November 4, 2008: Barack Obama Is Elected President

November 4, 2008: History is made when America elects a black man as its President. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee, wins 69.5 million votes. At the times, it was the highest popular vote total in the history of American Presidential elections. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee, wins 59.9 million votes.

Popular vote percentages: Obama 52.9, McCain 45.7. States: Obama 28, McCain 22. Electoral Votes: Obama 365, McCain 173. 

There were 9 States that George W. Bush had won in 2004 that Obama moved to the Democratic column in 2008: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

McCain had been hoping that foreign policy, his area of expertise, and particularly the Iraq War, would help him win. It didn't. Unlike the outgoing President, George W. Bush, who seemed at times as if he didn't want to win the war; he only wanted to have the war, to use as a club over people's perceived lack of patriotism, McCain thought the war should come to an end. But he thought America should end the war by winning it. He didn't say how he would do it, only that he would.

As they had already shown in 2006, taking control of both houses of Congress away from the Republicans and giving it to the Democrats, the voters wanted to end the war sooner rather than later, and didn't trust McCain to do that. They trusted Obama, who, unlike Hillary, had never supported it. McCain's suggestion that he would attack Iran next further turned voters off. On December 18, 2011, President Obama withdrew the last U.S. combat troops.

McCain counted on Iraq, and foreign policy in general, to be his edge against Obama. But Obama was very knowledgeable on the subject, thought not as experienced in office. And each man had his stance on the issue magnified by his Vice Presidential nominee.

Obama, then 47 years old and only in the U.S. Senate for 4 years, chose Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, 66 and a Senator for 36 years. Biden had been Chairman on Senate Foreign Relations. McCain, 72, chose Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, 44, who had been in office for only a year and a half, and before that had been a small-town Mayor.

Beyond also being a military hawk, Palin's idea of "foreign policy experience" was that you could see Russia from Alaska. (On a clear day, from a particular land point, this is true. She never actually said, "I can see Russia from my house!" Yet another thing a politician supposedly said, but actually didn't.)

Palin's foreign policy views did not hurt McCain. But they did magnify how much his foreign policy views were already hurting him. She was a symptom, not the disease.

What really decided the election, as it does more often than not, is the economy. Already in recession for over a year, it got worse, and crashed in September. As Obama kept saying, "John McCain's not a bad guy. He just doesn't get it." He really didn't: As a Navy Admiral's son, a Naval Academy Midshipman, a Naval officer, a Congressman and a Senator, for most of his life, he had had his needs taken care of by the federal government. His longest period of not having that be true was the 5 1/2 years that he was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

He had gambled that his amazing life story would be his key to victory. And in a different election -- say, his 1st campaign for President, in 2000, when he lost the Republican nomination to Bush, but could have compared himself very well to Al Gore -- it might have been. 

Instead, it was the lives of people struggling to pay their expenses, something he never understood, that was the key to his defeat. Obama had lived such a life, so he did understand it.

While Palin's flakiness and extremism turned off a lot of moderates, it (and her looks -- she was a former beauty pageant winner) turned on a lot of conservatives (including McCain). We'll never know how many people, who didn't quite trust McCain, she brought back into the fold, but it may have canceled out the people she lost by being, well, Sarah Palin. McCain could have chosen any of several potential Vice Presidents, every bit as conservative as Palin, but with more experience and more gravitas, and it wouldn't have made much difference.

Obama ran a great campaign. The opposition called him a "narcissist" -- which now seems completely ludicrous, in light of who succeeded him. But he never once said, "I, alone, can fix it." Or, "Nobody does (or knows) (whatever the subject in question is) better than me." Instead, his motto was, "Yes, we can!" We, not I.

McCain was the nominee of the incumbent party. There was no way to defend the traditional Republican approach to the economy: Cutting taxes on the rich and keeping wages low had helped to bring the crash on, and the people weren't buying it. They knew that the Republicans, the party of conservative businessmen, couldn't be trusted to fix an economy that was wrecked by conservative businessmen. Like Bush: He, not Palin, and not even McCain himself, was the Republican who caused McCain to lose. Indeed, Bush became the 1st incumbent President in 40 years, since Lyndon Johnson, who did not attend his own Party's Convention, for fear it would hurt their chances.

With the closing of the polls in the Pacific Coast States, at 8:00 PM their time, 11:00 Eastern, Obama crossed the threshold of 270 Electoral Votes. That moment, proving that the American people had chosen him, may have been America's greatest moment. It wasn't just what we were turning our backs on, it was what we were accepting: As the man himself put it, "the audacity of hope." For the record, McCain began his concession speech to his supporters, a rather gracious one, at 11:17.

The Democrats already held both houses of Congress. They gained 21 seats in the House of Representatives, and 8 seats in the Senate. Among the new Democrats elected: Al Franken of Minnesota, formerly a comedian and writer for Saturday Night Live; Mark Begich of Alaska, whose father Nick had been in Congress, and died in a plane crash late in the 1972 campaign; Mark Udall of Colorado, son of Representative Mo Udall of Arizona; Mark's cousin, Tom Udall of New Mexico, son of Representative and Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, also of Arizona; Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a former Governor who defeated John E. Sununu, son of a Governor and brother of another; Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who defeated Elizabeth Dole, former Secretary of Transportation and wife of longtime Senator from Kansas and 3-time Presidential candidate Bob Dole; and former Governor Mark Warner of Virginia.

