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Line 1: − Give up, TerryH et all, OBAMA WON![Collapse] Wikipedia relies on your donations: please give today. + − $1,997,826 Our Goal: $6 million Donate Now » − − Wikipedia:Redirect − From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia − (Redirected from Wikipedia:R) − Jump to: navigation, search − This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. Shortcuts: − WP:R − WP:RDR − WP:REDIRECT − − "WP:REDIRECT" redirects here. For general info and coordination guidelines for all Wikimedia projects on creating redirects see Help:Redirect. + − Contents [hide] − 1 How to make a redirect (redirect command) − 1.1 Redirects to page sections − 1.2 Undesirable redirects − 1.2.1 Double redirects − 1.2.2 Self-redirect − 1.2.3 Shortcuts within article space − 1.3 Creating new redirects − 1.4 Redirect or rename? − 1.5 Categories for redirect pages − 2 Navigating redirects − − 3.1 Spellings, misspellings, tenses and capitalisations − − 3.3 Miscellaneous and administrative redirects − 3.4 Avoiding broken links on merges − 4 When should we delete a redirect? − 4.1 Reasons for deleting − 4.2 Reasons for not deleting − 4.2.1 Neutrality of redirects − 5 What needs to be done on pages that are targets of redirects? − 6 Self-links, duplicate links − 7 Do not "fix" links to redirects that are not broken − 8 Redirecting non-articles − 8.1 Template redirects − 8.2 Category redirects − 9 See also − + − + − To redirect page A (the redirecting page) to a different page B (the target page), enter the following redirecting command at the top of the redirecting page.+ − #REDIRECT [[NAME OF PAGE B]]+ − For example, to redirect the Cambridge University page (redirecting page) to the University of Cambridge page (target page), edit the Cambridge University page and enter:+ − #REDIRECT [[University of Cambridge]]+ − --------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ − You can and should also give a reason for a redirect:+ − #REDIRECT [[University of Cambridge]] {{R from alternative name}}+ − See below for an incomplete list of possible reasons. − A redirect to a non-existent section – perhaps due to a misspelling or name change – will simply lead to the top of the target article.+ + − [edit] Redirects to page sections+ − You can also redirect to page sections within an article. See Meta:Help:Redirect#A redirect to an anchor: − #REDIRECT [[University of Cambridge#History]]{{R from alternative name}}{{R to section}}+ − Consider that when the target page is displayed, it is likely that the top of the page will not be shown, so the user may not see the helpful "(redirected from... )" text unless they know to scroll back to the top. This is less likely to cause confusion if the redirect is to a heading with the same name as the redirect; see for example "Argument from contingency".+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − One option for documenting a redirect to a section heading is to leave a comment using <!-- ... ---> to remind others that the title is linked, so that if the title is altered, the redirect can be changed. For example:+ − ==Evolutionary implications== <!-- This section is linked from redirect "[[Richard Dawkins]]" --> + − A more resilient approach is to insert an {{Anchor}} inside the heading, copying the heading's current title as a parameter to the template; then, even if the heading is renamed, its original anchor is preserved and the existing anchor links will still work. {{Anchor}} will take multiple parameters, so several names and variations can be accommodated. Documenting terms expected in the subsection without confusing the readers is encouraged. The above example becomes: − ==Evolutionary implications {{Anchor|Evolutionary implications}}==+ − {{redirectstohere|Evolutionary implications}} − This method however has an unwanted side effect: the {{Anchor|parameters}} will appear in section edit summaries: − + − The following markup avoids this side effect: − + − {{Anchor|Evolutionary implications}}+ − or this real example, which does have a convenient nearby section title: − ==Table of AWG wire sizes==+ − {{Anchor|Table of AWG wire sizes}} <!-- redirect target and direct link from other articles --> − {{Anchor|any text for an anchor link}} will also work in the body text of a long section where one might not want a section or sub-section title, such as above a table referenced by another article. + − + − + − A double redirect is a title that redirects to another redirect. Double redirects are usually created after a move when old redirects are left unchanged and pointing toward an old name. This is one reason good editors check links and observe if the link traversed was a redirect or direct path. − Avoid making double redirects (a redirect that points to another redirect); they do not work (to prevent endless looping, a redirect will not "pass through" more than one entry; if someone is redirected to a redirect, the chain stops at the first redirect), they create slow, unpleasant experiences for the reader, and they make the navigational structure of the site confusing.+ − If you move or rename a page, it is best to click on "What links here" to see if any redirects exist, and to change them to redirect straight to the new title.+ + − [edit] Self-redirect+ − A self-redirect is a title that redirects straight to the page on which the link is found. This may occur if a redirect is created from a red link on the page, or if the title once was an article of its own but was merged. This is particularly common in a series of new inter-related topics moving together from the stub stage. Many editors despise red links, even temporarily in new topics. The team working the articles may well intend to expand such redirects to full articles, so the cyclical links are place holders; in such cases, checking the page histories should make it clear whether to make a corrective edit. − An exception is a redirect to a section within the article, especially in a long article that cannot be viewed all at once on an average-sized computer screen. Essentially, this is comparable to a "see above" or "see below," accomplished by wikilinking [[#Heading]] (no article name, just the heading name prefixed by #).+ − Redirects to other Wikimedia projects, other websites, or special pages do not work. These should be avoided or replaced with a soft redirect template.+ + − [edit] Shortcuts within article space+ − While redirects to project pages or sections thereof for the purpose of creating a shortcut are accepted, the same is not usually desired for mainspace articles, though exceptions exist. − Redirects from well-recognized abbreviations and acronyms to an article's title title are acceptable (for example, UCLA redirects to University of California, Los Angeles). When creating such a redirect, try to learn about other titles that might use that same abbreviation. It may be more appropriate for the abbreviation or acronym to serve as a disambiguation page, or else the template {{redirect|abbreviation}} shall be placed at the top of the page for which that abbreviation is most recognized, pointing to a disambiguation page for all other uses of the abbreviation.+ + + − [edit] Creating new redirects+ − You can create a new page in order to make a redirect.+ + + + + + + + − Only the redirect line will be displayed when you save the page.+ − To go back and edit your redirect after it is working, add ?redirect=no to the end of the URL for your redirect:+ + − + − If you wish to add a reason, select one of the tags from the Tag column below and add it one space after and on the same line as #REDIRECT [[Wherever]], enclosed in double braces. For example, on the redirect page University of cambridge,+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − #REDIRECT [[University of Cambridge]] {{R from other capitalisation}}+ − That will also add the redirect to the category listed in the Category column below. Note that there must be a space between the end of the redirect code and the template code for this to work properly.[citation needed]+ − Redirects take effect immediately after saving a page. You may need to clear your cache to see these changes.+ + + + − + − If there is an article named, say, Oxford University, and you discover that the title "University of Oxford", although a reasonable alternative designation and search term for the same university, is still a red link, you can create a page with that title as a new redirect page, redirecting to the page Oxford University. An alternative is instead to rename the Oxford University page to "University of Oxford". This is also called a "page move"; see Help:Moving a page for more detail. The old page becomes a redirect to the new page.+ − The following table summarizes this schematically, using arrows to indicate who redirects to whom:+ + − Old situation: Oxford University University of Oxford + − + − Rename/move: Oxford University → University of Oxford − To choose between two such possibilities, the main consideration should be that the preferred title of an article is the most common name for the topic of the article as would normally be used in articles written in English (language). So we prefer "Italy" over "Italia", and "Pope" over "Pope of Rome". However, it is often better to have an article at a well-defined, unambiguous term, with redirects from looser colloquial terms, rather than vice versa. There are many declarations of independence, but there is only one United States Declaration of Independence. For more on this, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions.+ + + + − [edit] Categories for redirect pages+ − See Wikipedia:Categorizing redirects for situations where categorizing a redirect might be helpful. − Redirects should not normally contain categories that would fit on the target page because it can result in duplicate listings of the same page within a category. Relevant categories should be moved to the main page where the redirect is pointing. In some cases, however, adding categories to a redirect page allows legitimate alternative titles or names to be found in category lists. Redirect pages within categories will appear in italics. + − [edit] Navigating redirects+ − When a redirected page is linked to normally, the user is taken to a page that is neither the original page nor the page to which it is redirected. Instead, the user is taken to a page that has the content of the destination page with a clickable mention of the redirect at the top, and the URL of the original page. To go to the original page, one can click on the aforementioned link, or append the string &redirect=no to the end of the URL. To go to the actual article, rather than simply viewing the mirror version, click on the "article" or "project page" tab at the top of the page. For instance, clicking on the phrase "clickable mention" above will take you to the "embedded link" page, which is redirected to the "hyperlink" page. Towards the top of the page is the phrase "Redirected from Embedded link", with the words "Embedded link" in blue. Clicking on these words will take you to the actual Embedded link page. Directly above the article title "Hyperlink" at the top of the page is the word "article" in blue. Clicking on this word will take you to the actual Hyperlink page.+ + + + − + − Shortcut: − WP:RCAT − Compare the more complete template list in the guideline sub-page: Wikipedia:Template_messages/Redirect_pages and the notations in the corresponding category. − The templates in the following lists are used to classify redirect pages, depending on the reason for the redirect. Use as many of these templates to tag the redirect as are applicable. Some redirects will have both alternative spellings, alternative capitalisations, and perhaps be a redirection to a list article entry or section. In the final analysis, all these templates do is establish a categorization of the redirect page, and like articles, more than one category can – and frequently should – apply. + − [edit] Spellings, misspellings, tenses and capitalisations+ − Reason Usage notes, and text that will be shown on − Previewing the page when applied. Tag / − Category to find articles so tagged − Abbreviations − --------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + − This is a redirect from a title with an abbreviation.+ − For more information, follow the category link.+ + + + + + + + + − DSM-IV redirects to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders + − {{R from abbreviation}} + − Category:Redirects from abbreviation − − Shortcuts − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a Wikipedia shortcut. Shortcuts are generally reserved for Wikipedia project pages, their discussion pages and categories.+ − For more information, follow the category link.