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The United States presidential election of 2008 will be held on 4 November 2008.
The election will determine electors for the United States Electoral College, and whichever presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College (at least 270) will be the 44th President of the United States, whichever vice presidential candidate receives a majority of votes will be the 47th Vice President of the United States.
If no presidential candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College then the president-elect is selected by a vote of the House of Representatives and if no vice presidential candidate receives a majority then the vice president-elect is selected by a vote of the Senate.
As in the 2004 presidential election, the allocation of electoral votes to each state will be partially based on the 2000 Census. The president-elect and vice president-elect will be inaugurated on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
For the first time since 1928, both major parties will have open contests for the Presidential nomination without a sitting President or Vice President in the running.
COSTLIEST ELECTION
The reported cost of campaigning for President has risen significantly in recent years. One source reported that if the costs for both Democrats and Republicans campaigns are added together (for the Presidential primary election, general election, and the political conventions) the costs have more than doubled in only eight years ($448.9 million in 1996, $649.5 million in 2000, and $1,016.5 million in 2004).
2008 U.S. presidential race will be "the most expensive election in American history." The 2008 race will be a "$1 billion election," and that to be "taken seriously," a candidate will need to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
List of Anounced Candidates. Other possible candidates in Italics.
REPUBLICAN PARTY:
US Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas)
Former Governor Jim Gilmore (R-Virginia)
Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia)
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R-New York)
US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)
Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas)
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-California)
US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona)
Former Governor George Pataki (R-New York)
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas)
Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts)
Radio Talk Show Host Michael Savage (R-California)
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado)
Former Governor Tommy Thompson (R-Wisconsin)
DEMOCRATIC PARTY:
US Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware)
Former Army General Wes Clark (D-Arkansas)
US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York)
US Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecitcut)
Former US Senator John Edwards (D-North Carolina)
Former Alaska US Senator Mike Gravel (D-Virginia)
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
US Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois)
Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico)
Rev. Al Sharpton (D-New York)
Governor Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa)
THE TWO PARTY US of A
DEMOCRATIC PARTY (DNC)
After the 2006 elections, Democrats control several key governorships (including PA, NY, MI, IL, VA, OH, NJ, NC, CO, VA and WA) and many state legislatures. The Democrats also recaptured congressional majority status inside the Beltway for the first time since 1994.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean tried a new "50-states strategy" approach to rebuilding the party since becoming DNC Chair in 2005, abandoning the old "targeted states" approach in favor of building a 50-state party organization. Dean's fundraising has also been solid as chair, and he has made a real effort to drop the angry demeanor he exhibited during his '04 White House run. DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were the other two key architects, along with Dean, with the successful 2006 strategy -- even if the two insiders were frequently at odds with Dean over tactics and spending until late in the cycle.
While prominent Democrats run the wide gamut from the near Euro-style democratic-socialist left (Barbara Lee, Dennis Kucinich and the Congressional Progressive Caucus) and traditional liberals (Russ Feingold, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin and John Kerry) to the Dem center-right (Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, Harry Reid and the New Democrat Network) to the GOP-style conservative right (Ben Nelson, Gene Taylor, and Allen Boyd) ... most fall somewhere into or near the pragmatic Democratic Leadership Council's "centrist" moderate-to-liberal style (Howard Dean, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, The Third Way).
The Democrats swept into office in '06 include a combination of some vocal progressive "Deaniacs," some centrists, and some very conservative ex-Republicans.
REPUBLICAN PARTY (RNC)
Republicans hold the big job in Washington DC: the Presidency. President George W. Bush -- regardless of which party holds control on Capitol Hill -- has the ability to largely keep Congress in check with his veto power.
The GOP also held control of the US House from the Gingrich/Contract with America/anti-Clinton election sweep of 1994 until they were dumped from power in 2006 in a backlash to the Iraq War, the anti-Bush vote and concerns about insider corruption problems. The GOP also hold several key Governorships (including TX, CA, GA, MN and FL), and narrowly held majority status in the US Senate in 1995-2001 and 2003-07.
In the aftermath of the 2006 races, watch for the normal finger-pointing and reorganizing between different ideological camps within the party as they gear up for the 2008 White House race.
Leading Republicans fall into several different ideological factions: traditional conservatives (President George W. Bush, Denny Hastert, Bill Frist, Rick Santorum and the Club for Growth), the Religious Right (Sam Brownback, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies and the Christian Coalition), the rapidly dwindling old Nixon/Rockefeller "centrist" or "moderate" wing (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rob Simmons, Christie Whitman and the Republican Main Street Partnership), libertarians (Ron Paul and the Republican Liberty Caucus), and a "paleo-conservative" wing that backs strict anti-immigration controls (Tom Tancredo and Pat Buchanan).
