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Introduction

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date01 March 2009
DOI10.1177/002070200906400106
AuthorPierre Martin
Date01 March 2009
Subject MatterThe 2008 US Election—Challenges for a New President
Pierre Martin
Introduction
The 2008 US election—challenges for a new president
| International Journal | Winter 2008-09 | 91 |
It is not uncommon for a US election to be qualified as historic. Indeed, the
choice of a leader in the most powerful country in the world is always
consequential and most presidents do eventually manage to write a few
pages, if not a whole chapter, of the world’s history. But in the case of the
2008 election, it was clear long before voting day that this one was going to
be very special.
Throughout a long series of primaries that attracted unprecedented
levels of attention, the Democrats knew they were going to write a page of
history by nominating either the first woman or the first African-American
as their candidate. They chose the young junior senator from Illinois with an
unusual name and an even more unusual background, Barack Obama, to
oppose the Republican John McCain, a war hero and an experienced senator
with a reputation as a “maverick” in his own party—perhaps the only
Republican who could manage the improbable feat of campaigning credibly
against
an incumbent of his own party.
Pierre Martin is professor of political science and director of the chair in American political
and economic studies at the Université de Montréal.

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