United States presidential election, 2008 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
United States presidential election, 2008

← 2004

November 4, 2008

2012 →


Nominee	Barack Obama	John McCain
Party	Democrat	Republican
Home state	Illinois	Arizona
Running mate	Joe Biden	Sarah Palin
Electoral vote	365	173
States carried	28 + DC + NE-02	22
Popular vote	69,498,516	59,948,323
Percentage	52.9%	45.7%

Electoral college votes for 2008. The winning candidate needs 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538, which is just over 50%.

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democrat

The United States presidential election, 2008 is a political event which took place on November 4, 2008. During that day the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States were selected. Barack Obama from the Democratic Party defeated John McCain to win the presidency, and is the first African-American president. He was sworn in as President on January 20, 2009. In a United States presidential election, a person must get 270 electoral votes to win.

Democratic Primaries
- Nominees
  - Withdrawn candidates
Republican Primaries
- Nominees
  - Withdrawn candidates
The Campaign
Results
- Results by state
Images for kids
See also

Democratic Primaries

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

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

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

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

Nominees

Barack Obama	Joe Biden
Democratic Party Ticket, 2008
for President	for Vice President

U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005–incumbent)	U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973–incumbent)
Campaign

Withdrawn candidates

Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York (withdrew on June 7, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
John Edwards, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina (withdrew on January 30, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico (withdrew on January 10, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative from Ohio (withdrew on January 24, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
Joe Biden, U.S. Senator from Delaware (withdrew on January 3, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
Mike Gravel, former U.S. Senator from Alaska (withdrew on March 25, 2008 to run for the Libertarian Party nomination. After losing the nomination, he endorsed Jesse Johnson)
Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (withdrew on January 3, 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama)
Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator from Indiana (withdrew on December 15, 2006 and endorsed Hillary Clinton. He later endorsed Barack Obama)
Tom Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa (withdrew on February 23, 2007 and endorsed Hillary Clinton. He later endorsed Barack Obama)

Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton
of New York
(campaign)
(Withdrew on June 7, 2008)
Former Senator
John Edwards
of North Carolina
(campaign)
(Withdrew on January 30, 2008)
Governor
Bill Richardson
of New Mexico
(campaign)
(Withdrew on January 10, 2008)
Representative
Dennis Kucinich
of Ohio
(campaign)
(Withdrew on January 24, 2008)
Senator
Joe Biden
of Delaware
(campaign)
(Withdrew on January 3, 2008, became Vice Presidential nominee)
Former Senator
Mike Gravel
of Alaska
(campaign)
(Withdrew on March 25, 2008)
Senator
Christopher Dodd
of Connecticut
(campaign)
(Withdrew on January 3, 2008)
Senator
Evan Bayh
of Indiana
(campaign)
(Withdrew on December 15, 2006)
Former Governor
Tom Vilsack
of Iowa
(campaign)
(Withdrew on February 23, 2007)

Republican Primaries

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

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

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

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

He chose Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential candidate.

Nominees

John McCain	Sarah Palin
Republican Party Ticket, 2008
for President	for Vice President

U.S. Senator from Arizona (1987–incumbent)	9th Governor of Alaska (2006–2009)
Campaign

Withdrawn candidates

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

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

The Campaign

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

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

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

Results

Candidate	Votes	%	States led	National ECV
Barack Obama (Democrat)	69,498,516	52.9%	28+DC+NE-02	365
John McCain (Republican)	59,948,323	45.7%	22	173
Ralph Nader (Independent)	739,034	0.56%	0	0
Bob Barr (Libertarian)	523,715	0.40%	0	0
Chuck Baldwin (Constitution)	199,750	0.15%	0	0
Cynthia McKinney (Green)	161,797	0.12%	0	0
Other	242,685	0.18%	0	0
Total	131,313,820	100.00%	50 + DC	538

