The Inauguration of Barack Obama
the 44th President of the United States
took place on January 20, 2009.

First-hand descriptions, photos, video, commentaries, and lesson plans
will appear on this website.

Lesson Plan: The Inauguration of Barack Obama

Official Campaign Websites:

Republican Candidates For President John McCain Republican Nominee Sarah Palin Nominee for Vice President Withdrawn: Ron Paul Mike Huckabee Sam Brownback Rudy Giuliani Mitt Romney Tom Tancredo Fred Thompson  Duncan Hunter Tommy Thompson

Frequently Asked Election Questions

• What are primary elections?
• What are caucuses and how are they different from primaries?
• What is the Electoral College?
• What are some of the differences between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party?
• Have third parties ever made a difference in presidential elections?
• Can President Bush run again during this upcoming election?
• Can Bill Clinton serve as vice-president?
• What is a "brokered convention?" Will we have one in this election?
• What is a "battleground state?"
• Questions you may have about voting on Election Day are answered here  (by the state of Maryland Board of Elections)
  
  Submit your questions and an answer may appear here!

 Election-Related Lesson Plans

• Modern Political Parties and Elections
• Elections in America
  
  Objectives: The students will...
  1. Define key terms relating to political parties and describe their function in American politics.
  2. Outline the electoral process for major national offices such as the presidency and Congress.
  3. Relate the place of political parties and election to the principles of American democracy.
  
• PDF: Path to the White House
• Activity: The Election Day Newspaper Predictions
  Students will use MS Publisher to complete this template.
  Right-click and select "save target as."
  To create an electoral college map image, go to http://www.270towin.com and press "print screen" your keyboard. Then crop the image after pasting it into Publisher.

Election 2008 Worksheets

• Worksheet: Election 2008: Who is Running?
  Students research the lives and careers of the 2008 presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
• Worksheet: The 2008 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses Map
• Worksheet: The 2008 National Conventions
  Students use web resources to develop a journal entry of the democratic and republican National Conventions.
• Worksheet: The Candidates and the Issues
• PDF: The Electoral College Map

Click on the image to enlarge. A new window will open.

The Electoral Process
 

Path to the White House Resources:
 

• Ben's Guide to Elections
• Enchanted learning: How Is the President Elected?
• C-SPAN: 2008 Election Guide
• Electing the President
• How to become President: a Step-By-Step Guide
• NPR's Interactive Election Map
• Des Moines Register: How Caucuses Work
• CNN: Political Conventions

Election Discussion or Essay Questions

2. What are the possibilities for change in the United States now that the election has been decided?

3. What problems do you believe should be at the top of the Obama administration's agenda?

4. How will you participate in the civic life of this nation to help President-elect Obama make the United States a better place to live and work?

Questions Leading Up to Election Day, 2008

1. The US election season is almost two years long. Is this a positive or negative aspect of American democracy?

2. Should the dates for primary elections be changed? Why or why not?

3. Should the Electoral College be altered or abolished?
Why or why not?

4. What do you think is the most important issue in this election?

5. Which candidate do you think will receive the nomination of his or her party? Who should that candidate choose as their running mate?

6. What is more important in a candidate: charisma or experience? Why?

7. Could a third party candidate have an impact on the outcome of the general election in November the way Ralph Nader spoiled the popular vote victory of Al Gore in 2000?

8. Should individuals and groups be limited in the amount of money that each can contribute to a candidate's campaign? Is it fair that large contributors can give to Political Action Committees (PACs) that develop "issue ads" that support a candidate without mentioning him or her directly? How is financial support of a candidate equated with freedom of speech under the First Amendment?

9. Should the "superdelegates" of the Democratic Party Convention decide who will become the party's nominee based on the popular votes, the number of pledged delegates each candidate brings to the convention, or by their own conscience?

Email your answers. They will be posted pending editorial review. Only well-stated, appropriate responses will be considered.

Electoral-Vote.com. This site has interactive maps on the results of the 2006 the presidential, gubernatorial, senate, and house races for each state.

Issue Dictionary Select your candidates and your issues and see where they stand.

Project Vote-Smart This website might be the most exhaustive election and voting website on the WWW today. It contains information on every candidate and every race in the nation.
Presidential election coverage is just one of the site's features.
It has a complete list of announced and potential candidates.

http://www.presidential-candidates.net/ This site is a very simple overview of the candidates, their biographies, and their views on the issues. It also contains "quick links" (ads) to information on the American political system.

CNN's Election Center 2008 Stay up to date on all the news, issues, and candidates with CNN. Video clips and interactive polls make the website interesting. The site comes equipped with a campaign calendar for both parties that marks the dates of primaries, debates, and the general election.

C-SPAN's American Politics and Road to the White House are two television shows that describe the electoral process and democracy in America. You can follow C-SPAN's Campaign Bus 2008 and request its arrival at your school.

RealClearPolitics.com maintains tables of head-to-head polls of the major candidates in both primary and general election races. Use it to track public opinion on the candidates.

Ron Gunzberger's Politics1.com The site has a complete list of who is and who is not running along with additional information on the American presidency.

Weekly Reader's Election Fun. A great site for younger kids. Oodles of interactive games and pages that teach the basics of American elections.

National Public Radio For those who like to listen to their politics.

The BBC See the American election through the eyes of our friends "across the pond" in the UK.

Politics1 Get the 411 on third parties and they might influence who wins the Oval Office and who has an impact on US public policy.

USPolitics.gov The United States State Department has its own website to "tell America's story" to the world. Question: Can the US government tell its story to the world objectively?