On December 28, 2006, Edwards officially announced his candidacy for president in the 2008 election.[1] The day before, his campaign website accidentally released that Edwards would be entering the 2008 Presidential election when it went live for a short time one day prior to his planned announcement in Eastern New Orleans.[2] He also inadvertently released his campaign slogan early as well: "Tomorrow begins today."[3] This ended months of speculation about whether or not Edwards would make a second run for president.
David Bonior, a former House Democratic Whip from Michigan, was Edwards' campaign manager, bringing strong relationships with organized labor, as well as experience in grassroots campaigning.[4]Kate Michelman, a nationally prominent abortion rights activist and former leader of NARAL, joined the campaign as a senior adviser, charged with outreach to women.[5]Joe Trippi, former Howard Dean Internet strategist, joined Edwards' campaign as part of the media team and also senior adviser in April 2007.[6]
Two newly hired staff members responsible for the Edwards campaign blog, Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, came under fire from The Catholic League on February 6 regarding comments they had made in their personal blogs prior to joining the campaign which many Catholics considered bigoted.[7] Edwards refused to fire them, saying that while "intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign...I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake".[8] The bloggers issued statements separating their personal blogs from the campaign,[9][10] but Marcotte resigned a few days later, saying that the Catholic League's harassment was interfering with her ability to do her job.[11]
During a speech at the American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference, Ann Coulter used the epithet "faggot" in what she claimed afterward was meant as a one-liner joke about presidential candidate Edwards, a remark for which she was criticized by pundits on the left and the right.[12] Edwards responded to Coulter's remark, saying: "I think it's important that we not reward hateful, selfish, childish behavior with attention..."[13]
After his campaign kicked off in 2007, Edwards faced questions about potential conflicts between his campaign against poverty and his personal wealth, particularly the price of his recently built home (estimated at more than $6 million)[14] and how much he paid for two haircuts ($400 each).[15] Edwards reimbursed the campaign and explained that the cost was high because the stylist had to travel to where he was to give the cut.[16]
John Edwards speaking in Detroit on April 21, 2007
On March 22, 2007, Edwards and his wife announced that she was diagnosed with stage-IVbreast cancer, with newly discovered metastases to the bone and possibly to her lung.[17][18] They said that the cancer was "no longer curable, but is completely treatable"[19] and that they planned to continue campaigning together with an occasional break when Ms. Edwards requires treatment, saying "The campaign goes on strongly."[17][20] This ended erroneous media speculation prior to the press conference that Edwards would announce a suspension of his campaign.[21]
In May 2007, Edwards explained that his 2005 decision to work for the hedge fund Fortress Investment Group[22] was so that he might learn more about the way financial markets and poverty were linked, saying "It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good thing, too". Edwards initially declined to disclose exactly how much money he made, saying that all information would be released in his financial disclosure forms when candidates are required to do so.[23] Those forms, released a week later, showed that Edwards made $479,512 from his time at Fortress, making it his biggest single source of earned income in 2006.[24] In addition, Edwards has raised at least $167,700 for his campaign from individuals associated with Fortress Investment Group.[25]
During a campaign speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in May 2007, Edwards called the War on Terrorism a slogan that was created for political reasons and that it wasn't a plan to make the United States safe. He went further to compare it to a bumper sticker and that it had damaged the US's alliances and standing in the world. In response to the Edwards's remarks, President Bush's homeland security adviser called them "irresponsible, ... offensive and outrageous".[26]
On September 1, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joined Senator Edwards to stop campaigning in Michigan and Florida, two states that had bucked their party's nomination schedule.[27]
On January 3, 2008, in the Iowa Caucuses, the first contest of the nomination process, Edwards placed second with 29.75 percent of the vote to Obama (37.58 percent), with Clinton coming in third with 29.47 percent of the vote.[28] On January 8, Edwards placed a distant third in the New Hampshire Democratic primary with just less than 17% (48,818 votes). On January 26, Edwards again placed third in the South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008, his birth state, which he carried in 2004 and he placed third in the non-binding January 29 vote in Florida.