Times had changed a great deal: I had heard someone say on TV after this election that Obama got about the same percentage of the white vote that Michael Dukakis had gotten in 1988, 20 years earlier, but Dukakis had only won 111 Electoral Votes, while Obama won 365. This was due to the growth of the Hispanic vote, which the Democrats had solidly taken, especially after California and other Western States passed anti-immigrant initiatives in the 1990s; while the white vote shrank, and the black vote remained largely the same.

As they usually do with the winner of the Presidential election, Time magazine named Obama its Person of the Year for 2008.

Since Obama was elected President, the changes have been huge. He stabilized the economy. He saved the auto industry. He ended the Iraq War. And, having made finding and killing Osama bin Laden a priority, under his leadership, the CIA found bin Laden, and U.S. Navy's Seal Team Six killed him.

Obama got the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare," passed into law, bringing America closer to full health insurance coverage than ever before. He put Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan on the U.S. Supreme Court. And, thanks in part to those 2 Justices, not only was Obamacare upheld as constitutional, but same-sex marriage became legal throughout America.

Right-wingers insisted that he was an illegitimate President, because he wasn't born in America. Right before the mission to kill bin Laden, he got the State of Hawaii to release the official version of his birth certificate. He gloated about this at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner. In the audience was the leader of the movement to expose Obama as foreign-born, real estate mogul Donald Trump. His movement exposed as bigoted and stupid, Trump was humiliated before the entire country.

Maybe that was Obama's biggest mistake, because Trump was so determined to avenge this humiliation that he ran for President himself. Not in 2012, because he was too much of a coward to run against Obama himself. But in 2016, when his opponent was a woman, Hillary Clinton. Who was still stronger, more experienced, and more successful than he was, and beat him by nearly 3 million votes. But, thanks to Russian operatives, the Electoral College went Trump's way. That happened once: It didn't happen again, because the voters turned to Biden in 2020, hoping to bring back the Obama performance.

In spite of the recency of his Administration, there are already schools named for Obama in the States of California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey (including a charter high school in Plainfield), New York's Long Island, Ohio, a high school in Pennsylvania's Pittsburgh, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. His Presidential Library and Museum is planned for Hyde Park on Chicago's South Side, not far from his official residence. Interstate 55 from the southern suburbs of Chicago through Pontiac, Illinois is named the Barack Obama Presidential Expressway.

Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia

Obama is the only President with any connection to Hawaii, although he represented Illinois in politics.

On Saturday Night Live, he was played by Fred Armisen (despite being white) during his 1st term. Jay Pharoah (black) played him in the 2nd term. Keegan-Michael Key played him on MADtv in the 2008-09 season, and then occasionally appeared alongside the real Obama in the comedic role of "Obama's Anger Translator." In 2012, Key joined with Jordan Peele for the TV variety series Key and Peele, but it was Peele who played Obama there. Lovell Adams-Gray played a young Obama on DC's Legends of Tomorrow in 2018.

In a 2011 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, YouTuber Lisa Nova played Palin, against "Nice" Peter Shukoff as Lady Gaga, with "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist making a brief cameo as McCain. This was the 1st time a guest star appeared in the series, the 1st time a female character was used, and the 1st time an actor played a character of the opposite gender. In 2012, Ahlquist played Mitt Romney, against Iman Crosson, a.k.a. Alphacat, playing Obama.

McCain surpassed Senator Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican nominee, as the politician from Arizona who came the closest to becoming President, although, having been born in the U.S. Panama Canal Zone, he did not replace Goldwater as the Arizona native who has come the closest. Palin has thus come the closest of any politician born in Idaho, or representing Alaska.

President Pro Tempore of the Senate remains the highest office achieved by a native of Arizona, Carl Hayden, from 1957 to 1969; or Alaska, Ted Stevens, 2003 to 2007. The highest-ranking Arizona native is Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969; and from Alaska, Walter Hickel, who succeeded Udall, and served until 1970.

UPDATE: The Barack Obama Presidential Center opened on June 19, 2026. Outside, there is a statue of Barack and Michelle Obama, hand in hand.

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November 4, 2008, as all modern U.S. Election Days have been, was a Tuesday. The baseball season had just ended. Football was in midweek. There were 3 NBA games played that night:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 114-86 at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets, 103-99 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. (It's now named the Frost Bank Center.)

And there were 7 NHL games played:

* The New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers, 2-1 at Madison Square Garden. The game was scoreless until the 3rd period, when Nate Thompson and Richard Park scored for the Isles. Markus Naslund tallied for the Blueshirts with 1:41 left in regulation, but they couldn't get an equalizer. The New Jersey Devils were not scheduled for that night.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Washington Capitals, 2-1 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Mike Fisher scored the winner with 40 seconds left in overtime. The reaction of his then-wife, country singer Carrie Underwood, is not recorded. (Yes, her married name was Carrie Fisher.)

