Presidential Election 2008

The 2008 Presidential Election was historic before the Presidential Election of 2004 was even over, or barely started.  Like in 1956 at the Democratic National Convention introduced an unknown junior Senator from Massachusetts named John F. Kennedy, the 2004 Democratic Party which should have been John Kerry's convention turned out to be a practice run for State Senator Barack Obama, D-IL.

By 2006 though, the American people were tired of total Republican Party rule in government and decided to go another course and give the Democratic Party total control of Congress in the last two years of the George W. Bush administration.  For the first time in history, the House of Representatives would have a female Speaker of the House named Nancy Pelosi.  Other highlights were the re-election of Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Ohio voted out Senator Mike DeWine in favor of Representative Sherrod Brown, D-OH13, Massachusetts continued the Kennedy tradition by re-electing Senator Ted Kennedy in his ninth Senate campaign.  And Iowa, after eight years of a Democratic governor in Tom Vilsack sent another Democrat to Terrace Hill.  2006 was looking like a great springboard for the Democratic Party to take the White House in 2008.

Because of the the strong showing of Chet Culver in the Iowa gubernatorial race in 2006, Governor Vilsack saw this as the opportunity to hit the ground first to mount a presidential campaign.  Thanks to the 1976 Supreme Court decision in Buckley vs Valeo and the 1978 Supreme Court decision in First National Bank of Boston vs Bellotti he would need to start a campaign early to raise the money to go up against two high profile candidates in Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama plus well known senators like Joe Biden, John Edwards, and Chris Dodd.  Representative Dennis Kucinich was back after 2004, and Bill Richardson, the Former Secretary of Energy and Former UN Ambassador under Bill Clinton was running.  Tom Vilsack was the ultimate outsider in this campaign.

But as Hillary Clinton announced her intentions to run in January 2007 and Barack Obama made his candidacy official in February 2007; Tom Vilsack would be the first candidate to drop out of the race on February 23, 2007 citing the issue of money in politics.  Three months later he would return offering his endorsement to Senator Clinton.

As for the Republican Party, Vice President Cheney was not running to succeed President Bush so the field for the GOP was wide open.  The top three were Senator John McCain of Arizona, Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, and Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.  However, it seemed like a rerun of the Presidential Election of 1996 where the nomination went to Senator Bob Dole because it was his turn.  That is how it seemed with Senator McCain given his respectable showing in the 2000 Primaries in the Presidential Election of 2000.

By the time of the Iowa Caucuses in January 2008, the Clinton campaign seemed confident that with Vilsack's endorsement and their political machine they could sail through an easy win.  Nope, not only did Hillary Clinton not win the Iowa Caucus, she didn't even come in second.  She came in third behind Barack Obama and John Edwards.  Joe Biden did so terribly that he dropped out of the campaign to focus on his work in the United States Senate.  As for the Republicans, Mike Huckabee would win the Iowa Caucus.  The victory would be short lived as John McCain sailed easily through the Primaries earning enough delegates early to become the Presumptive Nominee for the Republican Party.  It was now time for (Hillary) Clinton and Obama to duke it out to the latest most possible point before the Nominating Conventions.

As winter turned into spring, the primaries were a seesaw of wins for the two Democrats.  Reminding the Kennedys of their brother and father; John F. Kennedy and as the ultimate insult to the Clinton campaign, the Kennedy family threw their endorsement to Senator Obama.  Shortly after that announcement, Senator Ted Kennedy announced that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma (brain cancer).

By June 2008, it was pretty apparent that Hillary Clinton was not going to win the nomination and so she suspended her campaign throwing her support to her chief rival going into the convention.  This gesture led many political “experts” and pundits to wonder if she was angling for the vice presidency.

After weeks of speculation on who Senator Obama would pick as his running mate the answer came just before the Convention.  To balance the ticket he would choose Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.  It was almost reminiscent of 1960 where the younger John F. Kennedy picked the legislative genius of Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate.  The only difference was that Obama and Biden were not at odds personally like JFK and LBJ.

The Democratic Party's convention seemed to usher in a new era of leadership and change, much like it had done in 1960 and 1992.  However, it was also a chance for the Party to say good-bye to their Lion of the Senate, a true compass if you will as Ted Kennedy addressed the delegates, the Democratic Party, and the American people one last time.  He would succumb to his illness exactly one year to the day of that final speech.

As for John McCain, in keeping with tradition of not making news during the Democratic National Convention he waited until August 29th to announce his choice for a running mate.  And oh boy, did he surprise the Republican Party electorate and the American people by naming Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.  McCain later regretted this decision saying how he wanted to name Democratic Senator and 2000 Vice Presidential Nominee Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate.  It would be the first time since 1864 when a Presidential Nominee of one political party named a Vice Presidential Nominee of another political party.

As the fall campaign progressed, the United States had witnessed one of the worst economic meltdowns in history and the worst since the 1929 stock market crash under Herbert Hoover.  John McCain suspended his campaign temporarily and George W. Bush had the two nominees take part in White House talks on how to save the economy.

In the end, the American people decided to go with a change and elect Barack Obama president of the United States.  This was the first time that an African-American would be going to the White House.  Norma Wyles, who was 80 years old and had grown up in 1940s Massillon, Ohio in a Catholic family was so proud that she had to call her grandson during Obama's Victory Speech to say how proud she was of her country that night and that she lived to see it happen.

Trying to model his presidency like that of Abraham Lincoln, President-elect Obama wanted an administration filled with a team of rivals.  He already picked Joe Biden as his Vice President.  He went to Former Governor Tom Vilsack as his Secretary of Agriculture, and realizing the much more seriousness of the economy he needed a well known American who was respected around the world to handle foreign affairs.  Joe Biden would have been a great choice for Secretary of State with his credentials on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Chairman but his duties were meant for something else.  Barack Obama turned to his chief rival and asked Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State.

The Presidential Election of 2008 seemed like the most American of campaigns.  We were always taught that in the United States, as long as you met the Constitutional requirements anyone could be president.  The 2008 Election saw an orphan briefly run, a woman ran for president and vice president, a POW was able to run, and an African-American was ultimately elected president.

See also:

• Presidential Election 1940
• Presidential Election 1944
• Presidential Election 1948
• Presidential Election 1952
• Presidential Election 1956
• Presidential Election 1960
• Presidential Election 1964
• Presidential Election 1968
• Presidential Election 1972
• Presidential Election 1976
• Presidential Election 1980
• Presidential Election 1984
• Presidential Election 1988
• Presidential Election 1992
• Presidential Election 1996
• Presidential Election 2000
• Presidential Election 2004
• Presidential Election 2008
• Presidential Election 2012
• Presidential Election 2016
• Presidential Election 2020