U.S. presidential election, 2008

This page is devoted to the candidates seeking the presidency in the 2008 election. All candidates&mdash;as well as rumored ones&mdash; are noted, as well as information concerning primaries, debates, congressional endorsements, and political ads.

AmericaFirst Party

 * URL: http://www.americafirstparty.org

Constitution Party

 * URL: http://www.constitutionparty.com

Democratic Party

 * URL: http://www.democrats.org (DNC)

Announced as candidate

 * Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.)
 * Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.)

Possible candidates

 * Gen. Wesley Clark: Has not said that he is running, but has said that if he does, he will declare earlier than he did in 2004.
 * Former Vice-President Al Gore: Has said that he is not running, but has not completely ruled out a bid.

Not/no longer running

 * Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.): Formed an exploratory committee, but concluded that a run was not feasible.
 * Sen. Joe Biden (Del.)
 * Former Sen. Tom Daschle (S.D.)
 * Sen. Christopher Dodd (Conn.)
 * Former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.)
 * Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.)
 * Sen. John Kerry (Mass.): Announced that he would not run on January 24, 2007.
 * Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
 * Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.)
 * Former Gov. Tom Vilsack (Iowa): Announced his candidacy in late 2006, but backed out of the race on February 23, 2007.
 * Former Gov. Mark R. Warner (Va.)

Green Party (U.S.)

 * URL: http://www.gp.org
 * Jesse Johnson (WV)
 * Cynthia McKinney (GA)
 * Kent Mesplay (CA)
 * Kat Swift (TX)

Not/no longer running

 * Jared Ball (DC) Ball's campaign announced would yield to and support Cynthia McKinney
 * Howie Hawkins (NY) was a stand in for Ralph Nader, who's now running as an Independent

Independent

 * Bob W. Hargis: Announced he will seek the presidency in 2008.
 * Ralph Nader Nader's running mate is Matt Gonzalez
 * Michael Bloomberg: Wrote Op-Ed piece in the New York Times "I’m Not Running for President, but .."

Libertarian Party

 * URL: http://www.lp.org

Official Nominee
Former Rep. Bob Barr (Georgia)

Republican Party

 * URL: http://www.rnc.org (RNC)

Announced as candidate

 * Sen. John McCain (Ariz.)


 * Rep. Ron Paul (Texas)

Possible candidates

 * Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: Has not announced his candidacy or formed an exploratory committee, but has visited early primary states and stated that he is considering a run.
 * Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.): Has neither announced his candidacy or formed an exploratory committee, but has acknowledged he is considering a run and would decide in late 2007.
 * Former Gov. George Pataki (N.Y.): Has not declared as a candidate or formed an exploratory committee, but has repeatedly visited states with important early primaries.

Not/no longer running

 * Former Sen. George Allen (Va.)
 * Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.)
 * Former Sen. Bill Frist (Tenn.)
 * Former Gov. James S. Gilmore III (Va.) - entered race in January 2007; dropped out July 14, 2007
 * Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani


 * Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.)
 * Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.)
 * Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
 * Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.)
 * Former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.)
 * Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.): Dropped out December 21, 2007.
 * Former Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.): Announced his candidacy, September 5, 2007; withdrew January 22, 2008.
 * Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (Wis.): Dropped out August 13, 2007, following Iowa "straw poll".

Congressional endorsements
Beginning in early 2007, many members of Congress began endorsing candidates for the presidency in 2008.

Democratic presidential primary debates
The Nevada Democratic Party and the Western Majority Project jointly announced that they would host a 2008 presidential debate, which was expected to attract the top Democratic contenders for President. The debate was planned to air on FOX News Channel (FNC) and FOX News Radio on August 14, 2007 in Reno, Nevada. 

However, on March 9, 2007, the Nevada Democratic Party backed out of the debate after Fox President Roger Ailes's jokingly compared Dem. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. 