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 at the Air Canada Centre. (It's now named the Scotiabank Arena.) Niclas Wallin scored in overtime to win it for the 'Canes.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Calgary Flames, 4-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Kings, 1-0 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now named the Crypto.com Arena.) Chris Pronger scored the winner, 40 seconds into overtime.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-1 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Center.)

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators, 4-0 at GM Place in Vancouver. (It's now named the Rogers Arena. 

October 10, 2008: McCain Defends Obama

October 10, 2008: Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee for President, takes questions at a town hall-style event in Minneapolis. Gayle Quinnell, a 75-year-old supporter from the suburb of Shakopee, tells him she doesn't trust the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois: "He's an Arab."

Barack Obama Sr., the candidate's father, was a native of Kenya, born into a Muslim family, later converted to Anglicanism, and finally became an atheist. Ann Dunham, the candidate's mother, was a native of Kansas, of mostly British Isles descent. Neither had any family connections to ethnic Arabs, or any other Middle Eastern peoples. Nor was either of them, during their lifetimes -- the father dying in a car crash in 1982, the mother of cancer in 1995 -- suspected of criminal activity, including terrorism.

Mrs. Quinnell wasn't lying, because she did not know that she was repeating erroneous information. But it was erroneous. And McCain, who'd heard enough of this kind of crap on the campaign trail, finally decided to say something: "No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizens, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."

This reflected what Senator Obama had said about Senator McCain: "It's not that he's a bad man, it's that he just doesn't get it" -- "it" being how Americans who weren't rich were being hurt by Republican policies. Each of those statements was completely fair.

McCain would tell many lies on the campaign trail, and the media usually called him out on them. That had not been the case with outgoing President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. It would be the case with Governor Mitt Romney when President Obama ran for re-election in 2012. It would not be the case with Donald Trump in 2016, but that tide turned back in 2020.

But as Obama's Presidency went along, as had been the case with Bill Clinton during his Presidency in the 1990s, the lies got more and more ridiculous. And there were the added cases of race and religion, things Clinton didn't have to deal with. The lies became absolutely sickening. Yet Obama kept his cool through all of it -- at least, in public.

Would Romney, in 2012, have defended Obama against that kind of lie? Maybe. Would Trump, in 2016, have defending Hillary Clinton; or, in 2020, Joe Biden? Oh, hell, no. And until the Republican Party is willing to nominate someone who would defend his Democratic opponent from pernicious lies, instead of someone willing to spread them, they will not deserve to hold power again.

UPDATE: Gayle Quinnell died in 2025.

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October 10, 2008 was a Friday. In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Daisuke Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, and he and Jonathan Papelbon combined on a 4-hit shutout. The Rays would win the series in 7 games.

In Game 2 of the National League Division Series, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Brett Myers was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause by going 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs. The Phillies would win the series in 5 games, and then beat the Rays in the World Series in 5 games.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 18 days. There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 2-1 at the Prudential Center. Patrick Elias put the Devils ahead just 29 seconds into the 2nd period, and they held the lead for the rest of the game.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers, 6-4 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Washington Capitals, 7-4 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 in a shootout at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars, 5-4 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Rick Nash scored the winning goal with just 21 seconds left in overtime.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Piscataway, 27-21 at home at Jay Doyle Field.

August 29, 2008: John McCain Chooses Sarah Palin

August 29, 2008: The day after a highly successful Democratic Convention in Denver, and on his own 72nd birthday, the Republican nominee for President, Senator John McCain of Arizona, tries to steal the Democrats' thunder by announcing his selection for Vice President: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Traditionally, Vice Presidential picks are chosen for contrast. Sometimes, they represent a part of the country that the Presidential nominee doesn't, although they usually don't make much of a difference in winning States the Presidential nominee might not win.

Lyndon Johnson made a big difference for John Kennedy in 1960, and Walter Mondale might have done so for Jimmy Carter in 1976, but there have been no good examples since. Alaska has just 3 Electoral Votes, and has gone Republican in every Presidential election since 1968, so McCain didn't need Palin's help McCain there. The same was true on the Democratic side: Delaware also has just 3 EVs, and has gone Democratic in every election since 1992, so whatever help Joe Biden gave to Barack Obama, it wasn't geographic.

Sometimes, the Vice Presidential nominee has a particular strength that the Presidential nominee doesn't have. A younger nominee or a Governor might take an older foreign policy expert: Former Governor Ronald Reagan with George H.W. Bush in 1980, Governor Michael Dukakis with Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, Governor George W. Bush with Dick Cheney in 2000, and, there in 2008, the 47-year-old Obama with Biden. Palin certainly didn't help McCain there, and, with his experience, he was the older person and the foreign policy expert.

Sometimes, the age difference matters. In 1988, 64-year-old George H.W. Bush tried to appeal to youth with 41-year-old Dan Quayle. It's worked the other way, too. In that very election, Obama, 47, chose Biden, 66. McCain was 72, and Palin was 44. (Later, Biden chose Kamala Harris, 78 to 56, in 2020.)

