2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

At this point a Senator from Connecticut for 26 years, Chris Dodd ran for president seemingly attempting to present himself as a more left-wing figure, supporting universal healthcare, decriminalising marijuana, and a carbon tax. This is despite his close ties to the financies industry, and support for sometimes more fiscally conservative budget reforms. Dodd also pushed his Iraq war plan, which included moving American troops to safe zones. Dodd's campaign received significant fundraising, including at one point over one million dollars in one day, largely thanks to the backing of the financial industry. Despite this money, Dodd failed to find a lane in the election, consistently failing to register in polls, and ultimately withdrew after a very poor result in the Iowa caucus.

Dodd endorsed Obama in late February, as he began to take a clear lead in the race. The presidential run took a clear toll on Dodd's support at home, and, after a series of scandals, he decided to retire in 2010. He became the Chair of the Motion Picture Association in 2011, standing down in 2017. He became an active part of Biden's campaign in 2020, and became a close, usually informal, advisor to President Biden. Since 2021 he has been a senior advisor for public relations and consultancy company Teneo.

Having served three years as Secretary of Energy under Clinton, a year as his Ambassador to the UN, and now in his second term as Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson's campaign was more serious than you might remember, having repeatedly hit the high single digits in polls. Richardson ran a campaign emphasising his diplomatic experience. In his time as Governor he had pursued a more fiscally ring-wing agenda than would be expected for a Democrat, and also supported a national balanced budget amendment, while simultanouesly supporting more socially liberal reforms, although he had been previously been endorsed by the NRA. Richardson increased his visibility in the campaign by travelling to North Korea and negotiating the return of the remains of six US troops. He withdrew after poor perfomances in the first two contests.

After some time on the sidelines, Richardson endorsed Obama in late March, at a time that Obama had a clear lead. Despite this, Richardson's endorsement was controversial, as he had close ties to the Clintons, and he was attacked by Clinton-allies. Obama nominated Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce, but the nomination was ultimately withdrawn due to investigations into Richardson around corruption. Corruption allegations continued to chase Richardson, although this wouldn't affect him electorally as he was term-limited from running for a third term as Governor of New Mexico. Corruption allegations weren't Richardson's only worry, as he was named as part of a suit related to the Epstein scandal, although no formal action came of this. In his work, Richardson focused on his private diplomacy, scoring several wins for the USA while acting as a diplomat in a private capacity. He also involved himself in a large network of charities, including setting up his own, the Richardson Centre, which focuses on securing the release of political prisoners worldwide. Richardson passed away in 2023.

Dennis Kucinich had been a member of Congress from Ohio for 6 years when he first ran for president, back in 2004. Clearly positioning himself as the most left wing candidate, Kucinich especially emphasised his opposition to the Iraq War, but also attacked free trade and organisations like the World Trade Organisation (WTO). He won no contests, but managed a few delegates, continuing to actively run a campaign after John Kerry won the parties nomination, in the hopes to pull the party to the left ideologically. Now having 10 years in Congress, Kucinich's 2008 campaign was more of the same, supporting universal healthcare, progressive politics, protectionism in trade, and a quick withdrawal from Iraq. He is probably best remembered in this election for using his position in the house to attempt to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. Kucinich never managed to poll very high, and endorsed Obama in all but name before the Iowa caucus, asking his supporters to rank him second. Kucinich withdrew after the third contest, actively campaigning for Obama after he won the nomination.

The presidential runs damaged his reputation at home; he was able to serve in Congress a little longer, but lost re-election in 2012 after boundaries were redrawn, resulting in him fighting (and losing) a primary contest with fellow Ohio Representative Marcy Kaptur. Kucinich then took up a position on Fox News, showing support for Trump on several occasions, before stepping down from that to run for Governor of Ohio in 2018, losing the primary by a large margin despite prominent left-wing endorsements. He then ran for Mayor of Cleveland in 2021, but, despite leading polling, he lost that election too, coming third. Afterwards, he managed the 2024 campaign for Robert F Kennedy Jr, but resigned after RFK decided to switch from running in the Democratic primary to running as an independent candidate, instead running for congress in Ohio as an independent, coming in 3rd, with the seat going to incumbent Republican Max Miller.

The last major losing candidate of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, Hillary was first lady under Bill Clinton, during which time she actively pursued healthcare reform policies that ultimately failed to pass congress. After this, she became Senator for New York, and had just entered her second term upon running for President. Hillary was the clear front-runner from early-on, but lost ground over time to Barack Obama, who had begun the race in second. There's a few reasons Hillary started to lose out, Obama's charisma played well in the media, Hillary's message of experience resonated less than Obama's message of change, and, despite the two having very similar manifestos, Obama had consistently opposed the Iraq War from the start, while Hillary had initially supported it. Hillary went from the clear front-runner to polling behind Obama after a shock third place result in Iowa, before recovering to after winning New Hampshire. Obama won Nevada and South Carolina, and took a lead in the national polls after Edwards withdrew. The two campaigns pulled even after Super Tuesday, before Obama won a string of victories, including in states like Virginia and Wisconsin, which were expected to go for Hillary. The race ultimately dragged on through to June, but Obama was the clear frontrunner from late February onwards. Hillary conceded on June 7th, days after Obama had mathematically won.

Hillary actively campaigned for Obama in the election, and became his Secretary of State (usually called a "Foreign Affairs Minister" in other countries) for his first term, before stepping down to become part of the Clinton Foundation, where she focused on women's education initiatives. She ultimately ran for president again in 2016, which I will cover at some point I am sure.