election polls

election returns

On November 4, 2008, the presidential election polls of the United States of America were held.  Democrat Barack Obama from Illinois emerged victorious over Republican John McCain from Arizona in a closely contested election.  This was the fifty-sixth presidential polls conducted every 4 years in the States to elect president & vice president.  This was the first instance both the sitting president, and vice president did not take part in the elections since 1952, a period of fifty-six years.

This presidential election polls is unique for some reasons.  It was the first time in the history of the USA that an African-American emerged the winner.  This was the first time that a Roman Catholic was elected as the vice president.  Also, there has never been an instance of two sitting senators running for president before.  This election also saw the highest voter turnout in almost 40 years.

Throughout the polls campaign, the issues concerning the Iraq war, the economy, unpopularity and the policies of the incumbent Republican president George W Bush, and American people’s desire for a change figured prominently.  In the last few months of the campaigning in the presidential election polls, the focus shifted mainly to the economy and domestic policy.  This was made all the more significant in the context of the economic crisis of 2008.

The costs of holding presidential election polls have been rising steadily in the past several years according to the statistics available.  In the final analysis, the president-elect Barack Obama alone had spent about $ 513,557,218 with the average spent on per vote coming to $ 7.39.  John McCain had expended approximately $ 346,666,422 at the rate of $ 5.78 per vote.  As per Federal Election Commission figures, a collective total of $ 1,644,712,232 had been raised and out of that $ 1,601,104,696 had been spent by a total of 148 candidates for all parties in respect of the combined general and primary campaigns.

In the light of the above, it is not difficult to imagine the magnitude and importance of the presidential election polls of 2008.  Following a close contest, Barack Obama polled 69,456,897 popular votes whilst John McCain received 59,934,814 popular votes, 52.92% and 45.66% respectively.  The electoral votes were 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain.  Ultimately, Barack Obama was elected and officiated as the 47th president of the USA at the State Capital of Washington DC on 20/01/2009.