2008 US Presidential Election
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50 free 2008 US Presidential Election trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The 2008 US presidential election put a first-term senator, Barack Obama, against a veteran war hero, John McCain, in the middle of a financial crisis. It ended with the first African American president, record crowds and some of the most memorable campaign moments of modern politics. This quiz covers the candidates who made the race: the two nominees and their running mates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, the long Democratic duel with Hillary Clinton, the crowded Republican field, and the third-party and independent names further down the ballot. It also takes in the conventions, debates, endorsements, viral moments and the closest states on election night. It is written for anyone who remembers the campaign, for students of recent American history, and for quiz hosts who want a politics round that is fair to both sides. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you can play straight through or print it for a group.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which former Saturday Night Live head writer won an Emmy for impersonating Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign?
Tina Fey
Tina Fey had left the show in 2006 but came back after viewers noticed her resemblance to the Republican running mate. Her first sketch paired her with Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton.
Q 02What trade gave Ohio voter Samuel Wurzelbacher his 2008 nickname after he challenged Barack Obama on taxes?
Plumber
Plumber was the trade, and John McCain cited 'Joe the Plumber' in the final debate as a stand-in for middle-class Americans. Wurzelbacher had said he hoped to buy a small plumbing business.
Q 03John McCain handed Barack Obama an attack line in August 2008 by being unsure how many of what he owned?
Houses
Houses were the sticking point: he told a Politico interviewer that his staff would get back with the number. The moment fed an out-of-touch image in a campaign dominated by the economy.
Q 04Which Republican candidate won the 2008 Iowa caucuses after airing a campaign advert starring Chuck Norris?
Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister, took 34 percent in Iowa after gaining momentum late in the race. The actor went on to suggest John McCain was too old for the presidency.
Q 05Which soul singer performed at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration in a hat topped with a huge crystal-studded bow?
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin sang 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee' after the invocation, wearing a hat with a Swarovski crystal-studded bow. The hat made a fashion statement of its own.
Q 06What did Barack Obama promise daughters Malia and Sasha in his 2008 victory speech they could bring to the White House?
A puppy
A puppy was the promise, kept in April 2009 when Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, arrived as a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy. The breed was chosen partly because of Malia's allergies.
Q 07A 2008 John McCain advert likened Barack Obama to Britney Spears and which other tabloid star, who filmed a reply?
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton hit back in a viral Funny or Die video titled as her response to McCain. The original advert had questioned whether a celebrity candidate was ready to lead.
Q 08Which late-night comedian tried to enter the 2008 presidential race only in his home state of South Carolina?
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert announced his run on The Colbert Report with sponsorship from Doritos. South Carolina's Democratic executive council voted 13–3 to keep him off the primary ballot.
Q 09Which artist designed the red, beige and blue 'Hope' poster of Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election?
Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey based the stencil-style portrait on a photo by Associated Press freelancer Mannie Garcia. The Smithsonian acquired a version for its National Portrait Gallery in January 2009.
Q 10Which Black Eyed Peas member turned a Barack Obama primary-night speech into a celebrity-filled 2008 music video?
will.i.am
will.i.am set the words of an Obama concession speech to music, and Bob Dylan's son Jesse directed the video. The campaign had no involvement in making it.
Q 11Barack Obama attended the private Punahou School on a scholarship while growing up in which state?
Hawaii
Hawaii is where he was born, in Honolulu in 1961, making him the only president born outside the contiguous United States. He studied at Punahou from fifth grade until 1979.
Q 12John McCain spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war after being shot down over which country?
Vietnam
Vietnam was where a missile brought down his Skyhawk over Hanoi in October 1967, on his 23rd bombing mission. He refused an early release unless every man captured before him was freed too.
Q 13Which state did John McCain represent in the Senate from 1987, succeeding 1964 presidential nominee Barry Goldwater?
Arizona
Q 21Which former Massachusetts governor spent over $35 million of his own money on a failed 2008 Republican primary bid?
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney suspended his campaign on 7 February 2008, two days after Super Tuesday. Four years later he came back to win the Republican nomination.
Q 22Which Texas congressman's 2008 Republican campaign set online records with one-day drives nicknamed 'money bombs'?
