2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

GOVERNOR TOMMY THOMPSON ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN

GOVERNOR TOMMY THOMPSON ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced that Tommy Thompson, former Governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Health and Human Services, has endorsed John McCain for president.

"Today, I am proud to announce my endorsement of John McCain for president," said Governor Thompson. "John McCain has a lifetime of service to our country, and he is the leader best prepared to serve as commander in chief from day one. His conservative record and personal leadership qualities give us the best chance of defeating the Democrats in November."

John McCain thanked Governor Thompson for his support, saying, "I admire Tommy for his service to our country and his leadership in the Republican Party. He is a dedicated public servant and, I am honored to have his support."

Thompson was born in Elroy, Wisconsin. He is a former Captain in the United States Army and Army Reserve. His political career began in 1966 when he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, after earning his law degree at the University of Wisconsin Law School. In 1973 he was elected assistant Assembly minority leader and, in 1981, he was elected to serve as Assembly minority leader. He is married with three adult children. Governor Thompson served Wisconsin for an unprecedented four terms as Governor from 1987 to 2001. Governor Thompson served as the 7th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005.      

Mitt Romney Wins Republican Party of Minnesota Precinct Caucuses

Mitt Romney Wins Republican Party of Minnesota Precinct Caucuses As Attendance Records Are Smashed

St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey tonight issued the following statement following tonight’s record setting turnout in the history of precinct caucuses.  While tonight’s final attendance number is not yet complete, the previous record had been 58,000 caucus attendees in 1988. 

“Congratulations to Mitt Romney on his impressive victory tonight in the Minnesota Precinct Caucuses.   Minnesota Republicans came out in record numbers tonight to make their voices heard and make their Party stronger.  By smashing all caucus attendance records, it’s clear Minnesota Republicans are energized and excited for 2008."

With 82.31% of precincts reporting, the results are as follows:

Mike Huckabee 12115 20.02%      
Alan Keyes          352   0.58%      
John McCain     13180 21.78%      
Ron Paul            9412 15.56%      
Mitt Romney      25171 41.60%      
Write-in                272  0.45%

Remarks By John McCain To February 5th Victory Party

REMARKS BY JOHN MCCAIN TO FEBRUARY 5TH VICTORY PARTY

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released the following remarks by John McCain as prepared for delivery tonight in Phoenix, Arizona:
Thank you.  Tonight, my friends, we have won a number of important victories in the closest thing we have ever had to a national primary.  We've won some of the biggest states in the country.  We have won primaries in the west, the south, the midwest, and the northeast.  And although I've never minded the role of the underdog, and have relished as much as anyone come from behind wins, tonight I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party frontrunner for the nomination of President of the United States.  And I don't really mind it one bit.

I am so grateful to so many people for what we accomplished tonight, all the staff, supporters and volunteers who stuck with us through thick and thin, and worked so hard on my behalf.  I owe you all a debt I can never fully repay.  But I promise you I will never forget it, and I will work every day of my life to prove myself worthy of your faith in me.  I want to especially thank those of you who have recently joined our campaign, and who were so indispensible to our success tonight.

Thank you, of course, to my family: my wife, Cindy, my children, Meghan, Bridget, Doug and Andy, and my children who could not be here, and my wonderful mother, Roberta McCain.  It is obvious to me as it is to everyone that I could not have done this without you.  And, finally, thank you, Arizona.  It is wonderful to be home tonight among so many of our friends to celebrate this night.  I was over forty years old before I could claim a hometown, and I cannot express how fortunate I feel to have found a home in this beautiful state that has come to mean so much to me.  I am, as is often reported, a little superstitious.  So I don't want to make any exaggerated predictions, and there is still a long road ahead.  However, I think it is fair to say that we might have come a little bit closer today to the day when mothers in Arizona might be able to tell their children that someday they could grow up to be president. 

I want to congratulate Governor Huckabee and his supporters on their success today.  Not for the first time, he has surprised the rest of us, and proved again his exceptional skills as a campaigner, and the extraordinary commitment and determination of the people who believe so passionately in him.  I salute you.  And I want to congratulate Governor Romney as well on his wins today.  He and I have been going at it pretty hard over the last few weeks, and he is a tough competitor.  The closeness of the contest in California is testament to that, and to the dedication of his supporters, and I salute them too.  This election, like any election, is a rough and tumble business.  We all want to win, and we all fight as hard as we can to do it.  But I have respect for people who are willing to accept the extraordinary demands, all the ups and downs, of such a tough and long contest.  And Governor Romney has mine.

