Top 10 political upsets of 2008

[DeepModem Mom]

Politico: Top 10 political upsets of 2008
By: Alexander Burns
December 29, 2008

....Here’s Politico’s list of the top 10 political upsets of 2008, the memorable ones that remind us that political handicapping is an inexact science.

MIKE HUCKABEE (Iowa Republican caucus): By the time Iowans went to their caucus locations in January, it was clear that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was surging. After a series of strong debate performances and some offbeat advertising featuring martial arts expert Chuck Norris, buzz was building around the GOP longshot’s candidacy. Huckabee wasn’t supposed to be able to compete with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s money and organization, yet he trounced Romney by nine points, changing the course of the Republican nominating contest and establishing the former preacher as a national player.

HILLARY CLINTON (New Hampshire Democratic primary): In fall 2007, no one would have been surprised by a prediction that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) would win the New Hampshire primary. She was, after all, the inevitable nominee. But after Barack Obama’s Iowa victory, and her third-place finish there, virtually every poll showed Clinton hemorrhaging support in the nation’s first presidential primary election. How did she pull out a three-point victory? Experts and campaign advisers disagree, though most believe it had to do with some combination of Clinton’s strong connection with New Hampshire women, resilient support among white working-class voters, a strong field operation and voter unwillingness to hand Obama the Democratic nomination on a silver platter.

JOHN MCCAIN (South Carolina Republican primary): In 2008, the state that felled McCain’s 2000 presidential bid validated his strength by delivering an unexpectedly solid victory....

***

KAY HAGAN vs. SEN. ELIZABETH DOLE (North Carolina Senate): North Carolina was good to Democrats this year, and no one benefited more than state Sen. Kay Hagan, the upset winner over incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole....

BARACK OBAMA (Indiana presidential election): Until this year, Democrats had carried Indiana just once in presidential elections since 1936. And in 2004, President Bush won there by a landslide. So despite polls showing a competitive race for the state’s 11 electoral votes, it was still a bit hard to believe that Obama could win Indiana. In the end, Obama won in a squeaker, by less than 30,000 votes. He lost most of the state’s counties but he ran up the score where it mattered — in Democratic northwestern Indiana and in Indianapolis’s Marion County.

BARACK OBAMA (Nebraska presidential election): Of the 365 electoral votes Obama collected on November 4, none may be quite as sweet as the one he took from Nebraska. Nebraska is one of two states that allocates electoral votes by congressional district (the other is Maine), and for the first time in history Obama forced Nebraska to split its support between two contenders by winning the Omaha-area 2nd Congressional District. At the outset of the campaign, almost no one would have believed that Obama could pick off one of Nebraska’s electoral votes. This was a state that delivered 66 percent to Bush in 2004 — and Bush had won 60 percent in the 2nd District....

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=7A953329-18FE-70B2-A817C39257066243

[FrenchieCat]

1. I don't consider Hillary's victory in NH as an upset.

The few days between Iowa and NH was too close, and Obama had been behind by 20 points in NH right before Iowa. Was it not for the media getting carried away with themselves, Hillary's 3 point win would have been a dissapointment.

The real upsets were Obama's GE victory not only in Indiana and the 2nd District in Nebraska, but also those in North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. Now those were upsets!

[rpannier]

2. The Cao victory was one of the really big upsets this year...If not the biggest on that list

The most pleasureable was virgil goode's loss.

I still love reading about it.