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This page archives the candidates who ran for party primaries in the United States Presidential election, 2008.
This is a pivotal election for the United States. The field is wide open and there are a lot of good candidates. Don't just make a quick judgement-- check out all the candidates.
Contents |
The primaries are over!
Full list of elected candidates as well as independents:
Primary debates
Dates courtesy http://www.p2008.org/. I'll link to videos and transcripts as well.
The Democratic debates
The two FOX News debates were condemned by the major candidates and both eventually cancelled.
- NBC at South Carolina State University, 4/26/07
- Full video: Google Video
- Transcript: NBC, NYT
- Notable events: Mike Gravel's performance at this debate was denounced by the mass media, who marginalized him as a "rude" "loser", and he was excluded from the June 3 debate, but he was applauded by Internet blogs[1][2] and Digg-style websites.[3][4] A flood of Internet supporters somehow managed to get him invited to the next debate.[5]
- CNN at Saint Anselm College, NH, 6/3/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: Hillary looked good in this debate. Gravel once again called out Obama, but Wolf Blitzer carefully limited his questions.
- PBS, 6/28/07
- Full video: PBS (Official)
- NAACP, 7/12/07
- No video; nothing happened
- Google/CNN in Charleston, SC, 7/23/07
- Full video: YouTube (Official)
- Notable events: Refreshing questions from YouTube viewers made this a good debate for all the mainstream candidates. Made the Democratic Party look great. Even Hillary had an impressive performance. Gravel and Kucinich, on the other hand, were unable to confront the directness of the questions and looked a little crazy.
- NBC in Chicago, 8/7/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: I didn't even know this happened so I didn't watch it. Way too many debates! Smooth, no-nonsense moderation by Keith Olbermann. Kucinich railed against NAFTA. Other candidates were uneasy on that subject. Otherwise... read TIME's summary instead!
- FOX News in Reno, NV, 8/14/07, cancelled
- ABC in Des Moines, IA, 8/19/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: A remarkably unclassy performance by the ABC moderator who asked stupid questions about Obama and Hillary rather than focusing the debate on policy and key issues. One to miss.
- Univision at Coral Gables, FL, 9/9/07
- No video; nothing happened
- Yahoo! News, 9/13/07
- Full video: Yahoo! News (Official)
- Notable events: A good debate to pull up on your computer. Charlie Rose quizzes each candidate at length; you can pick your favorite choices and watch their extended explanations of various important issues. Gravel makes a strong humanitarian impression on Iraq (and Slate agrees with me this time), although it is clear at this point that he is not electable.
- PBS, 9/20/07
- Full video: PBS (Official)
- FOX News in Detroit, MI, 9/23/07, cancelled
- NBC at Dartmouth College, 9/26/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: Mike Gravel is a crazy old man. Obama floundered, Hillary soaked in the high levels of support and maintained her place on top. However, to me personally her answers were extremely unsatisfying. I didn't like this debate. Also, the moderator is a butt.
- NBC in in Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/07
- Full video: Google Video
- Notable events: Gravel was missing!! He gave a commentary on the debate instead, which was both revealing and far more interesting than the real thing. I didn't even bother watching it after Gravel got bored with the commentary, but here's the summary: Edwards bashed Hillary; Obama decided not to; Bill Richardson was an egomaniac; Hillary "lost" the debate, boo hoo hoo.
- CNN at University of Nevada, 11/15/07
- Full video: Google Video
- Notable events: This was the Hillary-Obama debate. The moderator, Wolf Blitzer, sucked balls and should never be allowed to moderate anything ever again. Gravel was once again missing.
- HDNet in Des Moines, IA, 12/1/07
- Full video: Google Video (Official)
- Notable events: Only Iowans got to watch this live; even fewer people watched it online. The main event here was that Kucinich abused the debate format to ask himself a question, which was amusing, but didn't do much to improve his image.