My friends, we have a ways to go still, but we are much closer to the victory we have worked so hard to achieve.   I am confident we will get there.  And I am mindful that I am not only running for the highest office in the greatest country on earth, but that I am also running for the great privilege of leading the party that has been my political home for a quarter century.  I am grateful for and humbled by the prospect.  And I promise you, if I am so fortunate to win your nomination, I will work hard to ensure that the conservative philosophy and principles of our great party -- principles that have done so well by the country we love -- will again win the votes of a majority of the American people, and defeat any candidate our friends in the other party nominate.  I am as confident tonight as I have ever been that we can succeed in November by uniting our party in our determination to keep our country safe, proud, prosperous and free, and by again making a persuasive case to independents and to those enlightened members of the other party that the great Ronald Reagan claimed for our party.

We will do it by standing up forcefully for those principles that have made our party and our country so successful, and by rejecting appeals for retreat and timidity in the face of the challenges of our time, challenges which are our duty and privilege to overcome.  If I am the nominee of our party, I will not let anyone take this country backward to the days when government felt empowered to take from us some of our freedom to decide for ourselves the course and quality of our lives, or when we turned away from threats to our security that were so plainly gathering strength abroad.  I have lived my adult life with one purpose greater than all others: to keep America safe from all enemies foreign and domestic.  And I will never tire of the honor.

I am a Republican because, like you, I want to relieve the American people of the heavy hand of a government that spends too much of your money on things you neither want nor need, while failing to do as well as we should the things none of us can do individually.  I am a Republican because, like you, I believe government must defend our nation's security wisely and effectively, because the cost of our defense is measured in losses so hard to bear and in the heartbreak of so many families.  I am a Republican because, like you, I believe government must respect our values because they are the true source of our strength; and enforce the rule of law, which is the first defense of freedom.  I am a Republican because I believe the judges we appoint to the federal bench must understand that enforcing our laws, not making them, is their only responsibility.  I am a Republican because I believe, like you, that government should tax us no more than necessary, spend no more than necessary, and keep out of the way of the most industrious, ingenious, and optimistic people in the history of the world .  I am a Republican because I believe, like you, that it is the strength, courage, wisdom and patriotism of free people -- not the government -- who have made this country the extraordinarily successful place it is.  My friends, my purpose is to preserve and strengthen our freedom, the freedom I have defended all my adult life, and I will not let anyone or anything deter me.

Nothing in America is inevitable.  We are the captains of our fate.  We can overcome any challenge as long as we keep our courage and stand by our principles.  I intend to make my stand on those principles, and trust in the judgment of the American people I serve.  So stand up with me, my friends, stand up, and together let us put America -- her strength, her ideals, her future -- before all else. It is an honor greater than all others to serve this country, the love of my life, and I thank you from the bottom of heart for helping me serve her a little while longer.

Thank you and God bless you.

Governor Mitt Romney On Super Tuesday

GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY ON SUPER TUESDAY

Boston, MA – Today, Americans from across this country went to the polls and cast their vote for conservative change in Washington.  Tonight, as we await the results from Western states, Governor Romney made the following remarks to supporters, volunteers and the American people:

"Ann came to me and she said, 'You know, the one thing that's clear tonight is that nothing's clear.'  But I think she's wrong.  One thing that's clear is this campaign's going on.  I think there are some people who thought it was all going to be done tonight.  But it's not all done tonight.  We're going to keep on battling.  We're going to go all the way to the convention.  We're going to win this thing, and we're going to get to the White House." 

"But you know why we're doing it, we're all doing it for the same reason that is we care very deeply about, well in my case, these folks up here.  In your case, the folks at your home, your kids.  For me, I'm very concerned about the kind of America they're going to inherit.  I want to make sure that the kind of prosperity we've known, the peace that we've always experienced, the safety that we've always felt, is part of my kids' life and theirs kids' life, and theirs indeed as well.  I recognize that that doesn't just happen.  Those that brought that to us paid a very heavy price to buy our peace.  They built a strong military, who was without question the most capable in the world.  They built a strong economy that surpassed anybody's in the world.  And they also gave to us values that are enduring, like believing in hard work and education and willingness to sacrifice for the future and love of our families and love of our faith and love of our country.  And because of these great values, and this great economy and our great military, we've emerged as the greatest nation on Earth.  And now it's our turn to decide what we're going to give to our kids, and to their kids.

"We face extraordinary challenges.  I'm convinced - and I mean this very sincerely - I'm convinced that if Washington continues on its same course, America will emerge not as the great nation of the 21st century by the end, but as a second-tier power.  It'll be passed by someone else.  I can't tell you who it will be, but it will be passed by someone else.   

"That will not happen.  We'll keep America strong because we'll hold on to the values that have always made it successful – values of Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush and Teddy Roosevelt and other great presidents spoke about.  They strengthened our military with more troops to make sure we can protect ourselves.  They strengthened our families with good health care and good schools and values that are enduring.  And they strengthened our economy.  At the base of our ability to lead the world is a robust and powerful economy. 

