Never Call Retreat: The Election of ‘08 By Jbrase and Dallasfan65

[Jbrase]

Iowa Caucus

Jan 3, 2008. It was 9:30pm when the AP called the Iowa results. In a surprising upset, John Edwards rode an 11th hour surge to victory, capturing 38%. Senator Barack Obama came in a close 2nd with 36%. Senator Clinton, the early favorite to win, placed 3rd with 22%. In a speech outside his hotel in De Moines Edwards mentioned
“I just received gracious phone calls from the others acknowledging our victory here tonight!...They said this race was locked up for Senator Clinton, tonight you proved them wrong.“


Edwards wins Iowa!!!


Blue - Edwards
    
   On the Republican side, front runner Mike Huckabee widened his lead in what looked to be a neck-and-neck race between him and Mitt Romney. Mike Huckabee placed first with an overwhelming 40%, in the face of a divided field. Governor Romney followed with a paltry 31%, the rest of the candidates falling into a lower tier.


Huckabee wins Iowa!!!


Red - Huckabee

[Dallasfan65]

New Hampshire Polling:
GOP
Romney: 32%
Huckabee: 26%
McCain: 19%
Giuliani: 12%
Undecided: 7%
Others: 4%

Dem
Obama: 29%
Clinton: 28%
Edwards: 26%
Others: 10%
undecided: 17%

Michigan Polling:
GOP
Romney: 30%
McCain: 28%
Huckabee: 26%
Undecided: 14%
Others: 2%

Dem
Clinton: 52%
Uncommited: 37%
Kucinich: 6%
Undecided: 5%

Nevada Polling:
GOP
Romney: 42%
McCain: 24%
Huckabee: 16%
Undecided: 10%
Others: 8%

Dem
Clinton: 42%
Obama: 24%
Edwards: 24%
Undecided: 5%
Others: 5%

South Carolina Polling:
GOP
Huckabee: 36%
McCain: 31%
Romney: 21%
Undecided: 10%
Others: 4%

Dem
Obama: 34%
Edwards: 32%
Clinton: 26%
undecided:  19%
others: 15%

[Jayhawker]

[Jbrase]

Jan 7. In an emotional response to a question the morning before the New Hampshire Primary, Clinton said
    “It’s not easy, and I couldn't do this If I didn't passionately believe it was the right thing to  do....I just don’t want to see us fall backwards...I see whats happening and we have to reverse it. some people think elections are a game, whose up or whose down, its about our country, and its about our kids futures...some of us know what we will do on day 1, and some of us haven't really thought that through enough...So I’m gonna do everything that I can to make my case, and then the voters get to decide. Thank you.”
Through the remainder of the day clips from that response would be playing on news networks across the nation, some saying here remarks were from the hart, others saying they were phony.

The New Hampshire Primary

    After the polls closed it was clear it would be a tight race between Clinton and Obama. early returns showed the two in a tie while Edwards placed a distant third. at 9:15pm, the AP finally called the winner with 68% of the precincts reporting.

and the winner is...

results:
Obama: 37%
Clinton: 35%
Edwards: 26%
others: 2%


Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama

[Jbrase]

The New Hampshire Primary (GOP)

Despite the initial returns being strong for Romney, the victor on the GOP side would be John McCain, after an all-night-er pulled by some political junkies glued to their TV sets. Despite actual statistics, a consensus was formed about the “Winner” and “Loser” of the New Hampshire primary.



Rudy Giuliani, the “Big loser” of the New Hampshire Primary.

Results:
McCain: 35%Romney: 28%Huckabee: 17%Others: 14%
Giuliani: 6%


Huckabee- Red
McCain - Green

[Dallasfan65]

See, I never had you down as an Edwards fan.

[Jbrase]

Michigan

The results of the Democratic primary came as a surprise to nobody as Clinton was the only top tier candidate on the ballot.