- NPR in Des Moines, IA, 12/4/07
- Full audio: NPR (Official)
- Notable events: WOW! This is THE debate to listen to if you're serious about making an informed choice in the Democratic primaries. Superb moderation, great in-depth discussions. Without judging the candidates, I'd like to say that this was by far the most enlightening debate and you could hear the ground behind all their rhetoric. I wish the Republicans would go on NPR, too! Now, some biased judgements I made while listening: Hillary didn't sound as experienced as she makes out to be. Edwards used whiny socialist rhetoric to promote center-right politics, which struck me as incredibly obnoxious. Kucinich sounded like a used-car salesman, and Gravel would have done better to be one of the moderators, or simply get his own talk radio show. Obama stood out. Obama is really the man who needs to win this. If you don't think I could glean all this from one two-hour debate, listen for yourself.
- CBS in Los Angeles, CA, 12/10/07, cancelled
- PBS in Johnston, IA, 12/12/07
- Full video: PBS (Official)
- Notable events: Another superb debate by nonprofit media. Surprise, surprise! Time was divided up evenly between candidates. The best performers were Obama and Biden, who demonstrated both their cerebral power and their strength of character. Runners up were Edwards and Dodd. Richardson, a bore, got too much time. Skip his answers, he's not going to be President.
- CNN at JFK Library, Boston, MA, 12/17/07, cancelled
- Early Primaries - January 3-29
- ABC/Facebook in Manchester, NH, 1/5/08
- Notable events: Boring
- NBC in Nevada
- Notable events: Everyone agreed with each other
- CNN in Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/21/08
- Notable events: Obama, Clinton catfight. Edwards: "What about me?!"
- CNN in Los Angeles, CA, 1/31/08
- "National Primary Day" - 2/5/08
The Republican debates
- NBC at Reagan Library, 5/3/07
- Full video: Uploaded twice, deleted by NBC both times
- Notable events: Huckabee, Brownback and Tancredo raised their hands to show they didn't believe in evolution.[6] Many who tuned in considered Ron Paul the winner, but media universally ignored him, so he'll have to rely on word of mouth to spread that news to the general public. One article on The Politico shows the disparity between the journalists and the American people-- check out that comments section! A poll at ABC.com left out Ron Paul, leading to a similar slew of angry comments.
- FOX News at University of South Carolina, 5/15/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: A number of pithy sound bites from minor candidates. McCain lost this debate, by looking soft-- Mitt Romney won it, by expanding his formidable name recognition. Giuliani got himself into a long argument with Ron Paul about interventionism and blowback. Giuliani was applauded and it seemed good for him at first, but roughly a week after the debate Paul fired back by telling Giuliani to go read a book.
- CNN at Saint Anselm College, NH, 6/5/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: Haven't watched this one yet. MSM reports that Romney flopped, McCain looked decent, Ron Paul got applause.
- ABC in Des Moines, IA, 8/5/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: Giuliani spewed BS. Romney floundered (although this was not widely reported). Several candidates came out in support of the FairTax! Ron Paul got applause, but he clearly was not in the limelight.
- FOX News in NH, 9/5/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: A pathetic showing by Romney and Giuliani. McCain and Paul looked great-- in fact, they looked like the only sane people on the stage. FOX News, as expected, turned their moderating powers into nasty mudslinging by openly laughing at Paul whenever he was asked a question.
- PBS in Baltimore, MD, 9/27/07
- Full video: Google Video
- Notable events: Frontrunners didn't show up. Despite his lukewarm answers and tough love on welfare, Ron Paul got huge applause from minority audience, surprising many.
- CNBC in Michigan, 10/9/07
- Full video: You don't want to watch this. Seriously, it was a snoozefest.
- Notable events: Huh? There was a debate? Oh yeah, I was watching this... then I fell asleep... just like the two women I was watching it with, and probably most of the rest of the audience too. CBS deleted its poll after Ron Paul won overwhelmingly, leading to not one, but two official responses.
- FOX News in Orlando, FL, 10/21/07
- Full video: YouTube
- Notable events: I only caught the tail-end of this one. Ron Paul was booed by the audience, for the first time. Nevertheless he won the FOX News poll by a huge margin, and Hannity fumed.
