The 2008 Campaign between Obama and McCain

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The 2008 Campaign between Obama and McCain Discuss the political climate under which the campaigns were run.2. Include a detailed history of the campaigns. This will include but isn’t necessarily limited to the following:

  • A discussion of the presidential primaries and candidate strategies during the (note that analysis will differ substantially for candidates in elections before the McGovern/Frasier reforms compared to candidates following those reforms);
  • A discussion of the general election strategies used by the candidates’ campaigns;
  • Campaign finance strategies and the amount of money raised by the campaigns;
  • Communications strategies and tactics planned and executed by the campaigns;

Discuss the election results with specific reference to the political geography of the Electoral College and voter decisions.

  • Your discussion of the Electoral College should compare your selected year’s results with prior years’ results and relate the results to the campaigns’ strategies.
  • Using the American National Election Studies “Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior,” Vote Choice tables for the year you are analyzing, identify major demographic groups that strongly supported or opposed the candidates, and relate those differences to the campaigns’ strategies.
  • If you are analyzing an election from 1972 onward, find the national exit polls for that year (find recent elections online; for earlier elections, find through JFL);
  • identify non-demographic factors (such as attitudes and opinions) related to candidate support or opposition and relate those factors to the campaigns’ strategies.
  • Discuss what the scholarly consensus seems to be about the essential factors in voters’ choices in the election you’re analyzing. Relate those findings to your analysis of the campaigns.

4Conduct detailed analysis and evaluation of the campaigns. This will include but isn’t necessarily limited to the following:

  • Significant issues or problems that emerged during the campaign and how the issues or problems were resolved.
  • Identify issues with the campaign that would lead you to conclude it could have been managed differently.
  • A detailed evaluation and explanation of whether the campaigns were run successfully and why (be certain to go beyond simply saying a campaign was effective because it won or ineffective because it lost).