The Confession

[HST1948]

Late December 2007/ Early January 2008: A Final Push for Iowa!

McGreevey Making a Final Push in Des Moines

"America needs a governor who is proved reformer, a governor who has proven he can reach across the aisle to bring about meaningful change, a governor who will stand up for the the rights and civil liberties of individual citizens and take a firm stand against an unjust and unfunded war!"

Senator Obama at a Rally in Waterloo Iowa

"Today America has a choice, a choice to move forward and usher in a new era of hope and chanage to undo the mistakes of a reckless president and to make America great again!"

Senator Clinton Campaigning in Mount Pleasant Iowa

"I stand here today as a someone who can offer experience.  I have the experience as a Senator, as First Lady and as a lawyer to take on the challenge of undoing the mistakes of George Bush and restoring America to it's rightful place in the world".

Gallup Iowa Democratic Poll:December 30, 2007
Obama: 31%
McGreevey: 29%
Clinton: 28%
Richardson: 4%
Biden: 2%
Dodd: 1%
Kucinich: 1%

The Republican Push

Senator Brownback Campaigns in Sioux City, Iowa

"I've been around the government system and believe me it's built to spend. You've got to change the system, otherwise it's like asking a cultivator to do what a combine does, it just doesn't fit, it won't get it done. You've got to change the system".

Mitt Romney Hold's a Q&A in Mason City

"And the American people are the greatest people in the world. What makes America the greatest nation in the world is the heart of the American people: hardworking, innovative, risk-taking, God- loving, family-oriented American people".

John McCain Campaigns in Ames

"I am fully prepared to be commander in chief... I don't need on-the-job training".

Rudy Giuliani decided to forgo campaigning for the Iowa Caucus and focus his attention of the states of Florida, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Iowa Gallup December 30, 2007 Republican Primary Poll
Sam Brownback 30%
Mitt Romney 28%
Fred Thompson 10%
Ron Paul 10%
Rudy Giuliani 10%
John McCain 4%
Mike Huckabee 3%

[HST1948]

MSNBC Election Night 2008: Iowa Caucuses

Rachel Maddow: Thank you for joining us here at MSNBC for our coverage of the Iowa and Democratic and Republican Caucuses.  The polls have just closed in Iowa and we are expecting an interesting an unpredictable night ahead of us.  Kieth, what do you make of the closeness of both the Democratic and Republican races tonight.  

Kieth Olberman: Well Rachel I think, on the Democratic side it shows a general lack of satisfaction with the nominee apparent, Hillary Clinton. On the republican side I think the closeness is resulting from the deep polarization of the state between evangelicals, who are going heavily for Sam Brownback, fiscal conservatives who are going for Mitt Romney, and libertarians who are going for Ron Paul.

Rachel Maddow: I think the real story tonight is the rise of Jim McGreevey who was polling at less than five percent when he entered in February and is now tied for first with Barack Obama in the latest polling for the nomination.  To pull this off tonight McGreevey will have to do well in DesMoines and the Eastern Part of the state. It will be interesting to  see what effect the John Edwards scandal and subsequent withdraw from the race has had on the caucuses, which he was a strong contender in.

Kieth Olberman: Very true Rachel. I think tonight, depending on who wins, we will be able to see either Obama or McGreevey emerge as the 'anti-Clinton', if you want to put it that way, or if Clinton wins, which seems unlikely at this point this may give her the momentum to sow up the nomination like Kerry did four years ago.  

Rachel Maddow: Kieth I'm sorry I'm going to have to interrupt you, MSNBC can project that Sam Brownback will win the Iowa Caucuses.  Again, Kansas Senator Brownback will win the Iowa Caucuses.  

Iowa Caucus Goes to Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas

Rachel Maddow: This is incredible! Senator Borwnback, who was polling at less than two percent when he entered the race has won the Iowa Caucuses! We will now take you to Senator Brownback's headquarters in Mason City where he will be be addressing his supporters shortly!

Brownback HQ- Mason City, Iowa

"The way my family lives and the way the government should work is to pray a little more, work a little harder, save, wait, be patient and, most of all, live within our means. That's the American way. It's not spending ourselves into prosperity or taxing ourselves into prosperity".

Kieth Olberman: "That was Senator Sam Brownback addressing his supports in Mason City, Iowa.  This turned out to be huge victory for the Senator, winning by almost ten percent of the vote.  We can project that Governor Romney will finish second followed by Ron Paul and Fred Thompson is third and fourth respectively.  At this time, with fifty percent of precincts in, the Democratic Caucuses are still to close to call.  Lets take a look at the county break down of the Republican caucuses.  Gray denotes a Brownback win, Pink a Romney win and yellow a Paul win".

