Presidential Election of 2008

Time Line of Major Events in the Presidential Campaign

June 19th 2008 - Senator Obama announced that he would not accept federal funding for his presidential campaign. Obama became the first candidate since 1977 when the law to provide public financing for the campaigns became effective to opt out. Obama in one stroke destroyed one of the few effective campaign reforms to enacted/

June 20th-2008 Senator McCain announced his support for expanded offshore drilling. McCain reversed one of his long term possitons against drilling

June 23, 2004- Senator McCain called for the establishiment of a $300 million prize for developing battery technology for an electric car that would leapfrog existing technology.

June 24, 2004 - Senator McCain called for the contruction of 40 new nuclear power plants to help the US acheive

June 25th 2008- Both Senators Obama and McCain announced that they opposed the decision of the Supreme Court to block the execution of a child rapist.

June 26th 2008 Both Senator Obama and McCain announced their support for a Supreme Court decision that overturned the gun ban of the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court decision was the first in a 100 years on the issue of interpretation of the Second Amendment, and it clearly established a personal right to own a gun.

June 27th 2008 Senators Clinton and Obama had their first joint appearance since Clinton conceded the democratic nomination to Obama. The appearance took place in Unity New Hampshire and it sought to underscore the fact that party was now united behind Obama.

July 1, 2008 - Senator Obama called for a major increase in social serviced provided by faith based groups. He stated- " The challenges we face today from saving our planet to ending poverty are simply too big for government to solve alone. We need an all-hands-on-deck approach."

July 8, 2008 McCain CoChair Senator Phil Graham, stated that the US economy was not in a real recession. He stated that the problem is that the United States has become a nation of whiners

July 8, 2008 Reverand Jesse Jackson, made disparging remarks about Senator Obama over an open mike that he thought closed. The remarks and subsequent apology dominated that campaign for a few days

July 21, 2008 - Senator Obama visited Iraq and met with Iraqi leaders.

July 23, 2008 - Senator Obama visited Israel and met with Israeli leaders. He pledged continued American support for Israel, but called on her to more understanding of Palestinian needs

July 24, 2008 Senator Obama spoke before a crowd of 200,000 Germans in Berlin. The event was unprecedented. The German crowd was less the enthusiastic on the message that Obama gave.

Week of August 8- The Russian invasion of Georgia, focused new attention of foreign affairs and roll of the unexepected crisis. The attack played to a McCain stength as he had been warning of the dangers that Russian leader Putin posed. Senator Obama was on vacation in Hawaii for the week.

August 17, 2008 Both Senators Obama and McCain appeared before a forum hosted by Reverend Rick Warren. The popular paster held back to back one hour sessions with bost candidates. Both came of well in this unuasual setting focused on values.

August 23, 2008- Senator Obama Picks Senator Joe Biden to be his VP Pick.