+ − WP:A redirects to Wikipedia:Attribution + − {{R from shortcut}} − Category:Redirects from shortcut − − Too short for own article+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − List entry or Section Category:Redirects to list entries − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect to a "list of minor entities"-type article which is a collection of brief descriptions for subjects not notable enough to have separate articles. This template automatically categorizes pages to Category:Redirects to list entries+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − Related + − Template:R to section + − + − When List is more section-like in organization, such as list of fictional characters in a fictional universe. + − {{R to list entry}}+ + + + + + + + + + − {{R to section}} + − Misspellings + − --------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ − This is a redirect from a misspelling or typographical error. The correct spelling is given by the target of the redirect.+ + − Pages using this link should be updated to link directly to the redirect target, without using a piped link that hides the correct details.+ − For more information, follow the category link... Category:Redirects from misspellings+ + + + − Condoleeza Rice redirects to Condoleezza Rice + − {{R from misspelling}} − Category:Redirects from misspellings − − Other spellings, other punctuation − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a title with a different spelling.+ + − Pages using this link may be updated to link directly to the target page. It is not necessary to replace these redirected links with a piped link.+ − For more information, follow the link to Category:Redirects from alternative spellings or see this reference page.+ − colour redirects to color + − Al-Jazeera redirects to Al Jazeera − {{R from alternative spelling}} − Category:Redirects from alternative spellings − − Plurals − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a plural word to the singular equivalent.+ − You may use the aliased template {{R to singular}} to accomplish the same end. − This redirect link is used for convenience, usually for plurals that do not follow simple conventions. In many cases, it is preferable to add the plural directly after the link (that is, [[link]]s). However, do not replace these redirected links with a simpler link unless the page is updated for another reason (see Wikipedia:Redirect#Do not "fix" links to redirects that are not broken).+ − For more information, follow the category link.+ + + + − greenhouse gases redirects to greenhouse gas, etc. + − Note that [[greenhouse gas]]es shows up as greenhouse gases, so it is not usually necessary to redirect regular plurals. However third-party websites started adding automatic links to Wikipedia from their topics. Many of them follow the opposite naming convention, i.e., topics are named in plural, and the link to Wikipedia may land into an empty page, if there is no redirect. − {{R from plural}} or − {{R to singular}} − Category:Redirects from plurals − − Related words − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a related word.+ − Related words in an article are good candidates for Wiktionary links.+ − Redirects from related words are not properly redirects from alternate spellings of the same word. But at the same time, they are also different from redirects from a sub-topic, since the related word is unlikely to warrant a full sub-topic in the target page.+ − For more information, follow the category link.+ + + + − Symbiont redirects to Symbiosis + − {{R from related word}} − Category:Redirects from related words − − Sub-topics or closely related topics that should be explained within the text − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a title for a topic more detailed than what is currently provided on the target page, or section of that page, hence something which can and should be expanded.+ − When the target page becomes too large, this redirect may be replaced with an article carved out of the target page. See also Template:R to section, and when appropriate, use both together, and perhaps add a stub template or two to the redirect page as well.+ − Conversely, if the topic is not susceptible to a major expansion, tag instead with Template:R to section, or Template:R to list entry, depending on how the topic should be handled.+ − Do not replace these redirected links with a link directly to the target page.+ − For more information, see the auto-category: Category:Redirects with possibilities.+ + + + − Distributed denial of service redirects to Denial of service + − {{R with possibilities}} − Category:Redirects with possibilities − People who are members of a group, organization, ensemble or team − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a person who is a member of a group to more general related topics, such as the group, organization, ensemble or team that he or she belongs to.+ − For more information, follow the category link.+ − Eric Dill redirects to The Click Five + − {{R from member}} − Category:Redirects from members − Other capitalisations, to ensure that "Go" to a mixed-capitalisation article title is case-insensitive − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a title with another method of capitalisation. It leads to the title in accordance with the Wikipedia naming conventions for capitalisation, and can help writing, searching, and international language issues. Apply one of the below templates to redirects created for this purpose. Other variants should use one of the other redirect templates such as from alternative spelling or from alternative name.+ − Pages linking to any of these redirects may be updated to link directly to the target page. However, do not replace these redirected links with a piped link unless the page is updated for another reason.+ − For more information, see Category:Redirects from other capitalisations.+ + − Adding a redirect for mixed-capitalisation article titles (e.g., Isle of Wight) allows going to these articles to be case-insensitive. For example, without the redirect Isle of wight going to "Isle Of wight" or any capitalisation other than exactly 'Isle of Wight' would not find the article Isle of Wight.+ − Why: Articles whose titles contain mixed-capitalisation words (not all initial caps, or not all lower case except the first word) are found only via an exact case match. (Articles, including redirects, whose titles are either all initial caps or only first word capitalised are found via "Go" using a case-insensitive match.)+ − Note: Related redirects are needed only if the article title has two or more words and words following the first have different capitalisations. They are not needed, for example, for proper names which are all initial caps.+ − Examples:+ − Natural Selection redirects to Natural selection + − Redirect Vice chancellor of austria to Vice-Chancellor of Austria is needed because the Go search is case-sensitive for mixed-caps titles. Adding this redirect allows the article to be found when a user enters "vice chancellor of austria" or "vice chancellor of Austria" as a Go search. − No redirect to Francis Ford Coppola is needed because the "Go" command is case-insensitive for an article whose title is all initial caps. Any capitalisation (e.g. "francis fOrD CoPPola") entered as a "Go" will find the article. − {{R from other capitalisation}} − Category:Redirects from other capitalisations − − [edit] Alternative names+ − This is a redirect from a title that is another name, a pseudonym, a nickname, or a synonym. It leads to the title in accordance with the naming conventions for common names and can help writing. It is not necessary to replace these redirected links with a piped link. For more information, see this reference pageand the Category:Redirects from alternative names. − Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone redirects to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone + − Wellie throwing redirects to Wellie wanging − Cassinoide redirects to Cassini oval − Butcher of Kurdistan redirects to Ali Hassan al-Majid − Rev. Fred Phelps redirects to Fred Phelps − Linear operator redirects to Linear map − Reason Usage notes, and text that will be shown on − Previewing the page when applied. Tag / − Category to find articles so tagged − Full names such as − Municipality, State − forms or − Village, City forms to briefer name form. − This is a redirect from a title that includes name, and a state or country name, and so is a synonym for an article with the briefer name.+ − It leads to the title in accordance with the naming conventions for common names and can help writing. However, do not replace these redirected links with a piped link unless the page is updated for another reason.+ − For more information, see this reference page and the Category:Redirects from alternative but more complete names.+ − Use this template where possible instead of {{R from alternative names}}.+ + + − --------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ − Other names with a comma separating (delimiting) another larger geopolitical entity, normally a state such as "Notodden, Norway" giving a search capability by the full name. (And somewhat uncluttering Redirects from alternative names.) {{R from name and country}} − Category:Redirects from alternative but more complete names − − Full names − persons, things, topics and such alternative forms of names redirected to briefer article page names. − --------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ − This is a redirect from a title that is a complete or more complete name, as of a person or a legislative act.+ − It leads to the title in accordance with the naming conventions for common names and can help writing. However, do not replace these redirected links with a piped link unless the page is updated for another reason.+ + − For more information, see Wikipedia:Redirect and the Category:Redirects from full names.+ − {{R from full name}} + − Category:Redirects from full names − − Other names, − Alternative names − general pseudonyms, nicknames, and synonyms that are not historic names or a full name as above. − {{R from alternative name}} or − {{R from other name}} − Category:Redirects from alternative names − − Other names with Historic significance, where subsumed into a modern entity or region. − + + − This is a redirect from a title that is another name, a pseudonym, a nickname, or a synonym that has a significant historic past as a region, state, principate's holding, city, city-state or such, but which region has been subsumed into a modern era municipality, district or state, or otherwise experienced a name change.+ + + + + + + + + + + − + + + + + + + + − For more information, see Wikipedia:Redirect and the Category:Redirects from historic names under Category:Redirects from alternative names.+ − Note that in some cases, the entity can have articles under several names, each discussing the period of the entity's history when it had a particular name; see for example Byzantium, Istanbul and Constantinople. Depending upon the age and historic detail known about a principality, many of these might also be tagged with {{[[Template: R with possibilities| R with possibilities]]}}+ − {{R from historic name}} + − Category:Redirects from historic names+ − − Scientific names − (from such to briefer) − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from the scientific name to the common name.+ − See also Template:R to scientific name + + + + − Heosemys depressa redirects to Arakan Forest Turtle + − Deuterium oxide redirects to Heavy water + − 1P/Halley redirects to Comet Halley + − {{R from scientific name}} − Category:Redirects from scientific names − − Scientific names − (commonplace name to more formal, specific article name) − This is a redirect from the common name to the scientific name. − See also Template:R from scientific name + − European shore crab redirects to Carcinus maenas − Baking soda redirects to Sodium bicarbonate − Alnitak redirects to Zeta Orionis − {{R to scientific name}} − Category:Redirects to scientific names − − Other languages − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from an English name to a name in another language, or vice-versa.+ − It leads to the title in accordance with the naming conventions for titles in other languages and can help writing. However, do not replace these redirected links with a piped link unless the page is updated for another reason.+ − For more information, follow the category link.+ + + + + + + − The Abduction from the Seraglio redirects to Die Entführung aus dem Serail − Brown seaweed redirects to Wakame − Argumentum ad ignorantiam redirects to argument from ignorance − As-Sulta Al-Wataniyya Al-Filastiniyya redirects to Palestinian National Authority − {{R from alternative language}} − Category:Redirects from alternative languages − − Non-ASCII Characters − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect from a title in basic ASCII to the formal article title, with differences that are not diacritical marks (accents, umlauts, etc.)