There are a number of links between the presidential election of 1904 and 2008. McCain and Roosevelt each are/were questioned based on issues outside the platform issues of the campaign. For Roosevelt the question was if he was actually sane or not. For McCain the question is of his age (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/us/politics/24mccain.html). Roosevelt's own party was afraid that something would happen to him or he would do something really crazy to bring down his chances of getting elected. With McCain's age there are questions from both sides of the political spectrum if he is able to lead in his old age. It also questions who his Vice Presidential candidate might be. The candidate must be younger and able to lead at a moments notice.
On the Democrats side of the ticket Obama and Clinton with their call for change can be seen much like the anti-corruption candidates like Roosevelt was (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/01/barackobama.uselections2008). There have been questions of the decisions and motives of the Bush Administration. Also there was a large amount of candidates running in the 2008 election because in 2004 not many ran because of Bush running for re-election. In 1904 not many Democrats ran either. It seems that all cycles come back around.
-Andrew Stoltzfus
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