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You are here: Home / Archives for 2008 Campaign

Campaigning In a Crisis

May 26, 2020 at 6:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “With its staggering death toll, surging unemployment and economic devastation, the Covid-19 crisis confronting the nation today is far more cataclysmic than the 2008 meltdown. But Obama and McCain faced a series of choices — on leadership, empathy and tone, on executing political strategy and navigating fast-moving events on Wall Street, Main Street and Washington — that are relevant and even illuminating as President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. try to navigate another campaign playing out against the backdrop of a national emergency.”

“After the Lehman bankruptcy on Sept. 15, over the crush of the next 14 days, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama were forced to respond to a crisis in real time. It involved a complex unraveling on Wall Street, the anxieties of millions of Americans seeing huge losses in their retirement accounts, and the polarized politics of the White House and Capitol Hill. There was little time for polling or focus groups, aides to both campaigns said, and decisions were made on instinct.”

“These were the 14 days that decided the 2008 race and assured Mr. Obama’s election as the next president, in the view of both the McCain and Obama camps.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign

It Feels Like 2008 Again

May 13, 2020 at 8:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Josh Kraushaar: “Republicans are growing increasingly worried that President Trump’s shaky political position will not just cost them the presidency, but also sweep in a Democratic Senate majority and further diminish their House minority. The latest round of polling shows the president losing to Joe Biden, as well as Democrats gaining ground in red-state Senate seats that once looked like long shots, from Georgia to Montana to Kansas. There’s a growing chance that Democrats may capture control of the Senate with a seat or two to spare.”

“The current political environment is reminiscent of 2008, two years after Democrats swept control of the House and Senate under President George W. Bush. It’s mostly remembered for Barack Obama’s historic election, but the Democrats’ downballot dominance was just as remarkable. Riding deep dissatisfaction with GOP leadership, Democrats expanded their Senate majority to a near filibuster-proof margin and won House seats in some of the most reliably conservative territory in the country.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, 2020 Campaign

Axelrod Says Biden Was Vigorously Vetted In 2008

May 2, 2020 at 11:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Axelrod writes for CNN that Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign didn’t find any claims of sexual misconduct when vetting former Vice President Joe Biden.

Said Axelrod: “Had any credible issue been raised, you can be sure Biden would not have been the nominee. Obama would not have tolerated it, even if he and Biden were close then, which they were not.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, 2020 Campaign

You’re Only ‘Electable’ When You’re Actually Elected

August 25, 2019 at 1:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, 2020 Campaign, Members

Clinton’s 2008 Collapse In South Carolina Looms Large

August 12, 2019 at 8:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Charleston Post & Courier: “As the 2020 Democratic race prepares to enter the crucial fall campaign season, it’s now former Vice President Joe Biden who is far in front of the pack for South Carolina’s pivotal First in the South primary — and determined not to let history repeat itself.”

“Some supporters of other candidates, like former state Rep. Bakari Sellers, who endorsed U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, cite potential parallels with 2008 as a reason why they believe the race remains wide open despite Biden’s commanding lead.”

Said Sellers: “I think the vice president’s support, a lot like the first lady’s support at the time, is very wide, but it’s not deep. I think once Sen. Harris is able to prove her electability, which I don’t have much concern that she will, I expect the tide to change with African American voters like it did with Hillary Clinton.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, 2020 Campaign

Couric Interview Would Be ‘Badge of Honor’ for Palin Today

March 21, 2019 at 12:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Katie Couric told BuzzFeed News that says her 2008 interview with then-Gov. Sarah Palin during the presidential campaign would likely have been treated much differently if it happened today.

Palin was asked which newspapers and magazines reads and enthusiastically responded: “All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.” Her response led to widespread mocking by late night comedians.

Said Couric: “I think there’s such a reverse snobbery about intellectuals that I think it would almost be seen as a badge of honor. I think that’s really concerning.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: Sarah Palin

Yes, It’s a Blue Wave

November 6, 2018 at 10:13 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Times projects a national popular vote margin of roughly 8.5% for the Democrats. The FiveThirtyEight average for the generic congressional ballot gave Democrats a 8.7% lead.

Sam Wang notes the popular vote margin in the last four midterm elections which were considered wave elections:

  • 1994: R+7.1%
  • 2006: D+8.0%
  • 2010: R+7.2%
  • 2014: R+5.7%

By historical staandards, that would be a wave election for the Democrats.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign

Trump Won’t Say If McCain Would Have Been Better

August 30, 2018 at 9:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

When asked by Bloomberg if the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) would have been a better president than Barack Obama, President Trump “declined to say, even as his press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, stared at him.”

