Welcome to Millikin University’s Campaign 2008 Website!
This site was developed by Jim Thompson and Sarah Johnson with the help from the rest of EN301 Web Design class and Dr. Randy Brooks. The objective of this site is to help students and other users navigate the vast amount of information available on the Internet about the 2008 presidential campaign.
Did you know that for the first time since the 1920s that neither incumbent President nor Vice President is seeking the party’s presidential nomination? When a sitting President runs for reelection or the Vice President runs to succeed the President, they usually win their party’s approval with little difficulty. Most of the time, in fact, the incumbent is unopposed in the party’s primary process as was the case for President George W. Bush in 2004 and Bill Clinton in 1996. The absence of an incumbent means the race for the nomination for both Democrats and Republicans is wide open in 2008. Observers predict the hotly contested nomination races in both parties will lead to an unprecedented amount of money raised and spent to mobilize and persuade voters in the first weeks and months of 2008.
Another interesting question political scientists will be focusing on in 2008 is youth vote. Will Barack Obama be able to mobilize young voters regardless of the outcome of the Democratic primary contest? Could the increase in youth voter turnout in 2004 be sustained? Are young people today simply too apathetic, disengaged and disillusioned about politics to become active participants in the political process as critics say? Or maybe not?
With these and many other questions in mind, this site is designed to encourage discussion among Millikin students about the campaign and help them get informed about the issues and candidates, which sometimes seem confusing or overwhelming.
I hope this will be a place students can “meet” and find pieces of information that can stimulate conversations online or offline about the campaign which will shape the political landscape in this country and elsewhere for many years to come.