"Right now, things are a little shaky.  You hear people say, 'Well, we're hitting a rough spot.'  It's more than that.  It's more than just a rough spot.  There's a long-term slide that we've seen as we're competing with people around the world, Asia in particular.  And as our pocketbooks are being emptied by the oil-producing states, taking more and more money every single day from us, we can't allow our economy to continue to be weakened by these other competitors. 

"It's time for us to lift America, to strengthen our economy.  We're going do that by keeping our taxes down, by getting regulation down, by having immigration work for us.  That means stopping illegal immigration, protecting legal immigration.  We're going to trade with other nations around the world, of course, but we're going to do so on a level playing field.  We're going to invest in technology and innovation and be the best and the brightest with new products and new designs, and make sure that we always lead the world.  This is the future of this great country.

"Now I know there are some who think that that can all be done from Washington, but when it comes time to thinking about how we're going to guide our economy, I think it's more important to know how America works than know how Washington works.  And when it comes time to think about how our economy's going to build great jobs for our kids and their kids and maintain the great military we have through our economic strength, I think it's important to have a president who's actually had a job in the private sector. 

"At a time like this, we recognize just how broken Washington is.  We've looked at them to solve our problems, and they haven't.  We asked them to solve Social Security, and they haven't done that.  We asked them to balance the budget, they haven't.  We asked them, as well, to rein in excessive pork-barrel spending, they haven't.  We asked them to get health care that was affordable and portable for all of us, and they haven't.  We asked them to get education that's the best in the world, they haven't.  We asked them to live by high ethical standards and they haven't.  We asked them to end illegal immigration, they haven't.  We asked them to get us off of foreign oil and let us be energy independent and they haven't.  It's time for the politicians to leave Washington, and for we the people to take over.

"This isn't just about the heart and soul of our party.  It isn't just about which party is going to win in November.  This is the about the future course of our country.  This is about whether or not Washington will finally deal with the challenges we face, whether Washington is up to the task of helping solve these problems, taking advantage of opportunities, making sure that our kids and their kids live in an America that's the greatest nation on Earth.  It must be.  It has always been.

"The world depends upon our sacrifice, our commitment and dedication to peace and prosperity and to liberty.  This is the greatest nation in the history of the Earth.  We will keep it the hope of the Earth.  With your help, we'll do it together.  Thank you so much."

Minnesota Caucus Report

Traffic is backed up for one mile outside of Mounds View High School where the DFL is holding their Caucus . Once inside they are greeted by long lines stretching down the hall.

Down the road at Highview Middle School, the GOP is directing voters to an overflow parking lot and setting up additional chairs for the large turnout at the Republican Caucus.

Mike Huckabee Wins First Super Tuesday Contest In West Virginia

Mike Huckabee Wins First Super Tuesday Contest
Former Arkansas Governor Wins All of West Virginia’s 18 Delegates

Little Rock, AR – Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee decisively won the first victory of Super Tuesday 2008 by winning West Virginia’s 18 at-large delegates this afternoon.

Earlier today, Huckabee spoke at the West Virginia Republican Convention, emphasizing his positive message of family, life, and freedom which he said “triumphed in the Mountaineer State” and will continue to resonate in numerous Super Tuesday states, from Alabama to Alaska.

“Two days ago, the New York Giants pulled off the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. Today, as pundits write my political obituary, we won a key Super Tuesday victory.  Time and time again, my campaign has defied conventional wisdom. We did so in Iowa, after being outspent 20:1, and we did so today by winning what I hope will be the first of many Super Tuesday victories.”

“Our campaign is testament that the American dream is alive and well,” said Huckabee.  “Running for President isn’t about who spends the most money or who has the most support on Wall Street or on K Street. If that was the case, the nomination picture would look vastly different.

”This victory was a triumph of Main Street, sending a message that becoming President of the Unites States is about message not money, principles not politics, and courage not convenience. Luckily for America, in places like Iowa and West Virginia, voters lead example and do the right thing regardless of what the pundits might say,” said Huckabee.

Ron Paul Secures Three Delegates In West Virginia State Convention

Ron Paul Secures Three Delegates in West Virginia State Convention

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – In today’s West Virginia Republican State Convention, Republican candidate Ron Paul’s campaign secured three of the 18 national delegates up for grabs.

“Our goal is to secure as many delegates to the national GOP convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul as possible,” said Ron Paul 2008 campaign manager Lew Moore.  “Securing three delegates in West Virginia is an important step in that direction.  We plan on locking up more delegates before the day ends.”

In an agreement first reported by West Virginia television station WSAZ, the three Ron Paul delegates were secured through an agreement with the Mike Huckabee campaign.