+ + + + + + + + + + + + − Use this redirect link (without piping) when the page concerns language translation or English language equivalents. Other pages using this link should be updated to replace text with the redirect target (again, without piping).+ + + + + + + + + + + − For more information, follow the category link. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − Ulla Toernaes redirects to Ulla Tørnæs + − {{R from ASCII}} − Category:Redirects from titles with ASCII − − Diacritical marks − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This is a redirect to the article title with diacritical marks (accents, umlauts, etc.) The correct spelling is given by the target of the redirect.+ − Use this redirect link (without piping) when the page concerns language translation or English language equivalents. Other pages using this link should be updated to replace text with the redirect target (again, without piping).+ + + − For more information, follow the category link.+ + + + − + − Kurt Goedel and Kurt Godel redirect to Kurt Gödel + − {{R from title without diacritics}} + − Category:Redirects from title without diacritics − − Unambiguous surname − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect from a surname. − − It is used because Wikipedia has only one biographical article of a person by this surname, or because one individual is ubiquitously known by this surname (other persons sharing this name might be listed at a primary topic disambiguation page). − − For more information, follow the category link. − − − − − Obama redirects to Barack Obama − {{R from surname}} − Category:Redirects from surnames − − − − − Reason Usage notes, and text that will be shown on − Previewing the page when applied. Tag / − Category to find articles so tagged − Facilitate disambiguation − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect to a disambiguation page. This redirect is intended for use in links from other articles that need to refer to the disambiguation page, rather than be disambiguated. Therefore, this template generally should only appear on pages that have "(disambiguation)" in the title. − − For more information, see the category page. − − − − − America (disambiguation) redirects to America − {{R to disambiguation page}} − Category:Redirects to disambiguation pages − − To track statements that date quickly − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This redirect page affects an "as of ..." link. All redirects should use capitalized month names. − − The primary purpose of linking to this redirect is to keep track (using the "Whatlinkshere" feature) of information that was current in the year when the link to this redirect was created, but may need updating later. − − For more information, follow the category link. − − − − − As of 2003 redirects to 2003 − See Wikipedia:As of for more info. − {{R for as of}} − Category:Redirects from "As of" − − To redirect to decade article − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect from a year to the decade article. Years from 1700 BC to 500 BC should redirect to the relevant decade. − − Do not replace these redirected links with a link directly to the target page; individual articles may be created for these years in future. − − For more information, follow the category link. − − − − − 1003 BC redirects to 1000s BC − {{R to decade}} − Category:Redirects to decade − − To redirect from a shortcut − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect from a Wikipedia shortcut. Shortcuts are generally reserved for Wikipedia project pages, their discussion pages and categories. − − For more information, follow the category link. − − − − − − − − WP:CAT redirects to Wikipedia:Categorization − {{R from shortcut}} − Category:Redirects from shortcut − − Oldstyle CamelCase links − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect from a CamelCase title. In the initial versions of Wikipedia, all links had to be CamelCase. − − They are kept to keep edit history and to avoid breaking links that may have been made externally. − − For more information, follow the category link. − − − − − AnnaKournikova redirects to Anna Kournikova − {{R from CamelCase}} − Category:Redirects with old history − − links auto-generated from EXIF information − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect of a wikilink created from JPEG EXIF information (i.e. the "metadata" section on some image description pages). Since MediaWiki offers no control over the link target of these autogenerated wikilinks, redirects like this are created to make the wikilinks useful. − − WARNING: It might appear that no pages link to this redirect. This is because the EXIF links don't show up in these listings. This redirect is most probably not orphaned! − − − − − Adobe Photoshop CS Windows redirects to Adobe Photoshop − {{R from EXIF}} − Category:Redirects from EXIF information − − From school stub to merge location − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − − This is a redirect from a school article that had very little information. − − The information from this article has been merged into an appropriate location or school district page. − − For more information, follow the category link. − − − − − Culler Middle School redirects to Lincoln Public Schools − {{R from school}} − Category: Redirects from school articles − − − − − Redirects can be used to avoid breaking of links on article merges. We try to avoid broken links because they are annoying to our readers. Therefore, if you change the layout of some section of Wikipedia, or merge two duplicate articles, always leave redirects in the old location to point to the new location. Search engines and visitors will probably have linked to that page at that url. If the page is deleted, potential new visitors from search engines will be greeted with an edit window. The same is true for anyone who previously bookmarked that page, and so on. − − Reason Text that will be shown on − Previewing the page when applied. Tag / − Category to find articles so tagged − Merges − -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- − This page was kept as a redirect to the corresponding main article of the subject matter, in order to preserve its edit history after the content was merged. Please do not remove this tag (unless the need to recreate this article is demonstrated), or delete this page. For more information, follow the category link. − − − − Zip of death redirects to Zip bomb − {{R from merge}} − − − Duplicated articles This page was kept as a redirect to another article on the same or very similar subject matter, in order to preserve its edit history after the content was merged. Please do not delete this page or remove this tag (unless the need to recreate this article is demonstrated). − − − − Green Slime redirects to The Green Slime − {{R from duplicated article}} − Category:Redirects from duplicated articles − − − − [edit] When should we delete a redirect? − Shortcuts: − WP:R#CRD − WP:RDR#CRD − WP:REDIRECT#CRD − To delete a redirect without replacing it with a new article, list it on redirects for discussion. See deletion policy for details on how to nominate pages for deletion. − − Listing is not necessary if you just want to replace a redirect with an article, or change where it points: see these instructions for help doing this. If you want to swap a redirect and an article, but are not able to move the article to the location of the redirect please use Wikipedia:Requested moves to request help from an admin in doing that. − − Shortcuts: − WP:R#HARMFUL − WP:RDR#HARMFUL − WP:REDIRECT#HARMFUL − The major reasons why deletion of redirects is harmful are: − − a redirect may contain nontrivial edit history; − if a redirect is reasonably old, then it is quite possible that its deletion will break links in old, historical versions of some other articles — such an event is very difficult to envision and even detect. − Therefore consider the deletion only of either really harmful redirects or of very recent ones. − − Shortcuts: − WP:R#DELETE − WP:RDR#DELETE − WP:REDIRECT#DELETE − [edit] Reasons for deleting − You might want to delete a redirect if one or more of the following conditions is met (but note also the exceptions listed below this list): − − The redirect page makes it unreasonably difficult for users to locate similarly named articles via the search engine. − The redirect might cause confusion. 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United States Presidential Election, 2008 (view source)
Revision as of 22:29, November 5, 2008
, 22:29, November 5, 2008Reverted edits by StewartM (Talk) to last version by Learn together
[[Image:Gp_ppl_obama_mccain_flag-capitol.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Barack Obama and John McCain]] {{move|United States presidential election, 2008}}
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The '''2008 United States Presidential Election''' took place on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/calendar/</ref> The primary season for both the [[Republican Party]] and the [[Democratic Party]] officially began on January 3, 2008 with the [[Iowa Caucus]]es and ended on June 3, 2008.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/calendar/</ref> The 2008 election cycle has seen a major shift to the primary election calendar, frontloading many primaries into early February.<ref>http://www.miamiherald.com/515/story/43160.html</ref> [[Barack Obama|Senator Barack Obama]] of [[Illinois]], the [[Democratic Party]] nominee, with Senator [[Joe Biden]] of [[Delaware]] as his Vice Presidential running mate defeated Senator [[John McCain]] of [[Arizona]], the Republican candidate, and his Vice Presidential nominee, [[Alaska]] [[Governor]] [[Sarah Palin]] in the general election.
3 What do we use redirects for?
3.2 Alternative names
Obama held a 5 to 7 point lead most of the summer, but faded steadily in August. After the selection of Palin, the first woman ever on a GOP ticket, McCain leapfrogged Obama in the national polls and held a slim 2.5 point lead in mid September. Until this point, nationwide polls all year had shown a massive defeat for GOP candidates for Congress. With the GOP running 10 points behind, the Democrats stood a good chance of gaining 5-9 Senate seats and 15-20 House seats. The surge in McCain's polls helped pull up the GOP numbers; by Sept. 12 the GOP deficit was only 3.6 points, indicating small losses.<ref>Poll results from [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/ RealClearPolitics]</ref> However, more recently the margin has once again widened to about 5 points.<!--This statement will become out of date!! Watch out and update it-->
[edit] How to make a redirect (redirect command)
==First election without incumbents since 1928==
If eligible to do so, the President of the United States often runs for reelection. If the President does not run, the [[Vice President of the United States]] will often run to replace the President after he leaves office. 2008 will mark the first time since the 1928 election in which there is neither an incumbent President nor an incumbent Vice President running for his party's presidential nomination and thus not running in the Presidential election. In the [[United States presidential election of 1952]], the race was between Republican candidate [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and Democratic candidate [[Adlai Stevenson]]. Vice President [[Alben Barkley]] sought but failed to win the Democratic nomination. Current Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] has repeatedly stated he will not run for President. "I will say just as hard as I possibly know how to say... If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve," Cheney said on ''[[Fox News]] Sunday''.
==Differences between 2008 and other elections==
In 2008, [[CNN]]-[[YouTube]] held the first debate in which the questions asked of the nominees in each party came primarily from YouTube viewer submitted videos. The debates received high ratings, however, CNN was criticized for not picking questions that were 'tough' or pertinent enough. One such example was during the Democratic Debate, when CNN chose to ask a question from a snow man, talking about [[global warming]]. During the Republican debate, some claimed that many of the questions were from Democratic supporters just meant to embarrass the Republican candidates. For example, a question over whether or not homosexuals should serve in the U.S. military was asked by retired general and gay activist Keith Kerr, an adviser to [[Hillary Clinton]]'s campaign.
The internet has also played a major role in the election, with then-Republican presidential candidate [[Ron Paul]] and Democratic candidate Barack Obama being very active on the internet.
===Young voters===
In 2004 64% of voters aged 18-29 were registered to vote. This year 75% of voters in that age group are registered. This demographic usually favors Democrats.
== Uncommitted Electorate ==
As of the beginning of October, 2008 approximately 6-8% of poll respondents were undecided.
