2008 United States presidential election

The 2008 United States presidential election happened on November 4, 2008. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate and junior U.S. Senator from Illinois, won the election. He defeated John McCain, the Republican candidate, who was the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama's victory in this election made him the first African-American president.

2008 United States presidential election

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
All 538 electoral votes of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	58.2%[1] 1.5 pp
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Arizona Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin Electoral vote 365 173 States carried 28 + DC + NE-02 22 Popular vote 69,498,516 59,948,323 Percentage 52.9% 45.7%
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes those won by Obama/Biden, red denotes states won by McCain/Palin. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush was not eligible to serve a third term by law. McCain secured the Republican nomination by March 2008, defeating former governors Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and other challengers. Obama secured the Democratic nomination in June 2008, after facing strong competition against former First Lady and Senator from New York Hillary Clinton. Clinton's victory in the New Hampshire primary made her the first woman to win a major party's presidential primary.

Obama won a decisive victory over McCain. He won states that had not voted for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 (Indiana and Virginia) and 1976 (North Carolina). Obama won nine states that had voted Republican in 2004: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, as well as Nebraska's 2nd congressional district. He received the largest share of the popular vote won by a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and was the first Democrat to win an outright majority of the popular vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Obama won 69.5 million votes, the most ever won by a presidential candidate; this total would be surpassed in 2020 by both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Background

Article Two of the United States Constitution provides that for a person to be elected and serve as President of the United States, the individual must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for a period of no less than 14 years.

Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various political parties of the United States, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf.

President George W. Bush was unable to seek re-election for a third term because of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that a president may only serve up to two terms. His term as president ended at noon eastern standard time on January 20, 2009.

Democratic Primaries

The candidates running for the nomination of the Democratic Party were Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Chris Dodd, and Bill Richardson.

The main contest during the Democratic primaries was between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, which was a very close race. Clinton won the popular vote, but ultimately Obama won more unpledged delegates and therefore the nomination.

All candidates except Mike Gravel, who switched to the Libertarian Party during the election, supported Barack Obama.

Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as the vice-presidential candidate on August 23, 2008.

Nominees

Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party Ticket, 2008
Barack Obama	Joe Biden
for President	for Vice President
U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005–incumbent)	U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973–incumbent)
Campaign

Withdrawn candidates

• Hillary Clinton, retired lawyer and wife of Bill Clinton
• John Edwards, retired U.S. Senator from North Carolina (withdrew on January 30, 2008, and endorsed Barack Obama)
• Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico (withdrew on January 10, 2008, and endorsed Barack Obama)
• Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative from Ohio (withdrew on January 24, 2008, and endorsed Barack Obama)
• Joe Biden, U.S. Senator from Delaware (withdrew on January 3, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
• Mike Gravel, former U.S. Senator from Alaska (withdrew on March 25, 2008, to run for the Libertarian Party nomination. After losing the nomination, he endorsed Jesse Johnson)
• Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (withdrew on January 3, 2008, and endorsed Barack Obama)
• Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator from Indiana (withdrew on December 15, 2006, and endorsed Hillary Clinton. He later endorsed Barack Obama)
• Tom Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa (withdrew on February 23, 2007, and endorsed Hillary Clinton. He later endorsed Barack Obama)

• 
  Senator
  Hillary Rodham Clinton
  of New York
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on June 7, 2008)
• 
  Former Senator
  John Edwards
  of North Carolina
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 30, 2008)
• 
  Governor
  Bill Richardson
  of New Mexico
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 10, 2008)
• 
  Senator
  Joe Biden
  of Delaware
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 3, 2008, became Vice Presidential nominee)
• 
  Former Senator
  Mike Gravel
  of Alaska
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on March 25, 2008)
• 
  Senator
  Christopher Dodd
  of Connecticut
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 3, 2008)
• 
  Senator
  Evan Bayh
  of Indiana
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on December 15, 2006)
• 
  Former Governor
  Tom Vilsack
  of Iowa
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on February 23, 2007)

Republican Primaries

The candidates running for the nomination of the Republican Party were John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Tom Tancredo, Alan Keyes, Jim Gilmore, Sam Brownback, and Duncan Hunter.

