Effects of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

The 2009 presidential election in the United States was groundbreaking on many levels. First of all, in the Democratic Party's primary presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton (New York) and Sen. Barack Obama (Illinois) were the leaders in the race. If Clinton would have won the Democratic Party's primary and the presidential election, she would have become the first female president in United States history. However, that was not the case. Barack Obama won the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, becoming the first black Democratic presidential nominee. He was only the third black senator since reconstruction. John McCain was the Republican Party's presidential nominee. If he would have won the presidency, he would have become, at 72 years old, the oldest man to be elected president. The winner of the 2008 presidential election, though, was Obama, who became the first black president of the United States.

The fact that the United States elected a black man to become president and that we also came close to having the first female or oldest first-term president depicts a change toward a new outlook for the United States. This change will bring many long term effects, including opening the possibility to more people to become president or attain a political position in the United States. The 2008 election was also a realigning election or "critical election" in another way, as well. The Democrats reclaimed the presidency after a Republican, George H. W. Bush, was President for the last two terms, and the Democrats also increased their majority in Congress. The majority of Democrats in the United States' Congress, as well as a Democrat President, can cause many long term effects, just as we have seen with the effects of George H. W. Bush's two term presidency.

A process we saw occur during the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination race was polarization. This occurred because many people were said to have purposely voted for one candidate just because they did not like the other candidate or candidates running. For example, someone who may have been against the idea of having a female president would give their vote to Barack Obama or another presidential nominee instead of Hillary Clinton, or someone who was against the idea of having an African American president would give their vote to Hillary Clinton or another presidential nominee instead of Barack Obama. This can cause a separation and formation of groups in a political party, and polarization is likely to occur especially in a such a large political party as the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. The long term effects of polarization may continue to be seen in future presidential elections, perhaps based on the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.

In recent years, there has been an uprise in several constituencies that may be affected by and also affect the laws and boundaries given to these groups, for example the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, and Transgender People) constituency. A constituency can also be a group of people in particular geographic area. These constituencies, too, can be affected by the 2008 presidential election for years to come. For example, people in key constituencies that helped Barack Obama win the presidential election, can continue to move toward or away from Obama and either win by a landslide or perhaps throw off the 2012 presidential election.

Party identification also can have many long term effects due to the 2008 presidential election. There were many independents and third party members who gave their votes to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, and there were also some key independents and third party candidates who some may claim threw of the election. Another factor now coming into effect is that there are many people disillusioned by the Barack Obama presidency and politics in general that may switch to independent or a third party, which could throw of future elections, including presidential, as well as state and local elections.

The 2008 United States presidential election was groundbreaking on many levels, in that it opened the eyes of many people to the political system and the endless possibilities, and it also has given the people United States of America a broadening perspective on the future of politics in the United States. People may choose to accept or reject politics or particular political parties based on this election, and likely, many of the effects will be long term and change the United States in ways that cannot be predicted.