McCain Lost To Barrack Obama In the 2008 US Presidential Election

On April 25, 2007, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, McCain formally announced his desire to run for President of the United States. “I'm not running for president to be somebody, but to do something,” he declared. “I want to do the difficult but important things, not the simple and unnecessary things.” McCain's strengths as a candidate for president in 2008 were frequently listed as his name recognition, sponsorship of significant lobbying and campaign finance reform initiatives, ability to work across the aisle, well-known military service and experience as a POW, experience from the 2000 presidential campaign, and expectation that he would win over Bush's top donors.

After a difficult campaign, John McCain defeated Mitt Romney in March and was declared the presumed front-runner for the 2008 presidential election.

That election's rival for John McCain was going to be Barack Obama. Early surveys showed a tight race between the two men. Sarah Palin's selection by McCain as his running mate stunned the globe, and it turned out to be a very divided decision.

Barack Obama was predicted to win the election on November 4 at around 11:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; McCain made his concession address in Phoenix, Arizona, about 20 minutes later. In it, he highlighted Obama's historic election as the country's first African American president and its unique significance. McCain ultimately earned 173 electoral votes to Obama's 365; McCain lost some normally Republican states and failed to win the majority of the battleground states. McCain received 46% of the popular vote nationwide, compared to Obama's 53%.