U.S. Presidential Elections 2008

Complete coverage including background materials is available from the America.gov Elections page including Candidate Biographies

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 Elections Newsletter (April '08)

 http://www.electoral-vote.com/  

News & Polls

Latest News From america.gov

04 June 2008 Presidential Campaign Enters New Phase as Primaries End  As the final Democratic primary voters cast ballots in South Dakota and Montana June 3, Illinois Senator Barack Obama told his supporters that, "because of you," he expects to become the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party. 

02 June 2008 The Path to the 2008 Presidential Nomination  After hours of debate in a Washington hotel May 31, members of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC’s) bylaws and rules committee approved a plan to give Michigan and Florida’s delegates -- both pledged and unpledged -- half a vote each. There are now 4,234 delegate votes available, with a majority of 2,118 needed to earn the nomination, as opposed to the previous 2,026.

29 May 2008 Third Party and Independent Candidates  (The following article is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, Outline of American History.) The United States is often thought of as functioning under a two-party system. In practical effect this is true: Either a Democrat or a Republican has occupied the White House every year since 1852. At the same time, however, the country has produced a plethora of third and minor parties over the years. For example, 58 parties were represented on at least one state ballot during the 1992 presidential elections. Among these were obscure parties such as the Apathy, the Looking Back, the New Mexico Prohibition, the Tish Independent Citizens, and the Vermont Taxpayers.

21 May 2008 Barack Obama Says Democratic Nomination "Within Reach"  Illinois Senator Barack Obama earned a majority of pledged delegates May 20, but this still leaves him about 370 delegates shy of securing the Democratic nomination.

08 May 2008 The Path to the 2008 Presidential Nomination  Arizona Senator John McCain has earned the 1,191 pledged delegates he needs to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee, but the race to amass a majority of delegates in the Democratic contest continues. McCain will not become the official Republican Party nominee until his party's delegates cast their votes at the Republican National Convention in September.

07 May 2008 Big Win in North Carolina Expands Obama's Lead  Primary voters in Indiana and North Carolina put Democrat Barack Obama closer to his party’s presidential nomination, despite a loss in the May 6 Indiana primary. With few nominating contests left and Obama's lead growing, political experts predict it will be difficult for Hillary Clinton to earn the nomination. 

23 April 2008 Clinton's Pennsylvania Win Extends Democrats' Nomination Race  After spending more than six weeks crisscrossing Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each claimed success in the state’s Democratic primary April 22. New York Senator Hillary Clinton won the most votes and a majority of Pennsylvania’s 158 pledged delegates, but she still trails Illinois Senator Barack Obama in the overall delegate count.

21 April 2008 Public Financing Helps Fuel U.S. Presidential Campaigns    When Americans file their annual income tax returns, they find this note near the top of the form: "Presidential Election Campaign: Check here if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, want $3 to go to this fund." Even though $3 is a small amount, the public financing system it supports could provide each of the presidential nominees with about $84 million in campaign funds.

14 April 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination Race Seen Ending by July 4    The race for the Democratic presidential nomination will probably end in June and certainly by America’s Independence Day on July 4, political analyst Larry Sabato tells America.gov.

14 April 2008 National Conventions Going Green  Although the 2008 Republican and Democratic national conventions are still months away, preparations to make them environmentally friendly are well under way.

11 April 2008 Campaigns for National Offices Often Rely on Outside Expertise  As Election Day approaches, U.S campaign organizations shift into high gear. Although most of the thousands of contested posts are in local government and lack full-time campaign staffs, larger campaigns have a number of paid staff positions and big budgets for advertising.

07 April 2008 Congressional Elections  Elections for the U.S. Congress can be as competitive and important as those for president. This is because of the central role that Congress plays in making laws. Unlike a parliamentary system where the chief executive comes from the parliament, the American system, as noted, separates the legislature and the presidency. Presidents and legislators are elected separately. Although a sitting president may propose laws to Congress, they have to be drafted in Congress by his allies within that institution, and must be passed by the Congress before being sent back to the president for his signature.