== Election Day ==
In an odd move, Obama called upon his supporters to skip work to make sure they vote and to get out the vote in their neighborhoods. In a sense it will help disrupt productivity in America at a time when there is already a fear that the country is in a recession and severly pushes the law that allows employees to take time off from work to vote if they could not vote otherwise. Almost half of black Americans plan to take the day off as do 21% of people who have already voted. 94% of Republicans plan on being at work.<ref>http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/one_third_of_obama_voters_plan_to_be_out_today</ref>
==Opinion polling==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Polling Outfit
! Date
! Sample*
! Obama (D)
! McCain (R)
|-
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll Rasmussen Tracking]
| 11/01 - 11/03
| 3000 LV
| '''52'''
| 46
|-
|[http://www.gallup.com/poll/111661/Gallup-Daily-Obama-52-McCain-42-Among-Likely-Voters.aspx Gallup Tracking Traditional]
| 10/29 - 10/31
| 2516 LV
| '''52'''
| 42
|-
|-
|[http://www.gallup.com/poll/111661/Gallup-Daily-Obama-52-McCain-42-Among-Likely-Voters.aspx Gallup Tracking Expanded]
| 10/29 - 10/31
| 2480 LV
| '''52'''
| 42
|-
|-
|[http://www.zogby.com/index.cfm Zogby Tracking]
| 10/29 - 10/31
| 1200 LV
| '''49'''
| 44
|-
|}
*RV refers to registered voters, LV refers to likely voters.
Most polling does not include third party candidates. While that was an issue back in May when Barr attracted 6% of the vote in four way polling and Nader 4%<ref>http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/will_third_party_candidates_tip_the_presidential_race</ref>, it has become a virutally non-issue with the election drawing near. Third party candidates generally have much lower percentage of votes cast for them than they poll beforehand, and this election that especially seems to be true.
Also, when possible, polling is reported without counting 'leaners'. Leaners early on were favoring McCain, but they have also become less of an issue as the election has progressed nor does either candidate seem to have an advantage in this area with the shrinking number of people who still fit in this category.
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Due to the nature of the presidential election where Presidents are elected state by state instead of total votes received nationwide, it is possible in a close race for a candidate to win the Presidency while losing the popular vote. This is meaningful if the election is within a point or possibly two, but with Obama holding a greater lead than that, the electoral college is also favoring him.<ref>http://www.pollster.com/</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html Politico's 2008 Swing State Map]</ref><ref>[http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ FiveThirtyEight.com: Electoral Projections Done Right]</ref>
==Evolutionary implications ==
== McCain vs. Obama ==
McCain had the early edge, wrapping up the Republican nomination before Obama was known to be the choice of the Democrats, but this was one of the few advantages he has had. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama raised far more money than McCain and the Democratic primary saw a surge of new voters coming out leading to a large increase in the rolls of Democrats. From the historical position of a generally equal number of Republicans and Democrats, the numbers have now tilted 41% Democrat to only 32% Republican. From the time that Obama was declared the nominee, opinion polling showed him with a modest advantage over McCain in terms of who the voters would choose to be their next President.
Obama's strategy was to tie McCain to George Bush, a very unpopular President, even though McCain was not a part of the Bush administration and often clashed with Bush during his time as senator. McCain, for his part, had to walk a fine line with accepting praise from the President to woo conservatives, while at the same time keeping enough distance so as to not alienate moderates. When possible, McCain went after Obama's lack of foreign policy experience.
On paper, the nomination would seem to heavily favor the Democrats. Overall, Democrat candidates have a +10% advantage over Republicans in a 'generic' election. The current unpopular President is a Republican, and the economy is treading water. Also, based on statistical percentages of articles on each candidate, Obama was being focused on with press coverage far more than McCain. When McCain chastised Obama for his lack of foreign policy experience and that he hadn't been to Iraq or Afghanistan in years, Obama's campaign set up for him to take a trip to both countries. While this is expected in politics, the decision of every major network to send a team of reporters to follow him was unprecedented. Obama spoke to 200,000 people in Berlin in a highly covered speech. McCain spoke to 50,000 in Buffalo shortly thereafter and barely got a whisper. Obama's numbers started to rise, but a good deal of the populace was noticing the disparity as 48% of those polled felt the press was trying to help Obama win.
[edit] Undesirable redirects
Obama seemed pleased to coast on his advantages, but McCain realized he needed to shake things up. He scored by pushing offshore drilling for oil during a time when oil prices were climbing almost daily. Obama rejected the idea, but the poll numbers started to show a greater percentage of Americans warming to the concept<ref>[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/61_say_congress_should_vote_on_offshore_drilling_right_now Offshore Drilling poll]</ref> and McCain's numbers started to improve. Obama announced he would accept some measure of offshore drilling, and McCain's momentum was halted and his gains retreated by a couple of points. McCain started an ad campaign that acknowledged Obama's celebrity status, but asking what it meant. A few days later at the start of August he called out Obama for 'playing the race card' when Obama made a reference to McCain and Bush trying to scare people because he (Obama) doesn't look like other Presidents on dollar bills. The Democrats fired back, but quickly let the issue drop when poll numbers showed that most voters did consider Obama's statement to be racist.<ref>http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/only_22_say_mccain_ad_racist_but_over_half_53_see_obama_dollar_bill_comment_that_way</ref>. The bounce for Obama after the Berlin speech shrank back to pre-trip levels. While Obama continued to enjoy a slight lead in the polls, McCain continued to keep the race close without either candidate breaking away.
[edit] Double redirects
In mid-August both candidates came together at the invitation of Pastor [[Rick Warren]] where each was asked a series of the same questions dealing both with political and personal views. While not a debate, it was the first televised forum where both candidates had a chance to express themselves and their positions. Obama hoped to appeal to Christian conservatives by expressing a religious side while McCain hoped to solidify the conservative base by sharing his own conservative and religious credentials. The difference in style between the two was evident as Obama spent more time explaining and expounding on his positions while McCain was more straight-forward and received more laughs with his candid speaking style. The polling numbers continued as they had been.
There was a bounce at the start of the Democratic convention, but not what was expected as McCain suddenly drew even in the race. The friction between Hillary Clinton and Obama as well as the perceived slight of Hillary when Biden was chosen as the Vice Presidential candidate hurt Obama at a time when his approval was expected to climb. McCain then made a mistake by airing an ad of Hillary Clinton that 'supported' him. Clinton was set to speak at the convention and it was no secret that there was bad blood between her and Obama and it was widely believed that her support for Obama would be lukewarm at best. Instead, apparently galvanized by McCain's hubris before her speech, she came out strongly for Obama and rallied those who supported her. Obama's pre-convention edge returned. Obama followed it up with a very strong speech the next day in a huge stadium with fireworks and a Greek temple. [[Dick Morris]], a political pundit usually giving advice to Republicans felt that Obama had done such a good job reaching out to the groups that he needed that he would pull ahead by double-digits. In order to suppress the bounce from the convention, McCain announced his Vice Presidential candidate the next day, a woman, Alaskan governor [[Sarah Palin]]. The bounce for Obama was muted at first, but increased in the following days to surpass pre-convention levels, especially as Sarah Palin came under heavy attack in the media.
The edge continued as the Republican convention began. Losing a day to the hurricane, their shortened convention came out strong as well, emphasizing John McCain as a patriot and a maverick for change who is tested and will do what is right for the country regardless of political affiliation. It was notable for the secondary role that the sitting President played, talking only briefly and barely being mentioned after that. The convention tied McCain to [[Ronald Reagan]], a popular Republican President who was able to gain the support of a good number of conservative Democrats, an ability that McCain would badly need to emulate. While the convention had very high ratings starting with Palin's well received speech, it was unclear what the impact would be in the polls. Indeed Obama continued to lead directly afterward, but that soon changed with a turn of about 8 points and a slim lead for McCain. The Republican convention had actually more than balanced out the powerful Democratic convention.
While Obama had stated that his campaign would avoid negative advertising, as it became clear that the bounce from the convention was continuing to last and he might lose the election, his campaign turned more forcefully to negative advertising. In ads aired since the Republican convention through mid September, McCain's ads were about Obama 56% of the time, but Obama's ads were about his opponents 77% of the time.<ref>http://news.aol.com/article/campaign-ads-not-getting-much-air-time/142625</ref> Obama also received a large boost from the press which vigorously attacked McCain, but even more so Palin. Obama appeared on ''[[O'Reilly Factor|The O'Reilly Factor]]'' and was treated with civility and respect, even if not with agreement. McCain and his wife appeared on ''The View'' and were treated like last week's gutter trash. The constant negative barrage and reporting slowly moved the numbers back to even.
As the negative articles on Palin continued to intensify, some of which just quoted celebrities who had never met her calling her "whacko" or a "hater of women", her first major interview with Gibson was a turning point. Gibson asked Palin about the Bush Doctrine, but wouldn't define it for her even as she asked questions for clarifications. When she then answered with her understanding, Gibson rebuked her by implying that she misunderstood the doctrine. In truth, since the term is only a press invention, it has taken on different meanings at different times and the definition that Palin gave matched one that Gibson himself had used years earlier. Nevertheless, it was a moment and was jumped on by the press. Those who saw the interview voted heavily that they were now less likely to vote for Palin. The attack on her had muted her effectiveness, even if it was unjustified.
Stemming the tide of the McCain campaign's lead became a strong swing for Obama with a series of events that went to the Democratic nominee's favor. The polls began to tack to Obama's favor with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and a subsequent 500-point drop in the Dow Jones Index. Then, President Bush sounded a major alarm on the economy and proposed a huge 700 billion dollar rescue plan for the mortgage industry, which sent shock waves through the American populace and swept them with even more fear on the economic picture. Bush called both Presidential nominees to meet with him and Congress. It gave Obama a boost in legitimacy, his previous Achilles' heel. While he had a weak record in accomplishments and showing leadership, the chance to be propelled to a position of prominence handed it to him on a silver platter. Moreover, the plan was more problematic among Republicans than it was among Democrats, giving Obama another boost merely by supporting it while putting McCain on more shaky ground. Both candidates supported it once again blurring McCain's advantage in experience if both men were seen as interchangeable in their reaction.
