Let's dive into this topic....

From Wikipedia

The United States presidential election of 2008, scheduled to be held on November 4, 2008, will be the 56th consecutive quadrennial election for president and vice president of the United States. This presidential election schedule coincides with the 2008 Senate elections, House of Representatives elections, and gubernatorial elections, as well as many state and local elections.

Under Article Two of the United States Constitution, as amended by the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, an Electoral College will elect the president. These electors are appointed by mechanisms chosen by each state's legislature (prevailingly, by popular vote of the voters of each state). The individual who receives a majority of votes for president — 270 votes are needed for a majority — will be the president-elect of the United States; and the individual who receives a majority of electoral votes for vice president will be the vice president-elect of the United States. If no presidential candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College, then the president-elect will be selected by a vote of the House of Representatives, with each state receiving a single vote. If no vice presidential candidate receives a majority, then the vice president-elect will be selected by a vote of the Senate. Although rare, these latter scenarios have occurred twice in America's history, in 1825 and 1837.

As in the 2004 presidential election, the allocation of electoral votes to each state will be partially based on the 2000 Census. The president-elect and vice president-elect are scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, 2009.
Also of note with US elections -- due to our setup, a president can be elected and still lose the popular vote (2000 Election)

Some interesting notes about this particualr election that make it significant --

1) This is the first time since 1928 that neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president running for his party's nomination in the presidential election. This fact in particular is what makes this race so variable.

2) The first viable african-american candidate in history

3) The first viable female candidate in history

4) The campaign is costly -- The two leading democratic candidates have raised close to $200 million dollars together

5) The internet is having a significant impact. Numerous campaigns have use the net to make it easier for people to donate. Also, Ron Paul has successfully used the net to become a viable candidate

6) Numerous states have moved their elections to an earlier date, allowing for (depending on the outcome) the possiblity that one or more parties could achieve a nominee by Feb 6th.

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So the question --

These people are running (note: these are the four parties who generally get the most votes, they are not all the parties):

Democratic Candidates

Republican Candidates

Green Candidates

Libertarian Candidates

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Who would you want to be president? I'd love to hear what everyone around the world thinks too

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