Republican President George W. Bush was unable to run for re-election since a president is only able to be elected twice. Vice president Dick Cheney chose not to run.

Most of the candidates withdrew early. As a result, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney emerged as the three people most likely to win the nomination. Ron Paul became popular among libertarians.

John McCain was nominated by the Republican Party (by a decisive victory).

He chose Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential candidate.

Nominees

Republican Party (United States) Republican Party Ticket, 2008
John McCain	Sarah Palin
for President	for Vice President
U.S. Senator from Arizona (1987–2018)	9th Governor of Alaska (2006–2009)
Campaign

Withdrawn candidates

• Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts (withdrew on February 7, 2008, and endorsed John McCain)
• Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas (withdrew on March 4, 2008, and endorsed John McCain)
• Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Texas (withdrew on June 12, 2008, and endorsed Chuck Baldwin)
• Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City (withdrew on January 30, 2008, and endorsed John McCain)
• Fred Thompson, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee (withdrew on January 22, 2008, and endorsed John McCain)
• Alan Keyes, former U.S. ECOSOC Ambassador from Maryland (withdrew on April 15, 2008, to run for the Constitution Party nomination. After losing that nomination, he ran as the America's Independent Party nominee.)
• Duncan Hunter, U.S. Representative from California (withdrew on January 19, 2008, and endorsed Mike Huckabee. He later endorsed John McCain)
• Tom Tancredo, U.S. Representative from Colorado (withdrew on December 20, 2007, and endorsed Mitt Romney. He later endorsed John McCain)
• Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator from Kansas (withdrew on October 18, 2007, and endorsed John McCain)
• Tommy Thompson, former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (withdrew on August 12, 2007, and endorsed Rudy Giuliani. He later endorsed John McCain)
• Jim Gilmore, former Governor of Virginia (withdrew on July 14, 2007, and endorsed John McCain)

• 
  Former Governor
  Mitt Romney
  of Massachusetts
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on February 7, 2008)
• 
  Former Governor
  Mike Huckabee
  of Arkansas
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on March 4, 2008)
• 
  Representative
  Ron Paul
  of Texas
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on June 12, 2008)
• 
  Former NYC Mayor
  Rudy Giuliani,
  of New York
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 30, 2008)
• 
  Former Senator
  Fred Thompson
  of Tennessee
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 22, 2008)
• 
  Former U.S. ECOSOC Ambassador
  Alan Keyes,
  of Maryland
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on April 15, 2008)
• 
  Representative
  Duncan Hunter
  from California
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on January 19, 2008)
• 
  Representative
  Tom Tancredo
  of Colorado
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on December 20, 2007)
• 
  Senator
  Sam Brownback
  of Kansas
  (Withdrew on October 18, 2007)
• 
  Former Governor
  Jim Gilmore
  of Virginia
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on July 14, 2007)
• 
  Former HHS Secretary
  Tommy Thompson,
  of Wisconsin
  (campaign)
  (Withdrew on August 12, 2007)

The Campaign

The biggest issue during the campaign was the bad economy. Other issues included health care, the Iraq War, the war on terrorism, and energy independence.

The president during the election, George W. Bush (who eventually supported John McCain), was very unpopular due to the 2007-09 Great Recession, and because of that, the Obama campaign compared McCain to Bush several times.

There were four television debates during the campaign: three of them were between the two presidential candidates, and one of them was between the two vice-presidential candidates.

Results

Candidate	Votes	%	States led	National ECV
Barack Obama (Democrat)	69,498,516	52.9%	28+DC+NE-02*	365
John McCain (Republican)	59,948,323	45.7%	22	173
Ralph Nader (Independent)	739,034	0.56%	0	0
Bob Barr (Libertarian)	523,715	0.40%	0	0
Chuck Baldwin (Constitution)	199,750	0.15%	0	0
Cynthia McKinney (Green)	161,797	0.12%	0	0
Alan Keyes (Independent)	47,746	0.04%	0	0
Roger Calero (Socialist Workers)	7,575	0.01%	0	0
Gloria La Riva (Socialism and Liberation)	6,808	0.01%	0	0
Brian Moore (USA Socialist)	6,528	0.01%	0	0
Charles Jay (Boston Tea)	2,422	0.00%	0	0
Frank McCenulty (New American Independent)	828	0.00%	0	0
Tom Stevens (Objectivist)	755	0.00%	0	0
Gene Amondson (Prohibition)	653	0.00%	0	0
Ted Weill (Reform)	481	0.00%	0	0
Total	131,313,820	100.00%	50 + DC	538

*NE-02 is Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District.

