Election 2008 – News Stories About Election 2008 - Page 18

Nov 4, 2008 8:01 AM CST

Want the Day Off? Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller video: Skip work or school today, and volunteer for Obama

(Newser) - Ferris Bueller didn’t believe in -isms, only himself, but actor Matthew Broderick believes in Barack Obama. In a campaign video, Broderick urges people to emulate Ferris and “Take the day off”—only this time, to volunteer for Obama. “Life moves pretty fast,” he says, reprising...

Victory Would
Vindicate Dean

Nov 4, 2008 7:33 AM CST

Victory Would Vindicate Dean

Win would vindicate screaming DNC chair

(Newser) - If Democrats clean up tonight as expected, it’ll be a vindicating victory for Howard Dean. The DNC’s infamous screamer locked horns with many in his party over his “50-state strategy,” but this election his seemingly quixotic venture has borne fruit, the Hill reports. Barack Obama is...

Obama Granny Missed Nov. 4, but Her Vote Will Count

Nov 4, 2008 6:49 AM CST

Obama Granny Missed Nov. 4, but Her Vote Will Count

'Toot' voted absentee days before her death

(Newser) - Madelyn Dunham didn't live to see whether her grandson would become president, but ABC News reports that the absentee ballot of Barack Obama's grandmother will be counted. An elections official in Hawaii said that the ballot was received on October 27, meeting the requirements for a valid vote. Dunham died...

You Said You Wanted (Campaign) Revolution ...

ANALYSIS

Nov 4, 2008 5:11 AM CST

You Said You Wanted (Campaign) Revolution ...

2008 changes US elections forever

(Newser) - Campaign drama has overshadowed the fact that 2008 has permanently changed the way elections are fought in America, the New York Times reports. From now on, supporters will be organized in new ways and funds will be raised differently, due primarily to brave new media worlds. With the help of...

Oprah, Obama
in Last-Minute
Strategy Session

Nov 4, 2008 4:40 AM CST

Oprah, Obama in Last-Minute Strategy Session

Conference call included key black leaders

(Newser) - Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey participated in a top-level phone conference yesterday with Barack Obama and key black leaders to pull out the stops in the campaign's home stretch, reports the New York Daily News. Rapper Diddy Combs, strategist Donna Brazile and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn were also in on...

Third-Party Picks Causing Barely a Ripple

Nov 4, 2008 4:00 AM CST

Third-Party Picks Causing Barely a Ripple

Barr, Nader not polling high enough to be game-changers

(Newser) - Third-party candidates across the nations are highly unlikely to siphon off anywhere near a significant number of votes this election day, Time reports. Libertarian Bob Barr is polling around 1%—down from a peak of 6% in the summer—with Ralph Nader faring the same. The longshot candidates say their...

Obama Weeps
as He Mourns
Grandma 'Toot'

Nov 4, 2008 3:33 AM CST

Obama Weeps as He Mourns Grandma 'Toot'

'Bittersweet' time for candidate who loses beloved relative as campaign ends

(Newser) - Tears rolled down Barack Obama's cheeks as he spoke at one of his last campaign rallies about his beloved grandmother, who died yesterday at the age of 86. "This obviously is a bittersweet time for me," Obama said. The candidate often credits his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham—whom he...

Governors Face Tight Races

Nov 4, 2008 2:44 AM CST

Governors Face Tight Races

Eleven states in play, four are close

(Newser) - Eleven states are choosing governors in a number of tight races today, with both Democrats and Republicans already crowing about victory. The closest contests are in Washington and North Carolina, reports MarketWatch. Neither state has elected a Republican in 20 years, but polls show candidates are neck-and-neck in both states....

Obama Wins First Town's Vote

Nov 4, 2008 1:48 AM CST

Obama Wins First Town's Vote

New Hampshire village votes Democratic for first time in 40 years

(Newser) - Barack Obama has won a landslide victory in the first town in America to vote, AP reports. The 21 registered voters of New Hampshire's Dixville Notch hit the polls shortly after the stroke of midnight and chose Obama over John McCain 15 to 6. It is the first time the...

Chasing Comeback, McCain Races Through 7 States

Nov 3, 2008 11:58 PM CST

Chasing Comeback, McCain Races Through 7 States

15,000 attend 1 am rally in Miami

(Newser) - John McCain spent yesterday on a whirlwind tour, hitting seven states with eight rallies as he looked to make a last-minute comeback, the Washington Post reports. “I am an American, and I choose to fight,” he told crowds from Florida to Arizona, starting with a 1am rally in...