Rachel Maddow: Kieth, I have a huge projection to make.  With seventy five percent of the caucuses in, MSNBC can project that New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey will win the Iowa Caucuses!

Iowa Caucuses Go to Governor McGreevey!

Rachel Maddow: "To cap of an incredible night another upset! Governor McGreevey, who was polling at less than five percent when he entered the race has won the Iowa Caucuses! This race has taken so many dramatic twists and turns, with the exit of John Edwards to the decline of Obama and Clinton and the rise of McGreevey. We will now take you to Governor McGreevey's headquarters in DesMoines where he will be be addressing his supporters shortly!"

McGreevey HQ DesMoines, Iowa

"They said our country was too divided and disillusioned to come together, but tonight we rallied Iowans to come together for a common purpose, for change, for a better tomorrow. And just like we did her tonight in Iowa, come November we we bring Americans of every background, belief, and party around a common purpose".

Kieth Olberman: "This is truly incredible. Two parties, two formerly unknown candidates, two Iowa winners.  Let's take a look at the Democratic Iowa map.  Pink denotes a win by McGreevey, Grey by Obama, and Red by Clinton".

Rachel Maddow: "The final results in Iowa were extremely close with McGreevey getting 33% of the vote, Obama 32%, Clinton 22%, Richardson 6%, Biden 2%, Kucinich 2%, and Dodd 1%. Its seems as though Hillary really under performed her polling numbers tonight, although Iowa has never been a great state for her".

Kieth Olberman: "The results for the republicans weren't quite as close with Brownback getting 34%, Romney 25%, Paul 13%, Thompson 13%, McCain 11%, and Giuliani getting 4%. It will be interesting to see the aftermath of tonight. There are some campaigns that have some serious decisions to make tonight".  

[HST1948]

MSNBC Election Night 2008

Rachel Maddow: We will now take you to Joe Biden's Iowa rally where he will address his supporters. 

"Tonight I am withdrawing my bid for the Democratic nomination for president. I ain't going away. I'll be going back to the Senate as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and I will continue to make the case I've been making..."

Kieth Olberman: "You heard it here first, on the same night of the Iowa caucus, after recieveing only two percent of the vote Senator Joe Biden, the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Chairman will be ending his bid for the presidency".

Rachel Maddow: "Truly incredible news indeed. Lets to another rally for another very powerful senator, the chairman of the Senate Banking committee Senator Chris Dodd". 

"Tonight I am withdrawing from the Presidential race. But let me assure you, we do not exit this race with our heads hanging - rather, we do so with our heads held high... I think we all knew from the very beginning that ... this would be an uphill battle...only when you try can you truly make a difference in this world, and I'm truly glad I tried".

Kieth Olberman: Wow, two heavy weight Senators, both chairmen of powerful senate committees withdraw from the race on the same night as the Iowa primary as two fresh faces duke it out for first place. This is shaping up to be quite the election.

Rachel Maddow: And the night is still young. Lets go back to Iowa and hear from the Huckabee campaign now.

"It's when ordinary people rise above the expectations and seize the opportunity that milestones truly are reached, and I even though we didn't win tonight, I believe that the we as ordinary people in the Republican party can unite behind a candidate and seize the opportunity that this election presents us and reach new miles stones".

Rachel Maddow: And another one bites the dust. In the aftermath of what was a surprising and unexpected caucus night for both Republicans and Democrats, three candidates have withdrawn less than five hours after polls closed in Iowa.  Stayed with us for continuing coverage of the fall out from the Iowa Caucuses.

[HST1948]

January 5th 2008

The Wyoming Republican caucus is won by Mitt Romney

Final Results: Mitt Romney: 66%, Sam Brownback: 25%, Duncan Hunter: 8.3%, Fred Thompson: 4.7%

The Race For New Hampshire Heats Up

January 6th Gallup Poll of New Hampshire Democrats
McGreevey: 35%
Clinton: 33%
Obama: 25%
Richardson: 4%
Kucinich: 1%

January 6th Gallup Poll of New Hampshire Republicans
Rudy Giuliani 25%
Mitt Romney 24%
John McCain 19%
Fred Thompson 15%
Sam Brownback 9%
Ron Paul 6%

[Jerseyrules]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

[HST1948]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

At this point in time New Hampshire is only close because Mitt Romney, John McCain and Giuliani have all heavily focused on it and have an certain type of appeal in the state, thus effectively splitting the the vote.  Giuliani is still the front runner. Don't worry, I have plans for him.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

The same reason he sucked so much in real life, I assume.

