Claim: John McCain was a presidential nominee in 2008.
Evidence: He secured the nomination in 2008 after coming back from early reversals , but was defeated by Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the general election , losing by a 365 -- 173 electoral college margin and by 53 -- 46 % in the popular vote.
The 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain , the longtime senior U.S. Senator from Arizona , was launched with an informal announcement on February 28 , 2007 during a live taping of the Late Show with David Letterman , and formally launched at an event on April 25 , 2007.