- Google/CNN in St. Petersburg, FL, 11/28/07
- Full video: YouTube (Official)
- Notable events: YouTube questions were badly picked-- many from heavily politically involved people. Candidates stumbled over each other. Really a debate open to interpretation, but not overall good.
- Univision in Coral Gables, FL, 12/9/07
- Full video: Google Video
- Notable events: Whole debate was in Spanish. Nothing interesting happened.
- PBS in Johnston, IA, 12/13/07
- Full video: YouTube (Official)
- Notable events: Alan Keyes makes Mike Gravel look like Santa Claus. Giuliani, Romney, and Thompson compete for the title of corporate suck-up; Huckabee looks good.
- Early Primaries - January 3-February 2
- ABC/Facebook in Manchester, NH, 1/5/07
- Notable events: Everyone yelled at each other.
- FOX News in Manchester, NH, 1/6/07
- Notable events: Everyone yelled at each other. Ron Paul excluded due to AIDS.
- FOX News in Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/10/07
- Notable events: Ron Paul included, his best debate ever.
- CNN at Reagan Library, CA, 1/30/08
- Notable events: McCain and Romney hate each other. Rarrr. (Huckabee, Paul were invited but not asked questions.)
- "National Primary Day" - February 5
The Green debate
- Forum in Reading, PA, 7/13/07
- Full video: Google Video (Official)
- Notable events: A soporific display by a selection of candidates who have no experience in public service. The Green Party is, of course, a prominent third party with 200+ people in public office. But these aren't them. One of them suggests re-drafting Nader. Not sure how that one will fly.
Learn about the candidates
This section is meant simply to introduce you to the candidates.
Which candidates...
- opposed the Iraq war from the beginning?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama
- oppose the PATRIOT Act?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich
- oppose military action in Iran?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich
- oppose the failed No Child Left Behind policy?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel
- oppose the death penalty?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama
- would eliminate the income tax?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Fred Thompson
- oppose a border fence?
- Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson
- would legalize medical marijuana?
- Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd
- would end medical marijuana raids?
- Ron Paul and all eight Democratic candidates
- would amend or repeal NAFTA?
- Ron Paul (repeal), Dennis Kucinich (repeal), Barack Obama (amend), John Edwards (amend)
Note: Richardson, Biden, and Dodd expressed concerns at the 7 August debate, but they all voted for NAFTA in 1993 and did not explain this inconsistency. - would get the USA out of the WTO?
- Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich
- would eliminate all federal bureaucracy not authorized by the Constitution and delegate it to the states?
- Ron Paul
- would amend the Constitution to ban abortion?
- Duncan Hunter
- would amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage?
- Duncan Hunter, Mitt Romney
- support torture?
- Duncan Hunter, Mitt Romney, Rudolph Giuliani
- don't explain their views on their campaign website?
Hillary Clinton(section was added, and only three months into the campaign too!)- have an unusual religious background?
- Mitt Romney (Mormon), Mike Gravel (Unitarian Universalist)
The Democrats
- Hillary Clinton
- Reasons to vote: Would be first woman president. Would also be the most calculated, cunning president ever. Honest politicians will be forced to cringe and bear it as she coasts her way to the presidency.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "Hillary Clinton scares the daylights out of BOTH parties."
- Shii thinks: Sigh... Hillary wins. Unless if you can help unseat her she is riding the wave all the way to the White House.
- Barack Obama
- Reasons to vote: Would be first black president. Returned lobbyist donations. Focuses on non-divisive issues. Universal health care. Would allow states to legalize medical marijuana.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "Barack Obama is experiencing a bit of a boomlet now, but a young (46) black freshman senator with no foreign policy experience is an inviting target for the Republicans."
- Shii thinks: Obama got a great start with a hopeful message, but some, including myself, have been disillusioned by his Kerry-esque faceless campaign. Right now, Obama is the candidate of everybody and nobody. If he wants to win he's going to have to take a principled position on big issues, such as the drug war.