US ELECTIONS CALENDER
Early stages
In 2007, because of the long lead time for fundraising and because Federal election laws require the reporting of funds raised for the primary elections, fundraising began in earnest.
As pre-primary season unfolds, media will likely anoint front-runners on the basis of reported fund-raising totals. For example, the media treated Howard Dean as the front-runner going into the 2004 cycle, although he was initially considered by some to be a long shot. (Dean was in fact defeated for the Democratic nomination, withdrawing prior to Super Tuesday.)
There will be series of events sponsored by the different parties during 2007, including debates, straw polls, and other events designed to give voters a chance to get to know the candidates.
The Democrats, for example, are hosting a series of candidate forums and debates in Nevada, beginning with a forum on February 21, as well as hosting a debate in New Hampshire on April 5 and one in South Carolina on April 26.
The Republican Party is also planning events for the candidates, such as televised debates in New Hampshire on April 4 and one in South Carolina on May 15, as well as the traditional Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on August 11. In 1999, two of the nine candidates that participated in the straw poll dropped out of the race for the 2000 nomination after faring poorly there.
Official primary/caucus dates
Delegates to national party conventions are selected through direct primary elections, state caucuses, and state conventions. The process continues through June, but in previous cycles, including 2004, the
Democratic and Republican candidates were effectively chosen by the March primaries, because the leading candidates had collected enough committed delegates to win in the national convention. Most third parties select delegates to their national conventions through state conventions.
Democratic primaries and caucuses
January 14, 2008 - Iowa
January 19, 2008 - Nevada
January 22, 2008 - New Hampshire
January 29, 2008 - South Carolina
February 5, 2008 - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah
February 10, 2008 - Maine
February 12, 2008 - District of Columbia, Tennessee, Virginia
February 19, 2008 - Wisconsin
February 26, 2008 - Hawaii, Idaho
March 2008 (date to be determined) - American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virgin Islands, Wyoming
March 4, 2008 - Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
March 7, 2008 - Colorado
March 8, 2008 - Kansas
March 11, 2008 - Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi
March 18, 2008 - Illinois, Oregon
April 2008 (date to be determined) - Alaska
April 1, 2008 - Pennsylvania
May 6, 2008 - Indiana
May 13, 2008 - Nebraska, West Virginia
May 20, 2008 - Kentucky
May 27, 2008 - Washington
June 3, 2008 - Montana, South Dakota, California
Note: New Hampshire officials have stated that by state law, theirs must be the first primary in the nation and must precede any similar contest by at least seven days, and thus, the state may not abide by DNC approved dates. The DNC has threatened to withhold NH delegates if the state moves the primary earlier than the 22nd.
Republican primaries and caucuses
January 21, 2008 - Iowa
January 28, 2008 - New Hampshire
February 2, 2008 - South Carolina
February 5, 2008 - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia (which will nominate a candidate at a state nominating convention)
February 5, 2008 (unofficial date) - Florida, Michigan
February 12, 2008 - Tennessee
February 9 or February 16, 2008 (date to be determined) - Louisiana
February 19, 2008 - Minnesota, Wisconsin
February 26, 2008 (unofficial date) - Virginia
March 4, 2008 - Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
March 4, 2008 (unofficial date) - Pennsylvania
March 11, 2008 - Mississippi, Washington
March 18, 2008 - Illinois
April 15, 2008 - Colorado
April 26, 2008 - Kansas, Nevada
May 2008 (date to be determined) - Alaska
May 6, 2008 - Indiana
May 10, 2008 - Wyoming
May 13, 2008 - Nebraska
May 20, 2008 - Kentucky, Oregon
May 27, 2008 - Idaho
June 3, 2008 - California, South Dakota
June 6, 2008 - Hawaii
June 9, 2008 - Montana
[edit] Later events
May 23-26, 2008 - 2008 Libertarian National Convention, to be held in Denver, Colorado
July 12-15, 2008 - 2008 Green National Convention, to be held in Reading, Pennsylvania
August 25-28, 2008 - 2008 Democratic National Convention, to be held in Denver, Colorado
September 1-4, 2008 - 2008 Republican National Convention, to be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
November 4, 2008 - All 50 states and the District of Columbia will hold elections to select members of the Electoral College.
December 15, 2008 - Members of the U.S. Electoral College meet in each state to cast their votes for President and Vice President.
January 6, 2009 - Electoral votes officially tallied before both Houses of Congress.
January 20, 2009 - Inauguration Day.