McCain chose to suspend his campaign until a deal on the bailout was reached, a mistake. The Democrats could add pork to the plan and make it even more unpalatable to the Republicans, and they did. As the first debate loomed and no deal had been reached, McCain was in a quandary. He chose to attend the debate under the view that the plan was well under way to being passed. After the debate the plan was actually defeated and wouldn't be adopted, with more changes, until the following week.
McCain's debate with Obama went well and he was viewed as having done better than expected. Unfortunately for him, Obama was also viewed as doing better than expected and was seen as looking Presidential, further cementing his standing and locking in a lead in the polls that had become rather substantial. The Vice Presidential debate was the most watched in history and Palin was given high marks for her performance, but unfortunately for the Republican ticket, Biden was also on his game that night and also came across well. There were no changes in the polling numbers and the number of undecided voters began to quickly dwindle. The second and third debates caused little change as well.
With Obama spending 110 million dollars on TV advertising in October alone, including 30 minute specials on each of the major networks, McCain will be hard pressed to make up the necessary ground to win the election after being outspent by 3 to 1 for TV adds over that time period. He can't count on regular TV to help put in a good word for him either, as late night political jokes are running at a pace of 7 jokes against McCain/Palin for every 1 joke against Obama/Biden and a study of news stories on McCain and Obama since the end of the conventions found that 57% of news stories about McCain were negative while only 29% were for Obama.<ref>http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/22/study-shows-mccain-media-coverage-negative/</ref> A later study by the independent Pew Research Center found that the discrepency had grown even worse. McCain had 57% of the articles about him negative while only 14% were positive, while Obama had more positive articles than negative. The only network to achieve a balance, 40% negative for both, was [[FoxNews]].<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445846,00.html</ref>
== State by State Breakdown ==
[[Image:Presidential election map.gif|right|thumb|350px|Battleground states]] The United States had become so regionally polarized that even though the 2004 presidential election was close nationwide, only nine states had outcomes having less than 4% margin between the candidates:
State, margin of victory, party that won the state in 2004
#Wisconsin, 0.38% (Dem)
#Iowa, 0.67% (Repub)
#New Mexico, 0.79% (Repub)
#New Hampshire, 1.37% (Dem)
#Ohio, 2.11% (Repub)
#Pennsylvania, 2.50% (Dem)
#Nevada, 2.59% (Repub)
#Michigan, 3.42% (Dem)
#Minnesota, 3.48% (Dem)
It is assumed that the 2008 election will be similar where close battles in a few states could determine the outcome. Individual state polling numbers for the 2008 election are provided. Similar to the overall election where the number of undecided voters is quickly dwindling, the numbers are coming much close to approaching the full 100% than they were earlier in the campaign. This requires a candidate changing a voter's mind to improve his standing, a much harder task than simply convincing an undecided.
* Red = McCain leading
* Blue = Obama leading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_University?redirect=no
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! State
! Obama (D)
! McCain (R)
! Source
! Updated
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Alabama
|39%
|60%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/alabama/election_2008_alabama_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/22/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Alaska
|41%
|57%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/alaska/election_2008_alaska_presidential_election Rasmussen]
| 10/28/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Arkansas
|44%
|54%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/arkansas/election_2008_arkansas_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/27/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Arizona
|46%
|51%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/arizona/election_2008_arizona_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/26/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|California
|61%
|34%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/california/election_2008_california_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Colorado
|51%
|47%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/colorado/election_2008_colorado_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/26/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Connecticut
|56%
|39%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/connecticut/election_2008_connecticut_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/14/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Delaware
|56%
|41%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/delaware/election_2008_delaware_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/10/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Florida
|49%
|50%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/florida/election_2008_florida_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Georgia
|47%
|52%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/georgia/election_2008_georgia_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/30/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Hawaii
|61%
|31%
|[http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/hawaii.html SurveyUSA]
|03/06/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Idaho
|37%
|53%
|[http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/idaho.html DailyKos.com]
|07/30/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Illinois
|60%
|38%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/illinois/election_2008_illinois_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/01/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Indiana
|46%
|49%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/indiana/election_2008_indiana_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/29/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Iowa
|52%
|44%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/iowa/election_2008_iowa_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/23/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Kansas
|41%
|54%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/kansas/election_2008_kansas_presidential_election Rasmuseen]
|10/13/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Kentucky
|43%
|55%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/kentucky/election_2008_kentucky_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/29/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Louisiana
|41%
|57%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/maine/election_2008_maine_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/22/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Maine
|51%
|46%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/maine/election_2008_maine_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Maryland
|60%
|37%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/maryland/election_2008_maryland_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/20/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Massachusetts
|62%
|34%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/massachusetts/election_2008_massachusetts_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/13/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Michigan
|53%
|43%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/michigan/election_2008_michigan_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/28/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Minnesota
|55%
|43%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/minnesota/election_2008_minnesota_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/28/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Mississippi
|45%
|53%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/mississippi/election_2008_mississippi_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/27/08
|-
|Missouri
|49%
|49%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/missouri/election_2008_missouri_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Montana
|46%
|50%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/montana/election_2008_montana_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/29/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Nebraska
|37%
|56%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/nevada/election_2008_nevada_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/30/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Nevada
|50%
|46%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/nevada/election_2008_nevada_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/27/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|New Hampshire
|50%
|46%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/new_hampshire/election_2008_new_hampshire_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/25/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|New Jersey
|57%
|42%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/new_jersey/election_2008_new_jersey_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|New Mexico
|54%
|44%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/new_mexico/election_2008_new_mexico_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/28/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|New York
|57%
|37%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/north_carolina/election_2008_north_carolina_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/14/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|North Carolina
|49%
|50%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/north_carolina/election_2008_north_carolina_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|North Dakota
|41%
|55%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/north_dakota/election_2008_north_dakota_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/08/08
|-
|Ohio
|49%
|49%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/ohio/election_2008_ohio_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Oklahoma
|32%
|63%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/oklahoma/election_2008_oklahoma_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/11/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Oregon
|54%
|42%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/oregon/election_2008_oregon_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/30/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Pennsylvania
|52%
|46%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/pennsylvania/election_2008_pennsylvania_presidential_election2 Rasmussen]
|11/01/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Rhode Island
|58%
|39%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/rhode_island/election_2008_rhode_island_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/13/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|South Carolina
|43%
|54%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/south_carolina/election_2008_south_carolina_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/20/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|South Dakota
|44%
|53%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/south_dakota/election_2008_south_dakota_presidential_election2 Rasmussen]
|10/30/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Tennessee
|42%
|54%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/tennessee/election_2008_tennessee_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/16/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Texas
|44%
|54%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/texas/election_2008_texas_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/21/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Utah
|32%
|64%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/utah/election_2008_utah_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/14/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Vermont
|60%
|36%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/vermont/election_2008_vermont_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/13/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Virginia
|51%
|47%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/virginia/election_2008_virginia_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|11/02/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Washington
|54%
|43%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/washington/election_2008_washington_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/22/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|West Virginia
|43%
|52%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/west_virginia/election_2008_west_virginia_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/20/08
|- style="background:white; color:blue"
|Wisconsin
|51%
|44%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/wisconsin/election_2008_wisconsin_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|10/23/08
|- style="background:white; color:red"
|Wyoming
|39%
|58%
|[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/wyoming/election_2008_wyoming_presidential_election Rasmussen]
|09/10/08
|}
== Analysis of States by Region ==
Because of the [[electoral college]] system in the United States, it is important to analyze the presidential election by each state. These states are grouped into regions.
=== New England ===
[[Barack Obama]] is almost certain to win almost every state in this region, which tend to be very [[liberal]]. The only exception is in New Hampshire, where [[John McCain]] is well liked and George Bush won in 2000. This state is expected to be competitive. On the other hand, with only four electoral votes, the impact on the election will not be as great as some other battleground states.
=== Mid-Atlantic ===
[[New York]], [[Delaware]], and [[Maryland]] are solidly Democrat and will vote for Obama this election. [[New Jersey]] is less so, but still has Democratic leanings, and will probably go for Obama. [[Pennsylvania]] is a very important swing state for both candidates, as it has 21 electoral votes, fifth most in the nation, and has both liberal and conservative elements. In recent years, the state has moved toward becoming Democrat. However, it is not yet at the point that is safely in the Democratic camp, and will still be focused on heavily by both candidates during this election cycle. McCain still has a very good chance because Obama was unable to connect with the working-class citizens of Pennsylvania during the Democratic primary.
[edit] Redirect or rename?
=== South-Atlantic ===
[[Washington, D.C.]] is overwhelmingly liberal and will vote for Obama; however, with three electoral votes its significance is limited. Although [[Virginia]] has usually been Republican territory in Presidential elections, this year it has become a competitive state. Democrats will work on increasing the voter turnout in the northern part of the state, with a high population of D.C. transplants. McCain's strength is in the southern regions and among the military. In the Carolinas, which usually votes Republican, McCain is seen as having the edge, but Obama may be competitive in these states if he mobilizes the African-American population. [[Georgia]] is a state where a third-party candidate [[Bob Barr]] could make a difference. While most voters favor McCain, he could lose enough votes to Barr to lose the state, especially if there is a large black turnout. [[Florida]] is a very close swing state, most famously known for its role in [[United States presidential election, 2000|Election 2000]]. An important constituency in this state is the [[Jewish]] population, who are continuing to support Obama over McCain. Cuban-Americans, who are most upset with Obama's statements that he would meet with Fidel Castro, back McCain.
=== Deep South ===
John McCain will do well in the deep south. This includes the states of [[Texas]], [[Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]], [[Oklahoma]], [[Arkansas]], [[Tennessee]], [[Kentucky]] and [[West Virginia]]. This area is generally [[conservative]], and consistently vote Republican in Presidential elections. Although Obama believes in a fifty-state strategy, it is unlikely that such a strategy will be helpful in getting out the vote in these states apart from the black population.