Candidates face questions from YouTubers at debate at the Citadel
On July 23, 2007, 9 hopefuls for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination faced questions from viewers on YouTube, including a snowman asking about global warming and man with an assault rifle asking about gun control. The debate participants were:


 * Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.)
 * Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
 * Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.)
 * Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.)
 * Sen. Christopher Dodd (Conn.)
 * Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska)
 * Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.)
 * Former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.)

Though the tone of the debate was often relaxed, with jokes coming from the YouTube posters as well as the candidates, there were also many serious questions asked relating to a range of issues, including Iraq withdrawal, global warming, gay marriage, energy policy, No Child Left Behind, and Darfur.

Republican presidential primary debates
On May 3, 2007, ten of the Republican candidates participated in the first Republican primary debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. During the debate, the candidates chose to mention President Bush only once, opting instead to invoke the legacy of Reagan by mentioning his name nineteen times.

Press coverage of the political candidates

 * "The Invisible Primary-Invisible No Longer. A First Look at Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign," Journalism.org, October 29, 2007.
 * Kevin Drum, "Miscellaneous Charts," Washington Monthly, November 3, 2007: "Bottom line: the press isn't in love with Democrats, it's in love with Barack Obama."
 * US Election 2008 Web Monitor - News coverage vs. blogs, NGOs and corporate sites

2008 U.S. congressional election dates
Also see 2008 state primaries and caucuses map / info at IN-FORUM.

Third-party issue ads

 * Evan Tracey, "The Election Sideshow Begins. Third-Party Issue Ads Ready to Spend," Advertising Age, May 11, 2007.
 * Presidential Election Flip Flop Videos, "Presidential Election Candidate Flip Flop Videos.
 * Our Country Deserves Better anti-Barack Obama political action committee television ads

Campaign finance

 * Hillary Clinton
 * John Edwards
 * Barack Obama

Election irregularities

 * News Release: "Civic Groups Blast Department of Justice Proposal to Gut Standards for New Voting Systems A Federal Takeover for Selecting New Voting Systems Not in Best Interest of New York Voters, Groups say," League of Women Voters of New York State, New York Public Interest Research Group, NYPIRG, and New Yorkers for Verified Voting, November 7, 2007.

Related SourceWatch/Congresspedia articles

 * 110th United States Congress
 * 236.com
 * 501c3
 * 501c4
 * 527 committee
 * ActBlue
 * Americans United for Change
 * Atlas Project
 * Bush administration and the press
 * Clarion Fund
 * Commission on Presidential Debates
 * conservative political organizations (U.S.)
 * Donatelli Group
 * Election Center
 * e-voting
 * e-voting PR
 * electoral fraud
 * HOTSOUP.com
 * Huckaby Davis Lisker
 * internet activism
 * open debates/Open Debates
 * political action committee
 * political microtargeting
 * public polling industry
 * push poll
 * Rightroots
 * soft money
 * The Conservative Convention 2007
 * The Donatelli Group
 * The Fudge Report
 * TheVanguard.Org
 * U.S. congressional elections in 2006
 * U.S. congressional elections in 2008
 * U.S. congressional elections in 2010
 * U.S. election irregularities
 * U.S. election irregularities in 2000
 * U.S. election irregularities in 2002
 * U.S. election irregularities in 2004
 * U.S. presidential election, 2004
 * U.S. presidential election, 2008: Campaign Issues
 * Voting Rights Act of 1965
 * Working For Us PAC

External resources

 * Oil & Gas: Long-Term Contribution Trends: Election Cycle 2006: Open Secrets.org (as of March 13, 2006): 16% of campaign contributions went to Democratic candidates; 84% went to Republican candidates.
 * Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com.
 * NetTrends by Think Progress: A Side-by-Side Comparison of the Candidates Online to track "how 2008 presidential candidates and their supporters are using the internet".
 * The Caucus Cooler: Iowa Caucus Blog.
 * ExpertVoter.org: Website "documents video from every presidential candidate organized by issue."
 * "2008 Presidential Electronic Filing Summary. Aggregate Reports for the 2008 Election, PoliticalMoneyLine from Congressional Quarterly.
 * Flip Flop Videos of Presidential Election Candidates, ElectionSpeak.com

