2008 Presidential Election

This post is for one of the blogs for our final, and I do not have a blog about the 2008 Presidential Election so here it is, my review over the biggest election ever.

The 2008 Presidential Election was held on November the 4^th; both of the candidates were current senators a first time in history, Democratic candidate Barack Obama from Illinois and the Republican candidate John McCain from Arizona. This election had many firsts, Obama being the first African-American to be elected president. If John McCain was elected he would have been the oldest first term president and his vice president would have been the first ever female vice president.

There were many problems that stirred around when people found out who their leading candidates were. Both of the candidates were born not on the United States “Mainland”, with Obama being born here in Honolulu making him the first president born in Hawaii, and John McCain being born at a United States naval base in Coco Solo, a Panama Canal Zone. It was questioned whether Obama was able to run for presidency since being born in Hawaii, but he was born in 1961; just two years after Hawaii became the 50^th state in 1959.

In this election the media played a major role towards the presidential election. Internet sites such as Myspace, facebook, and YouTube were used to reach out towards the internet users, along with television advertisements. Obama gained the respect he needed from majority of younger voters.

At the end of the election the results poured in with Obama claiming 52.9% of the votes, a projected 365 electoral votes and McCain with 45.7% of the votes, with a projected 173 electoral votes.