On January 30, 2008, Edwards announced that he was ending his campaign for the Presidency.[29]
On February 13, 2008, several high-ranking advisers close to Edwards stated that he believed that Clinton was the strongest remaining Democratic candidate and that, because of this belief, she was most likely to receive his public endorsement.[30] However, Obama's meeting with Edwards on February 17 brought that statement into question.[31]
Fundraising
Edwards speaking at a "Small Change for Big Change" fundraiser in Los Angeles, California in August, 2007.
In the first quarter of 2007, the Edwards campaign raised over $14 million, $1 million of which was reserved for the general election. Almost $3.3 million of the $14 million was raised from over 37,000 contributions made over the Internet.[32]
On June 21, 2007, Edwards campaign adviser Joe Trippi sent out a fundraising e-mail stating that the campaign had a goal of raising $9 million in the second quarter and $40 million before the Iowa caucuses.[33]
On June 25, 2007, with the end of the second quarter of fundraising approaching and the campaign short of its goal, Trippi sent a strongly worded email to supporters, saying that "the whole Washington establishment wants our campaign to go away." Trippi wrote, "they don’t want the American people to hear the message, so they attack the messenger. They call him a hypocrite because he came from nothing, built a fortune while standing up for regular people during some of their toughest times, and—heaven forbid!—he has the nerve to remember where he came from and still care passionately about guaranteeing every family the opportunities he had to get ahead."[34]
On July 1, 2007, the Edwards campaign announced that they had met their goal just a few hours before the midnight deadline.[35] Edwards shrugged aside criticism that he had not raised nearly as much as his competitors by noting that Howard Dean, the leading fundraiser in 2004 did not get the nomination.[36]
On September 27, 2007, Edwards announced during a CNN interview that his campaign would accept public financing, enabling him to receive federal matching funds for the primary season.[37] The Federal Election Commission formally declared him qualified on November 1, 2007.[38]
Towards the end of 2007, polls indicated Edwards as either tied for 1st or 2nd place, depending on the poll, for the January 3, 2008, Iowa caucus and in 3rd place for the January 8 New Hampshire primary.[39][40][41] Edwards finished in 2nd place in the Iowa Caucus with 30% of the vote, behind Senator Barack Obama who had 38%, and ahead of Senator Hillary Clinton who had 29%.[42] On January 8, he placed third in the New Hampshire Primary, the first primary of the nominating process.
The early national polls showed Edwards placing third among the Democratic field, behind Clinton and Obama.[43]
Results
Map showing results by county.
Barack Obama
John Edwards
Hillary Clinton
Tie
On January 3, 2008, the 2008 Iowa Caucuses were held across locations across the state of Iowa. Unlike primaries, voting during the Iowa caucuses was held across the state where participants gathered into groups to select their choice for the Democratic nominee. If a candidate failed to garner over 15% of the support at a particular site, all supporters at that site would be given the option to leave or join a different candidate.[45]
As votes were being tallied on caucus night, Edwards was in a tight battle for second place with Clinton, after major news agencies had projected that Obama had carried the caucuses.[46] With 100% of the votes counted, Edwards was confirmed to have finished in second place during the Iowa Caucuses with 744 state delegates, approximately 30% of the state delegation[47] narrowly edging out Hillary Clinton's 737 State delegates, approximately 29% of the state delegation[48] Both lost to Barack Obama's 940 delegates, 38% of the state delegation.
Following the Iowa caucuses, Edwards vowed to stay in the race until the Democratic Convention in Denver despite having less support among New Hampshire voters in the 2008 New Hampshire Primary. A poll released after the Iowa Caucuses showed that 20% of those polled showed their support for Edwards, compared to 33% for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama[49] However, with 100% of the vote counted, Edwards finished in a distant third with 17% of the vote, compared to second-place finisher Barack Obama who received 37% support, and even further behind Clinton, who won the state and received 39% of the vote.