03 April 2008 “527” Committees Spend Millions on Political Discourse  No, "527" isn't the winning lottery number of the day -- though it might seem that way to some politicians. The number refers to a section of the U.S. Tax Code that governs a controversial method of financing political campaigns. It covers a category of tax-exempt political committees that avoid the limits on campaign financing imposed by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001 by steering clear of directly supporting or opposing candidates for office.

28 March 2008 Debate Continues About Presidential Candidate’s Speech on Race  Barack Obama has sparked debate ever since he declared himself a Democratic candidate for U.S. president. But his speech on race in America started a significant conversation among television pundits, op-ed writers, bloggers and average Americans that shows no sign of ending.

24 March 2008 Delegate System Aims to Give Nominating Power to the People  U.S. voters may cast ballots for a presidential nominee in a primary or caucus, but they do not select their parties’ nominees directly. That power is given to delegates -- appointed party representatives -- who cast votes at the national conventions held in the summer before the general election. The system of appointing delegates to select party nominees is complex and has been revised over decades to ensure fairness.

05 March 2008 John McCain Wins Enough Delegates To Become Republican Nominee  After Americans in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont voted in primaries March 4, Arizona Senator John McCain earned enough delegates to become the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

03 March 2008 NAFTA Under Attack from Presidential Candidates  The world's largest trading partnership is drawing considerable criticism from the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates, and President Bush, who has shied away from public involvement in the 2008 presidential campaign, recently weighed in on the debate.

21 February 2008 The Path to the 2008 Presidential Nomination  Candidates collect delegates toward their party nominations.

21 February 2008 2008 Republican Convention Will Be Second Held in Minneapolis  45,000 people are expected to come to Minnesota's "Twin Cities."

20 February 2008 Texas Enjoys Unexpected Attention in Presidential Primary Battle  San Antonio -- Voters in southwest Texas’s 23rd Congressional District are enjoying national attention as the "Lone Star State" suddenly has become relevant to this year’s presidential candidates. In most presidential election years, the major parties’ nominees are decided in other states, before Texans have the opportunity to vote. This year will be the first time since 1968 that the Texas primary, on March 4, plays a role in determining the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

20 February 2008 Turnout Mounts in U.S. Presidential Primaries  Conventional wisdom holds that presidential primaries and caucuses attract voters with high political motivation. Frequently, they are party activists or agenda-driven voters who stand on the left or right of the political spectrum. Not so in 2008. Voting turnout records are being broken in most states. States report that more people have registered to vote. Precincts have run out of ballots because of the unexpected rush. And the voters represent a broader constituency than usual.

13 February 2008 Barack Obama Sweeps Recent Presidential Primaries and Caucuses  After a week of winning every Democratic nominating contest across the country, Illinois Senator Barack Obama now has a slight lead in delegates in the close Democratic presidential nominee race.

07 February 2008 Secretary Rice Remarks With UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband at Kandahar Air Base

06 February 2008 No Presidential Nominees After 24 States Vote on Super Tuesday

04 February 2008 "Superdelegates" May Decide Democratic Nominee  Party leaders, elected officials can shape outcome of a close race.

01 February 2008 Presidential Candidates Gear Up for Toughest Challenge Yet ... Nearly 80 million registered voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote for a presidential nominee on February 5 -- the most ever on a single day in the history of primaries and caucuses.

31 January 2008 With Super Tuesday Nearing, Candidates Court New Mexico Voters  During the 2004 presidential primary, New Mexico was bustling with activity as Democrats competed in the state's nomination contest. But in the 2008 race, the political scene has been quiet – until now. Assuming the state would nominate its "favorite son," Governor Bill Richardson, other Democratic candidates opted to spend little time or money campaigning in New Mexico. When Richardson dropped out January 10, the door to New Mexico’s delegates was suddenly open.

