2008 election: USA Main Contenders ...

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** Dr.Logic [Sweat Box & Soap] WP 2000 3.1 **

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2008 election: USA Main contenders ...

In US politics, there is usually an incumbent running for the White House - if not the president himself (and so far it has always been a "himself"), then his vice-president.George W Bush will leave the White House after the two-term limitBut with George W Bush constitutionally limited to two terms and VP Dick Cheney opting not to run, the race is wide open for the first time since 1928 ...

Election Day - 4 November 2008 - may still feel a long way off, but the primary elections, in which each party chooses its nominee, have already begun.The lack of an incumbent made for an unusually crowded field to begin with, but after battling to raise money in 2007, and poor performances in the early primaries in 2008, a number of candidates have already dropped out of the race.

Who is she? The first former First Lady to go on to hold elected office, she is now serving as senator for New York. Declared her intention to stand with a video saying "I'm in to win" on her website on 20 January 2007 - two years to the day before the next president is inaugurated ...

Hillary Clinton:

Leader of the pack Clinton profile Why take her seriously? Unbeatable name recognition and serious fundraising ability made Hillary - no surname necessary - an early front-runner for the Democrats. She has tried to stake out a position as a centrist in her six years in the Senate. She reported $26m in fundraising from the first quarter of 2007 (plus $10m from her 2006 Senate campaign fund) and netted a further $54m in the next two quarters. After a surprise third-place finish in the Iowa caucus, her equally surprising win in the New Hampshire demonstrated that she should never be dismissed.

What is going to stand in her way? If Bill Clinton remains a divisive figure in American politics, that goes at least double for Hillary - some estimates say one in three Americans would never vote for her. And the US has never yet elected a woman president. Her fundraising efforts have not been enough to shake off close rivals, notably Barack Obama, who managed to defeat her in Iowa Who is he? Mixed-race junior senator from Illinois who shot to prominence at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He began his official campaign on 10 February 2007 with a call for the Iraq war to end, saying US troops must withdraw by March 2008 ...

Barack Obama:

"Hot" phenomenon Obama profile Why take him seriously? Time magazine dubbed Senator Obama "America's hottest political phenomenon", while television's own phenomenon, Oprah Winfrey, urged him to announce his candidacy on her show. He impressed observers by raising $25m in funds in the first quarter of 2007 - only $1m short of Hillary Clinton's total - and overtook her in the second quarter with a record $32.8m. With three months to go before the primary season, he had $32m to spend on campaigning, compared with her $35m. His win in the Iowa caucus - the first test of the electoral calendar - electrified the Democratic race.

What is going to stand in his way? Barack Obama will have served only four years in the Senate when the 2008 election rolls around - even less than John F Kennedy did before he was elected in 1960. And while his supporters praise him as thoughtful, deliberative and liberal, some experts doubt those are the characteristics that get a politician to the White House.

Did you know? Barack Obama's mother was from Kansas and his father was from Kenya - leading observers to suggest he is an African and an American, but not an African-American ...