The recession started at the end of 2007 due to the rise in interest rates caused, in part, by the sharp rise in oil prices which caused a rise in general prices.
My recollection is that this was a recession that really wasn't noticed until the Financial Meltdown that occurred sometime around Labor Day of 2008.
The concern wasn't so much the recession as the sharp rise in gasoline prices.
It's unlikely that John McCain would have won the Republican nomination had the recession been a major concern given that, by his own admission, he wasn't all that knowledgeable on economics.
If the recession was a major concern in the primaries the 08 election probably is a contest between Romney and Hillary
