Democratic Primary Results
On June 3rd 2008 the final states in the Democratic Party Nomination process voted. During the day Senator Barack Obama gained enough pledged and pledged-superdelegates to reach 2,118 or the magic number to secure his parties nomination. On June 7th 2008 Senator Hillary Clinton officially dropped out of the race.
On July 28th 2008 at the Democratic National Convention Barack Obama officially accepted the parties nomination.
Vice Presidential Pick
On Saturday August 23rd 2008 Senator Obama named fellow Senator and former primary opponent Joseph Biden as his Vice Presidential Candidate.
Primary Schedule
In 2007 many states voted to move their primary dates up in order. There is a belief that the schedule approved by both parties places importance on some states over others. Because of this many candidates simply use these states as fundraising stops. By moving a state up in the nominating process it is believed by many legislatures and governors, candidates will have no choice but to spend time with voters in their states.
Below are highlights of the rules based on the parties, Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
- Iowa holds the first-in-the-nation caucus on January 14.
- New Hampshire holds the first-in-the-nation primary on January 22.
- Nevada conducts a caucus between Iowa and New Hampshire on Saturday, January 19.
- South Carolina holds a primary 1 week after the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, January 29.
Click for a complete list of Democratic primary dates
Click for a complete list of Democratic primary vote totals
On May 21, 2007, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) signed a bill in violation of Democratic party rules, to up the date of his state's primary. It would move the state before Iowa. The DNC rules committee met on August 25, 2007 and ruled that Florida would have 30 days to move its primary date at least 7 days later than the current date of January 29, or else lose all of its delegates in the Democratic primary. Florida officials said they may challenge the ruling on legal grounds and protest the 2008 convention; additionally, the actual implementation of such a decision might prove to be difficult
On September 4th 2007 Michigan moved its primary (State Senate bill 0624) in violation of party rules.
On September 20th the Democratic chairmen in four early-voting states ruled that Democratic candidates could attend Arab American Institute conference in Michigan in October without fear of reprecussion even though most of the candidates signed a pledge that they would not campaign in states violating the rules.
On October 9th 2007 Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson & Joe Biden announced they were taking their names off the Michigan primary ballot
Candidates Running
(In the Race) |
(Dropped Out) |
Debates
In 2008 a number of "unofficial" primary debates have been and will continue to be held and attended by the candidates and sponsored by media outlets and various organizations. There are only six "official" debates sponsored by the DNC.
- July 23, 2007 - YouTube/Google and CNN in Charleston, South Carolina
- August 19, 2007 - ABC in Des Moines, Iowa
- September 26, 2007 - NBC News/MSNBC in Hanover, New Hampshire
- October 30, 2007 - NBC News/MSNBC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- November 15, 2007 - CNN in Las Vegas, Nevada
- December 10, 2007 - CBS in Los Angeles, California
Convention Denver, Colorado, August 25-28, 2008
The 2008 Democratic Convention was held at the Pepsi Center in Denver Colorado.
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