‹ 2004  2012 ›
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| United States Presidential Election 2008 | ||||
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| November 4, 2008 | ||||
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| Nominee | Dennis Kucinich | Fred Thompson | Michael Bloomberg | |
| Party | Democratic | Republican | Reform | |
| Home state | Ohio | Tennessee | New York | |
| Running mate | Barbara Boxer | Mike Huckabee | Andrew Halcro | |
| Electoral vote | 275 | 161 | 102 | |
| States carried | 23+DC | 17 | 10 | |
| Popular vote | 39.00% | 25.95% | 33.1% | |
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President Kucinich was fairly popular, and managed to win reelection easily. Although Fred Thompson came in second place electorally, his support was very regional and he came in third place by the popular vote. Bloomberg possessed wide support; however, the lack of concentration made it so he didn't get many electoral votes. The focus of this election was primarily on social issues and illegal immigration, due to the fact that the economy was improving from the dip under Cheney, and Kucinich had ended the wars. In the end, the satisfaction with Kucinich on foreign policy and the economy outweighed concerns about his liberal social stances, so he managed to win the election.
Republican Primary[]
The Republican Primary was an intense race. The leading candidate in the beginning was George W. Bush, Senator from Texas, former Governor of Texas and son of the former president George H.W. Bush. However, he began dropping in the polls as he stated that he supported the policies of the Cheney administration, which even Republicans had began to oppose. However, no one was strong enough to challenge him until former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee shot up in popularity. Huckabee's campaign began to deflate, and Bush retook the lead until Fred Thompson's late entry campaign began to gain speed. Thompson would eventually win the nomination. Newt Gingrich and Alan Keyes both ran again, and another new face was Duncan Hunter of California
Reform Primary[]
The Reform Party nomination was a battle between Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg and Senator of Indiana Evan Bayh from the beginning. Bayh's campaign soon began to collapse, unfortunately for him. Dean Barkely of Minnesota launched a late campaign, but was not good at campaigning and collapsed. The opponents of Bloomberg then united around Bob Barr of Georgia, but he too was defeated. Ralph Nader ran for the last time for both the Reform and Green Party nominations, once again only winning the Green nomination.
