Leaping+Forward+in+New+Directions

At the end of the 2000-2008 George W. Bush term, Republicans easily nominated Vietnam War Veteran, Senator John McCain of Arizona. McCain picked Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Democrats nominated Senator of Illinois, Barack Obama over Senator Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton's wife. McCain's campaign stressed that Obama was not ready for the job and Obama stressed that the White House needed change. At a campaign rally in Virginia, Obama pointed out similarities between McCain and Bush and essentially asked people if they wanted another four years of George W. He said, "You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." The McCain campaign was very angry with this remark and said it was a sexist and disrespectful remark directed at Palin. Later Obama was in Ohio when a man named Joe Wurzelbacher introduced himself and stated that under Obama's tax plan for small businesses, his own business will face higher taxes. Obama responded saying that lowering taxes for lower income Americans would make it easier for them to afford services like Joe's and said that sharing the wealth was good for everyone. Republicans hated this and people like Joe were referred to as Joe the Plumber for the rest of the campaign. Many citizens expected the campaign to be mostly about foreign affairs, however the economy had become the most imperative issue in the election. McCain admitted that economic issues were not his strength when he said the economy was in good shape, which it was not. Obama pounced on this issue and said that McCain was completely out of touch with the state of the economy. In the end on election day, Obama won 53% of the popular vote as well as 365 electoral votes compared with McCain's 46% and 173 electoral votes. In his victory speech that night Obama ended his speech saying: "This is our moment. This is our time--to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth--that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we all respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can." ("2008 Election Victory and Concession Speeches").