American Elections 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008, scheduled for Tuesday November 4, 2008, will be the 56th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election and will select the President and the Vice President of the United States.

The Republican Party has chosen John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona as its nominee; the Democratic Party has chosen Barack Obama, the junior United States Senator from Illinois, as its nominee. The Libertarian Party has nominated former Congressman Bob Barr, the Constitution Party has nominated pastor and radio talk show host Chuck Baldwin, and the Green Party has nominated former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Ralph Nader declined to seek the Green Party nomination and is running as an independent candidate.

The 2008 election is particularly notable because it is the first time in U.S. history that two sitting senators will run against each other for president, and because it is the first time an African American is a presidential nominee for a major party, as well as the first time both major candidates were born outside the continental United States—Hawaii for Obama and the Panama Canal Zone for McCain. Since the Republican nominee for vice-president is a woman, the eventual winning ticket is very likely to be historic, as neither an African American nor a female has achieved either office. Also, the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, would be the oldest first-term president and the Democratic nominee for vice-president, Joe Biden, would be the first Roman Catholic vice president.

The election will coincide with the 2008 Senate elections in thirty-three states, House of Representatives elections in all states, and gubernatorial elections in eleven states, as well as various state referenda and local elections. As in the 2004 presidential election, the allocation of electoral votes to each state will be based partly on the 2000 Census. The president-elect and vice president-elect are scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, 2009.