The 2008 US presidential election was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and it was the 56th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election.

Outgoing incumbent Republican President George W. Bush's highly unpopular policies and actions, combined with the American public's desire for change were key issues throughout the campaign.

During the general election campaign, both of the major party candidates Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain ran on a platform of change and reform in Washington.

Domestic policy and the suffering economy eventually emerged as the main themes in the last few months of the election campaign, particularly after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis.

Democrat Barack Obama, a junior United States Senator from Illinois, eventually defeated Republican John McCain, a senior United States Senator from Arizona.

Nine states changed allegiance to the Democrats from the 2004 election when each had voted for the Republican nominee, and together they contributed substantially to Obama's sizable Electoral College victory.

The selected electors from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia cast their electoral vote for President and Vice President of the United States on December 15, 2008.

Those votes were tallied before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 2009, and Barack Obama received 365 electoral votes to John McCain's 173 votes.

2008 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES

A number of pre-election controversies in the 2008 United States presidential election revolved around challenges to voter registration lists, involving techniques such as caging lists that was alleged to result in voter suppression.

Allegations of voter list purges using unlawful criteria caused controversy in at least six swing states including: Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina.

On October 5, 2008, the Republican Lt. Governor of Montana John Bohlinger accused the Montana Republican Party of vote caging to purge 6,000 voters from three counties which tend to vote Democrat.

Allegations also arose in Michigan that the Republican Party planned to challenge the eligibility of voters based on lists of foreclosed homes.

The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama filed a lawsuit challenging this practice, and the House Judiciary Committee wrote to the Department of Justice requesting that an investigation be done.

In addition, significant criticism was leveled at the coverage by various media outlets of the 2008 US presidential election season.

At the February debate, Tim Russert of NBC News was criticized for what some perceived as disproportionately tough questioning of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton.

Among the tough questions that Russert asked Clinton, but not Obama, was to provide the name of the new Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev.

This was later parodied on Saturday Night Live and in October 2007, liberal commentators also accused Russert of harassing Clinton over the issue of supporting drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants.

MCCAIN'S REVERSAL SEEMED ERRATIC

On September 24, 2008, McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign during the 2008 US presidential election to return to Washington to help craft a $700 billion bailout package for the troubled financial industry.

McCain stated that he would not debate Obama until Congress passed the bailout bill.

Despite this decision, McCain was portrayed as not playing a significant role in the negotiations for the first version of the bill, which fell short of passage in the House.

His ineffectiveness in the negotiations and his reversal in deciding to attend the debates was seized upon to portray McCain as erratic in his response to the economy.

EXPENSIVE ELECTIONS

The reported cost of campaigning for President has increased significantly in recent years.

One source reported that if the costs for both Democratic and Republican campaigns are added together the costs have more than doubled in only eight years ($448.9 million in 1996, $649.5 million in 2000, and $1.01 billion in 2004).

In January 2007, Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael E. Toner estimated that the 2008 race would be a $1 billion election, and that to be taken seriously, a presidential candidate needed to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007.

The huge amount of money now required to get a presidential candidate elected in the United States has heightened concerns about corruption in its highest office.