Said Trump: “I don’t want to comment on it. I have a very strong opinion, all right.”

He then joked that Sanders was “having a nervous breakdown” over his response. “Maybe I’ll give you that answer some day later.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: John McCain

Top 2008 Campaign Aides Shut Out of McCain Funeral

August 30, 2018 at 1:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“John McCain’s funeral will spotlight some of the late senator’s political rivals – but some of his closest campaign aides are being excluded from the proceedings,” Politico reports.

“Three of the most prominent members of his 2008 presidential campaign – campaign manager Steve Schmidt, senior adviser Nicolle Wallace, and longtime strategist John Weaver — were not invited to any of McCain’s services.”

“It’s not clear whether McCain ordered the snubbing of formerly high-ranking aides before his death.”

The HuffPost notes Sarah Palin was also not invited to the services.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: John McCain

Palin Says McCain Was Surrounded by Disloyal People

August 26, 2018 at 8:59 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin told the Daily Mail that Sen. John McCain, who picked her as his vice presidential running mate in 2008, was surrounded by “disloyal” people.

Said Palin: “I think it’s unfortunate that he had people around him—and they continued to be around him for a very long time—who weren’t serving him well.”

She added: “I think that’s unfortunate because he had some strange people around him and… disloyal people, and you know, I don’t say that as like hate speech or griping about it, it’s just a fact they were just some not nice people.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, Senate Tagged With: John McCain, Sarah Palin

Flashback Quote of the Day

August 26, 2018 at 2:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In a contest as long as difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance.”

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), telling supporters to stop booing Barack Obama during his 2008 concession speech.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: John McCain

How McCain Ended Up Picking Sarah Palin

August 13, 2018 at 6:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt explained on the Words Matter podcast how Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) settled on Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Said Schmidt: “I have regret about that every day that I wake up. But what happened here was — that my idea, and McCain supported it, was that he was going to pick Joe Lieberman.”

He continued: “What happened though is Lindsey Graham went out, not maliciously, but he let the secrets spill, it leaked when he was talking to a group of activists in South Carolina, and within a very short period of time we had heard from Limbaugh from Hannity, directly from President Bush, from Karl Rove saying ‘you can’t do it.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: Sarah Palin

What If McCain Had Picked Lieberman?

May 5, 2018 at 2:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, Members, Political Books Tagged With: Joe Lieberman, John McCain

Quote of the Day

April 9, 2018 at 10:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Oh yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I woulda pushed back harder on some of those who were trying to mold me into something that I was not during the campaign. I would’ve pushed back and gotten more truth out there, but heck yeah.”

— Sarah Palin, quoted by TPM, on whether she would run for office again.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: Sarah Palin

Clinton Shielded Adviser Accused of Harassment

January 26, 2018 at 12:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign who was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young subordinate was kept on the campaign at Mrs. Clinton’s request,” the New York Times reports.

“Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager at the time recommended that she fire the adviser, Burns Strider. But Mrs. Clinton did not. Instead, Mr. Strider was docked several weeks of pay and ordered to undergo counseling, and the young woman was moved to a new job.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: Hillary Clinton

Obama Won the Iowa Caucuses 10 Years Ago

January 3, 2018 at 10:36 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Chris Liddell-Westefeld: “How did one of the whitest states in the union propel the first African-American president to the nomination? What about him captured Iowans’ imaginations? What compelled hundreds of young people to uproot their lives and join a movement considered so unlikely in its nascent stages? What was unique about his organization that future candidates, aides, volunteers, and activists can learn from?”

“I spent a year looking for answers to these questions… The Obama campaign billed itself as an organic effort whose success would be built upon bringing new voters into a caucus process that discouraged broad participation. I wanted to tell that story from the perspective of the bit players history usually forgets.”

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign

Bonus Quote of the Day

November 17, 2017 at 12:58 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“You’ve got to believe that photo is worth more than 312 votes.”

— Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), telling TPM he would have won his re-election race against Al Franken (D) in 2008 had Franken’s sexual harassment been public at the time.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: MN-Sen, Norm Coleman

Sean Hannity, Then and Now

August 22, 2016 at 3:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I’m a journalist.”

— Sean Hannity, on Fox News in 2008.

“I never claimed to be a journalist.”

— Hannity, quoted by the New York Times on how he’s been advising Donald Trump.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign, 2016 Campaign, Media Buzz Tagged With: Sean Hannity

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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