[Jerseyrules]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

The same reason he sucked so much in real life, I assume.

NOT nice! 

[Jerseyrules]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

At this point in time New Hampshire is only close because Mitt Romney, John McCain and Giuliani have all heavily focused on it and have an certain type of appeal in the state, thus effectively splitting the the vote.  Giuliani is still the front runner. Don't worry, I have plans for him.

Alright.  I'm still on the Paul Train tho.

[HST1948]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

At this point in time New Hampshire is only close because Mitt Romney, John McCain and Giuliani have all heavily focused on it and have an certain type of appeal in the state, thus effectively splitting the the vote.  Giuliani is still the front runner. Don't worry, I have plans for him.

Alright.  I'm still on the Paul Train tho.

I'll see what I can do.

[Jerseyrules]

Whys Rudy doing so poorly?

At this point in time New Hampshire is only close because Mitt Romney, John McCain and Giuliani have all heavily focused on it and have an certain type of appeal in the state, thus effectively splitting the the vote.  Giuliani is still the front runner. Don't worry, I have plans for him.

Alright.  I'm still on the Paul Train tho.

I'll see what I can do.

[HST1948]

January 6th, 2008: A Rainy Night in Manchester, New Hampshire

After a narrow win in Iowa, Jim McGreevey took his message to the Granite State where he wanted to stop Hillary Clinton for good. This would be hard, as this was a North Eastern stronghold for Clinton, but new polls gave the New Jersey Governor his first national lead, and pushed him over the top in some New Hampshire polls.  He knew though that the race would be tight and, like Iowa, no one would be able to predict a winner until polls closed and the votes were counted on primary night.

Everything was going perfectly for the McGreevey campaign. Winning Iowa had propelled him to leading national polls as well as giving him slight leads in the Florida Primary and Nevada Caucus.  Even McGreevey's ex-wife, Dina Matos, gave an emotional endorsement of her former husband on CNN after the Iowa caucus.  Despite all of the good news, something was bothering McGreevey and his campaign staff just wrote if off as exhaustion.  

When McGreevey began campaigning for the Democratic nomination control of the state government was left primarily in the hands of lieutenant governor Richard Codey and McGreevey's cabinet and staff, which Golan Cipel was a member of. The affair that began between Cipel and McGreevey in 2003 had all but ended since his presidential campaign began in February. The two of them rarely saw each other, which bothered both men, but at the same time McGreevey was glad to no longer be involved in something that could derail everything he had worked for. Cipel was more upset about the situation. He was aggressive and made calls to the Governor almost daily, most of which were ignored.

After winning the Iowa caucus the McGreevey campaign realized it was understaffed for the kind of operation it now had to conduct to take on Clinton and Obama. Knowing of how closely he had been following the campaign, and knowing that McGreevey had consulted with Cipel before on issues regarding the primary, the McGreevey campaign manager had called Cipel the day after the Iowa caucus and asked him to join the campaign and help organize the final push in New Hampshire.  That same night Cipel arrived at Boston Logan Airport, rented a car and drove to McGreevey HQ in Manchester, New Hampshire.  

On the night of January 6th McGreevey hosts a fundraiser in downtown Manchester at the Radisson Hotel.  In the middle of his speech McGreevey saw, at the back of the room, Golan Cipel and paused, in shock, before finishing his speech.  After his speech he met with Cipel and asked "Golan why the hell are you in New Hampshire?". Cipel explained the story about his campaign manager's call and his flight up to Boston earlier in the week.  A photographer interrupted the two when he came up and asked the two to pose for a picture. Before either of them could say anything else Congressman Paul Hodes, who had just endorsed the Governor, came up and began to speak to McGreevey. Cipel slipped away into the distance.  

Governor McGreevey and Golan Cipel at McGreevey Fundraiser, Manchester New Hampshire

Later that night McGreevey was up in his room in his suit pants and undone dress shirt revising a campaign speech for the next day when there was a knock on his door.  He looked at the clock on his night stand and saw that it was 12:03am and could not possible think of who it could be.  He checked his phone... no messages or missed calls. He got up and went to the door, looked through the peep hole and thought "how did I not see the coming?!".  McGreevey opened the door, thanked the security guards, and before he could say anything Golan Cipel was in the room and said "we need to talk".  