The United States presidential election of 2008 will be held on 4 November 2008.
The election will determine electors for the United States Electoral College, and whichever presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College (at least 270) will be the 44th President of the United States, whichever vice presidential candidate receives a majority of votes will be the 47th Vice President of the United States.
If no presidential candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College then the president-elect is selected by a vote of the House of Representatives and if no vice presidential candidate receives a majority then the vice president-elect is selected by a vote of the Senate.
As in the 2004 presidential election, the allocation of electoral votes to each state will be partially based on the 2000 Census. The president-elect and vice president-elect will be inaugurated on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
For the first time since 1928, both major parties will have open contests for the Presidential nomination without a sitting President or Vice President in the running.
COSTLIEST ELECTION
The reported cost of campaigning for President has risen significantly in recent years. One source reported that if the costs for both Democrats and Republicans campaigns are added together (for the Presidential primary election, general election, and the political conventions) the costs have more than doubled in only eight years ($448.9 million in 1996, $649.5 million in 2000, and $1,016.5 million in 2004).
2008 U.S. presidential race will be "the most expensive election in American history." The 2008 race will be a "$1 billion election," and that to be "taken seriously," a candidate will need to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
List of Anounced Candidates. Other possible candidates in Italics.
REPUBLICAN PARTY:
US Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas)
Former Governor Jim Gilmore (R-Virginia)
Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia)
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R-New York)
US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)
Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas)
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-California)
US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona)
Former Governor George Pataki (R-New York)
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas)
Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts)
Radio Talk Show Host Michael Savage (R-California)
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado)
Former Governor Tommy Thompson (R-Wisconsin)
DEMOCRATIC PARTY:
US Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware)
Former Army General Wes Clark (D-Arkansas)
US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York)
US Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecitcut)
Former US Senator John Edwards (D-North Carolina)
Former Alaska US Senator Mike Gravel (D-Virginia)
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
US Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois)
Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico)
Rev. Al Sharpton (D-New York)
Governor Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa)
THE TWO PARTY US of A
DEMOCRATIC PARTY (DNC)
After the 2006 elections, Democrats control several key governorships (including PA, NY, MI, IL, VA, OH, NJ, NC, CO, VA and WA) and many state legislatures. The Democrats also recaptured congressional majority status inside the Beltway for the first time since 1994.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean tried a new "50-states strategy" approach to rebuilding the party since becoming DNC Chair in 2005, abandoning the old "targeted states" approach in favor of building a 50-state party organization. Dean's fundraising has also been solid as chair, and he has made a real effort to drop the angry demeanor he exhibited during his '04 White House run. DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were the other two key architects, along with Dean, with the successful 2006 strategy -- even if the two insiders were frequently at odds with Dean over tactics and spending until late in the cycle.
While prominent Democrats run the wide gamut from the near Euro-style democratic-socialist left (Barbara Lee, Dennis Kucinich and the Congressional Progressive Caucus) and traditional liberals (Russ Feingold, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin and John Kerry) to the Dem center-right (Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, Harry Reid and the New Democrat Network) to the GOP-style conservative right (Ben Nelson, Gene Taylor, and Allen Boyd) ... most fall somewhere into or near the pragmatic Democratic Leadership Council's "centrist" moderate-to-liberal style (Howard Dean, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, The Third Way).
The Democrats swept into office in '06 include a combination of some vocal progressive "Deaniacs," some centrists, and some very conservative ex-Republicans.
REPUBLICAN PARTY (RNC)
Republicans hold the big job in Washington DC: the Presidency. President George W. Bush -- regardless of which party holds control on Capitol Hill -- has the ability to largely keep Congress in check with his veto power.
The GOP also held control of the US House from the Gingrich/Contract with America/anti-Clinton election sweep of 1994 until they were dumped from power in 2006 in a backlash to the Iraq War, the anti-Bush vote and concerns about insider corruption problems. The GOP also hold several key Governorships (including TX, CA, GA, MN and FL), and narrowly held majority status in the US Senate in 1995-2001 and 2003-07.
In the aftermath of the 2006 races, watch for the normal finger-pointing and reorganizing between different ideological camps within the party as they gear up for the 2008 White House race.
Leading Republicans fall into several different ideological factions: traditional conservatives (President George W. Bush, Denny Hastert, Bill Frist, Rick Santorum and the Club for Growth), the Religious Right (Sam Brownback, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies and the Christian Coalition), the rapidly dwindling old Nixon/Rockefeller "centrist" or "moderate" wing (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rob Simmons, Christie Whitman and the Republican Main Street Partnership), libertarians (Ron Paul and the Republican Liberty Caucus), and a "paleo-conservative" wing that backs strict anti-immigration controls (Tom Tancredo and Pat Buchanan).