===Swing States (Great Lakes Region)===
New redirect: Oxford University ← University of Oxford
Strategists believe that the Republican presidential nominee must win Wisconsin or Minnesota, and hold Iowa but that the outcome in New Mexico, which has only 5 electoral votes, is irrelevant. Minnesota's margin of victory for the Democrats in 2004 probably places it out of reach for Republicans in 2008. This is confirmed by recent polling. However, due to the location of the Republican Convention in Minnesota, the state, with ten electoral votes, can come back into play.
=== West ===
Barack Obama is almost certainly guaranteed a win in the coastal states of California, Oregon and Washington, while John McCain is favored in Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Texas. Nevada, which voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, may turn to Obama if Bob Barr manages to pull enough votes from McCain.
===Other Important Swing States===
Moreover, it is very important for republicans to hold Ohio and Florida. Fortunately, both states have tended to lean republican in the last two presidential elections. Although Florida was disputed in election 2000, it went to Bush undeniably in 2004. Virginia will also be heavily contested this year.
== General Strategy ==
McCain's team wants to convince the electorate of the long-term leadership and experience that John McCain has shown in two decades of government service while emphasizing the relative untested nature of Barak Obama.
Obama's team wants to convince the electorate that Obama is the candidate of fresh ideas while downplaying his relative inexperience compared to the more seasoned McCain. When possible, McCain is lumped together with George Bush, an unpopular President.
===Republican Strategy===
With more limited funding than his Democratic rival, McCain had favored open town hall meetings to attract the greatest number of people. He is focusing his advertising on swing states. He also asked for open debates with Obama of the Lincoln-Douglas variety where candidates can talk directly to each other, but this was not accepted by the Democratic camp which prefers the current structured format.
McCain will highlight his record of leadership, his service to his country and stress that as President he can be counted on to keep America safe from outside threats. McCain's strongest supporters are the elderly - the group that most wants stability.
[edit] What do we use redirects for?
McCain's choice of [[Alaska]] [[Governor]] [[Sarah Palin]] as his Vice Presidential nominee was a departure from what was expected and helped to show that he would go down paths that the Republican party had not done in the past. McCain has touted Palin's record of standing up to the Alaska Republican party when she resigned from an Ethics Commission in protest over a lack of ethics of fellow commissioners, as well as when she ran against, and beat, then-incumbent Governor [[Frank Murkowski]] in the Republican primary in 2006. McCain will continue to tout her as a "maverick" to complement his own maverick image that he is trying to emphasize. Last, by choosing a female running mate, McCain hoped to pick up the votes of female voters disaffected with the perceived slight of Hillary Clinton by Obama. Prior to the start of the Democratic convention, 30% of Hillary's supporters had still not backed Obama and there was a good deal of bad blood between the two.
With the unfolding of the campaign season and watching the Democratic strategy and how it was playing out in the press and polls, the McCain campaign decided not to cede the moniker of change to Obama, but rather to take it upon themselves by emphasizing that McCain has a track record of change - while Obama does not. The McCain campaign feels it needs to have the voters ask who can be trusted more to get the job done, and if that occurs, then they have the advantage.
With the selection of Palin, and the energy it has brought to the conservative base, McCain has taken to larger rallies, as opposed to town hall meetings and press conferences. By mid-September, he had gone four weeks without a town hall, and three weeks without a press conference, instead sticking to larger engagements, appearing alongside his vice presidential nominee, with larger crowds than he had experienced earlier in his campaign.
===Democratic Strategy===
Democrats are confident that the low popularity of [[President]] [[George W. Bush]] and particularly [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]], which John McCain supports, puts them in a highly favorable position for 2008. They have been cautious in the Iraq arena realizing that 'The Surge' worked and they were on the wrong end of that issue. Focus is being put on a timeline for troops coming home, a position that most of the American population favors.
Democrats believe it is their race to lose, but also realize they had a good chance to win the last two Presidential elections and came up short each time. General wisdom also states that a poor economy favors Obama, so they will try to paint a dire picture in this area. As in past elections, differences between those who have obtained a high income level and those who have not will be emphasized. In fact, the Democratic strategy in many ways mirrors that of their strategy in 1992 when the Democrat-controlled Congress deliberately caused economic disruption, knowing full well that the public would blame sitting president [[George H.W. Bush]], and thereby allowing [[Bill Clinton]] to win that year's presidential race.
Favored by the young, Democrats will try hard to encourage and get out the young vote, a task that has proven more difficult than expected in the last two election cycles. To their advantage, Obama made his vice presidential pick via text message to cell phone numbers registered on the site. The announcement went to 3 million cell phones, a useful database for "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) efforts, when voters may not be home or reachable on their landline.
As an extension of the DNC's strategy in the 2006 elections, led by [[Howard Dean]], Barack Obama has been working towards a "50-state strategy." The campaign is working to place campaign offices throughout the country with a focus on voter registration. The increase in the rolls of Democratic voters from the primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Obama played out well for the Democrats and puts pressure on Senator McCain even in typically red states, and more specifically, "Lean Republican" states, to use the Cook Political Report's term. In addition, with a fundraising advantage, Obama is airing ads in those tight states forcing McCain to make decisions about whether to use funds to match ads and campaign efforts in those states or rely on historical results that those states will support him and focus funds in traditional toss-up states instead.
==Fundraising==
Barack Obama had a significant edge over Hillary Clinton in the fundraising department during their contest for the Democratic nomination, but both actually set records for raising money and both raised far more money than John McCain. McCain didn’t have to spend as much since he locked up the Republican nomination much earlier than Obama locked up the Democratic. Both Obama and McCain said they would accept government funds--which would also cap how much the candidates could raise on their own--but Obama, who could presumably raise more through his own sources, changed his mind and later declined. Much of McCain’s war chest will come from the Republican Party in general, which has more money to spend than their Democratic counterparts. McCain’s campaign raised $47 million in August, a very sizable figure for him so far and a personal record, but not as strong as Obama’s best months. In the same time period, Obama set a record with $66 million. Obama, still having an edge in fundraising that has continued throughout his run for the Presidency, saw $10 million collected the day after Sarah Palin’s strongly received convention speech, a new one day record.<ref>[http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/04/after-palin-speech-obama-has-record-10-million-day/ After Palin speech, Obama has record $10 million day]</ref> The Palin announcement has been good for John McCain's fundraising as well.
Obama set a new record of $150 million raised in September and over $600 million overall.<ref>http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/20/obama-raises-record-breaking-m/</ref> Obama's camp does not release information on who contributes to the campaign.
==Election Politics==
As a general truth, political parties will put on their best face, but stoop to almost any level to make their candidate win. This election is no exception as the Democratic party has taken to busing in homeless people in Ohio to register them and have them vote on the same day, then bus them back. A loophole in the law permits this without checking identification, and that loophole is being exploited for political gain.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,433681,00.html</ref>
==Conventions==
===Democratic National Convention===
The 2008 Democratic National Convention was held in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], from August 25 to August 27 at Pepsi Center. There, Senator Obama and his running mate were selected to be the party nominee's. Barack Obama will accepted the party's nomination in front of a crowd of more than 75,000 in a free, open event held at INVESCO Field at Mile High, in a platform resemblant to a Greek temple. House Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] is the Permanent Chair of the Convention.
The convention had a rocky start as friction between supporters of Obama and the Clintons was not resolved. Instead of Obama getting a bump in the polls, his support actually declined. The Democrats also seemed to be at odds on finding a unifying strategy for how hard to attack John McCain and how to present it. As Democratic pundit James Carville said in an interview on [[CNN]], "If this party has a message, it's done a <heck> of a job hiding it tonight, I promise you that."<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080826/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_convention_rdp</ref>
A bleak convention was turned around by the Clintons. Infighting between Obama and Hillary continued through the day of her speech, but a comprise was reached, and, beyond expectations, she gave a rousing speech for Obama - possibly as an angry response to McCain's latest ad that showed her 'supporting' him. Bill Clinton the next night also praised Obama, something that he failed to effectively do in 2000 for Al Gore when he centered on his accomplishments and gave little more than lip service to Gore with statements amounting to 'and Al Gore was there too'. The convention, possibly remembering that, gave him the topic he was to speak on instead of choosing his own. Clinton was angered, but it worked. He came through. By the time Obama spoke on the last night, the theme that was missing at first was clear, and Obama mixed a message of attacking McCain with the need for change and even outlining some expensive programs that would appeal to the target populace who has been lukewarm to him. From a political point of view, the convention did what it was supposed to.
===Convention Schedule===
'''Monday 8/25 (Theme: One Nation):'''
* Former President [[Jimmy Carter]]
* [[Speaker of the House]] [[Nancy Pelosi]], D-[[California]]
* Congressman [[Jesse Jackson, Jr.]], D-[[Illinois]]
* Mayor John Hickenlooper, D-[[Denver]]
* Senator [[Amy Klobuchar]], D-[[Minnesota]]
* Mayor Manny Diaz, D-[[Miami]]
* Illinois state leaders Alexi Giannoulis, Dan Hynes, Lisa Madigan
* Tom Balanoff from Illinois SEIU
* [[National Education Association]] (NEA) President Reg Weaver
* AFT President Randi Weingarten
* [[NARAL Pro-Choice America]] President Nancy Keenan
* Senator [[Claire McCaskill]], D-Missouri
* Former State Representative Lee Hamilton, D-[[Indiana]]
* Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle
* Maya Soetoro-Ng - Barack Obama's half-sister
* Jerry Kellman - "Mentor and long-time friend of Barack Obama"
'''Tuesday 8/26 (Theme: Renewing America's Promise):'''
* Senator [[Patrick Leahy]], D-[[Vermont]]
* Governor [[Joe Manchin]], D-[[West Virginia]], Chair of the Democratic Governors’ Association
* Governor [[Chet Culver]], D-[[Iowa]]
* [[California]] State Controller John Chiang
* Change to Win’s Anna Burger
* [[AFL-CIO]] President John Sweeney
* [[Planned Parenthood of America]] President Cecile Richards.
