In 2004 we were a few years into the war in Iraq and who is going to change the person in charge that has been handling that situation already and chance a new guy coming in, not knowing what to do and making things worse. If there is one thing the human race is famous for, it is that they do not like change especially when a change can cause disastrous consequences. In 2008, a required change was to be made and then it turned into who could pick up in the mess of everything: The fresh, new, young guy or one of the oldest known men to run for presidential office?
After talking to co-workers about this topic, since I was 14 during the 2004 election, I received the information that candidates in the 2004 election were less aggressive when it came to attacking people and focused more on “why you should vote for me” instead of the 2008 election where it became “why you shouldn’t vote for them”. This seems like a strong reason why people would vote differently because all they are seeing is “yes, I agree with his stance on that topic but he really did that”. It becomes who can shoot more bullets in the other person’s head first wins.
References
CNN Politics, "Election Center 2008." Last modified 2008. Accessed February 15, 2012. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/
CNN Politics, "Election Center 2004." Last modified 2004. Accessed February 15, 2012.