"X-SPAN"

A true convergence of politics and popular culture. 

Palin the Celebrity

At first, when McCain chose Palin as his running mate, everyone ran around screaming, "he did it because she's a woman!  He's just trying to steal Hillary supporters!"  And it made a lot of sense to think that.  He did get a huge bump right after the convention, and got the base fired up like never before.

But here's a different opinion: he did it because he needed a celebrity to counter Obama's popularity.  In an article in The Huffington Post, Lauren Cahn posits that McCain saw Palin as "a media-ready, photo-friendly moldable piece of political clay" that could be used to counter Obama's celebrity status.  There's no way he could have ever come close, so, why not try Palin?

And he's been successful, past his wildest dreams.  Palin is easily the name most often on people's lips these days, rivaling Obama's and far outstripping McCain's.  Palin and troopergate, Palin and clothing purchases, Palin and the pitbull joke, Palin and the Couric interview, Palin and SNL, Palin and negative attacks, etc.

But now, his celebrity protegé is trying to break away.  She's gone off script to address her clothing issue, and has actually talked to reporters in a setting other than an official news conference, without receiving permission from her handlers -I mean, her press agents first.

Now, she seems to have her eye on the presidency in 2012.  In an article in The New York Times,  there are several unnamed prominent conservatives who are bouncing around Palin's name for 2012.  If McCain wins the election, she'd be in prime position to stay in the spotlight for four years, create more appealing policies, develop political credentials of some kind, and run  for pres.  If Obama wins, she'd have more problems.  Since her nomination, her popularity in Alaska has plummeted - troopergate and her expense reports for her children come to mind as reasons.  Returning to the governor's office might not be such a smooth transition - and she may not last there.

We've had some conversations in class about the convergence of pop culture and politics - especially in the realm of celebrity politicians.  Well, I'd say Obama is the perfect celebrity politician- popular, young, and tech-savvy.  The Republicans needed someone to counter him, so enter Palin.  She's added a popularity and a youth to the McCain ticket that has drawn young conservatives in a way McCain never could have.  In two other articles in The New York Times (see sources), conservative college students have become energized by Palin.  So while this election won't put a celebrity Republican in the Presidency, Palin is seriously being groomed to become the new celebrity face of the party.  What a scary thought.

Sources: 

On Campuses, McCain Supporters Are Running on a Shoestring and Conviction

Young, Republican and Inspired by Palin

The Great Schlep

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

The Great schlep is possibly the most creative way to increase voter turn out that has been employed this election.  It presents a simple question:  do you grandparents love you? Answer: yes, if your grandparents do not love you just play along after all in a normative family they do.  Now, use that love to guilt them, into voting, for Obama.  It is absolutely brilliant, and a beautiful step towards the convergence of policy and popular culture.  What is surprisingly covert in this message is the understanding that families all vote along the same partylines.  Sarah Silverman, a cynical comedian, presents absolutely no information on the policy of Barack Obama unless you count he loves Jewish people and isn’t a Muslim as policy.  The comparison between a black man and a Jewish grandmother plays off of many stereotypes that would be unacceptable outside of the area of comedy, but allow the piece to demolish the image of “otherness” that John McCain has attempted to create for Barack Obama. She even uses the name Barack as a way of creating a connection.  Then uses the name John to imply that he is an excrement receptacle and hires prostitutes.  A name is not policy.  It is worth noting that The Great Schlep is funded by the Jewish Counsel for Education and Research an organization that discloses in its mission statement, “The Jewish Council for Education & Research (JCER), a federal political action committee, was created to develop and disseminate information to voters in the United States around issues of concern to the Jewish community”(About Us). The other sections go on to explain more of Senator Obama’s policy but it does include as a talking point that  “Obama’s thoughtful approach and even temperament will dramatically increase America’s influence with other nations” (Talking Points).  Temperament is still not policy.  The Jewish Council for Education and Research is no guiltier of appealing to the emotions of voters instead presenting policy than any other organization, including both campaigns, but does claim to disseminate information.  This nation does not vote on a leader that will create policy for the betting of our nation, but creates an emotional relationship with a demagogue based on the personality that we perceive thought the mass media.