Golan began listing off some internal poll numbers, some early voting numbers and demographic statistics before McGreevey said,

     "Golan, you didn't come here at midnight to talk to me about poll numbers did you?".

Golan didn't respond.

     "Golan, how have you been? I've missed you, really I've missed talking to you and seeing you  around".

At this point the two men are sitting on the king sized bed.

      "I've been okay.  I've been busy, there's a lot going on in New Jersey.  To be honest I've been miserable, I can't live my life with out being around you. I got on the first flight from Philadelphia to Boston when I found out I would have the opportunity to be part of the campaign".

      "Golan, I've missed you, I care about you so much and I'm glad you are here with the campaign but..."

Golan leans over and kisses McGreevey and the two fall  back onto the the king bed...

[Jerseyrules]

Uh, was the last part necessary....?  I mean, I'm all for gay rights but...[shivers]. Other than that interesting update.

[HST1948]

Uh, was the last part necessary....?  I mean, I'm all for gay rights but...[shivers]. Other than that interesting update.

Sorry! I promise that is the only "sex scene" in the story.  I'm actually taking bits and pieces from his book, which the last part was loosely based on.

[Jerseyrules]

Uh, was the last part necessary....?  I mean, I'm all for gay rights but...[shivers]. Other than that interesting update.

Sorry! I promise that is the only "sex scene" in the story.  I'm actually taking bits and pieces from his book, which the last part was loosely based on.

It's fine, just saying.  This is a great TL though, I'm enjoying it so far

[HST1948]

CNN Election Night 2008: The New Hampshire Primary

John King/b] Welcome to CNN's coverage of the 2008 Democratic and Republican Primaries. Polls have just closed in the state of New Hampshire and we are awaiting results as I speak. We are in for what appears to be a an interesting night were there is no clear frontrunner on wither side to win New Hampshire.  

Anderson Cooper: That's right John.  Most polls showed Governor McGreevey starting to open up a slim lead on Senator Clinton, with Obama falling back about ten points.  However, some of the most recent polling shows that Clinton's teary moment may have stalled McGreevey's momentum and turned the New Hampshire race back in her favor.

Wolf Blitzer:  Well only the final vote tally will tell us. On the republican side the most recent polling points to a statistical tie between Giuliani, Romney and McCain.  And our exit polls show that they are all withing a couple of points of each other.  

Anderson Cooper: Well it certainly looks like the Brownback momentum that we saw in Iowa hasn't translated to New Hampshire.  He is currently polling last in the state.  

John King: Well you can't even begin to compare the republican electorates of Iowa and New Hampshire.  Brownback won Iowa with heavy support from evangelicals and populists, where as New Hampshire has far more fiscal and defense conservatives making up it's republican electorate.

Wolf Blitzer: I am sorry John, But I will have to interrupt you because CNN, one hour and forty eight minutes after polls have closed can now project that Rudy Giuliani has won the New Hampshire primary.  The results on the Democratic side are still too close.

John King: Lets go to Giuliani headquarters in Concord, New Hampshire where he will be addressing supporters shortly.

Giuliani Wins New Hampshire Primary

"In choosing a president, we really don't choose a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or liberal. We choose a leader. Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present. And tonight New Hampshire has chosen a leader!"

Anderson Cooper: That was Rudy Giuliani addressing his supporters at his headquarters in concord New Hampshire. Lets go now and take a look at the map for the Republican's.

John King: Thank you Anderson. On this map red denotes a Romney win while blue denotes a Giuliani win. Although almost forty percent of the votes are still outstanding, we can predict that the candidates will finish in the following order with the approximate vote percentages Rudy Giuliani 31%, Mitt Romney 24%, John McCain 15%, Fred Thompson 10%, Ron Paul 11%, Sam Brownback 9%

Anderson Cooper: This isn't a huge margin of victory for Giuliani, but it's big enough to give him some momentum going into South Carolina, Nevada and Florida. The real story tonight is really the collapse of the McCain campaign.  This is a state he won by eighteen points in 2000, and needed to win again tonight...

Wolf Blitzer: I'm sorry Anderson I'm going to  have to interrupt you, we can now call the Democratic Primary.  Nearly three hours after polls have closed in New Hampshire we can now project that Senator Clinton has won the New Hampshire Primary.