Results by state

State	Obama Popular Vote	Obama %	McCain Popular Vote	McCain %	Electoral Vote
Alabama	813,479	38.74%	1,266,546	60.32%	9
Alaska	123,594	37.89%	193,841	59.42%	3
Arizona	1,034,707	45.12%	1,230,111	53.64%	10
Arkansas	422,310	38.86%	638,017	58.72%	6
California	8,274,473	61.01%	5,011,781	36.95%	55
Colorado	1,288,633	53.66%	1,073,629	44.71%	9
Connecticut	997,772	60.59%	629,428	38.22%	7
Delaware	255,429	61.94%	152,374	36.95%	3
District of Columbia	245,800	92.46%	17,367	6.53%	3
Florida	4,282,074	51.03%	4,045,624	48.22%	27
Georgia	1,844,123	46.99%	2,048,759	52.20%	15
Hawaii	325,871	71.85%	120,566	26.58%	4
Idaho	236,440	36.09%	403,012	61.52%	4
Illinois	3,419,308	61.92%	2,031,179	36.78%	21
Indiana	1,374,039	49.95%	1,345,648	48.91%	11
Iowa	828,940	53.93%	682,379	44.39%	7
Kansas	514,765	41.95%	699,655	56.61%	6
Kentucky	751,985	41.17%	1,048,462	57.40%	8
Louisiana	782,989	39.93%	1,148,275	58.56%	9
Maine	421,923	57.71%	295,273	40.38%	4
Maryland	1,629,467	61.92%	959,862	36.47%	10
Massachusetts	1,904,097	61.80%	1,108,854	35.99%	12
Michigan	2,872,579	57.43%	2,048,639	40.96%	17
Minnesota	1,573,354	54.06%	1,275,409	43.82%	10
Mississippi	554,662	43.00%	724,597	56.18%	6
Missouri	1,441,911	49.29%	1,445,814	49.43%	11
Montana	231,667	47.25%	242,763	49.51%	3
Nebraska	333,319	41.60%	452,479	56.53%	5**
Nevada	533,736	55.15%	412,827	42.65%	5
New Hampshire	384,826	54.13%	316,534	44.52%	4
New Jersey	2,215,422	57.27%	1,613,207	41.70%	15
New Mexico	472,422	56.91%	346,832	41.78%	5
New York	4,804,945	62.88%	2,752,771	36.03%	31
North Carolina	2,142,651	49.70%	2,128,474	49.38%	15
North Dakota	141,278	44.62%	168,601	53.25%	3
Ohio	2,940,044	51.50%	2,677,820	46.91%	20
Oklahoma	502,496	34.35%	960,165	65.65%	7
Oregon	1,037,291	56.75%	738,475	40.40%	7
Pennsylvania	3,276,363	54.49%	2,655,885	44.17%	21
Rhode Island	296,571	62.86%	165,391	35.06%	4
South Carolina	862,449	44.90%	1,034,896	53.87%	8
South Dakota	170,924	44.75%	203,054	53.16%	3
Tennessee	1,087,437	41.83%	1,479,178	56.90%	11
Texas	3,528,633	43.68%	4,479,328	55.45%	34
Utah	327,670	34.41%	596,030	62.58%	5
Vermont	219,262	67.46%	98,974	30.45%	3
Virginia	1,959,532	52.63%	1,725,005	46.33%	13
Washington	1,750,848	57.65%	1,229,216	40.48%	11
West Virginia	303,857	42.59%	397,466	55.71%	5
Wisconsin	1,677,211	56.22%	1,262,393	42.31%	10
Wyoming	82,868	32.54%	164,958	64.78%	3

**Nebraska cast 4 ECVs for McCain and 1 for Obama.

Related pages

• Joe the Plumber, political activist and stereotype