PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTION

2008

Parties

Republica

ns

Democrat

s

The Candidates

John McCain (Running

President)

Facts

• John Sidney McCain III born August 29, 1936 is the senior United

States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican presidential nominee in the2008

United States election.

• McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United

States Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval

aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he

was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. In October 1967, while on a bombing

mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North

Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. McCain experienced episodes

of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds left

him with lifelong physical limitations.

• He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered

politics. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, he served two terms, and

was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily four times, most

recently in 2010. McCain is also known for his work towards restoring diplomatic relations

with Vietnam in the 1990s, and for his belief that the war in Iraq should be fought to a

successful conclusion. McCain has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, opposed

spending that he considered to be pork barrel, and played a key role in alleviating a crisis

over judicial nominations.

• McCain ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 but lost a heated primary

season contest to George W. Bush. He secured the nomination in 2008 after coming

back from early reversals

Sarah Palin (Running Vice

President)

Facts

• Sarah Louise Palin born February 11, 1964, is an American

politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party

nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she

was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first

Republican woman nominated for the vice presidency.

• She was elected to Wasilla City Council in 1992 and became mayor

of Wasilla in 1996. In 2003, after an unsuccessful run for lieutenant

governor, she was appointed Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas

Conservation Commission, responsible for overseeing the state's oil

and gas fields for safety and efficiency. The youngest person and

first woman to be elected Governor of Alaska, Palin held the office

from December 2006 until her resignation in July 2009

Barack Obama (Running

President)

Facts

Born August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School.

He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.

Several events earned Obama national attention during his campaign to represent the State of Illinois in the United States Senate in 2004, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won the Senate election in November 2004, serving until his resignation following his 2008 presidential election victory.

His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close race in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination.

Joe Biden (Running Vice

President)

Facts

Joseph Biden born November 20 1942

He is a member of the Democratic Party and was a United States Senator from

Delaware from January 3, 1973 until his resignation on January 15, 2009, following

his election to the Vice Presidency.

Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and lived there for ten years before

moving to Delaware. He became an attorney in 1969, and was elected to a county

council in 1970. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 and became the sixth-

youngest senator in U.S. history. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, was

the fourth most senior senator at the time of his resignation, and is the 15th-longest

serving Senator in history. Biden was a long-time member and former chairman of

the Foreign Relations Committee. His strong advocacy helped bring about U.S.

military assistance and intervention during the Bosnian War. He opposed the Gulf

War in 1991. He voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, but later proposed

resolutions to alter U.S. strategy there. He has also served as chairman of

the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime

prevention, and civil liberties, and led creation of the Violent Crime Control and Law

Enforcement Act and Violence Against Women Act. He chaired the Judiciary

Committee during the contentious U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Robert

Bork and Clarence Thomas.

Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in

1988 and 2008, both times dropping out early in the race.

THE RACE

Change

From the beginning of the campaigns it was most likely that the USA would break its

220 year old tradition of only electing white men as its president

Republican President George W Bush had been a lame duck President for some

time and his popularity ratings were at rock bottom. The Republican party itself

wasn't doing much better

A series of scandals, allied to an unpopular war and a failing economy, made most

American voters look for change

Change was what the Democratic candidate was offering.

Obama had the “wow” factor. He excited people. He could communicate. He offered

change but also unity. He was intelligent

Lame Duck = Applied to politicians who are known to be in their

final term of office, when colleagues and electors look toward a

successor. It is also sometimes used to describe office-holders

who have lost an election but have not yet left office.

Personality Politics

Personality means a lot in Presidential elections

McCain’s age was a major issue. At 71, if he was elected, he was only ever going t

serve one term as president

So, there was a belief that he may become a lame duck straight away, especially if

the Democrats kept their majority in Congress in the other elections which were

taking place in November 2008.

McCain did however try to counter the age issue by appointing a young, glamorous

Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator Sarah Palin

But, Palin was inexperienced and appeared to be woefully ignorant of certain issues,

especially foreign policies. Voters feared that if McCain died on the job (and lets be

honest, the stress of being an American President in war time can take its toll on

anyone) Sarah Palin might not be who they wanted running the country

McCain was forced on the Defensive

As Obama became increasingly popular, abroad, as well as at home, McCain went

negative, attacking Obama’s personality rather than promoting his own.

OBAMA WON THE ELECTION

On Tuesday 4th November Barack Obama

became the President of The United States.

The events of that day will live with everyone

who remember the dark days of racial

intolerance in American politics and society.

Why did Obama win?

The Votes

The 2008 election saw the highest turnout

(61.6%) since 1968

Obama won 66,882,230 (53%) to McCain's

58,343,671 (46%). 1% of American voters voted

for other, minor, candidates.

Obama won on both the popular vote and the

EVCs

Obama won Virginia, the first time since that state

had voted for a Democrat candidate since Lyndon

Johnson in 1964. he also won the Republican

state Indiana. However the Deep South remained

Republican

Who voted for who?

Gender

The Republicans tend to do better among

America’s males

Obama won both male and female voters

Age

Obama’s youthful image and vision appealed more to younger voters. 66% of voters under 30 voter for Obama

McCain's pitch as a war hero standing up for America against the so-called “celebrity” of Obama appealed to more conservative, older voters.

35% of America’s voters are 65 and over.

The “grey vote” in American elections is crucial

Obama ate into McCain’s grey support base by his claim that McCain would cut Medicare, the health-care programme for the elderly.

Race

Predictably, Obama won a landslide of black vote (96%)

Obama was clear from the start that he was not a “black candidate”. He represented himself as being above the racial divides of America, a black man white voters need not be afraid of, who would not favor or fear any racial group.

McCain won most of the white voters

Obama won the majority of Hispanic, Asian and “other” minorities

Obama won significantly more white votes than either John Kerry did in 2004 or AL Gore did in 2000

Income groups

Americans like to deny the existence of social class.

Unlike British voter, Americans are reluctant to place themselves in social classes, but that does not mean American is an equal, classless society. There are clear income groups in the USA

Traditionally, the Republicans, due to their tax cutting agenda, have always fared better among richer voters.

McCain won the majority (just) of the richest Americans

The poorer the voters were, the more they voted for Obama

Religion

George W Bush’s election “victories” were based on Republican strategist Karl Rove’s “Guns, God and Gays” campaign.

So long as the majority of gun loving, God fearing, gay wary white Americans turned out to vote, the Republicans would win the White House

This time though, following on from the pummeling the Republicans received in the 2006 mid-term elections, Americans majority Christian voters were not energized by these issues

Obama won the votes of 45% of America’s Protestants

Obama won the majority of Catholic voters and the overwhelmingly majority of Jewish vote

The Campaign

Obama overwhelmingly won the campaign

Nationally, 26% of voters said they had been phoned or canvassed by the Obama team, compared to the 19% of those who had been contacted by McCain's team

Obama’s team had more money than McCain’s. But it was how it was raised that was important

Obama had his big backers, but he also encouraged and took in money from ordinary Americans.

Money is evidence of voter support. If someone gives money to a politician they are surely more likely to vote for them

John McCain, not the strongest of Republican candidates, still on nearly half of the votes cast

There is goodwill towards President Obama and Americans, traditionally, unite behind their President, whatever his politics