- John Edwards
- Reasons to vote: Universal health care. Strong on poverty. Was first to pull out of Fox News debate.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "John Edwards has a lot going for him. He is well known, from the South, and knows how to run a national campaign."
- Shii thinks: Kossacks love him. Why? He's just palatable enough not to upset their stomachs talking about the truth, and just liberal enough to lose.
- Bill Richardson
- Reasons to vote: Generic center-right candidate. Could legalize marijuana. Gets the Freeper vote for some bizarre reason.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "A Richardson candidacy could potentially bring in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado, all of which have sizeable and growing Hispanic populations."
- Shii thinks: He just isn't prepared enough. He's a good governor but doesn't have the necessary experience with national issues.
- Dennis Kucinich
- Reasons to vote: Extreme liberal, very strong on peace and welfare, almost hippie-ish. Would repeal PATRIOT Act, remove US from WTO and NAFTA. Universal health care. Introduced bills to impeach Bush and Cheney. Would legalize marijuana.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "His main problem is that with a real horse race this time between Hillary, Obama, Edwards, and maybe others, few Democrats are likely to make a protest vote for him when they actually have a real choice in influencing who the nominee is."
- Chris Dodd
- Reasons to vote: Very articulate and concrete on positions (compare Obama, Hillary). Campaign is running an interesting blog. Would legalize medical marijuana.
- Shii thinks: If I weren't so fed up with the Democrats I'd find Dodd a good choice. He's an honest man. But he is currently being outpolled by Mike Gravel! A choice between Gravel and Dodd would be no contest--let's bring some comedy back to the White Houe.
- Joe Biden
- Reasons to vote: Knows a lot about Iraq. Some of the other candidates clearly haven't thought their Iraq policies through. Outspoken (and well spoken) on other subjects, too.
- Shii thinks: A protest vote, perhaps.
- Mike Gravel
- Reasons to vote: Mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore.
- Shii thinks: He had a great performance in the beginning, but I agree with Kos: Gravel doesn't take himself seriously enough to challenge the big candidates like he ought to be doing. He isn't living up to his grand legacy--a hero of the Nixon era. (Update: Although, his "alternative debate" speech was pretty excellent and reaffirmed his viability as a protest vote.)
The Republicans
- Ron Paul
- Reasons to vote: Would strip federal government of all wasteful departments and laws not specifically authorized in the Constitution. Would defend the entire Bill of Rights, including much-neglected 10th Amendment. Would remove US from NAFTA, eliminate IRS, and legalize marijuana (as none of these things are the federal government's responsibility). Strongly pro-Internet, with sweeping support from netroots which has never been seen in any election before. Internet supporters are getting him invited to debates and added to the polls on major news websites.
- Shii thinks: A remarkably smart guy, compared to the other Republicans. Some support from the other side of the aisle could make him a serious threat to the other candidates.
- Rudy Giuliani
- Reasons to vote: 9/11 lol.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "None of the serious pundits believe Giuliani will survive the mudfest that will start when the primaries get closer."
- Shii thinks: An enormous threat to democracy and the world.
- John McCain
- Reasons to vote: A conservative without adjectives. Extremely smart and honest.
- Shii thinks: This poor guy never stood a chance against the propaganda-spewing neocons.
- Electoral-vote.com says: "John McCain came into this race as the clear front runner, but in a few short months all that has changed."
- Mitt Romney
- Reasons not to vote: I speak from personal experience here. Romney is a huge jerk who spent most of his time as Massachusetts governor parading around campaigning for president. He didn't care one ounce for his constituents and flip-flopped on things such as abortion to best suit the voters he was aiming for.
- Duncan Hunter
- Reasons to vote: Would amend Constitution to outlaw abortion. Would amend Constitution to define marriage as man-woman. Would increase marriage benefits. Would allow parents to sue anyone who distributes disturbing material. Would prevent crimes against gays from being called "hate" crimes.
