2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

Frank Church 1976 Announcement

Frank Church Announcement of Candidacy for President of the United States delivered in Idaho City, Idaho on March 18, 1976.

"The best roads in life lead home again.  Today, in the company of my wife and family, I come home again to Idaho City, where my grandfather first settled during the Gold Rush, and where my father was born before Idaho had yet become at State.

So it is for personal, as well as symbolic reasons, that I come back to this historic place, this frontier town which furnished most of the gold needed to preserve the Union.

The pioneers of the early West were men and women of uncommon strength and faith.  They had the strength to endure the hardships of life in the wilderness.  And they had faith enough in themselves and the future to overcome their fears.

In that spirit the West was won, and in that spirit I now declare my candidacy for President of United States."

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Robert F. Kennedy 1968 Announcement

Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for president in Washington, D.C. on March 16, 1968.

"I am today announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States.

"I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I'm obliged to do all that I can."

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Steve Forbes 2000 Announcement

Presidential Campaign Filing Announcement Remarks by Steve Forbes On-line at Forbes2000, Tuesday, March 16, 1999

"Today, I’m happy to announce the beginning of my campaign for President of the United States of America.

This is going to be a new, Information-Age campaign about great ideas and enduring values.

I’m going to run the first full-scale presidential campaign in American history on the Internet — because I want you to be involved every step of the way.

So stay tuned to our on-line campaign headquarters — Forbes2000.Com — for daily updates and news of our formal campaign announcement coming up in a few months."

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Elizabeth Dole 2000 Announcement

Elizabeth Dole Exploratory Committee Announcement Speech, March 10, 1999.

"I look forward to being in  touch with all of you.  Don't forget now that website because I want to hear from you.  And many, many thanks, heartfelt thanks, for being with me today.  God bless you and God bless America.  Thank you very much."

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Bruce Babbitt 1988 Announcement

Governor Bruce Babbitt made his Statement of Candidacy on March 10-12, 1987 in Manchester/Des Moines/Atlanta/Phoenix.

"I began where we all began: with the town where I grew up, and the values I learned there, and the people and places I’ve known across the years.  My roots are in the canyon country of northern Arizona, a land staked out and settled by my grandparents when they pushed west from Ohio a hundred years ago. 

I come from a family of ranchers and frontier merchants.  They helped build schools and towns in the wilderness and they lived by simple truths.  You work hard.  You do what’s right.  You stand up for the things you believe in. 

That is what I take from the Arizona."

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Pew Internet & American Life Project: Campaign 2004

Link: Pew Internet & American Life Project: Campaign 2004.

"The internet became an essential part of American politics in 2004. Fully 75 million Americans – 37% of the adult population and 61% of online Americans – used the internet to get political news and information, discuss candidates and debate issues in emails, or participate directly in the political process by volunteering or giving contributions to candidates."

A  commentary on the internet and politics by Michael Cornfield accompanies this report. The Howard Dean campaign is credited with these five innovations: News-pegged fundraising appeals, Meet-ups, Blogging, Online referenda, and Decentralized decision-making.

The George W. Bush and John Kerry campaigns built upon this, with Bush focusing on grass-roots organizing and  mobilization. Kerry focusing on fundraising.

This study confirms some of the observations I made during the 2004 Iowa Caucus. Patrick Ruffini, webmaster of the Bush Cheney '04 blog comments on the study.

Lamar Alexander 2000 Announcement

On March 9, 1999 Lamar Alexander made his Presidential Announcement Address in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Two centuries ago, the founding fathers arrived in Philadelphia to create a Constitution that would give life to two radical ideas: that ordinary men and women had the capacity for self-governance, and that government derived its power from the people, not the other way around.

As choices were being debated vigorously, Benjamin Franklin noticed a painting of the sun on the back of George Washington's chair. He wondered: Did the painting represent a rising or a setting sun? When the debate was done and the last of the delegates had signed the Constitution of the United States of America, Franklin said to those sitting by him that he now knew what kind of sun it was that was painted on that chair: It was a rising sun. "

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Lamar Alexander 1996 Announcement

Lamar Alexander announced his 1996 candidacy in Maryville, Tennessee on February, 28, 1995.

"Because I am absolutely committed to moving responsibility out of Washington, D.C. and giving us the freedom to make decisions for ourselves, because deep down in my heart I believe that we know what to do, and because I am determined to help renew the American spirit the old fashioned way, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block and family by family -- I am announcing today that I am a candidate for the office of President of the United States.

If you agree that the problem is the arrogance of Washington, D.C. and the answer is the character of our people, then this campaign is for you.

My friends, I invite you to Come On Along!

Thank you. God Bless You. God Bless the United States of America."

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Phil Gramm 1996 Announcement

Phil Gramm Announcement Speech in College Station, Texas on February 24, 1995

"With a love for America and a resolve to make her right again, I today declare myself a candidate for president of the United States.

I believe that America is worth fighting for, and with God's help I believe that we can and will win this fight. Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America."

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Dick Gephardt 1988 Announcement

On February 23, 1987, Democrat Dick Gephardt announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

"Today, surrounded by my family and friends, and not far from where I grew up and on the site where Harry Truman accepted victory-I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States. I am the first Democrat to declare And one year, eight months, and eight days from now, when America elects the next President, I Intend, with your help, to finish first."

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