And sometimes, a nominee who doesn't please the "true believers" in the party needs one of them on the ticket. Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Richard Nixon for that reason in 1952. Lyndon Johnson chose Hubert Humphrey in 1964. In 1976, Carter chose Mondale, and Gerald Ford dumped Nelson Rockefeller for Bob Dole. The elder Bush chose Quayle in 1988. In 1996, Dole, no longer seen by GOP archconservatives as one of their own, chose tax-cutting icon Jack Kemp. (Later, Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan for this reason in 2012, and Donald Trump chose evangelical Catholic Mike Pence in 2016.)

When McCain first ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, seeking the seat of retiring Minority Leader John Rhodes, he was seen as a staunch conservative, a loyal soldier in the Reagan Revolution. When he first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986, seeking the seat of retiring conservative icon Barry Goldwater, he was still seen as a good conservative. But by the time he made his 1st run for President in 2000, he was seen as the moderate alternative to George W. Bush. And here, in 2008, despite finally winning his Party's nomination, a lot of Republicans were calling him a liberal.

McCain hadn't changed much over those 26 years. Politically, he was almost exactly the same. But the Party had veered so far to the right, that he was now seen by many moderates and independents as a sane Republican. He needed to shore up the conservative base. And so, he chose Palin, an absolutist on abortion (she had 5 children), guns (she bragged about her hunting skills), and taxes.

An editorial cartoon in the coming days showed an elephant in a suit, behind a podium, with the top half of a McCAIN-PALIN bumper sticker torn off, as if Palin was the reason any true Republican was going to vote for this ticket.

And, given McCain's age, and the fact that he had already beaten cancer once, the possibility that Palin could become President -- the 1st female President if it happened -- made her even more appealing to Republicans. The Democrats had nominated Geraldine Ferraro for Vice President on Mondale's ticket in 1984, and almost nominated Hillary Clinton for President instead of Obama this time. It would give the Republicans a chance to one-up the Democrats on a civil rights issue.

At first glance, it seemed like a very interesting pick: A woman, young, attractive, nice-looking family, in an executive position, shores up areas in the conservative movement where McCain is seen to have fallen short, and comes across like gangbusters on TV. It looks like the Obama-Biden campaign’s momentum has been wiped out, and we might have a close race all the way.

But then she started talking. And she began to sound not just like an archconservative, but like someone too inexperienced for the role into which she was thrust. Like someone whose total political experience had been a year and a half as Governor of a State of 687,000 people (only Vermont and Wyoming had fewer, then as now), and 6 years as Mayor of a "city" of 7,000 people. Like what the early Saturday Night Live would have called a "not-ready-for-prime-time player."

Her acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, at the Xcel Energy Center (UPDATE: It's now named the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota, was basically a throwing of platitudes against a wall to see which ones stuck. None did.

In his acceptance speech, McCain's best line referred to his basic idea of "biography as candidacy": He told of his life of service to America, and said, "I have the scars to prove it, Barack Obama does not!" Obama was 11 years old when the Vietnam War ended, and McCain was released as a prisoner of war. McCain found a good way to contrast himself with Obama without directly insulting him. But, to put it in baseball terms, after Palin's strikeouts of the preceding 7 days, he needed a home run, and only managed a single.

Speaking of SNL, former writer and castmember Tina Fey was rehired by the show, because of her resemblance to Palin. It got to the point where all she had to do was repeat what Palin was saying in interviews, and the audience would laugh. Except for one thing: In the September 13 cold open, in character, Fey said, "I can see Russia from my house!"

It seemed like the sort of thing the real thing, dingbat that she was, would have said. What did Palin say? Two days earlier, in her 1st major interview after being nominated, she sat down with Charles Gibson, then the anchor of ABC World News Tonight. He asked her about the proximity of Alaska to Russia, specifically easternmost Siberia, and she said, "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." And, given a day with clear enough skies, that turns out to be true.

The problem was this: She seemed to be citing this fact as a foreign policy credential. It shouldn't have been considered one. In other words, it was actually dumber than the dumb quote misattributed to her.

By putting up such a rotten foreign policy credential, she reminded people of a major reason they'd turned against the Republican Party: The Bush Administration's policies on the Iraq War and the War On Terror. Nor did she, an apparently middle-class family-oriented woman, reassure people that the disastrous Bush economic policies would be significantly altered by an incoming McCain-Palin Administration. She needed to be strong where McCain was weak, and stand with him where he was strong. Not only did she do neither especially well, she emphasized the areas where McCain was weak.

In the Vice Presidential debate, Biden had to walk a fine line, criticizing her ticket's policies without sounding like an old man bullying a young woman. He stuck to criticizing McCain rather than Palin, and it seemed to work. At one point, Palin tried to invoke Reagan by saying, "Oh, there you go again, Joe." But, unlike Reagan's famous 1980 debate zinger on Carter, it sounded planned, and thus artificial. Palin wasn't going to remind any Republican old enough to remember Reagan of him. She didn't make a fool of herself in the debate, but she didn't help herself much, which she needed to do, and Biden won it solidly.

