2008 elections in the United States

Presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial elections held November 4, 2008

In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain to become the first African American president of the United States. Democrats solidified their majority in the House of Representatives and attained a substantial majority in the Senate.

As President George W. Bush’s second term in office approached its end, candidates from both major political parties struggled with the legacy of his administration. Military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, begun during Bush’s first term, continued into the 2008 election season, and the recession that had begun in late 2007 brought economic issues to the forefront. Democratic politicians largely distanced themselves from Bush and his policies, while Republicans were at times split on whether to stand by the sitting president. The issues of foreign policy and the economy, as well as many Americans’ desire for a significant change in leadership, proved crucial to both the presidential election of 2008 as well as the congressional and gubernatorial elections of that year.

Presidential Campaign

Due to the “front-loading” of the primary calendar, candidates began campaigning around Thanksgiving 2007. For the Democrats, the Iowa Caucus, held on January 3, was a major blow to New York senator Hillary Clinton, who had been the presumptive nominee through the end of 2007. Clinton came in third in the race, with North Carolina senator John Edwards, who had been Senator John Kerry’s running mate in the previous presidential election, taking second place. Illinois freshman senator Barack Obama defeated both Clinton and Edwards by a large margin. As the Democratic primary progressed, Clinton and Obama emerged as fierce competitors for the nomination. Despite the enormous pressure put on Clinton to withdraw from the race, she did not concede until June 7, several days after Obama officially clinched the nomination on June 3. After garnering the nomination, Obama selected Senator Joe Biden, who had also run in the primaries and was known for his foreign policy expertise, as his running mate.

Presidential Election Results

Source: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

Among Republicans, the field included longtime Arizona senator and across-the-aisle favorite John McCain, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, among others. In another surprise finish—Giuliani had been the early favorite—Huckabee won Iowa in January. McCain, the eventual nominee, made a comeback in the polls after winning New Hampshire later that month. He won enough delegates to assure his nomination after winning the primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont on March 4.

McCain, who had also been a contender in the 2000 primary, seemed a solid choice among Republicans. A veteran of the Vietnam War who had spent several years in captivity, McCain boasted years of experience in the Senate and was widely respected and seen as an honorable politician by members of both parties. Though he was never mistaken for a Democrat, during his long tenure in the Senate McCain made an effort to reach across the aisle on issues ranging from campaign finance reform to global warming. However, the political climate of the 2008 election was not amenable to moderation, and McCain often seemed at war with his familiar persona and the new ultraconservative rhetoric. Seeking to rally the party, McCain hired staffers who had worked on the same Bush campaign that had smeared him in 2000 while calling himself a party “maverick,” and his campaign exploited wedge issues such as gun control and abortion. McCain solidified his new brand of conservatism when he chose the little-known Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. The first woman to run on a national Republican ticket, Palin had a folksy manner of speaking that appealed to the party’s base in ways that McCain did not, and she garnered a large fan base. Her lack of experience was apparent, however, and many of her statements to the press were detrimental to the McCain campaign’s credibility among voters.

The Internet and the Financial Crisis

Although the McCain campaign used the Internet to connect with voters and express its messages, the Obama campaign was far more adept at harnessing that forum to win votes. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who ran in the 2004 Democratic primary, had been the first major candidate to raise money by asking supporters for small donations via the Internet. The Obama campaign improved upon this strategy and used it to great effect. Obama and his team were able to utilize forums such as YouTube for free advertising, and social media websites such as Facebook brought Obama closer to young voters, a vast majority of whom threw their support behind him. Signaling a growing trend, the Pew Research Center reported that more people had gone online to get political and campaign news as of June 2008 than during the entire 2004 election.

Despite Obama’s popularity, the race was still considered fairly close until September, when the financial crisis took both candidates—and the electorate—by surprise. Although politicians, and the public to an extent, had been aware of the ongoing economic downturn, the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, one of the largest in the country, in September of 2008 triggered a financial meltdown that became the focus of significant public and media attention. At the end of the month, McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to focus on the crisis, while the Obama campaign took a more measured approach.

Unlike in the two presidential elections prior, voting on election day 2008 was a relatively smooth process throughout the United States. Voter turnout was the highest it had been since 1968. Official election results reported that Obama received 365 electoral votes and 53 percent of the popular vote with 69,498,516 votes, while McCain received 173 electoral votes and 46 percent of the popular vote with 59,948,323 votes. Obama ultimately bested George W. Bush’s 2004 record, receiving the highest number of votes in history.

Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections

Democrats made significant gains in the House of Representatives, increasing the party’s majority by twenty-one seats. The Democratic Party achieved a near supermajority in the Senate, holding a total of fifty-seven seats to the Republican Party’s forty-one; the additional two seats were held by independent senators who caucused with the Democrats. In one particularly contested Senate race, Democrat Al Franken defeated incumbent Minnesota senator Norm Coleman by a fraction of a percent following a mandatory recount. While most states holding gubernatorial elections either reelected the incumbent or elected a governor belonging to the same party as the previous one, the governorship of Missouri switched parties following the retirement of Republican governor Matt Blunt and the election of Democrat Jay Nixon.

Impact

The 2008 elections had a significant effect on the ways in which political candidates mobilized and connected with their supporters. Obama’s use of the Internet, as well as his efforts to reach younger voters, allowed him to develop a strong base of supporters that would enable him to succeed in his bid for reelection in 2012.

Bibliography

Cain Miller, Claire. “How Obama’s Internet Campaign Changed Politics.” New York Times. New York Times, 7 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Discusses the ways in which the Obama campaign’s use of the Internet changed the way political campaigns are handled.

Grann, David. “The Fall: John McCain’s Choices.” New Yorker. New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Explores the reasons for McCain’s defeat in the 2008 election, focusing in particular on his turn toward right-wing rhetoric.

Heilemann, John, and Mark Halperin. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Pain, and the Race of a Lifetime. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. Print. Provides an up-close look at the 2008 election based on hundreds of interviews conducted in 2008 and 2009.

Magleby, David B., and Anthony Corrado, eds. Financing the 2008 Election: Assessing Reform. Washington: Brookings Inst., 2011. Print. Compiles essays focusing on the issue of campaign finance in the 2008 election, in particular discussing campaign finance reform.

McKinney, Mitchell S., and Mary C. Banwart, eds. Communication in the 2008 US Election: Digital Natives Elect a President. New York: Lang, 2011. Print. Collects essays discussing digital communication strategies, including fundraising and advertising initiatives, during the 2008 election.

Prah, Pamela M. “Will States Fix the 2012 Primary Process?” Stateline. Pew Center on the States, 6 May 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Discusses the effect of the front-loading of the primaries.

Rainie, Lee and Aaron Smith. “The Internet and the 2008 Election.” Pew Internet. Pew Research Center, 15 Jun. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. Reports on record Internet usage by candidates even before the general election was underway.