Results by state

State	Obama Popular Vote	Obama %	McCain Popular Vote	McCain %	Electoral Vote
Alabama	813,479	38.74%	1,266,546	60.32%	9
Alaska	123,594	37.89%	193,841	59.42%	3
Arizona	1,034,707	45.12%	1,230,111	53.64%	10
Arkansas	422,310	38.86%	638,017	58.72%	6
California	8,274,473	41.01%	5,011,781	36.95%	55
Colorado	1,288,633	53.66%	1,073,629	44.71%	9
Connecticut	997,772	60.59%	629,428	38.22%	7
Delaware	255,429	61.94%	152,374	36.95%	3
District of Columbia	245,800	92.46%	17,367	6.53%	3
Florida	4,282,074	51.03%	4,045,624	48.22%	27
Georgia	1,844,123	46.99%	2,048,759	52.20%	15
Hawaii	325,871	71.85%	120,566	26.58%	4
Idaho	236,440	36.09%	403,012	61.52%	4
Illinois	3,419,308	61.92%	2,031,179	36.78%	21
Indiana	1,374,039	49.95%	1,345,648	48.91%	11
Iowa	828,940	53.93%	682,379	44.39%	7
Kansas	514,765	41.95%	699,655	56.61%	6
Kentucky	751,985	41.17%	1,048,462	57.40%	8
Louisiana	782,989	39.93%	1,148,275	58.56%	9
Maine	421,923	57.71%	295,273	40.38%	4
Maryland	1,629,467	61.92%	959,862	36.47%	10
Massachusetts	1,904,097	61.80%	1,108,854	35.99%	12
Michigan	2,872,579	57.43%	2,048,639	40.96%	17
Minnesota	1,573,354	54.06%	1,275,409	43.82%	10
Mississippi	554,662	43.00%	724,597	56.18%	6
Missouri	1,441,911	49.29%	1,445,814	49.43%	11
Montana	231,667	47.25%	242,763	49.51%	3
Nebraska	333,319	41.60%	452,479	56.53%	5
Nevada	533,736	55.15%	412,827	42.65%	5
New Hampshire	384,826	54.13%	316,534	44.52%	4
New Jersey	2,215,422	57.27%	1,613,207	41.70%	15
New Mexico	472,422	56.91%	346,832	41.78%	5
New York	4,804,945	62.88%	2,752,771	36.03%	31
North Carolina	2,142,651	49.70%	2,128,474	49.38%	15
North Dakota	141,278	44.62%	168,601	53.25%	3
Ohio	2,940,044	51.50%	2,677,820	46.91%	20
Oklahoma	502,496	34.35%	960,165	65.65%	7
Oregon	1,037,291	56.75%	738,475	40.40%	7
Pennsylvania	3,276,363	54.49%	2,655,885	44.17%	21
Rhode Island	296,571	62.86%	165.391	35.06%	4
South Carolina	862,449	44.90%	1,034,896	53.87%	8
South Dakota	170,924	44.75%	203,054	53.16%	3
Tennessee	1,087,437	41.83%	1,479,178	56.90%	11
Texas	3,528,633	43.68%	4,479,328	55.45%	34
Utah	327,670	34.41%	596,030	62.58%	5
Vermont	219,262	67.46%	98,974	30.45%	3
Virginia	1,959,532	52.63%	1,725,005	46.33%	13
Washington	1,750,848	57.65%	1,229,216	40.48%	11
West Virginia	303,857	42.59%	397,466	55.71%	5
Wisconsin	1,677,211	56.22%	1,262,393	42.31%	10
Wyoming	82,868	32.54%	164,958	64.78%	3

Images for kids

George W. Bush, the incumbent president in 2008, whose term expired on January 20, 2009.
Barack Obama campaigns in Akron, Ohio on February 23, 2008
Clinton withdrew in June 2008, and endorsed Barack Obama. She campaigned fiercely on Obama's behalf, stating to her fans, "I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for [Senator] Barack Obama as you have for me."
John McCain and Sarah Palin onstage with Todd Palin, Cindy McCain and Robert Duvall in Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 6, 2008
Obama campaigning as a symbol of change in Cleveland, Ohio with a "Change We Need" sign
Cartogram of the Electoral Votes for 2008 United States presidential election, each square representing one electoral vote. The map shows the impact of winning swing states. Nebraska, being one of two states that are not winner-take-all, for the first time had its votes split, with its second congressional district voting for Obama.
An Obama sign displayed at a home in Arlington, VA, on November 1, 2008.
Popular vote results map
Swing by state. States are listed by (increasing) percentage of Democratic votes, showing how the share of the vote changed between 2004 and 2008. Excluding the candidates' home states, only five states trended more Republican: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Popular vote by county. Red represents counties that went for McCain, Blue represents counties that went for Obama. Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont had all counties go to Obama. Oklahoma had all counties go to McCain. Alaska does not display its boroughs on this map.
Presidential popular votes by county as a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic.
Cartogram of popular vote with each county rescaled in proportion to its population. Deeper blue represents a Democratic majority, brighter red represents a Republican majority.
Voting shifts per county from the 2004 to the 2008 election. Darker blue indicates the county voted more Democratic. Darker red indicates the county voted more Republican.
2008 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District