In the end, Palin may have gained as many conservative voters as she turned off independents and Democrats who were unsure about Obama. The Republican politician who really cost John McCain the election wasn't Sarah Palin, it was George W. Bush: McCain never explained how his policies were going to be better than those of the incumbent, the policies America had turned against.

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August 29, 2008 was a Friday. There were 2 college football games played that night. Temple beat Army, 35-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York. And Rice beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 56-27 at Rice Stadium in Houston.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Carl Pavano, already hated by Yankee Fans, was the winning pitcher, defeating A.J. Burnett, who would become beloved by Yankee Fans. Derek Jeter went 0-for-4. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3.

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 5-4 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Mets scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th, on a grand slam by Carlos Beltrán, and the Marlins 2 in the bottom half.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed 2 hits over 8 innings, and Mike Timlin finished the 2-hit shutout. David Ortiz went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-3 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 14-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-3.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 11-7 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Alfonso Soriano hit a home run in the 7th inning, which made the difference.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 9-4 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Atletics, 12-2 at the McAfee Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

July 29, 1967: The USS Forrestal Fire

July 29, 1967: A fire breaks out on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal, which was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam.

An electrical anomaly had caused the discharge of a Zuni rocket on the flight deck, triggering a chain-reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161 others.

Among the sailors on board was a 30-year-old pilot, Lieutenant John S. McCain III, the son and grandson of U.S. Navy Admirals. I read one source that he'd actually caused it. Official records show that he didn't. This was about 3 months before he was shot down and taken prisoner. After his release, he moved to Arizona, was elected to both houses of Congress, was nominated for President by the Republican Party in 2008, and became America's best-known living military veteran until his death in 2018.

Lt. John McCain, 1967

Named for James Forrestal, the 1st U.S. Secretary of Defense, the Forrestal, CVA-59, was launched in 1954. Nicknamed "The Forrest Fire" after the incident, it was repaired, remained in service until 1993, and was scrapped in 2014.

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July 29, 1967 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Athletics, 6-2 at Yankee Stadium. Fritz Peterson pitched 6 strong innings, but Steve Hamilton blew the save, as the A's scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with a walk. Reggie Jackson, who had made his major league debut on June 9, did not play in this game.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Al Ferrara hit a home run off Bob Hendley in the bottom of the 9th inning, making a winning pitcher of Bill Singer.

* A doubleheader was split at Fenway Park in Boston. The Boston Red Sox won the opener, 6-3. The Minnesota Twins won the nightcap, 10-3.On the last day of the season, these same 2 teams would battle it out for the American League Pennant.

Carl Yastrzemski, in the middle of what turned out to be a Triple Crown season, had maybe his worst day, going 1-for-8. Tony Conigliaro wasn't much better, going 1-for-7. Harmon Killebrew went 3-for-8, with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs. Tony Oliva went 3-for-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Bob Allison went 0-for-4 in the 1st game, but 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs in the 2nd game. Rod Carew, on his way to being named the AL's Rookie of the Year, did not play in either game.

* The Washington Senators beat the California Angels, 3-2 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-0 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Steve Carlton outpitched Tony Cloninger. Orlando Cepeda, Tim McCarver and Roger Maris hit home runs. Lou Brock went 1-for-4. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-5. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with a walk. Luis Aparicio, known for his speed and his defense, but not for his power, went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Vada Pinson won it with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Pete Rose went 2-for-4. Johnny Bench made his major league debut a month later, on August 28. Ernie Banks did not play for the Cubs in this game.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. These 2 teams would also battle the Red Sox and Twins for the Pennant, the ChiSox to the last weekend, and the Tigers to the last day. Al Kaline went 3-for-5.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Willie Stargell did not play.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Gaylord Perry outpitched Jim Bunning. Willie Mays went 2-for-4. Willie McCovey went 1-for-3 with a walk. Cookie Rojas went 3-for-5, but the rest of the Phillies combined only got 3 hits.

April 14, 1989: The Savings & Loan Scandal

Charles Keating

April 14, 1989: The U.S. government seizes the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, of Irvine, California, run by Charles Keating. He eventually goes to jail, as part of the massive 1980s Savings and Loan Crisis which costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $200 billion in bailouts, and many people their life savings.

Five Senators were accused of improperly aiding Keating. Alan Cranston of California, Dennis DeConcini of Arizona and Don Riegle of Michigan, all Democrats, chose not to run for re-election. The other two rode their hero credentials to stay in office: Former astronaut John Glenn, Democrat of Ohio; and former prisoner of war John McCain, Republican of Arizona.

In 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board's investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators Glenn and McCain were cleared of having acted improperly, but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment."

The S&L scandal managed to do what the stock market crash of 1987 did not: It became a factor in sending America into a recession, which lasted from 1990 to 1993.

McCain ran for President twice, and his role in the Keating Five was not a major factor on either occasion. Certainly, it was not one of the reasons that either George W. Bush defeated him in the Republican Primaries in 2000, or Barack Obama defeated him in the general election in 2008.