* Pay Equity pioneer Lilly Ledbetter
* Governor [[Brian Schweitzer]], D-[[Montana]]
* Governor [[Deval Patrick]], D-[[Massachusetts]]
* Governor [[Kathleen Sebelius]], D-[[Kansas]]
* Governor [[Janet Napolitano]], D-[[Arizona]]
* Governor [[Jim Doyle]], D-[[Wisconsin]]
* Governor [[Ed Rendell]], D-[[Pennsylvania]]
* Governor [[Ted Strickland]], D-[[Ohio]]
* Governor [[David Paterson]], D-[[New York]]
* Senator [[Bob Casey, Jr.]], D-[[Pennsylvania]]
* Former Secretary of Energy and Transportation Federico Peña
* House Majority Leader [[Steny Hoyer]], D-[[Maryland]]
* House Democratic Caucus Chair [[Rahm Emanuel]], D-[[Illinois]]
* Representative [[Xavier Becerra]] (D-California), Assistant to the Speaker of the House;
* Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair [[Chris Van Hollen]]
* Representatives [[Nydia Velazquez]] (D-[[New York]])
* Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
* Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
* Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
* Mike Honda (D-CA)
* Senator and former Presidential candidate [[Hillary Clinton]] (D-NY)
* Former Governor [[Mark Warner]] (D-VA)--Keynote Speaker
'''Wednesday 8/27 (Theme: Securing America's Future): '''
* Former President [[Bill Clinton]]
* Governor [[Bill Richardson]], D-[[New Mexico]]
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* Senator [[John Kerry]], D-[[Massachusetts]]
* Former Senate Minority Leader [[Tom Daschle]], D-[[South Dakota]]
* Senator [[Jack Reed]], D-[[Rhode Island]]
* Mayor [[Richard Daley]], D-[[Chicago]]
* Senator [[Evan Bayh]], D-[[Indiana]]
* Senator [[Joe Biden]], D-[[Delaware]]
* Senator [[Jay Rockefeller]], D-[[West Virginia]]
* Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]], D-[[Nevada]]
* Senator [[Ken Salazar]], D-[[Colorado]]
* House Majority Whip [[James E. Clyburn]], D-[[South Carolina]]
* Congressman [[Robert Wexler]] (D-[[Florida]])
'''Thursday 8/28 (Theme: Change You Can Believe In):'''
* [[Colorado]] [[Governor]] [[Bill Ritter]]
* Former Vice President [[Al Gore]]
* Presidential nominee [[Barack Obama]]
===Republican National Convention===
The 2008 Republican National Convention was held in [[Saint Paul]], [[Minnesota]] from September 1 ([[Labor Day]]) until September 4. The presumptive nominee was Senator McCain. The location has political significance in that [[Minnesota]] will likely be a close state during the general election, as will it's neighboring states [[Wisconsin]] and [[Iowa]].
The convention schedule had to be altered due to the upcoming landfall of [[Hurricane Gustav]]. The first day almost entirely focused on raising money for Hurricane relief. This led to a shortened three day convention instead of four and there was some shuffling of who was speaking on which day to accommodate the suddenly shortened time span. In a surprise, George W. Bush was only delivered an eight minute speech by satellite. In another surprise Sarah Palin's speech was watched by as many people as saw Obama give his acceptance speech on the closing night of the Democratic convention, as over 40 million people tuned in.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26548482/</ref> She was considered the highlight of the convention, even surpassing John McCain's speech the next day, and was noted for doing an exceptional job. Recognizing the strong asset that they have in her, the Republicans made reference to her many times on the last day of the convention. McCain, not known for being comfortable reading prepared speeches in a convention hall, delivered a solid speech. While Obama continued to enjoy a lead in the polls, it changed quickly thereafter to a slight McCain-Palin edge. The Republican convention more than canceled out a very powerful Democratic convention.
===Convention Schedule===
'''Monday 9/1 (Theme: Service):'''
*RNC Chairman Mike Duncan
*[[First Lady]] [[Laura Bush]]
*[[Cindy McCain]]
'''Tuesday 9/2 (Theme: Reform):'''
*Former [[New York City]] Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]], Keynote speaker
*Governor Jon Huntsman, R-[[Utah]]
*Governor [[Linda Lingle]], R-[[Hawaii]]
*Governor [[Sarah Palin]], R-[[Alaska]]
*Former Gov. [[Mike Huckabee]], R-[[Arkansas]]
*Former Gov. and Homeland Security Secretary [[Tom Ridge]], R-[[Pennsylvania]]
*Former Lt. Governor [[Michael Steele]], R-[[Maryland]]
*Senator [[Tom Coburn]], R-[[Oklahoma]]
*Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-[[Tennessee]]
*House Minority Leader [[John Boehner]], R-[[Ohio]]
*Congressman Marsha Blackburn, R-[[Tennessee]]
*Congressman Luis Fortuño, R-[[Puerto Rico]]
*Congressman Adam Putnam, R-[[Florida]]
*State Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-[[California]]
*Rosario Marin, California Secretary of the State
*Chris Collins
*Carolyn Dunn
*Phil Hayes
*Lisa Keegan
*Ruth Novodor
*Dr. Elena Rios
*Shirley Sadler
*Joe Watkins
'''Wednesday 9/3 (Theme: Prosperity):'''
*[[Cindy McCain]]
*Republican Party’s Vice Presidential Nominee
*Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], R-[[Louisiana]]
*Former Gov. [[Mitt Romney]], R-[[Massachusetts]]
*Senator [[Norm Coleman]], R-[[Minnesota]]
*Senator [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]], R-[[Texas]]
*Congressman [[Mike Pence]], R-[[Indiana]]
*Mayor Mick Cornett, R-Oklahoma City
*State Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-[[California]]
*Carly Fiorina, Victory ‘08 Chairman for the RNC, former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.
*Meg Whitman, National Co-Chair for McCain 2008 and former President and CEO of [[eBay]]
*Renee Amoore*
*Anne Beiler*
*Jessica Colon*
*Christy Swanson*
*Raul “Danny” Vargas*
'''Thursday 9/4 (Theme: Peace):'''
*[[John McCain]]
*Governor [[Charlie Crist]], R-[[Florida]]
*Governor [[Tim Pawlenty]], R-[[Minnesota]]
*Senator [[Sam Brownback]], R-[[Kansas]]
*Senator [[Lindsey Graham]], R-[[South Carolina]]
*Senator [[Mel Martinez]], R-[[Florida]]
*Former Senate Majority Leader [[Bill Frist]], R-[[Tennessee]]
*Congressman Mary Fallin, R-[[Oklahoma ]]
*Michael Williams, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission
*David Flau
*Christopher Fussner
*Lt. General Carol Mutter, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
*Charlie Smith
==Vice Presidential Candidates==
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===Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate===
On August 23rd, Senator Barack Obama announced, via text message to 3 million cell phone numbers of his supporters, his nomination of Joseph Biden to Vice President. Biden's selection was considered to be a prudent move by Obama, filling a hole in his own foreign policy experience that McCain could exploit. With the implosion of [[John Edwards]], Biden was widely expected to be the choice. In order to help build up suspense, Biden said he was not chosen when he spoke to the press the day before, only to be shown as the Vice Presidential candidate the next day. A long-term senator and Washington insider with over two decades of service in the Senate, his earlier plagarism scandal was deemed to be less of a negative than the positive that his strong experience credentials could bring to the race.
[[Image:06 biden.gif|thumb|left|100px|Joseph Biden]]
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===Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate===
[[Image:Sarah Palin.jpg|thumb|left|100px|thumb]]
*Governor [[Sarah Palin]] of [[Alaska]] was announced as John McCain's choice early on Friday, August 29th, the day after the Democratic convention ended. A surprise choice not even considered by the press to be on McCain's short list, her selection caught the political world off guard. It had been expected that [[Mitt Romney]] would earn the honor, but McCain had other ideas. At first denigrated by the people in the Obama campaign, Obama's own statement was one of cautious neutrality to feel out what impact her selection would have on the race.
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In an interesting twist, the selection of the Vice Presidential candidates changed the complexion of the race. By Obama picking Biden, he helped to fill the hole that McCain had been attacking dealing with a lack of foreign policy experience. McCain's strongest point, experience, would lose some of its luster. But the selection of Biden, and the passing over of Hillary Clinton, left another opening. By aligning himself with someone who has been a Democratic stalwart, Obama's claim to change became less pronounced. McCain seized upon that to select a Vice President that no one expected, and a woman, and steal some of the Democratic thunder. Her lack of experience would further cut into the experience angle that had been in play earlier, but her own maverick streak in becoming governor combined with John McCain's maverick choice in selecting her led to a new emphasis on McCain's own maverick past. Suddenly he saw an opportunity to steal the moniker of change that Obama had been wearing, and he went for it. Such a change in position occurring from the Vice Presidential selection in rare in Presidential politics.
==Debates==
===Presidential Debates===
''Main Article: [[2008 Presidential Debates]]''
There have been three [[Presidential Debates|presidential debates]] for the 2008 election season. The first debate was held on September 26th, at the University of Mississippi. The topic for the debate was "Foreign Policy & National Security." The debate also talked in length about the economy. It was moderated by Jim Lehrer. The debate was a podium debate, broken into 9 nine-minute segments. The moderator introduced a topic, and then each candidate had 2 minutes to comment. Following their answers, there was 5 minutes of open discussion on the topic, facilitated by the moderator. The result was a statistical draw where both candidates did better than expected in the eyes of the public. The longer term impact worked out well for Obama who already had a lead going in, and benefited from solidfying that position.
The second debate was held on October 7th, at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. The moderator was Tom Brokaw, and the debate was in a town hall-style. The questions came from audience members and the Internet, as chosen by the moderator. After each question, the candidates will had two minutes each to respond, as well as a one-minute followup to the opposing candidate's response. Again the result was a statical draw as far as who was considered to be the winner. But with time running out for McCain, he needed something to make the poll numbers move, and that required a clear breakthrough.
The final debate was held on October 15th, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. The topic for the debate was "Domestic and Economic Policy" and was moderated by Bob Schieffer. The candidates were seated at a table, as opposed to behind a podium, and the format followed that of the first debate. In addition, though, the candidates were given an opportunity to present a 90-second closing argument. Both candidates were again viewed as having done well, which was a tactical defeat for McCain as the poll numbers showed only small changes.
