ABSTRACT
Technically speaking, the general election campaign lasted sixty-one days from September 4 to November 4, 2008. Of course, long before the end of the Republican convention, McCain and Obama were courting voters, pursuing news coverage, conducting polls, buying television commercials, and debating each other from a distance. During the two fall months, the candidates and their campaign organizations circled each other, reacting almost hourly to the efforts of their opponents, to the tides of public opinion, to the comments of journalists, pundits, and bloggers, and to events which neither candidate could control. At times, each campaign fell victim to its own mechanics of rapid thrust and response which threatened to overwhelm the pursuit of persistent and cohesive strategies. But, underlying all the frantic action visible to the public, both campaigns endeavored to pursue a rational game plan that they hoped would guide their daily activity and achieve victory in November.