Ron Paul
Ron Paul twice broke the record for the most money raised online in a single day by any presidential candidate. Before politics he worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
Q 23Which former New York City mayor, an early Republican front-runner for 2008, quit after finishing third in Florida?
Rudy Giuliani
Arizona elected him to the House in 1982 and then to the Senate, where he served until his death in 2018. Goldwater had been an Arizona senator for 30 years in all.
Q 14Joe Biden, Barack Obama's 2008 running mate, had commuted by Amtrak for decades as a senator from which state?
Delaware
Delaware kept him in the Senate from 1973 to 2009, and his daily train rides home to Wilmington earned him the nickname 'Amtrak Joe'. He won a seventh Senate term on the day he was elected vice president.
Q 15Which office did Barack Obama give his defeated primary rival Hillary Clinton after winning the 2008 election?
Secretary of State
Secretary of State was the post, and she resigned her New York Senate seat in 2009 to take it. She served throughout Obama's first term, until 2013.
Q 16Where in Chicago did Barack Obama deliver his election-night victory speech to a crowd of about 240,000 in 2008?
Grant Park
Grant Park had been the scene of violent protests during the 1968 Democratic convention. Forty years later it hosted the celebration of the first Black president's election.
Q 17Which city's 2008 Democratic convention ended with Barack Obama accepting the nomination in a packed football stadium?
Denver
Denver had last hosted the Democrats in 1908. The final night moved from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field, where a record crowd of 84,000 watched the acceptance speech.
Q 18Which storm, striking Louisiana in 2008, led Republicans to scale back the opening day of their national convention?
Gustav
Gustav came ashore on the convention's first day, so the Minnesota programme was cut to required business and appeals to help victims. President Bush stayed away and appeared by satellite.
Q 19Which financial giant collapsed in September 2008 on the day John McCain called the economy's fundamentals strong?
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers filed the largest bankruptcy in US history on 15 September 2008. McCain's upbeat remark at a Florida rally that morning appeared to cost him as the crisis took over the race.
Q 20Which talk show host drew nearly 30,000 people to a Barack Obama rally in South Carolina in December 2007?
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey made her first campaign appearances for Obama that month, and two economists later estimated her endorsement was worth over a million primary votes.
Rudy Giuliani campaigned in Florida throughout the primary season, hoping a win there would propel him through Super Tuesday. Time had named him Person of the Year in 2001 after the September 11 attacks.
Q 24Which actor, known as District Attorney Arthur Branch on Law & Order, sought the 2008 Republican nomination?
Fred Thompson
Fred Thompson joined the NBC drama in 2002, during the final months of his term as a Tennessee senator. He entered the race in September 2007 after six months of speculation.
Q 25Which 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee finished second in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, ahead of Hillary Clinton?
John Edwards
John Edwards launched his campaign in New Orleans, near sites devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and returned to the city to suspend it in January 2008.
Q 26Which New Mexico governor was likened to Judas by a Clinton ally after endorsing Barack Obama in March 2008?
Bill Richardson
Bill Richardson had been UN ambassador and energy secretary under Bill Clinton, so strategist James Carville cast the endorsement as a betrayal. He had ended his own presidential bid that January.
Q 27Which Ohio congressman and former Cleveland mayor was asked in a 2007 Democratic debate whether he had seen a UFO?
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich was asked by NBC's Tim Russert about a passage in a Shirley MacLaine book describing the sighting. His platform included a cabinet-level Department of Peace.
Q 28Which consumer advocate ran for president as an independent in 2008, taking about 738,000 votes nationwide?
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader announced his run on NBC's Meet the Press and finished third, far behind the two major tickets. He had stood for the Green Party in 1996 and 2000.
Q 29Which former Georgia congressman, a leader of Bill Clinton's impeachment, was the 2008 Libertarian presidential nominee?
Bob Barr
Bob Barr had left the Republican Party and won the Libertarian nomination after six rounds of balloting. Some Libertarians criticized him for sponsoring the Defense of Marriage Act while in Congress.
Q 30Which former Georgia congresswoman was the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee, finishing sixth nationwide?
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney announced her Green campaign in a YouTube video and ran with Rosa Clemente. She drew about 42,000 more votes than the party's ticket four years earlier.