In theory there are retail copies out there (my attempt to find one failed). You can also download it off Impulse. With thanks to Shio for the link:

www.impulsedriven.com

Personally, I'll keep trying to find a hard copy (I hate digital distribution).

Actually you can get the Retail copy from Impulse. What they do is for $5 more they will send you a boxed copy of the game you buy (one of the advantages Impulse has over Steam)

And you're in luck: it seems they're not covering those $5 for Political Machine on Impulse! So you can buy the DVD and download it straight from Impulse, and play the game while you wait for the box

The Political Machine 2008 (Download + Retail Box) - $19.95 (plus shipping fees, obviously)

I'm in luck indeed! Thanks again, I'll definitely do that once I get to my credit card (tomorrow, most likely). At the risk of sounding like an advertisement: I never knew Impulse made things so easy!

I considered this one in 2004, and I just might have to pick it up this time.

From the off topic forum it seems a LOT of people from other countries have opinions on who should win the presidency.