- Shii thinks: A home-grown Freeper favorite. If you're crazy but not as crazy as Tancredo, support this guy.
- Mike Huckabee
- Reasons to vote: He doesn't like John Edwards' hair. Ha ha.
- Shii thinks: Excites the Republican base with his honest attitude and funny-man campaign, but I would roll my eyes out of my own head if he were in the general election.
- John Cox
- Reasons to vote: Would eliminate the IRS.
- Shii thinks: Docking the IRS is a good idea, but Cox was excluded from the debates and polls due to lack of experience.
- Fred Thompson
- Reasons to vote: A dark horse who could triumph over all three major candidates.
- Shii thinks: Literally the sleeper candidate. He took three months to get out of bed, he puts his audiences to sleep, and it seems like he just woke up from 1989.
- Alan Keyes
- Reasons to vote: WTF?!
The Greens
- Kent Mesplay
- Reasons to vote: Would end NAFTA. Focuses on decentralization. Universal health care implemented at a local level.
- Shii thinks: Strong, smart policies on his website. A good guy to vote for to promote a viable, electable alternative to the major parties.
- Elaine Brown
- Reasons to vote: Former Black Panthers chair.
- Shii thinks: Strong equality candidate.
- Michael Jingozian
- Reasons to vote: Alternative to major parties.
- Shii thinks: Talks way too big for his abilities or realistic goals.
- Jesse Johnson
- Reasons to vote: Alternative to major parties.
- Shii thinks: A good speaker.
- Jerry Kann (Ralph Nader)
- Reasons to vote: Alternative to major parties.
- Shii thinks: He wants to elect Nader, apparently?
- Paul Kangas
- Reasons to vote: ?
- Shii thinks: Policies? Rhetoric? Who knows?
- Jared Ball
- Reasons to vote: Hip-hop
- Shii thinks: Not particularly exciting.
- Gail Parker
- Reasons to vote: Alternative transportation to major parties.
- Shii thinks: I dunno, she seems perfectly happy running for the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County, Va.
- Joe Schriner
- Reasons to vote: Would sell tomatoes on the White House lawn.
- Shii thinks: Cute.
- kat swift
- Reasons to vote: Doesn't capitalize her name. THE candidate to vote for if you spell your name a weird way.
- Shii thinks: I didn't even read the rest of her page. When I saw the "don't capitalize my name" thing I knew she wasn't serious.
The Libertarians
- Dan Imperato
- Reasons to vote: Merciful stance on immigration. Pro-unions. Would turn all government agencies into nonprofit charities.
- Shii thinks: That's cool, I guess.
- Bob Jackson
- Reasons to vote: Merciful stance on immigration. Constitutionalist.
- Shii thinks: Another guy who's too good to be a Republican.
- Alden Link
- Reasons to vote: He stands for "Exploring The Universe"!
- Shii thinks: Sweet! Finally, the Libertarian utopia on the moon we've all dreamed of!
- Robert Milnes
- Reasons to vote: Would invite Canada to join the USA!
- Shii thinks: AWESOME!
- George Phillies
- Reasons to vote: Well, here's an example from his issues page: "We should capture Mr. Bin Laden and bring him to justice, giving him a fair trial in front of an impartial jury."
- Shii thinks: Uh-oh... this guy is way too sane to be President! What's he doing in here?!
- Wayne Allyn Root
- Reasons to vote: Slogan is "Root for America"
- Shii thinks: Kill me now.
- Christine Smith (Ron Paul)
- Reasons to vote: Duplicate of Ron Paul's positions.
- Shii thinks: Hmm, okay.
- Steve Kubby (Ron Paul)
- Reasons to vote: Endorsed Ron Paul.
- Shii thinks: If Paul doesn't run as an independent I guess this guy can.
- Jingozian (same Jingozian as the Green above)
Polling
For the truly obsessed only: http://www.pollingreport.com/2008.htm
Exciting election links
Some intelligent, informative blogs:
Fact checking
For all the lies.