Debates and forums

 * Mark Preston, "CNN/WMUR/Union Leader to host first presidential debates. DNC Chairman Howard Dean expresses support for debates," CNN, January 12, 2007.
 * "FOX News to Host August 2007 Democratic Debate in Reno," Nevada State Democratic Party, February 16, 2007.
 * John Aravosis, "FOX News to air first Democratic presidential debate," AMERICAblog, February 21, 2007.
 * Melinda Henneberger, "Dems Dump Fox: Obama Comments 'Went Too Far'," The Huffington Post, March 9, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Obama Ditches CBC/Fox Debate," The Politico, April 9, 2007.
 * Greg Sargent, "Hillary Pulls Out Of Fox/CBC Debate," Election Central / TPM Cafe, April 9, 2007.
 * Chris Cillizza, "Setting the Stage: The First Democratic Presidential Debate," The Fix Blog/Washington Post, April 26, 2007.
 * David Chalian, "Democrats Head South for First Presidential Debate," ABC News, April 26, 2007.
 * "Iraq Dominates Dems' Presidential Debate," CBS News/Associated Press, April 26, 2007.
 * Transcript: "The Democrats’ First 2008 Presidential Debate," New York Times, April 27, 2007.
 * Paul West, "Candidates fight for voice, aim at Bush," Baltimore Sun, April 27, 2007.
 * Kim Chipman, "Democrats' Debate Does No Damage to Frontrunners in 2008 Race," Bloomberg News, April 27, 2007.
 * Chris Cillizza, "The Democratic Debate: Winners and Losers," Washington Post, April 27, 2007.
 * David S. Broder, "Democratic Hopefuls Show Political Heft," Washington Post, April 27, 2007.
 * "The Great Presidential Mashup. What the Democrats have to say about health care, Iraq, and more," Slate, September 12, 2007.

Primary/Caucus calendar

 * Susan Milligan, "Nevada to hold early '08 caucuses. Democrats set balloting date ahead of N.H.," Boston Globe, July 23, 2006.
 * Chris Cillizza and Zachary A. Goldfarb, "Democrats Tweak the Primary Calendar," Washington Post, July 23, 2006.
 * Laura Kurtzman and Jim Kuhnhenn, "California Moves Up Presidential Primary," Associated Press (Washington Post), March 15, 2007.
 * Dan Balz, "With Earlier Primary, Calif. Reshapes Race," Washington Post, March 16, 2007.
 * Carla Marinucci and Matthew Yi, "Candidates adapt to new primary date. They will need to spend more time campaigning early in the race for state's voters rather than just asking for money," San Francisco Chronicle, March 16, 2007.
 * "New York Moves Primary Date To Feb. 5. Gov. Eliot Spitzer Signs Law That Could Help Democratic And GOP Frontrunners," Associated Press (CBS News), April 9, 2007.
 * Peter Wallsten, "Democrats scramble to prevent Florida primary election fiasco. An early contest could shift delegates to less-popular presidential candidates -- or discount their votes for the party's 2008 nominee altogether," Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2007.
 * Brian Skoloff, "Florida Leapfrogs Other State Primaries. Florida Bypasses Other States to Move Up 2008 Primary, Shaking Up Presidential Election," Associated Press (ABC News), May 21, 2007.

