2008 US Presidential Elections

The 56th quadrennial United States presidential election was held on November 4, 2008. During the presidential election campaign, the major-party candidates ran on a platform of change and reform in Washington. Domestic policy and the economy alongside immigration eventually emerged as the main themes in the last few months of the election campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis.

Faith Lehane, whom had been declared President in 2004 following the absence and subsequent failure to oath-take of the winning candidate, did not stand for re-election as the Republican candidate. As a result, was made the Republican nominee. S/he faced opposition from Democrat nominee -

Background
In 2004, the Democrat President David Schott, the administration of whom had been growing increasingly popular, did not stand for re-election, and as a result two new candidates had fought in the election. Lincoln Cunningham, a Congressman from Kentucky, was the Republican candidate and had won the election, beating the Governor of California, Josh Walters. However, following the kidnappings (and later murders) of both members of the Republican ticket the Speaker, Faith Lehane, was declared President of the United States.

In 2006, the Republican Party lost control of the House of Representatives and maintained control of the United States Senate.

Nominations
In the United States, there are two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. There are also several minor parties, usually called third parties, who have not won a presidential election since 1864. Most media and public focus is on the two major parties.

Each party hosts candidates who go through a nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that party. The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses, held by the 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives delegates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate received in each states. In many Republican primaries, all the state's delegates are awarded to the winning candidate. In the Democratic Party, high-ranking party members known as superdelegates each receive one vote in at the convention. Whichever candidate has the majority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party. This is done by the aforementioned delegates for each party.