Edwards was hit by further losses, including a distant third showing during the Nevada Caucuses in which he finished with 4% of the vote. This prompted Edwards to say "I got my butt kicked"[50] during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on Late Edition.
Finally, the Edwards campaign staked much of their campaign on South Carolina, a state in which the Senator won in 2004 with 45% of the vote, and the state in which he had been born. After a praised debate performance during the Democratic debate in Myrtle Beach shortly before the South Carolina Primary, Edwards began to see a last minute surge shortly before the contest.[51] During the conclusion of a last minute surge the week before the primary, most polls indicated Clinton and Edwards in a close match for second place in South Carolina In the end, Clinton came in second with 27% of the vote while Edwards came in third with 18% of the vote.[52]
After a non-binding contest in Florida, Edwards left the race, but garnered meaningful shares of the vote in some Super Tuesday contests, including with 10% of the vote in Oklahoma and 4% in Tennessee.[53]
The endorsement of Edwards was heavily sought after by both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Edwards, after dropping out of the primaries, had a total of 19 Pledged Delegates from the Iowa Caucuses, the New Hampshire Primary, as well as the South Carolina Primary.[54] In addition to 19 Pledged Delegates, before departing the race, Edwards had the support of 26 Super Delegates in the Democratic Party. Also, Edwards had been endorsed by several big unions such as the USW (United Steelworkers).[55] The USW has approx. 650,000 members, across several states to influence the Presidential race.
Edwards met with Barack Obama on February 17, 2008,[31] to discuss various issues regarding his endorsement. Despite the fact that no announcement was made immediately after the endorsement, the meeting gained quite a bit of media attention.
Edwards had frequent conversations with Hillary Clinton throughout his time after the primaries. Also, Clinton met with Edwards in North Carolina on February 10, 2008, to discuss among other things a possible endorsement.[56]
On May 14, 2008, Edwards traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to officially endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.[57] During his endorsement speech, Edwards praised Senator Clinton but stated that "the voters have made up their mind and so have I" to the sound of resounding applause to the packed audience .[58]
After Edwards had endorsed Obama, twelve of Edwards' delegates pledged their support to Obama following Edwards' lead. Also, the United Steelworkers followed his lead and endorsed Senator Obama.[59]
On April 25, 2007, Edwards released a list of endorsements in New Hampshire. Senator Edwards received the most endorsements by state senators among Democratic candidates. Supporters include State Sen. David Gottesman of Nashua, State Senate Majority Leader Joe Foster of Nashua, and Deputy Majority Leader Peter Burling of Cornish.[60]
On April 19, the Edwards campaign announced that AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) leaders from across the country endorsed Senator Edwards's presidential bid.[61]
On June 7, 2007, prominent actor Danny Glover announced his endorsement for Senator Edwards and campaigned for him.[65]
On November 8, 2007, the students of Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA elected John Edwards as the Presidential candidate for the 2008 Democratic ticket as part of their 17th Mock Convention. Stephen Colbert was elected as the Vice-Presidential candidate.[66]
The Wall Street Journal criticized his healthcare plan and estimated it would cost the taxpayers $120 billion a year[87] and pointed out how Edwards did not address the Tax Code with regards to S-Corporation loopholes that allow people to dodge medicare taxes; a loophole Edwards himself has used in the past.[88]
Host of the O’Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly was a vocal critic of Edwards since the beginning of the controversy regarding comments made by his former bloggers Marcotte and McEwan.[89] O'Reilly guessed that what he termed the "radical left" had intimidated Edwards and controlled his agenda.[90] O'Reilly claimed that Edwards pulled out of the Fox News debates to curry favor with financier billionaire George Soros, whom O'Reilly felt was funding radical causes.[91] Edwards was also disparagingly characterized on O'Reilly's show as "Huey Long with a Madison Avenue makeover" for his opposition to the surge.[92] O'Reilly provided no evidence to substantiate his claims.