Clinton Wins New Hampshire Primary

"For all the ups and downs of this campaign, you helped remind everyone that politics isn't a game. This campaign is about people, about making a difference in your lives, about making sure that everyone in this country has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential. That has been the work of my life. "

John King: A very emotional speech from Senator Clinton in New Hampshire.  Lets take a look at the map.  Blue denotes a Clinton win, red a McGreevey win.  

Wolf Blitzer: With almost ninety percent of the vote counted we can predict that the final results will look something like Clinton with 37%, McGreevey with 35%, Obama with 20%, Richardson with 4%, and Kucinch with 2%.

John King: Another impressive showing by McGreevey, but this win managed to save Clinton's campaign.  Obama seems to be flagging, but South Carolina seems to be very good territory for him.  On the republican side the real story is not Giuliani's win, but the fall of McCain's campaign.  

Anderson Cooper: This seems to be shaping up to be an incredibly exciting and unpredictable election season. Stay tuned with CNN to follow the fall out from the New Hampshire primary.  
 

[RedPrometheus]

Great timeline! I'm looking forward to the next update!

[Jerseyrules]

Great timeline! I'm looking forward to the next update!

[HST1948]

The Consequences of New Hampshire

January 8, 2008: New Mexico State Capitol, Santa Fe

“It is with great pride understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for president of the United States. You know it’s been an exhilarating and humbling year, an experience I will treasure and never forget.”

January 8, 2008: Phoenix, Arizona

"Our crusade will never achieve all of its goals if your voices fall silent in the national debate, so raise you voices. I'm really proud of what we've been able to achieve...in terms of what this year's election debate is going to be about. I love my party, and I will support our candidate, but I will not be that candidate."

[HST1948]

January 15, 2008: Michigan Primaries  

Hillary Clinton Wins the Michigan Democratic Primary

Hillary Clinton won the the Michigan Primary, where only she, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel were on the ballot. She won the primary with 56% of the vote, with uncommitted/undecided receiving 40% of the vote, Dennis Kucinich receiving 3% of the vote, and Mike Gravel with 1% of the vote.

Mitt Romney Wins the Michigan Republican Primary

Final Results: Romney 45%, Brownback 30, Giuliani 15, Thompson 5%, Paul 2%. Dark red denotes counties won by Mitt Romney, Light Red denotes counties won by Sam Brownback.

[HST1948]

January 19, 2008: The Nevada Caucuses

Jim McGreevey Steals the Nevada Caucus

Results: McGreevey 45%, Clinton 35%, Obama 20%. Red denotes counties won by McGreevey while Blue denotes counties won by Clinton and Purple by Obama.

Romney Wins the Nevada Caucus

Results: Romney 38%, Giuliani 35%, Paul 20, Brownback 2%. Purple denotes counties won by Romney while Red denotes counties won by Giuliani, Blue by Brownback, and Yellow by Paul.
[

Fred Thompson Withdraws from the Presidential Race

“I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.”

Gallup Polls: Democratic Nomination

National President
Governor Jim McGreevey: 38%
Senator Hillary Clinton: 36%
Senator Barack Obama: 22%

South Carolina Democratic Primary
Senator Barack Obama: 38%
Senator Hillary Clinton: 30%
Governor Jim McGreevey: 20%

Florida Democratic Primary
Governor Jim McGreevey: 38%
Senator Hillary Clinton: 38%
Senator Barack Obama: 18%

Gallup Polls: Republican Nomination

National President
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani: 35%
Senator Sam Brownback: 26%
Governor Mitt Romney: 25%
Congressman Ron Paul: 10%

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

HST1948, could you take the time to make new county maps instead of the actual 2008 results?

This altered primary would produce much different maps.

And very good so far. Go McGreevey!

[HST1948]

HST1948, could you take the time to make new county maps instead of the actual 2008 results?

This altered primary would produce much different maps.

And very good so far. Go McGreevey!

I would  actually really like to do that but I'm actually not sure how to do it

[Thomas D]

HST1948, could you take the time to make new county maps instead of the actual 2008 results?

This altered primary would produce much different maps.

And very good so far. Go McGreevey!

I would  actually really like to do that but I'm actually not sure how to do it

Could you paste the map onto MS paint and redo the colors?

[HST1948]

HST1948, could you take the time to make new county maps instead of the actual 2008 results?

This altered primary would produce much different maps.

And very good so far. Go McGreevey!

I would  actually really like to do that but I'm actually not sure how to do it

Could you paste the map onto MS paint and redo the colors?

Thank you! I figured it out ! I will continue to move forward with the timeline while going back and fixing/ replacing the old maps.