---

The 2008 presidential race was one of the most eventful, unpredictable and historic in U.S. history, resulting in the election of Barack Obama, the country's first African-American president.

"On the political Richter scale, 2008 produced a political earthquake of really seismic proportions," political science professor and author Charles Dunn said.

Dunn, dean of the school of government at Regent College, said the presidential campaign was full of drama and history.

The campaign not only saw Obama become the first African-American president, but Hillary Clinton ran the first serious race by a woman, John McCain came back from the politically dead to win the Republican nomination and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin injected even more energy into the election.

Many states reported the highest voter turnout in years, with some voters standing in line at the polls for hours. The Massachusetts turnout topped 70 percent. Dunn is hardly alone in his thinking.

The historian Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia wrote that the 2008 campaign was the most eventful since 1968, when Robert Kennedy was assassinated and riots broke out at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The campaign started more two years ago when Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack formally announced he was running, making him the first official candidate in the race and assuring the campaign would be the longest active one in history.

Clinton was widely considered to be the heavy favorite to win the Democratic nomination, considering her name recognition, fundraising ability and the party's longing for a return to the policies of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

But, Clinton stumbled early on when Obama seemingly came out of nowhere to win the Iowa caucus.

His message of change, his great oratory talent and his campaign's enormous organizational skills caught the opposition unprepared.

Many predicted the loss would be fatal to Clinton, but she battled back to win the New Hampshire primary. She and Obama then fought in primary after primary into June.

On the Republican side, McCain early on seemed like he was "dead man walking," state Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said.

McCain was foundering in the polls, out of money and had to fire virtually his entire campaign staff.

But, he also made a comeback and eventually won the Republican nomination. McCain then shocked the political world by selecting the obscure governor of Alaska as his running mate, making her the first woman to run on a GOP ticket.

Palin injected life into McCain's staid campaign while providing plenty of subject matter for late night comedians and Saturday Night Live.

"For Palin, it was her addition that re-energized a faltering campaign and electrified a party," said Danielle Fish, a Republican State Committee member from Mansfield.

"Republicans hadn't felt that kind of excitement and passion for their candidate at a convention likely since Ronald Reagan. Palin was relatable, we liked her - despite the SNL parodies. She breathed new life into all-to-dormant GOP," she said.

Fish also said it was the first election year when women played a prominent roles in the presidential race.

"The positives for me were clear: the elevated role of women in politics," Fish said. "Both Hillary and Sarah Palin demonstrated that women can hold their own on a national ticket. No longer were women accessories to their husband's campaigns, they were the campaign and they came to win."

Through it all, Obama fought off controversies over the inflammatory language of his preacher, his inexperience, charges that his policies were socialistic and doubts about his Islamic-sounding name.

Obama never wavered, never panicked, never even seemed to get excited, even when his critics were trying to paint him as a dangerous radical.

"He never got rattled. He always stayed the course," Timilty said.

Dunn, a former official in the Reagan administration and author of the forthcoming book "The Future of Religion in American Politics," said Obama's steadiness was reassuring in troubled times.

The veteran McCain ran a "herky, jerky" effort, while the rookie Obama was always steady, sticking to his message of change.

"Barack Obama ran one of the greatest campaigns ever. I think he surprised a lot of people by the quality of the campaign he put together. This was a campaign of epic proportions in a really epic year," Dunn said.

Dunn contrasted the calmness Obama demonstrated during the financial crisis that swept Wall Street during the race with McCain, who seemed erratic in suspending and then restarting his campaign.

Obama also ran a pragmatic campaign, not an ideological one, Dunn said.

The Illinois senator was more like a product of the Chicago political machine, bent on winning, than the champion of left wing causes, he said.

The candidate's pragmatic streak is in evidence still in his selection of relatively moderate figures for his cabinet, including Clinton, Dunn said.

Obama also had stunning success in using the Internet to develop a long list of supporters and friends of supporters and raised almost three-quarters of a billion dollars.

"It was like a pyramid scheme or like Amway," Dunn said.

"This election was totally unpredictable. It was a game changer."