A Two-Minute History of the Presidential Election
In March of 2006, Delaware senator Joe Biden became the first to announce his candidacy for President of the United States. It would be another 20 months before a single vote was cast, and by the time of the Iowa caucuses, 16 people would be running for the office from the two major parties. On Tuesday, there will be only two.
How did we get here? Here in two minutes or less are the highlights and lowlights of this endless campaign, which is finally coming to an end.
Upset wins in Iowa for Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee . . . . Republicans asked during debate to raise their hand if they don’t believe in evolution; three out of nine raise their hands . . . . Hillary Clinton cries in diner, wins in New Hampshire . . . . New Hampshire makes John McCain country’s oldest “comeback kid” . . . . Fred “Law and Order” Thompson drops in then out of the GOP race . . . . Rudy Guiliani crashes and burns in Florida . . . . After 24 primaries on Super Tuesday in February, both races still wide open . . . . Obama wins string of caucuses and primaries . . . . Clinton wins some biggies in Pennsylvania, Ohio . . . . McCain becomes GOP nominee . . . . FOX News ratings soar as videos of Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright enter heavy rotation . . . . Superdelegates break for Obama, but Clinton does not concede; pushes Dems to count votes of rule-breaking states Michigan and Florida . . . . Last Democratic primaries; Clinton wins South Dakota, Obama wins Montana . . . . Clinton concedes; Obama becomes Democratic nominee, but will he win with the “Hill-raisers?” . . . . Obama opts out of public financing for general election; raises $82 bazillion dollars . . . . Obama picks Biden as VP; packs Mile High Stadium in Denver for convention speech . . . . The next day, McCain names Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate . . . . Palin wows the party faithful at the GOP convention in Minnesota . . . . Financial crisis worsens as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lehman Brothers collapse . . . . McCain “suspends” campaign to “manage” financial crisis; campaign activities continue as usual and crisis is far from “managed” . . . . Novelty value of Sarah Palin wears off as VP candidate faces Trooper-gate and Wardrobe-gate . . . . Joe the Plumber, Joe the Plumber, Joe the Plumber . . . . With two days to go, polls have Obama ahead of McCain, but polls are naughty tricksters and are not to be trusted.
See you in the voting booth!
–lori