Cranston in 2000, Keating in 2014, Glenn in 2016, McCain in 2018. As of April 14, 2022, DeConcini and Riegle are still alive. (UPDATE: Riegle died in 2026, leaving DeConcini as the last survivor.)

*

April 14, 1989 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-5 at the original Yankee Stadium. Al Leiter outpitched Frank Viola. Steve Balboni hit a home run. Don Mattingly went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Dave Winfield missed the entire season through injury.

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. David Cone went the distance for the win. Mookie Wilson went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4, and was soon to announce his retirement.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dwight Evans went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Phil Bradley hit a home run for the O's, and Cal Ripken went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. George Brett went 0-for-3.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Wallace Johnson doubled Otis Nixon home in the top of the 9th inning to win it. Barry Bonds went 1-for-5.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Paul Molitor hit a home run. Robin Yount went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Seven days earlier, the film Major League premiered, featuring a fictionalized version of the Indians, with County Stadium serving as a stand-in for Cleveland Municipal Stadium. (Due to the filming schedule, Cleveland's stadium was not available, because the Browns were playing; while Milwaukee's was, since the Green Bay Packers had already played their last Milwaukee "home game" of the season.) Hence, real-life Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker played fictional Indians broadcaster Harry Doyle.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the California Angels, 9-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Rookie Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between rounds. The NBA was in the last weekend of its regular season, and these 7 games were played:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-100 at Madison Square Garden. Patrick Ewing scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. The Pistons went on to win the NBA Championship anyway.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Chicago Bulls, 123-111 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-104 at the Boston Garden.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 119-115 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Kelly Tripucka, son of former pro quarterback Frank Tripucka, both natives of my hometown of Bloomfield, New Jersey, scored 34 for the 1st-year expansion Hornets.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 118-110 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. Adrian Dantley scored 34 for the Mavs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 122-96 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Karl Malone led all scorers on the night with 35 points.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Miami Heat, 97-86 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

April 4, 1988: The 1st Governor Removed Through Impeachment

April 4, 1988: Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial. He is the first Governor ever removed from office by a State through impeachment.

He was born on May 12, 1924 in Mountain Home, Utah, and raised as a Mormon. He became a fighter pilot for the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, was shot down on March 7, 1945, and was a prisoner of war for 3 weeks. He moved to Arizona, and became a Mormon bishop and a car salesman, selling Pontiacs and Ramblers with the motto, "If you can't deal with Mecham, you just can't deal."

He first ran for office in 1952, for the Arizona House of Representatives, as a Republican. He lost. In 1960, he was elected to the State Senate. In 1962, he ran for the U.S. Senate, with a typical Western Republican platform for the era, supporting the restoration of prayer in public schools and the withdrawal of the U.S. from the United Nations. He lost to Democrat Carl Hayden, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Arizona's other Senator was the pride of the conservatives, Barry Goldwater.

He ran for Chairman of the Republican Party of Arizona in 1963, for Governor of Arizona in 1964, for Governor again in 1974, for Governor again in 1978, and for Governor again in 1982. He lost them all, and only in 1978 did he even get the Republican nomination. Someone remembered the many Presidential campaigns of a former Governor of Minnesota, and tagged Mecham "the Harold Stassen of Arizona." In 1982, he published a book, titled Come Back America. ("Make America Great Again" was already taken -- by Ronald Reagan, in 1980.)

He ran for Governor again in 1986. Things had changed. Arizona had grown tremendously: Only about half of the registered voters in 1986 were living in the State in 1980. (This growth was reflected by the fact that, from just 1 major league sports team in 1987, the NBA's Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix area would have teams in all 4 major league sports by 1998.). In other words, there were many new voters who didn't know that Mecham's previous campaigns had rendered him a joke.

In addition, whereas, before, Mecham hadn't gotten support from the most conservative groups in the State, like the John Birch Society, this time, he got it. His main opponent in the Primary, former State House Majority Leader Burton Barr, didn't take him seriously, didn't spend enough campaign money, and ended up with over $1 million contributed but unspent, a huge amount in a State the size of Arizona. Then it rained on the day of the Primary, a rarity for Arizona, driving down turnout, and Mecham won with 54 percent of the vote.

Finally, the general election turned out to be a 3-way race: Mecham was opposed by the State Superintendent of Public Education, Carolyn Warner. Real estate developer Bill Schulz, who had nearly defeated Goldwater in 1980, had dropped out of the Democratic Primary because of a family illness, but got enough petition signatures to run as an independent candidate, splitting the anti-Republican vote. Goldwater's late endorsement gave Mecham 40 percent of the vote, to Warner's 34 and Schulz's 26, and Mecham was a plurality winner.

Right after taking office, Mecham angered Arizona's rising black population by canceling the Martin Luther King Day holiday for State employees, created by his predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, after the State legislature had refused to authorize it. Even worse, he justified it by saying, "King doesn't deserve a holiday," and, "You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs."

Entertainers said they would boycott the State. The NFL, having awarded Super Bowl XXVII, for 1993, to Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University -- which Mecham had attended before dropping out -- took it away, the only time it has ever stripped a site of the game.

