The 2008 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary took place on February 19, 2008. 74 pledged delegates were at stake. The 2008 Hawaii Democratic presidential caucuses took place the same day.
The Wisconsin primary came after Senator
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
had won the majority of delegates and votes in 8 straight primaries and caucuses; his wins in Wisconsin, and Hawaii extended his winning streak to 10 and reinforced his
front-runner
In politics, a front-runner (also spelled frontrunner or front runner) is a leader in an electoral race. While the front-runner in athletic events (the namesake of the political concept) is generally clear, a political front-runner, particularly i ...
status.
In the days leading up to the primary the Hillary Clinton campaign ran television ads criticizing Obama on
healthcare
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
and for not agreeing to more candidate debates. This caused the Obama campaign to launch a response ad that mentioned the 18 debates already held and 2 more scheduled. The Clinton campaign also charged Obama using lines in a speech similar to words spoken by
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
Governor and Obama friend
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African Americans, African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Pa ...
; Patrick responded by saying he and Obama often swap ideas, and that he had willingly shared lines without asking for credit to be given. Barack Obama was the winner.
Polls
Polls taken throughout 2007 consistently put Hillary Clinton in the lead, but during February 2008 most polls showed Barack Obama with the advantage. A
Rasmussen
The surname Rasmussen () is a Danish and Norwegian surname, meaning ''Rasmus' son''. It is the ninth-most-common surname in Denmark, shared by about 1.9% of the population.Washington (state), Washington,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
,
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
,
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
following
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
.
Hillary Clinton enjoyed healthy leads among white voters in previous states and hoped that winning Wisconsin or at least the white vote would allow for a victory of sorts. However, CNN Exit Polls showed that Obama won the white vote (which comprised 87% of the electorate on primary day) 54%-45%. Also, other key Clinton constituencies showed Obama making significant strides such as the female vote which split 50%-50%, the 54-65 Age Group which voted for Obama 54%-45%.
After the victory in Wisconsin as well as Caucuses in Washington and a primary in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
held on the same day gave Obama the momentum of winning 10 straight contests. The Pledged delegate standing after the Wisconsin Primary was Obama leading 1154-1011.
See also
*
2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries
From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party chose their nominee for President of the United States, president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illi ...
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...