Results:
Clinton: 51%
Uncommitted: 42%
Kucinich: 7%


Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama
Red - Clinton

[Dallasfan65]

Michigan (GOP)

With polls all over the place and two candidates giving it their all, it was anything but certain who was going to win - at 12:32 AM, Fox projected Michigan to be going into the McCain column.
Results:

McCain: 31%
Romney: 30%
Huckabee: 23%
Thompson: 8%
Others: 8%



Huckabee - Red
McCain - Green
Romney - Yellow


Purportedly, the former Massachusetts Governor broke with his Mormon faith and headed toward a bar the next day.

[Bo]

Very nice. Please continue! Go Edwards '08, for the fun of it.

[Jbrase]

In the days following the NH and Michigan primaries the Edwards campaign began to focus on the uphill fight in South Carolina, while Clinton went to Nevada hoping a win there would keep here campaign alive. Obama confident of a win in SC focused on Nevada.

Nevada Caucus Polling:
GOP
Romney: 36%
Paul: 25%
McCain: 15%
Huckabee: 10%
Undecided: 11%
Others: 3%

DEM
Clinton: 42%
Obama: 38%
Edwards: 15%
Other/undecided: 5%

South Carolina Polling
GOP
Huckabee: 33%
McCain: 33%
Thompson: 15%
Romney: 13%
Undecided: 4%
Others: 2%

DEM
Obama: 45%
Edwards: 36%
Clinton: 17%
undecided: 2%

Florida Polling
GOP
Giuliani: 29%
Huckabee: 27%
McCain: 23%
Romney: 10%
Thompson: 7%
Undecided: 4%

DEM
Edwards 32%
Clinton: 31%
Obama: 29%
undecided: 8%

Maine Polling
GOP
Romney: 43%
Paul: 20%
McCain: 19%
Huckabeast: 8%
Giuliani: 3%
Undecided: 7%

[feeblepizza]

I guess that since I absolutley HAVE to, I'll support Edwards.......ugh.........

[Dallasfan65]

January 19, Nevada Caucus (DEM & GOP) and South Carolina Primary (GOP)
With early precincts reporting, it was clearly a close vote between Obama and Clinton with Edwards underperforming. Then it happened, a universal gasp could be heard across America as the GOP Caucus results were known...

RON PAUL HAS WON THE NEVADA CAUCUSES!



Results:
Ron Paul: 32%
Mitt Romney: 29%
John McCain: 27%
Huckabee: 10%
Others: 2%

Although many were unsure as to how, some speculated it was due to the caucus system and rumors of Romney visiting a bar that hurt him amongst Mormon voters.

Mike Huckabee has won the South Carolina Primary!



Results:
Huckabee: 39%
McCain: 34%
Romney: 12%
Thompson: 11%
Others: 4%



Huckabee - Red
McCain - Green
Romney - Yellow
Paul - Blue

[Jbrase]

DEMS
Nevada is called for Clinton!

Clinton: 45%
Obama 42%
Edwards: 12%
other: 1%


Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama
Red - Clinton

[Jbrase]

When it Became clear that Clinton could not overcome Obama’s lead in South Carolina she began campaigning in Super Tuesday states while Bill would stay back in SC. Edwards, who own the state in 2004 was still optimistic that he could turn things around.

Jan 26, The South Carolina Primary (dem)
Everyone was expecting an Obama victory by a comfortable margin, beings that this was the first race with a large African-American vote. Then as polls closed pundits across the nation were surprised when they couldn’t call the race right away. By basically skipping South Carolina, Clinton handed over a large portion of her supporters to Edwards, allowing him to narrow the gap. The last minute surge for Edwards seemed to be recreating the events of Iowa. Then at 10:30pm the race was called for Obama.


Results
Obama: 42%
Edwards: 38%
Clinton: 18%
other: 2%


Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama
Red - Clinton

The next day Bill Clinton  was quoted comparing Obama's win to Jesse Jackson's win in '84 and '88. This was seen by many as an attempt to marginalize Obama as just "the black candidate"

[Free Palestine]

Maybe Paul will also win the Washington and Montana caucuses?  It's a stretch, I know, but so is Paul winning in Nevada.

Great TL so far.

