2008 Election

           The presidential election of 2008 was groundbreaking in many ways. The Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, represented the Democratic party and ran against the Republican party nominee John McCain, a Senator from Arizona.
           Because of this, it was the first time since 1952 that the sitting President or Vice President wasn't either major party's nominee. Biden defeated Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney among others for the Republican ticket which Obama contested against Senator Hillary Clinton. She was able to become the first woman to ever win a major party's presidential primary by winning the New Hampshire primary. Senator Barack Obama would go on to become the first African American to be elected president, winning 365 electoral votes in 28 states against McCain's 173 votes in 22 states. With close to 69.5 million votes, it was the largest percentage of a popular vote for a democrat since Lyndon B Johnson in 1964.
           Keys issues of the election reflected the ongoing issues of the time. McCain endorsed the war in Iraq while Obama opposed it. Sitting president Bush endorsed McCain but by the end of his presidency, he had only a 30% approval rating. The election showed contrast on every level, Obama's push for change in the government and new ideas like universal health care versus McCain's longtime service in the Senate and US Military, and this was shown in the high youth turn out of 51%. In polls, the percentage of people for whom race became a bigger issue in this election rose, with around 2% saying race made them more likely to vote for Obama and 4% saying it made them less likely to do so. The rest did not think race was an important factor. On the other hand, 17% said that they were enthusiastic about Obama being the first black president while 13% had reservations or were uncomfortable because of race.