Title: 2008 United States presidential election - Wikipedia
Headings: 2008 United States presidential election
2008 United States presidential election
Contents
Background
Nominations
Democratic Party nomination
Candidate
Withdrawn candidates
Before the primaries
Early primaries and caucuses
Super Tuesday
Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania
Indiana and North Carolina
Florida and Michigan
Clinching the nomination
Republican Party nomination
Candidate
Withdrawn candidates
Before the primaries
Early primaries/caucuses
Super Tuesday
Third party and other nominations
Candidates gallery
Party conventions
General election campaign
Issues
Iraq
Bush's unpopularity
Age issue
Economy
Health care
Presidential debates
Campaign costs
Expense summary
Notable expressions and phrases
Internet campaigns
Fundraising
Promotion
Controversies
Voter suppression allegations
Media bias
Conduct
Turnout
Ballot access
Results
Results by state
Close states
Statistics
International reaction
Voter demographics
Analysis
See also
Opinion polling
Notes
References
Further reading
Voters
External links

Content: Obama campaigned on the theme that " Washington must change," while McCain emphasized his experience. The campaign was strongly affected by the onset of a major financial crisis, which peaked in September 2008. McCain's decision to suspend his campaign during the height of the financial crisis backfired as voters viewed his response as erratic. Obama won a decisive victory over McCain, winning the Electoral College and the popular vote by a sizable margin, including states that had not voted for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1976 (North Carolina) and 1964 (Indiana and Virginia). Obama received the largest share of the popular vote won by a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and was the first Democrat to win an outright majority of the popular vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Obama's total count of 69.5 million votes stood as the largest tally ever won by a presidential candidate until 2020, when this was surpassed by both major party candidates in a high-turnout election. Obama flipped nine states that had voted Republican in 2004: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, as well as Nebraska's 2nd congressional district . Contents
1 Background
2 Nominations
2.1 Democratic Party nomination
2.1.1 Candidate
2.1.2 Withdrawn candidates
2.1.3 Before the primaries
2.1.4 Early primaries and caucuses
2.1.5 Super Tuesday
2.1.6 Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania
2.1.7 Indiana and North Carolina
2.1.8 Florida and Michigan
2.1.9 Clinching the nomination
2.2 Republican Party nomination
2.2.1 Candidate
2.2.2 Withdrawn candidates
2.2.3 Before the primaries
2.2.4 Early primaries/caucuses
2.2.5 Super Tuesday
2.3 Third party and other nominations
2.3.1 Candidates gallery
2.4 Party conventions
3 General election campaign
3.1 Issues
3.1.1 Iraq
3.1.2 Bush's unpopularity
3.1.3 Age issue
3.1.4 Economy
3.1.5 Health care
3.2 Presidential debates
3.3 Campaign costs
3.3.1 Expense summary
3.4 Notable expressions and phrases
4 Internet campaigns
4.1 Fundraising
4.2 Promotion
5 Controversies
5.1 Voter suppression allegations
5.2 Media bias
6 Conduct
6.1 Turnout
6.2 Ballot access
7 Results
7.1 Results by state
7.2 Close states
7.2.1 Statistics
7.3 International reaction
8 Voter demographics
9 Analysis
10 See also
10.1 Opinion polling
11 Notes
12 References
13 Further reading
13.1 Voters
14 External links
Background
Further information: United States presidential election § Procedure
The incumbent in 2008, George W. Bush.