[Jbrase]

Jan 29, Florida Primary
Like Michigan, delegate stripped, the only thing Florida offered for the Democrats was a chance at momentum. The GOP on the other hand allowed Florida to maintain half of their delegates - which, after a long night, were pledged to none other than the boy from Hope.

MIKE HUCKABEE HAS WON THE FLORIDA PRIMARY!

Huckabee: 34%
McCain: 33%
Romney: 16%
Giuliani: 14%
Others: 1%

For the Democrats the race was about to get much more interesting, Hillary taking her popularity in the state for granted, went to campaign in other super tuesday states, Obama following suite also went to campaign in other states. When the results started pouring in the race was called for...

Edwards: 39%
Clinton: 32%
Obama: 29%

Following that, for the Republicans, were the Maine Caucuses. A Romney victory, as many anticipated, though not a sweeping one.

Romney has won the Maine Caucuses!

Romney: 46%
Paul: 23%
McCain: 19%
Huckabee: 7%
Others: 5%



Huckabee - Red
McCain - Green
Romney - Yellow
Paul - Blue


Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama
Red - Clinton

[Dallasfan65]

Super Tuesday - The GOP

February 5th, for the Republicans, would have Mike Huckabee sweeping the South, and proved to be a decisive knock-out punch for Romney, whom only won a handful of states. Mitt Romney suspended his campaign, but was obviously holding out for whichever candidate would give him a better deal.



Red - Huckabee
Green - McCain
Yellow - Romney
Blue - Paul
Orange - Giuliani

[Jbrase]

Super Tuesday (Dems)

Clinton woke up the morning of Feb 5th with hopes that this would be the day it ends.
“Deliver a knock out blow to those two with wins in the large states coupled with states high in conservative democrats and it’ll be too much for them to overcome. It ends today.” Clinton said to herself as she prepared for last minute campaigning.

results:

Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama
Red - Clinton

In a speech after the west coast states were called at her hotel, Clinton announced that she would be suspending her campaign for not doing as well as she hoped. Obama took a slight lead in the delegate count for the first time in the campaign, however Edwards was considered the winner of the night because of his performing better than anyone expected which many attribute to knocking Clinton out of the race.

[Jbrase]

Feb 9, 10.
ME, LA, NE & WA (dems)
In the wake of the withdraw of Clinton, who many had believed was sure to win, the race seemed now a dead heat between Obama and Edwards. Clinton had yet to endorse anyone.

Results

Obama wins LA

Obama: 52%
Edwards: 45%
Clinton*: 3%

Edwards wins NE

Edwards: 54%
Obama: 38%
Clinton*: 8%

Obama wins WA

Obama: 59%
Edwards: 37%
Clinton*: 4%

Obama wins ME

Obama: 48.4%
Edwards: 48.1%
Clinton*: 3.5%


Blue - Edwards
Green - Obama
Red - Clinton

[Dallasfan65]

No sooner did the dust settle from Super Tuesday, than did a slate of primaries begin on February 9th.

Mike Huckabee wins in Kansas!


Huckabee: 62%
Paul: 18%
McCain: 12%
Giuliani: 8%

Mike Huckabee wins in Louisiana!


Huckabee: 51%
McCain: 36%
Paul: 8%
Giuliani: 5%

Mike Huckabee wins the Washington Caucuses!


Huckabee: 29%
Paul: 25%
McCain: 24%
Giuliani: 22%

[Free Palestine]

Huckabee winning in Washington?

The f-ck?

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

Huckabee winning in Washington?

The f-ck?

It's not like Huckabee overwhelmingly won the state with a supermajority. I bet in a runoff he wouldn't have won.

[Jbrase]

Huckabee winning in Washington?

The f-ck?

Huckabee came very close to winning there in RL.

[Dallasfan65]

Huckabee winning in Washington?

The f-ck?

Huckabee came very close to winning there in RL.

Yeah - and arguably was going to win it OTL until the Washington GOP Chairman halted the caucus early. Also, this might be good viewing material.

[Jbrase]

to reiterate what Dallas said...