His bigotry was not limited to black people. He claimed that high divorce rates were caused by working women. He told a Jewish audience that America is a Christian nation -- which the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically makes a lie. He said a group of visiting Japanese businessmen "got round eyes" after being told of the number of golf courses in Arizona.

In response to claims that he was a racist, Mecham put his foot in his mouth again, saying, "I've got black friends. I employ black people. I don't employ them because they are black. I employ them because they are the best people who applied for the cotton-picking job." In this case, the use of "cotton-picking" as a milder version of "goddamned" was worse than if he'd used the actual word.

Despite the legislature being controlled by fellow Republicans, Mecham had poor relations with them. His Cabinet choices turned out to be highly questionable, with some of them already under criminal investigation. He vetoed bills sponsored by key legislators. 

His proposal to cut the State's sales tax by 1 percent, his signature issue, failed, largely because he did not specify which programs would lose funding, thus preventing lawmakers from determining how their constituencies would be affected.

Mecham's political career had been a joke, but few people were laughing now. On October 9, 1987, Goldwater, having retired after the previous year's election, called for Mecham's resignation. This was followed by the same from Goldwater's Senate successor, John McCain, and Representative John Kyl, who would also later serve in the Senate.

Pursuant to the Arizona Constitution, a recall petition may not be circulated against an official unless he has been in office for at least 6 months, and one was filed against Mecham on July 9, 1987. The recall committee was led by Ed Buck, a registered Republican, and an openly gay businessman living in the Phoenix area.

Mecham claimed the recall supporters were "a band of homosexuals and dissident Democrats." He mailed 25,000 letters during September to conservatives nationwide requesting that they move to Arizona and support him in case a recall election were held. He went to an NFL exhibition game at Sun Devil Stadium, and the fans chanted, "Re-call! Re-call! Re-call!" A recall election was scheduled for May 17, 1988, and John Rhodes, the former U.S. House Minority Leader -- who had been through this before, having told President Richard Nixon that he would be impeached if he didn't resign, which he did, 2 days later -- agreed to run against him.

There would be no recall: Impeachment took priority. On January 8, 1988, a grand jury issued indictments against Evan Mecham and Willard Mecham, the Governor's brother and campaign finance manager, charging 3 counts of perjury, 2 counts of fraud, and 1 count of failing to report a campaign contribution.

On February 8, the State House impeached Evan Mecham by a vote of 46-14. This suspended his powers as Governor. Since Arizona has no Lieutenant Governor, the State's Secretary of State, Rose Mofford, became the Acting Governor, and thus the 1st female Governor in the State's history.

Naturally, a witness in Mecham's State Senate impeachment trial compared the proceedings to the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. A charge of filing a false statement was dropped, 16-12. But Mecham screwed himself by testifying that the legislature had no authority over him. On April 4, the Senate convicted Mecham on obstruction of justice by a vote of 21-9, and on misusing government funds by a vote of 26-4. The Senate then voted 17-12 to disqualify Mecham from holding State office again, but that was short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.

Upon the announcement of the vote, Mofford immediately and officially became the full, non-acting, Governor of Arizona. The recall election, no longer necessary, was canceled by the State Supreme Court.

The Mecham brothers' lawyers realized the best way to win was to keep their clients from testifying on their own behalf. On June 10, they were acquitted of all charges.

Evan Mecham didn't get the message. He became an Arizona Delegate to the 1988 Republican Convention. In 1990, he ran for Governor again. He got 24 percent of the vote in the Republican Primary, against a very similar candidate, crooked businessman Fife Symington, who ended up winning. Unlike Mecham, he got re-elected; but, also unlike Mecham, got convicted before a recall movement or an impeachment movement, and resigned the office.

In 1992, Mecham ran for the Senate, as an independent against McCain. He got 10 percent of the vote. In the same election, Arizona voters approved the MLK Day holiday, taking the decision out of the hands of the Governor and the legislature. The NFL awarded Super Bowl XXX, for 1996, to Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium).

In 1999, Mecham wrote a book, Wrongful Impeachment. In 2004, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, leading many people to ask how the doctors could tell. He died on February 21, 2008, at the age of 83.

Better to be remembered as a crook than as a bigot, I suppose.

UPDATE: In 2022, Arizona voters approved the creation of the office of Lieutenant Governor, to take effect with the 2026 election.

*

April 4, 1988 was a Monday. This was also the day that the University of Kansas, nearly with home-court advantage, beat Oklahoma to win the National Championship in Kansas City. I have a separate entry for htat event.

As they tended to do in the late 20th Century, this NCAA Tournament Final coincided with Major League Baseball's Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 10-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dwight Gooden outpitched Dennis Martinez. Darryl Strawberry went 4-for-4 with 2 solo home runs and a walk. One of the homers was the longest ever hit at Le Stade Olympique, crashing into the right field roof, 535 feet from home plate.

Lenny Dykstra (3 RBIs), Kevin Elster and Kevin McReynolds (4-for-5 with 3 RBIs) also hit home runs. Former Met Hubie Brooks homered for the Expos.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jack Morris and Roger Clemens both went 9 innings, but the game went to a 10th, where Lee Smith gave up a home run to Alan Trammell. Mike Henneman mopped up for Morris. Matt Nokes also homered for the Tigers. For the Sox, Wade Boggs went 2-for-5, and Brady Anderson went 3-for-5.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It was a bad omen for the O's: They lost their 1st 21 games of the season, an all-time record, and 107 games over the course of the season.

