secretary of State Election Results
1st Dist. 1 0 -
2nd Dist. 0 1 Omaha World-Herald: Obama wins electoral vote in Nebraska
3rd Dist. 1 0 -
Nevada 0 5 -
New Hampshire 0 4 CNN, FOX News projections
New Jersey 0 15 CNN projection
New Mexico 0 5 ABC, NBC projections
New York 0 31 CNN projection
North Carolina 0 15
North Dakota 3 0 Consensus projection
Ohio 0 20 CNN, Fox News projection
Oklahoma 7 0 CNN projection
Oregon 0 7 CNN projection
Pennsylvania 0 21 Consensus projection
Rhode Island 0 4 CNN projection
South Carolina 8 0 CNN, NBC projections
South Dakota 3 0
Tennessee 11 0 CNN projection
Texas 34 0 Consensus projection
Utah 5 0 CNN projection
Vermont 0 3 CNN, FOX News projections
Virginia 0 13 [95]
Washington 0 11 -
West Virginia 5 0 CBS, FOX News projections
Wisconsin 0 10 CNN projection
Wyoming 3 0 CNN projection


Close states/districts

States/districts in the 2008 United States Presidential election where the margin of victory was less than 5%. Blue states/districts went for Obama, red for McCain. Missouri has yet to be called. Yellow states were won by either candidate by 5% or more. Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and Iowa were won by Bush in 2004 but were won by Obama by a margin of more than 5% in 2008.

These results are provisional and results are subject to change, especially when all postal and provisional ballots are counted.

  1. Missouri 0.1%
  2. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district 0.2%
  3. North Carolina 0.5%
  4. Indiana 0.9%
  5. Florida 2.5%
  6. Montana 3.8%
  7. Ohio 4.0%
  8. Georgia 5.3%
  9. Virginia 6.3%
  10. South Dakota 8.5%
  11. Colorado 8.6%
  12. North Dakota 8.6%
  13. Arizona 8.6%
  14. South Carolina 8.9%
  15. Iowa 9.3%

International reaction

Main article: International reaction to the 2008 United States presidential election

The American presidential election was followed very closely internationally. When it was clear that Obama was victorious, many world leaders sent congratulations and well-wishes to the President-elect.

Opinion polling

Acceptance and concession speeches of candidates

Obama
Main article: Barack Obama presidential acceptance speech, 2008

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer..."

"...It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America..."

"...The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there...."

"...This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

"And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright, tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope."

McCain[96]

"...My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly..."

"...To congratulate him [Obama] on being elected the next president of the country that we both love..."

"...In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving..."

"...This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight..."

"...I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here..."

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States presidential election, 2008.

References

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Campaign contributions

Template:United States general elections, 2008

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