The 2008 Election - US Presidents
November 2008 is the next United States Presidential election. This web site lists each president from Washington to Bush, Jr. The Democratic election has made history with a possible black man or woman as their nominee. John McCain won the Republican nominee to run for thier party in the November election. Who will be the next person to run the most powerful nation in the World?
For the first time in America's history, a black man could be the president or a woman vice-president.
2008 will become a very historical year for Americans.
UPDATED: (quoted from McCain web site)
Governor Sarah Palin delivered the following remarks after John McCain announced that she was joining the ticket as the nominee for Vice President.
Governor Sarah Palin: "And I thank you, Senator McCain and Mrs. McCain, for the confidence that you have placed in me. Senator, I am honored to be chosen as your running mate. I will be honored to serve next to the next president of the United States.
"I know that when Senator McCain gave me this opportunity, he had a short list of highly qualified men and women, and to have made that list at all -- it was a privilege. And to have been chosen brings a great challenge. I know that it will demand the best that I have to give, and I promise nothing less."
from the net:
Very few people had heard of Sarah Palin when Senator Obama delivered his acceptance speech eight days ago. One vice-presidential announcement, several news cycles and countless debates on sexism later, and the 44-year-old governor of Alaska had become the catalyst for a rejuvenated Republican convention.
The Obama campaign has no silver bullet to use against the Palin issue. Instead, Obama has decided to largely avoid directly engaging her and will instead keep his focus largely on John McCain and on linking the Republican ticket to President George W. Bush. The Obama campaign will leave Palin to navigate the same cycle of celebrity that Obama has weathered, and the same peril that her nascent image will be defined by questions and contradictions from her Alaska past.
Thursday, Obama and his senior aides cast Palin as little more than a surrogate for McCain and her Republican party, leaving the more direct engagement to a newly prominent group of female surrogates. Chief campaign strategist David Axelrod called Palin a "skilled politician" who "had an assignment, and she went out and she discharged it."
The Obama campaign has no silver bullet to use against the Palin....
US President Facts
The United States formed on July 4th, 1776 when 13 British colonies in North America declared independence and formed their own country. Based upon the concepts of individual equality the government is a representative based republic. The figure of the president has experienced different eras since its creation at the 1789 Constitutional Convention. While some of the Founders, namely Hamilton, thought it wise to create a monarch-like executive with life tenure, Washington declined the title of “king” and followed the more democratic consensus, giving us the form of government we have today.
The United States is a Republic, not a Democracy, so simply winning a majority of votes doesn’t quite get you a seat in the Oval Office. There is the popular vote, which is a simple majority to win; however, the Electoral College has a mighty sway in an election. Each state has a group of electors based on the number of House Representatives and Senators combined. Typically, the winner of the popular vote in a state is given all of the Electoral votes. The Electoral College has caused many to claim that one vote doesn’t count. Indeed it does; however, you may not be voting for President, but rather, voting for an Electors vote.
The President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The articles of impeachment originate in the House with a majority vote and the case is heard by the U.S. Senate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding. If two-thirds of the Senate vote in favor, the President is removed from office.
One must be a natural born American citizen, 35 years of age, and have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.