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Week of October 22-October 29

It was another week in which Obama kept the momentum. Despite the many efforts of McCain to attack Obama none seem to stick. The attack of the week was the Obama was socialist. With the US government under a Republican administration bailing out the nations banks it was a hard argument to make.

Week of October 14-October 21

The momentum of the campaign continued to be heavily in favor of Obama. The continued economic crisis worked in favor of the Obama ticket. The third presidential debate took place and although McCain did well in the debate, it was not a game changer and many thought Obama won. (transcript)

Week of October 6-October 13

With the economic crisis in the United States deepening Obama's lead over John Mccain grew. McCain engaged in a number of attacks against Obama. Those attacks seemed to backfire. The second Presidential debate was held, and it was considered by most observers as a tie with Obama stronger on the economy and McCain stronger on foreign affairs.(transcript)

Week of September 29-October 5

This week was probably a turning point in the election. The deepening financial crisis and the lack of clear answer by the Republican ticket has significantly changed the momentum of the race. Senators McCain return to Washington was not one of the most successful moves of the race, especially after the Republicans in the House initially voted down the economic stimulus package. By the end of the week it was clear that support for the McCain Pallin ticket was eroding in many key battleground states. The one and only Vice Presidential debate was held this week. While most observers and polls indicated that Senator Biden performed better then Governor Pallin. Pallin however, acquitted herself well and thus the debate was a political victory for her. (transcript)

Week of September 21-28

This was one of the oddest weeks in US Presidential campaign history. The campaign was dominated by the ever widening economic crisis. In the middle of the week, McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign to go to Washington and help negotiate an agreement on the Bush adminstration's proposed bailout of the financial system. On Thursday both Obama and McCain attended a meeting at the White House intended to reach an agreement on the bailout package, but the meeting broke up in disagreement. McCain initially stated he would not debate until the economic package had been agreed to, but on Friday afternoon relented an agreed to a debate.

On Friday night, September 26th, the first debate took place on the campus of Ol' Miss. The debate was supposed to concentrate on foriegn affairs, but considering the desperate financial situation, the first half of the debate was devoted to the ecnomic crisis. Most pundits agreed the debate was a draw. Obama did better in the first part of the debate on economic questions, while McCain was stronger when it came to foreign affairs. (transcript)

Week of September 14-20

It was a week in which the economic crisis dominated the campaign. Both campaigns were forced to react to rapidly changing events. It was not clear who would most benefit from the events. In a normal election year the events should help the candidate from the party not in power so the crisis should help Obama. However the crisis is so severe that it might help McCain the candidate that voters trust more in a time of crisis. To most observers Obama response to the crisis has been more presidential then the actions of McCain.

Week of September 7-13

This was the first week of the campaign after the conventions. It was a week in which the selection of Sara Palin as McCain’s VP candidate remained the center of the campaign. The democrats spent the week mostly attacking her, while McCain spent the early part of the week campaigning with Palin. By the end of the week Obama turned up his attacks on Senator McCain. National polls this week showed McCain pulling ahead for the first time.