Presidential+Campaign+of+2008

By 2008 it was election time in the United States. The 2008 Presidential campaign was a very heated contest. Senator John McCain (Rep.) of Arizona and junior Senator Barack Obama (Dem.) of Illinois battled head to head for the Presidential vote. These two men were successful in bringing voters to the polls, thus having more people vote in 2008 than in any other election in U.S. history.


 * John McCain**

Senator, and former Military Officer, John McCain announced that he would be running in the 2008 election on February 28, 2007 during a televised interview with //The Late Show// talk show host David Letterman. Although at first he was not the most popular Republican to run after receiving endorsements from popular papers such as __The New York Times__, he was able to pull through with the victory to make him the official republican candidate. In September of 2008, McCain received his official Presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Just before the convention, McCain chose Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

John McCain flaunted experience as his main campaign strategy. He claimed that he was prepared and ready for the position, unlike his counterpart Barack Obama. Even still, McCain was only able to raise $370 million, much less than his opponent which put him at a huge disadvantage. He was the typical man seen running for president; elderly, experienced in the U.S Government, and white, all of which his opponent was not. Since Americans wanted a change, McCain surely did not fit the description of change.


 * Barack Obama**

Senator Barack Obama is a presidential candidate that stood out from the rest. Unlike other candidates, Barack Obama was not only young, but he was half African American. On February 7, 2007 in Springfield, Illinois Obama announced that he would be running for the democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election. His primary opponent was none other than New York Senator at the time, spouse of former President Clinton and powerful woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton. This would be the first time in the history of the U.S that a black man would run against a white woman for a spot on the Democrat nomination ticket, or on any ticket for that matter. No matter who won, this would truly become a monumental election. Obama would not continue to secure the Democratic running spot until after the final primary where he passed the 2,118 delegate mark he needed. Clinton announced on June 7, 2007 that Obama was victorious over her and only a few days prior to the Democratic Convention on August 25-28 Obama announced that his running mate would be Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.

Barack Obama became the first African American to be a nominee for a major political party. Obama was portrayed by his Republican competitor, John McCain, as unprepared and inexperienced, but he ran on the message that if elected, he would bring change to the white house and the country as well. Obama was able to raise $745 million for his campaign, which put him at an advantage. Obama received nearly ten million more popular votes than McCain, and received 192 more electoral votes than McCain, 365 to 173. Obama won the election on November 7, 2008 and became not only the first African American to hold office, but the first Democratic candidate to win the majority of the electorate since President Jimmy Carter. [|(John McCain's Concession Speech)]