The News Corporation criticized remarks Edwards made about its subsidiary Fox News, saying that Edwards' criticism was hypocritical as he received an advance from HarperCollins, also a subsidiary of News Corp, for his book.[93] Edwards donated the money to charity; however, O'Reilly's show alleged that Edwards did not provide proof of it when asked.[94]
From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African American to secure the presidential nomination of any major political party in the United States. Due to a close race between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, the contest remained competitive for longer than expected; neither candidate received enough pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority, without endorsements from unpledged delegates (superdelegates).
The following is a timeline of major events leading up to and immediately following the United States presidential election of 2008. The election was the 56th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008, but its significant events and background date back to about 2002. The Democratic Party nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, defeated the Republican Party's nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
The 2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucus occurred on January 3, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides. Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008, making him the first African American to win the caucus and the first African American to win a primary state since Jesse Jackson in 1988. Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third, though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards. Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event.
The Mitt Romney presidential campaign of 2008 began on January 3, 2007, two days before Mitt Romney left office as governor of Massachusetts, when he filed to form an exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission to run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2008 election. Subsequently, on February 13, 2007, he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. He did so at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, as an emblem of American ingenuity.
On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama, the junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. Obama announced his candidacy at the Old State Capitol building, where Abraham Lincoln had delivered his "House Divided" speech. Obama was the main challenger, along with John Edwards, to front-runner Hillary Clinton for much of 2007. He had only recently emerged as a national figure in Democratic politics, having delivered the DNC keynote address just three years prior and won his Senate election shortly thereafter.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and United States Senator from Alaska, began on April 17, 2006, when he declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, in a speech to the National Press Club.
This article lists the endorsements made by members of the 110th United States Congress for candidates for their party's nominations in the 2008 United States presidential election. All of the Democratic members of Congress are also superdelegates to their party's presidential nominating convention, except for those from Florida and Michigan. For further details of superdelegates and their voting intentions see List of superdelegates at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. This page lists congressional endorsements, which are distinct from superdelegates' intentions to vote.
Debates took place prior to and during the 2008 Democratic primaries. The debates began on April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Bill Richardson, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced his candidacy on January 21, 2007, for President of the United States on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, by virtue of forming a presidential exploratory committee.
The results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries are the detailed outcomes of a series of contests by which members of the United States Democratic Party chose their candidate for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The contests are held in each of the fifty U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad. The Northern Mariana Islands was the lone U.S. state or territory which did not have a primary or caucus election in 2008. The outcomes include totals of delegates selected as well as popular votes.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2008 Michigan Democratic presidential primary took place January 15, 2008. Originally, the state had 156 delegates up for grabs that were to be awarded in the following way: 83 delegates were to be awarded based on the winner in each of Michigan's 15 congressional districts while an additional 45 delegates were to be awarded to the statewide winner. Twenty-eight unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, were initially able to cast their votes at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
The 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on January 26, 2008. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won the primary's popular vote by a 28.9% margin.
The 2008 Nevada Democratic presidential caucuses took place on January 19, 2008 after having been moved from a later date by the Nevada Democratic Party. The Nevada Democratic Caucus was considered important in determining the eventual party nominee, as many described it as the "Bellwether of the West" seeing as how it is the first Western state to vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary season.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Tom Vilsack, former Iowa Governor began on November 30, 2006, the 2nd to officially announce a run. Vilsack had previously been considered as Vice Presidential candidate for Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. He ran for the Democratic Party's 2008 nomination for President of the United States.
The 2004 presidential campaign of Dick Gephardt, the Democratic former House Minority Leader and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, was formally launched in February 2003. Gephardt had previously ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, but lost to Mike Dukakis. In 2002, Gephardt resigned as House Minority Leader to focus on his campaign.
U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party's 2008 nomination for president of the United States. She won many primaries, although she ultimately lost the nomination to Barack Obama.
The 2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Evan Bayh, Democratic Senator and 46th Governor of Indiana, began shortly after the 2004 presidential election.
↑ See politico.com's explanation and retraction of their incorrect blog post which other media had cited in the hours leading up to the press conference. Ben Smith (2007-03-22). "How Politico Got It Wrong". politico.com. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
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