2008 United States Presidential Election (Nixon Retires)

The **2008 United States presidential election** was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic Ticket of Incumbent Massachusetts Senator Hillary Rodham and Tennessee Senator Al Gore defeated the Republican ticket of Incumbent Vice President George W. Bush and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt.

Despite major success in the second term of Condoleezza Rice, such as an extremely gutsy show in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, it would come crashing to a halt in 2007, when America's economy dropped and soon led to the Second Great Recession, which made the popularity of Rice fall.

Despite the recent decline of Rice's popularity, Vice President Bush would be nominated by the GOP, defeating Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee, as he was still mildly popular. He named Missouri Governor Matt Blunt as his running mate.

On the Democratic side, Senators Barrack Obama of Illinois, Al Gore of Tennessee, and Hillary Rodham of Massachusetts were the main frontrunners. While Obama had a great campaign, Rodham would win the nomination for her moderate leanings, and named Gore as her running mate.

On the GOP side, Bush promoted the successful foreign policy under Rice, while deeming Rodham who wouldn't be able to fix the economy fast. Rodham attacked Bush, tying him to the Rice administration's struggles during the Second Great Recession.

Because of the recession, and Rodham's major endorsement from former President Bill Clinton, Rodham easily won the election.

The main issues of this election were the Second Great Recession, LGBTQ+ Rights, and Health Care.

## Primaries:

### Republican Primaries:

Despite Rice's approval ratings dropping into the low 40's, Bush was still deemed as a main frontrunner for 2008, and to no one's surprise, he ran. He would go on to defeat Texas Representative Ron Paul and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to win the nomination. He then named Missouri Governor Matt Blunt as his running mate.

 George W. Bush

### Democratic Primaries:

Despite having many frontrunners at the start, it came down to three people who were in the homestretch for the nomination: Al Gore, Barrack Obama, and Hillary Rodham. Many annalists felt businessman Donald Trump could play a key role with who he promotes. He promoted Rodham for President, and Rodham won the nomination and named as her running mate.

 Hillary Rodham

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Republican Campaign:

Bush would promote the success of foreign policy during Rice's Presidency, while claiming Rodham could falter the policies and the economy even more.

### Democratic Campaign:

Rodham tied Bush to the Second Great Recession, claiming neither he or Rice hadn't done enough to change the broken economy.

### The Second Great Recession:

During Condoleezza Rice's Second Term, the Second Great Recession began in 2007. While Rice did make efforts to heal the economy, it was still very much harmed. Rodham tied Bush to the failures, saying the Rice administration didn't do enough.

### LGBTQ+ Rights:

Rodham was a major supporter of LGBTQ+ Rights. She had promoted for gay marriage to become legal. Bush on the other hand, wanted to illegalize gay marriage in favor of civil unions.

### Health Care:

In 2003, President Rice signed the Medicare Modernization Act, creating Medicare Part D and funding for PEPFAR. Rodham claimed Rice was putting her priorities in the wrong place, and that private health care companies were overpricing their consumers just so they make more money.

## Results and Aftermath:

Because of the Recession and Rodham's overall popularity, she would defeat Bush in a landslide election. Bush would wish Rodham luck for her Presidency and returned to Texas.

Rodham and Gore were sworn in on January 20, 2009.