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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.

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.

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--> Ultimately on election day Barack Obama defeated John McCain by a large margin.

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-->

==First election without incumbents since 1928==  

==First election without incumbents since 1928==  

== Election Day ==

== 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 yet it is within 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>

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==  

==Opinion polling==  

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.

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 faced a much more antagonistic interview.  The constant negative barrage and reporting slowly moved the numbers back to even.

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 to openly antagonistic attacks.  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.

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.