Teddy Higuera outpitched Mike Boddicker. Dale Sveum went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Jeff Treadway led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a walk, and eventually scored on a single by Kal Daniels. Joe Magrane was the starting pitcher for the Cards, and hit a home run, but did not figure in the decision.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 8-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ricky Horton outpitched Mike Witt. Ken Williams, later to be the general manager who built the White Sox' 2005 World Series winners, went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Jimmy Key outpitched Bret Saberhagen. George Brett went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete O'Brien hit 2 homers, to make a winning pitcher out of Charlie Hough. He and the Indians' starter, Tom Candiotti, were both knuckleballers, but it would be Chris Codiroli who blew the lead for Candiotti.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Dave Dravecky outpitched Fernando Valenzuela. Brett Butler went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. The only Dodger run came on a home run by Steve Sax.

The Giants had won the National League Western Division the year before, and would win it the year after, and the Pennant, too. Not this year: The Dodgers went on to win the World Series.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dave Stewart outpitched Mark Langston. José Canseco and Dave Henderson hit home runs for the A's.

Every other team opened the next day. Football was out of season. No games were played in the NBA. And the NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

January 3, 2008: Iowa Votes for Barack Obama

January 3, 2008: The Iowa Caucuses are held, earlier in the Presidential election campaign than ever before. The results are shocking on both sides.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas rides the evangelical vote to win for the Republicans. This is a serious setback for the front-runner, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and all but eliminates everybody else, including former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. The exception to this was former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York, who had bypassed Iowa, and was also bypassing the New Hampshire and South Carolina, and was betting on Florida, with its many retired ex-New Yorkers. He lost that bet, very badly.

Mike Huckabee

McCain would bounce back, and Huckabee would end up finishing 3rd behind McCain and Romney in Delegates. He ran again in 2016, but didn't even do that way.

On the Democratic side, the front-runner, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, finishes 3rd. Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, the Party's nominee for Vice President in 2004, finds his populist message didn't quite catch on, and finishes 2nd. And finishing 1st, with 37 percent of the vote, in a State that is 95 percent white, is... Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

Obama was 46 years old, a little young by the standards of Presidential candidacies. He had only been in the U.S. Senate for 3 years, after 8 years as a State Senator. He had electrified the country with his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, but it looked like it was too soon for him.

The problem, on both sides, was the Iraq War. Americans were tired of it. As Senators in late 2002, McCain, Clinton and Edwards had both supported President George W. Bush's request to approve it. McCain still supported it, Clinton's support had become lukewarm at best, and Edwards had repudiated his support for it, which explains why, of those 3, he did the best in this vote. At the time of the Iraq War vote, Huckabee was Governor, Romney was running for Governor, and Obama was in the State Senate. So none of those 3 faced the proposed war as an issue, and were able to run against it without hypocrisy.

But only Obama chose to do so, and he did criticize Clinton over it. Iowa Democrats, who tend to be, as the old saying goes, "prairie populists," took to this, and gave him a narrow victory. He later called the upset win "my favorite night of my entire political career."

Nobody expected him to win this mostly-white State, or the upcoming mostly-white New Hampshire. Suddenly, millions of Democrats go from, "He's a breath of fresh air, and he'll be a force in the future, but he can't possibly win the nomination this time" to, "Holy cow, he can actually win this thing!"

This win led to him gaining support from the person he was attempting to surpass as America's most famous black person, talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. She began promoting him. And the Kennedy family supported him as well, which helped him in New Hampshire: Clinton won it, but it was close. That meant that the race was basically down to 2, and it remained close all the way until the California Primary in June, when Obama got enough votes to clinch the nomination.

In the general election, Obama won 53.9 percent of the vote in Iowa, to McCain's 44.4 percent. In 2012, he won 52.0 percent, to Romney's 46.1 percent. Iowa had long been a Republican stronghold, a "Red State" -- Hillary's husband, Bill Clinton was the only Democratic nominee to win it between 1964 and 2008 -- but was now looking reliably "Blue."

That didn't last: Donald Trump won it with 51.1 percent in 2016, and 53.1 percent in 2020. (UPDATE: He won 55.7 percent in 2024, giving him a 13-point margin, the Republicans' biggest margin since 1972.)

*

January 3, 2008 was a Thursday. One college football bowl game was played: Number 8 Kansas beat Number 5 Virginia Tech, 24-21 in the Orange Bowl, at Dolphin Stadium (now named Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Chicago Bulls, 115-109 in double overtime at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 80-77 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 104-96 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

And there were 10 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Florida Panthers, 4-3 at the Nassau Coliseum. Jassen Cullimore scored the winning goal with 3:27 left in overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals, 2-0 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2 at the Mellon Arena (formerly the Civic Arena) in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars, 6-3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose. Jarome Iginla scored the winning goal with 1:34 left in overtime.