Candidates Make
Last Drive on MNF

Nov 3, 2008 11:18 PM CST

Candidates Make Last Drive on MNF

Obama, McCain make unlikely halftime show

(Newser) - After two years of campaigning, Barack Obama and John McCain made their final pitches to Americans in parallel interviews on Monday Night Football. The Democrat, a Chicago Bears fan, told ESPN that he wants to see college football playoffs, while the GOP nominee said he wants to take action to...

Bush Absent
For a Reason,
But He's OK

Nov 3, 2008 6:04 PM CST

Bush Absent For a Reason, But He's OK

(Newser) - President Bush is lying low on Election Day eve, and even his White House spokeswoman admits his dismal ratings are the cause, Reuters reports. “Everybody would like to be popular,” Dana Perino said today. “We can all remember that back in high school, everyone really wanted to...

10 Best Viral Election Videos

OPINION

Nov 3, 2008 5:18 PM CST

10 Best Viral Election Videos

Web offers chance to poke fun, change a few minds

(Newser) - Viral election videos offer campy calls for change, seamless special effects, and more than a few celebrity cameos. Laughs aside, “over the past decade they’ve also impacted politics—sometimes changing the course of elections and frequently providing a few laughs in an otherwise wonky world,” Jeffrey Ressner...

Obama's Grandmother Loses Battle With Cancer

UPDATED

Nov 3, 2008 3:52 PM CST

Obama's Grandmother Loses Battle With Cancer

Madelyn Dunham passes away at 86 on eve of historic election

(Newser) - On the eve of Election Day, Barack Obama's maternal grandmother died today in Honolulu after a long struggle with cancer. Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise Obama, had been in hospice care, the Chicago Tribune reports. The senator and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng released a statement calling their 86-year-old grandmother "...

Campaigns Make Florida Election-Eve Battleground

Nov 3, 2008 3:26 PM CST

Campaigns Make Florida Election-Eve Battleground

Obama reprises out-of-touch criticism of McCain, who hits back on economics

(Newser) - Both presidential candidates were on the trail today in Florida, trading jabs from opposite ends of the state, the Miami Herald reports. Barack Obama spoke about the economy in Jacksonville, in the north, the same city where John McCain said the “fundamentals of the economy are strong.” McCain...

Canadian DJ Chalks Palin Prank Up to Perseverance

Nov 3, 2008 2:49 PM CST

Canadian DJ Chalks Palin Prank Up to Perseverance

'A lot of journalists would love to have a word' with press-shy candidate

(Newser) - The French-Canadian radio host who fooled Sarah Palin into thinking he was French president Nicolas Sarkozy chalks up his coup to simple hard work. “Call it luck, call it perseverance, call it what you want,” Marc-Antoine Audette tells ABC about Saturday’s 7-minute interview. He says his staff...

Onion Preps Timely Election Coverage—No, Really

Nov 3, 2008 2:39 PM CST

Onion Preps Timely Election Coverage—No, Really

(Newser) - The Onion, bucking a 20-year trend, plans to cover tomorrow's election results in something resembling real time, the AP reports. The "satirical newspaper of record" and its website have prepared articles and videos in advance, requiring long hours unfamiliar to its writers. “It has become sort of necessary...

TV's Gimmickry
Diminishes Election

OPINION

Nov 3, 2008 1:27 PM CST

TV's Gimmickry Diminishes Election

News operations aim for ratings, shoot viewers instead

(Newser) - Tomorrow night will be a high-water mark for TV news gadget gimmickry as the networks try to hook some of the millions of viewers who will tune in for election coverage, Rick Kushman writes in the Sacramento Bee. Some, like the technology that will allow TV networks to have instant...

Is She the Last
Culture Warrior?

OPINION

Nov 3, 2008 12:28 PM CST

Is She the Last Culture Warrior?

With bigger problems on our minds, accusations of 'elitist' don't stick

(Newser) - Although Sarah Palin says she would be a fresh face in Washington, she really represents the end of a long line of Republican culture warriors, writes Peter Beinart in the Washington Post. "She's depicting the campaign as a struggle between the culturally familiar and the culturally threatening, the culturally...

Do Your Civic Duty and Get a Free Sex Toy

Nov 3, 2008 11:50 AM CST

Do Your Civic Duty and Get a Free Sex Toy

Or coffee, doughnuts, ice cream as shops reward US voters

(Newser) - Joining a host of firms rewarding US voters, a sex-toy chain is giving out self-pleasuring devices to customers who have stopped at the polls, MSNBC reports. Men get “Maverick” sleeves: “He’s always there to lend a hand, he works for every man, and he bucks the status...