General

 * "Possible Frist '08 Bid Splits Religious Right. Absent Senator the Talk of 'Justice Sunday'," Washington Post, August 16, 2005.
 * "Al Gore Could Be Our Next President," Ostroy Report, September 23, 2005.
 * Peter S. Canellos, "Succeeding Bush: A GOP short list. In first stages of a race, some candidates seem to line up to the left," Boston Globe, October 4, 2005.
 * "The '08 Money Chase," Hotline Blog/National Journal, October 21, 2005.
 * David Lightman, "Dodd Poised For Possible '08 Presidential Run," Courant.com, May 22, 2006.
 * Peter Baker, "In Election Year, GOP Lawmakers Loosen Link to President," Washington Post, June 25, 2006.
 * Will Lester, "All Pols Humming 'Hail to the Chief'," Associated Press (Washington Post), July 4, 2006.
 * "In G.O.P. Fund-Raising, Dole's Star Power Dims," New York Times, July 23, 2006.
 * Liz Sidoti, "Twin Cities to Host 2008 GOP Convention," Associated Press (Forbes), September 27, 2006.
 * Thomas Beaumont, "Vilsack makes first Iowa trip — as a presidential candidate," Des Moines Register, November 10, 2006.
 * "Feingold won't run for president," Associated Press, (The Capitol Times (Madison, Wisc.)), November 12, 2006.
 * Eileen McNamara, "Women Be Warned," Boston Globe, November 12, 2006. re Mitt Romney
 * Hope Yen, "McCain Edges Toward '08 Presidential Run," Associated Press (Washington Post), November 13, 2006.
 * "McCain First, Giuliani Second in GOP 2008 Race," Angus Reid Global Monitor, November 14, 2006.
 * Molly Worthen, "Evangelicals v. Mormons. Sects Appeal," The New Republic, November 14, 2006; November 20, 2006 (issue).
 * "Frist Won't Run," On Call/The Hotline Blog/National Journal, November 29, 2006.
 * "Rice cheers on women in politics, rules out presidential bid," CNN, November 30, 2006.
 * Lynn Sweet, "Obama is going to go for it," Chicago Sun-Times, November 30, 2006.
 * David Espo, "Bayh to take first step toward 2008 presidential bid," Associated Press (Boston Globe), December 1, 2006.
 * "Status of other possible Democratic contenders," Gannett News Service (The Indianapolis Star), December 4, 2006.
 * Chris Cillizza, "Sen. Brownback Forms Group to Explore White House Bid," Washington Post, December 5, 2006.
 * Chris Cillizza, "Bayh Considers Presidential Bid," Washington Post, December 4, 2006.
 * "Bayh Bailing On '08? Intense Speculation That Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Won't Make A Presidential Bid," CBS News, December 15, 2006.
 * Nedra Pickler, "Edwards Plans 2008 Campaign Announcement," Associated Press (Forbes), December 16, 2006.
 * "Thompson Creates Exploratory Committee," Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, December 17, 2006. (According to CNN, December 16, 2006.)
 * "John Edwards Kicks Off His Campaign Tour?" ABC News/abc11tv.com (Chapel Hill, NC), December 26, 2006.
 * Beth Fouhy, "Dodd Declares '08 Presidential Candidacy," Associated Press (delivered by the Washington Post), January 11, 2007.
 * "Obama to form panel to explore presidential bid," CNN, January 16, 2007.
 * "Lieberman may back Republican in 2008," Associated Press (KansasCity.com), January 29, 2007.
 * Michael Finnegan, "Attack ads go online and underground. 'Viral' Web video spreads fast and far, biting candidates hard -- sometimes with their own words," Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2007.
 * Mary K. Brunskill, "Ralph Nader Considering 2008 White House Run," All Headline News, February 5, 2007.
 * Liz Sidoti, "Romney Joins 2008 Presidential Race," Associated Press (delivered by the Washington Post), February 13, 2007.
 * Opinion: "Don’t hold Iraq war vote against candidates," The Nashua Telegraph, February 18, 2007.
 * Chris in Paris, "So-called conservatives furious over GOP presidential candidates," AMERICAblog, March 2, 2007.
 * Matt Stoller, "Roger Ailes Jokes About Obama as Terrorist," MyDD, March 9, 2007.
 * Greg Sargent, "Hagel Announces He's Open To Running For President," TPMmuckraker, March 12, 2007.
 * John M. Broder "Edwards to Continue ’08 Bid Despite Wife’s Cancer," The New York Times, March 22, 2007.
 * Will Evans, "Anti-Abortion Group Targets Obama," NPR's election 2008 blog "Secret Money Project," September 16, 2008.