===Vice Presidential Debate===
There was one vice presidential debate held on October 2nd, at Washington University in Saint Louis, MO. The debate was moderated by Gwen Ifill. Palin did much better than expected, but Biden was also in top form. No clear winner emerged and the poll numbers remained largely unchanged, a strategic win for the Democratic ticket that only had to maintain their lead to win the election. Interestingly, the number of people who watched the debate was an alltime record for a Vice Presidential debate, and was viewed by more people than any of the three Presidential debates.
==Third parties and Independents==
===Libertarian party===
The [[Libertarian Party]] selected former Representative [[Bob Barr]] of [[Georgia]] as its 2008 presidential candidate on May 25, 2008.<ref>http://www.lpconvention.org/</ref> Former Democratic candididate [[Mike Gravel]] sought the Libertarian nomination but lost to Barr.<ref> http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/25/libertarians-pick-barr-as-presidential-nominee/ </ref>
Barr has, on his campaign website, linked to a proposed Libertarian strategy laid out by a member of his campaign staff. Although Barr has not officially claimed this as his strategy, the link appears to be a tacit endorsement. The strategy is called the "gold states" strategy. Instead of waging a 50-state campaign with the aim of securing 270 electoral votes and an outright electoral college win, Barr would focus on about 18-20 states where neither Obama or McCain has strong support. Winning that number of states could net Barr from 180-200 electoral votes, and would exceed either Obama or McCain's number and prevent either of them from reaching 270. Under US Constitution Amendment 12, with no candidate having an electoral vote majority, the election would be thrown into the House of Representatives, which would have to choose the president from the top three electoral vote getters. At this stage, Barr could argue that as the top electoral vote recipient, he should become the President, and might draw support from conservative Democrats displeased with Obama's positions, and from Republicans who dislike McCain.
Although winning the largest number of electoral votes would assist Barr in making such an argument, it is not absolutely necessary. Given the close divide in the electoral vote in the 2000 and 2004 elections, Barr could throw the vote into the House by winning a handful of states to garner perhaps 15-20 electoral votes.
The House of Representatives currently has a Democratic majority, but it is important to note that under the US Constitution Amendment 12, the vote is not a straight vote of the members of the House. Instead, each ''State'' gets one single vote, and that vote is determined by the members from that State. Although many large states like California and New York have large Democratic majorities, these will be balanced by the many smaller Southern and Midwestern states with Republican majorities. A handful of states have an even number of House members, and are split down the middle for control.
===Constitution Party===
The [[Constitution Party]] held its convention in Kansas City, Kansas, on April 24 through April 27. The party nominated Pastor [[Chuck Baldwin]] over former U.N. Ambassador and Republican presidential candidate [[Alan Keyes]].<ref> http://www.constitutionparty.com/news.php?aid=751 </ref>
===Green Party===
[[Cynthia McKinney]], who was defeated in her bid for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives after voting against the [[Iraq War]] and being arrested on battery charges after striking a Capitol Hill police officer, won the [[environmentalist]] [[Green Party]]'s nomination for president at the party convention July 12, 2008. Running for Vice President on the Green ticket is "Hip-Hop activist and journalist" Rosa Clemente.<ref>http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=79</ref>
===Independents===
[[Ralph Nader]] announced his independent candidacy for president on February 24, 2008, to focus on "stem[ming] corporate crime and Pentagon waste and promot[ing] labor rights", issues he feels are ignored by the main parties.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb24/0,4670,APNader,00.html</ref> His [[running mate]] is former President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors [[Matt Gonzalez]].<ref>http://www.votenader.org/about/matt-gonzalez/</ref>
New York City Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] has been frequently mentioned as a possible independent candidate for the 2008 presidential election and fueled that speculation when he left the Republican Party in June 2007. However, he declared in a February 28, 2008, op-ed article in ''The New York Times'', "I am not—and will not be—a candidate for president," but added that "[i]f a candidate takes an independent, nonpartisan approach—and embraces practical solutions that challenge party orthodoxy—I’ll join others in helping that candidate win the White House."<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28mike.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "I'm Not Running for President, but..."]</ref>
==Historical Information==
===Withdrawn Republican Party Candidates===
*Senator [[Sam Brownback]], [[Kansas]], withdrew October 19, 2007, citing a lack of funding.<ref>http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifK7vLWH4aU4urzB-4bSX1u4QF9QD8SC0EI00</ref> Brownback also had done poorly at key conservative milestones, such as the [[Value Voters Debate]].<ref>http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/pollresults.cfm, Brownback lost sizably to [[Mike Huckabee]].</ref> He endorsed Senator [[John McCain]] of [[Arizona]].
*Former Governor [[Jim Gilmore]], [[Virginia]], withdrew July 14, 2007 due to lack of funds.
*Former Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani|Rudolph Giuliani]], [[New York City]] He withdrew after a defeat in [[Florida]], on which he had depended on heavily. He endorsed John McCain afterwards.
*Former Governor [[Mike Huckabee]], [[Arkansas]]. He withdrew from the race once McCain received the 1,191 delegates needed to win the nomination. He also promised to support McCain as the nominee, thus giving his endorsement to him.
*Representative [[Duncan Hunter]], [[California]] 52nd, withdrew January 19, 2008 and endorsed Governor Mike Huckabee.
*Representative [[Ron Paul]], [[Texas]] 14th, withdrew June 12, 2008. He has since encouraged people ''not'' to vote McCain and vote third party <ref> http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/09/paul-urging-voters-support-party-candidates/ </ref>.
*Former Governor [[Mitt Romney]], [[Massachusetts]], suspended his campaign after poor showings on [[Super Tuesday]] and later endorsed John McCain.
*Representative [[Tom Tancredo]], [[Colorado]] 6th, withdrew December 20, 2007. He endorsed fmr. Governor [[Mitt Romney]] of [[Massachusetts]].
*Former Senator [[Fred Thompson]], [[Tennessee]]. He endorsed [[John McCain]] of Arizona.
*Former Governor and HS Secretary [[Tommy Thompson]], withdrew August 12, 2007. He endorsed fmr. Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] of [[New York]].
===Potential Republican Candidates Who Declined to Run===
*Former Senator [[George Allen]], Virginia - endorsed Fred Thompson.
*Former Governor [[Jeb Bush]], [[Florida]] - endorsed John McCain.
*[[Vice President]] [[Dick Cheney]]
*Former Senate Majority Leader [[Bill Frist]], Tennessee
*Former [[Speaker of the House]] [[Newt Gingrich]], [[Georgia]]
*Senator [[Chuck Hagel]], [[Nebraska]]
*Former Governor [[George Pataki]], New York
*[[Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]]
*Governor [[Mark Sanford]], [[South Carolina]]
*Former Senator [[Rick Santorum]], [[Pennsylvania]]
=== Withdrawn Democratic Party candidates ===
*Senator [[Joseph Biden]], [[Delaware]]<ref> http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/04/chris-dodd-abandons-presidential-campaign-after-poor-showing-in-iowa/ </ref> He withdrew after a disappointing finish in the [[Iowa Caucus]]. He became Senator [[Obama]]'s running mate.
*Senator [[Hillary Clinton]], [[New York]] Suspended her campaign after Obama reached the number of needed delegates. She endorsed him shortly afterwards.
*Senator [[Chris Dodd]], [[Connecticut]]<ref> http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/04/chris-dodd-abandons-presidential-campaign-after-poor-showing-in-iowa/</ref> He withdrew after a disappointing finish in the [[Iowa Caucus]] and later endorsed Senator [[Barack Obama]].
*Former Senator [[John Edwards]], [[North Carolina]]. He withdrew after losing in all of the early primary states. He later endorsed Senator Obama after Obama won the North Carolina primary.
*Former Senator [[Mike Gravel]], [[Alaska]]. He withdrew to seek the Libertarian party nomination (which he lost to Bob Barr.) He also endorsed Green Party Candidate, Jesse Johnson. <ref> http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/12/democratic-candidate-gravel-endorses-green-party-presidential-hopeful/ </ref>
*Representative [[Dennis Kucinich]], [[Ohio]] 10th<ref> http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/24/kucinich-drops-presidential-bid/ </ref> He withdrew to keep his seat in the House of Representatives.
*Governor [[Bill Richardson]], [[New Mexico]]<ref>
[http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/09/ap-bill-richardson-drops-out-of-democratic-presidential-race/ AP: Bill Richardson Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race], [[Associated Press]], [[Fox News Channel]], January 9, 2008</ref> He withdrew after twin fourth-place finishes (in Iowa and New Hampshire) that showed his credentials could not compete with his rivals’ star power. He later endorsed Senator Obama.
*Former Governor [[Tom Vilsack]], Iowa. He dropped out early in the race and endorsed [[Hillary Clinton]] of [[New York]]
===Potential Democratic Candidates Who Declined to Run===
*Senator [[Evan Bayh]], [[Indiana]] - endorsed Hillary Clinton
*[[General]] [[Wesley Clark]] (Ret.) - endorsed Hillary Clinton
*Former Senate Minority Leader [[Tom Daschle]], [[South Dakota]]
*Former Governor and current DNC Chairman [[Howard Dean]], [[Vermont]]
*Senator [[Russ Feingold]], [[Wisconsin]]
*Former Vice President [[Al Gore]], [[Tennessee]]
*Senator [[John Kerry]], Massachusetts - endorsed Barack Obama
*Rev. [[Al Sharpton]]
*Former Governor [[Mark Warner]], [[Virginia]]
==Primaries==
For expanded primary information see [[United States Presidential Election, 2008 - Primaries]]
John McCain had to get his footing at first, but was pretty much assured the Republican nomination after [[Super Tuesday]]. Barack Obama had a much tougher road, but rode out a string of victories in February to eventually outlast Clinton and take the nomination. During that time he had raised more money than any other candidate in history giving him a huge boost, a trend that would continue into the general election.
==See Also==
*[[Previous Breaking News/2008 Presidential Election|Articles about the '''2008 Presidential Election''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
== References ==
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