30 January 2008 Pollster Discusses How Independent Voters Affect U.S. Politics  Pollster John Zogby is president and chief executive officer of Zogby International, a worldwide research and marketing firm based in Utica, New York, and doing business in more than 70 countries. In the presidential races of 1996, 2000 and 2004, Zogby correctly identified the winners -- something no other major American pollster was able to do. Much of Zogby's polling is conducted using live telephone operators, but over the past decade he has developed an interactive polling methodology that has become extraordinarily accurate.

29 January 2008 Prospect of Dynasties Not Swaying U.S. 2008 Presidential Vote  American voters seen unconcerned by the prospect of "political dynasties" maintaining their hold on the White House, several political analysts and pollsters tell America.gov. Juan Williams, senior correspondent for National Public Radio, says public opinion polls show that "voters don't really care very much" that, since 1989, either a Clinton or a Bush has been the nation's chief executive. If Hillary Clinton wins the 2008 presidential election and serves a four-year term ending in January 2013, the U.S. government will have been headed by members of just two families for 24 years.

29 January 2008 The New Evangelical Agenda  Evangelical Christians remain politically conservative, but many are ranking civil society issues higher than the issues that topped their agenda in the 2004 elections, according to a poll conducted by Beliefnet. The Web site, an independent publication about spirituality and world religions, polled 980 self-described evangelical Christians about the political issues that most concern them. Stereotypes were shattered when 85 percent placed the economy and cleaning up corruption in government at the top of their lists, closely followed by reducing poverty. Some 78 percent wanted improved public education and health care, 68 percent were against torture. Approximately 68 percent wanted to end the Iraq war, while 46 percent wanted to win the war.

22 January 2008 Republican Convention Delegates To Experience Two Cities  When the Republican Party gathers in Minnesota's "Twin Cities" metropolitan area September 1-4 for its 39th presidential nominating convention, delegates will have the opportunity to experience both of the state's two largest cities.

18 January 2008 Barack Obama’s U.S. Presidential Bid Bridges Racial Divisions  The candidacy of Barack Obama for U.S. president is galvanizing the American people, several students of the U.S. political scene tell America.gov. With his stirring oratory sparking "Obamamania," the Illinois Democratic senator connects to people of all different racial and ethnic backgrounds, said William Jelani Cobb, associate professor of history at Spelman College in Georgia.

16 January 2008 Local and National Issues Vie for Oregon Voters' Attention  A late speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill, once said, "All politics is local," implying that Americans vote for congressional representatives based on local concerns rather than national issues. Politics in the United States is decentralized and political parties generally are unable to impose a uniform agenda on the country’s diverse voting districts.

16 January 2008 Minnesota Voters Focused on Immigration, Iraq  The war in Iraq and immigration top the list of issues expected to influence voters of Minnesota's 1st Congressional District heading into November’s presidential and congressional elections, according to a former district congressman.

09 January 2008 Hillary Clinton, John McCain Score Victories in New Hampshire  New Hampshire voters showed up in record numbers and surprised many by casting their ballots for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary January 8. Despite nearly every poll predicting a Clinton loss and media reports of her campaign staff in disarray, the New York senator won the Democratic presidential primary by about two percentage points over Illinois Senator Barack

07 January 2008 Presidential Candidates Make Their Case to New Hampshire Voters  With the Iowa caucuses behind them, most of the presidential candidates are now in New Hampshire appealing to voters before the state’s primary on January 8. December's record-setting snowfall did not keep campaign volunteers from covering street corners with signs large and small encouraging New Hampshire residents to vote for their candidates.

04 January 2008 Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama Win First 2008 Election Races  Nearly a year after the 2008 U.S. presidential race began, Republican Mike Huckabee and Democrat Barack Obama are the first campaign victors after winning the Iowa caucuses January 3.