Ron Paul delegates to the state convention swung their support to Huckabee – putting Huckabee over the top – after Congressman Paul was eliminated in the first round of voting.  With three national delegates, Ron Paul secured 20 percent of the 18 delegates that were decided at the State Convention.

Mike Huckabee Wins The WVGOP Presidential Convention

WVGOP CONVENTION UPDATE: Huckabee Wins WVGOP Presidential Convention

Charleston, WV - Because a majority of votes was not received by any of the Republican presidential candidates in the first round of voting at today's WVGOP Presidential Convention, a second round of voting was conducted between the top three vote-getters: Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Here are the results from the second round of voting:

MIKE HUCKABEE - 567 VOTES (51%)
JOHN McCAIN - 12 VOTES (1%)
MITT ROMNEY - 521 VOTES (47%)

"Congratulations to Mike Huckabee who is the winner of 18 of West Virginia's 30 delegates to the Republican National Convention," said Bob Fish, CEO of the convention.

This year's WVGOP Presidential Convention was the first-ever convention held to select West Virginia's nominee to the Republican National Convention. Today's convention determined 18 of West Virginia's 30 national convention delegates.

The WVGOP Presidential Convention First Round of Voting Completed

WVGOP CONVENTION RESULTS UPDATE; First Round of Voting Completed

Charleston, WV - The WVGOP Presidential Convention just completed its first round of voting at today's convention at the Charleston Civic Center.

The following presidential candidates received:

MIKE HUCKABEE - 375 votes (33%)
JOHN McCAIN - 176 votes (16%)
RON PAUL - 118 votes (10%)
MITT ROMNEY - 464 votes (41%)

Because no candidate won a majority of the delegate votes, a second round of voting will occur between the top three vote-getters: Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney. As soon as those results are known, they will be released to the public.

The Convention is currently taking a one-hour recess, and is scheduled to reconvene at 1:30 PM.

This year's WVGOP Presidential Convention is the first-ever convention held to select West Virginia's nominee to the Republican National Convention. Today's convention will determine 18 of West Virginia's 30 national convention delegates. Because West Virginia will know its results by midday, it gives West Virginia an enormous impact on the presidential race in 2008.

Democratic National Convention Committee Unveils New Website

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION COMMITTEE UNVEILS NEW WEBSITE INCLUDING EXTENSIVE SPANISH LANGUAGE CONTENT AT WWW.DEMCONVENTION.COM

Dewey Digital Named Official Website Producer

DENVER - Furthering its commitment to engage a broad spectrum of communities in new and creative ways, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today unveiled its new website at www.DemConvention.com featuring a dynamic new look and including extensive Spanish language content. The website will be the cornerstone of the 2008 Democratic National Convention's online communications efforts, combining technology from a variety of platforms to engage constituencies in Denver and across the country in meaningful and innovative ways in the lead up to and during Convention week - August 25-28, 2008.

"To truly make DemConvention.com a go-to resource and an all-access pass to our event, we needed maximum flexibility and a platform on which to build the cutting-edge functionality that will help our Convention leave its mark," said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. "Offering extensive Spanish language content is just one of the many ways by which this site will bring more people into the Convention experience than ever before. From video, audio and photos to contact tools and our blog,

DemConvention.com will use a variety of methods to engage new communities, generate interest and fuel enthusiasm around this Convention - for those in Denver and beyond."
In the coming months, the DNCC will work continuously to expand the site by innovating in creative, meaningful ways. During Convention week, the DNCC will position DemConvention.com as a resource for delegates, media and other Convention attendees as well as a means for Democrats and netroots activists all across the country to participate in the Denver experience. Starting today, visitors to the site can sign up to receive regular updates on Convention news, events and other developments. Press releases and other relevant materials for members of the media are also available.

Dewey Digital, named today as the DNCC's Official Website Producer, designed the site to provide increased flexibility and functionality for new features to be introduced in the months ahead. The company specializes in new media technology, public policy, issue outreach and political action and uses cutting-edge media tools to speak to 21st century Americans.

"The Internet and emerging media cross all language and cultural lines in the U.S. today," said Tim Chambers, Principal for Dewey Digital. "We are excited to build out an online presence for the Democratic National Convention that will allow the entire nation to engage and connect up with this key event -- in ways that reach people in the media they use, in the language they speak and on the issues they care about most."

To promote connectivity between users, the site also provides delegates and advocates with an "online home" to meet and organize before, during and after the Convention through various social networking applications like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and others.

DemConvention.com will continue to provide up-to-the-minute news and features on the blog and information on volunteer opportunities, delegate selection, the nomination process and past Democratic Conventions, including the first Democratic National Convention in Denver 100 years ago.

The site was first launched in April 2007.