US ELECTIONS CALENDER
Early stages
In 2007, because of the long lead time for fundraising and because Federal election laws require the reporting of funds raised for the primary elections, fundraising began in earnest.
As pre-primary season unfolds, media will likely anoint front-runners on the basis of reported fund-raising totals. For example, the media treated Howard Dean as the front-runner going into the 2004 cycle, although he was initially considered by some to be a long shot. (Dean was in fact defeated for the Democratic nomination, withdrawing prior to Super Tuesday.)
There will be series of events sponsored by the different parties during 2007, including debates, straw polls, and other events designed to give voters a chance to get to know the candidates.
The Democrats, for example, are hosting a series of candidate forums and debates in Nevada, beginning with a forum on February 21, as well as hosting a debate in New Hampshire on April 5 and one in South Carolina on April 26.
The Republican Party is also planning events for the candidates, such as televised debates in New Hampshire on April 4 and one in South Carolina on May 15, as well as the traditional Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on August 11. In 1999, two of the nine candidates that participated in the straw poll dropped out of the race for the 2000 nomination after faring poorly there.
Official primary/caucus dates
Delegates to national party conventions are selected through direct primary elections, state caucuses, and state conventions. The process continues through June, but in previous cycles, including 2004, the
Democratic and Republican candidates were effectively chosen by the March primaries, because the leading candidates had collected enough committed delegates to win in the national convention. Most third parties select delegates to their national conventions through state conventions.
Democratic primaries and caucuses
January 14, 2008 - Iowa
January 19, 2008 - Nevada
January 22, 2008 - New Hampshire
January 29, 2008 - South Carolina
February 5, 2008 - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah
February 10, 2008 - Maine
February 12, 2008 - District of Columbia, Tennessee, Virginia
February 19, 2008 - Wisconsin
February 26, 2008 - Hawaii, Idaho
March 2008 (date to be determined) - American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virgin Islands, Wyoming
March 4, 2008 - Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
March 7, 2008 - Colorado
March 8, 2008 - Kansas
March 11, 2008 - Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi
March 18, 2008 - Illinois, Oregon
April 2008 (date to be determined) - Alaska
April 1, 2008 - Pennsylvania
May 6, 2008 - Indiana
May 13, 2008 - Nebraska, West Virginia
May 20, 2008 - Kentucky
May 27, 2008 - Washington
June 3, 2008 - Montana, South Dakota, California
Note: New Hampshire officials have stated that by state law, theirs must be the first primary in the nation and must precede any similar contest by at least seven days, and thus, the state may not abide by DNC approved dates. The DNC has threatened to withhold NH delegates if the state moves the primary earlier than the 22nd.
Republican primaries and caucuses
January 21, 2008 - Iowa
January 28, 2008 - New Hampshire
February 2, 2008 - South Carolina
February 5, 2008 - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia (which will nominate a candidate at a state nominating convention)
February 5, 2008 (unofficial date) - Florida, Michigan
February 12, 2008 - Tennessee
February 9 or February 16, 2008 (date to be determined) - Louisiana
February 19, 2008 - Minnesota, Wisconsin
February 26, 2008 (unofficial date) - Virginia
March 4, 2008 - Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
March 4, 2008 (unofficial date) - Pennsylvania
March 11, 2008 - Mississippi, Washington
March 18, 2008 - Illinois
April 15, 2008 - Colorado
April 26, 2008 - Kansas, Nevada
May 2008 (date to be determined) - Alaska
May 6, 2008 - Indiana
May 10, 2008 - Wyoming
May 13, 2008 - Nebraska
May 20, 2008 - Kentucky, Oregon
May 27, 2008 - Idaho
June 3, 2008 - California, South Dakota
June 6, 2008 - Hawaii
June 9, 2008 - Montana
[edit] Later events
May 23-26, 2008 - 2008 Libertarian National Convention, to be held in Denver, Colorado
July 12-15, 2008 - 2008 Green National Convention, to be held in Reading, Pennsylvania
August 25-28, 2008 - 2008 Democratic National Convention, to be held in Denver, Colorado
September 1-4, 2008 - 2008 Republican National Convention, to be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
November 4, 2008 - All 50 states and the District of Columbia will hold elections to select members of the Electoral College.
December 15, 2008 - Members of the U.S. Electoral College meet in each state to cast their votes for President and Vice President.
January 6, 2009 - Electoral votes officially tallied before both Houses of Congress.
January 20, 2009 - Inauguration Day.