Works Cited:

 The Jewish Council for Education & Research. "About Us." The Jewish Council for Education & Research. 28 Oct. 2008 .

 

--- "The Great Schlep Talking points." The Great Schlep. The Jewish Council for Education & Research. 28 Oct. 2008 .

Sounds a little to Good

As many people now know Ted Stevens was convicted of seven felony charges. With re-election happening on Tuesday the only way for Republican to stay in control of senate in Alaska is if Stevens win the election and then resigns. I find this very amusing. I understand that the republicans want the control of senate in Alaska but with seven felony charges should he even still be in the ballot. Even though he is still has not gone to trial I cannot think how our hard (stay in the right path) government is not taking him out of the ballot. Instead they are asking him to stay in the race and win in order to put another republican member in the GOP position. If we look back at 2008 and John Edwards and his affair many people made it such a big story and headline. The immediate thought that approaches my head is Republicans made a huge deal to this story, another democrat sleeping around. However, an affair is not such so big as being charge with seven felonies for lying about receiving gifts and getting hundreds and thousands of dollars in home renovations. That to me is called stealing and lying, and as an official of a state how can we let something like that slip. Every official is sworn in so obliviously he lied, but yet is still a candidate. Sounds a little too good if you ask me. John Edwards on the other hand, was in front of every news paper and he had to admit that he had an affair when his wife was sick. I have not heard Ted Stevens state anything on his behalf except that he is continuing on his campaign. His fellow peers however are proving to us that Stevens is guilty by asking him to resign. I cannot wait for the final result.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_go_co/stevens_senate_race;_ylt=At9HK610PhCIkVrmYhIOU7KyFz4D
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/10/sunday/main4336030.shtml

Health Insurance

As we pass through these difficult times in our economy we cannot do anything but see people face hard times. Our health care is getting harder and harder to manage and pay. Many families are finding themselves striving to make sure their kids have health insurance. Based on an article written by Amanda Gardner families are filing bankruptcy because of health care. Some families are either trying to get favorable health insurance or trying to find a way to pay the premium. Based on the article about 71 million people are having problems paying their medical bills or are in debt in their medical bills. As the article states many people find themselves doing okay with paying their bills and credit cards, until some kind of unexpected event happens, and I completely agree. It is already hard for many middle class families to pay their bills, that when an unwelcomed surprise happens it throws them off guard. My family went through this situation and it was one of the most difficult things to experience. Most of these unexpected surprises are health related and many people lose their job or have to take time off in order to get better and as a major consequence the bills are seen bigger and impossible to pay. In the article they give the readers an example from a couple Donna and Larry Smith. They both were diagnosed with a disease or medical complications and as a consequence their medical bills started to pile up. She found herself asking her family for money to pay the doctor bills, to later pay her family back. The story does not end with a happy ending the Smith’s later filed bankruptcy and are now renting. Health coverage is becoming a big issue, with people not receiving health insurance and having to pay the doctors for their services, to people’s premium and health insurance raising.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081028/hl_hsn/medicaldebtsendingmanyoverfinancialbrink;_ylt=Atv3vD9JwNHhqFovW2GuV5Nv24cA

Bias?

People are now suggesting that we are picking on McCain, and that the media is being bias. Based on a yahoo article written by Jim Vandehei, and john F. Harris there has been many people complaining about the negative media coverage McCain has been receiving. Research has shown that since the Republican Convention John McCain has received four times the negative stories than positive, and Barack Obama has received twice the amount of positive stories. I don’t see this as being bias I see this as being smart. News reporters want people to read or see their information. The more the media displays what the people want the more ratings they receive. Based on the polls such in real Politics we see that Barack Obama has a decent lead. So obviously people are leaning towards him more and the more “bad” media McCain gets the more the people in Obama’s side tune in. In the end of the article they start to explain the different type of bias, and the one called “bend over backward” is very appealing to me. The reason is because they explain that in the vice presidential debate many news media graced Sarah Palin’s performance. While in reality she did not do a good job, her defense mechanism was too spilt out everything she knew about policies. I knew that I was not the only person that thought that. When I saw the vice presidential debate I was expecting for Sarah Palin to make a fool out of herself. The truth is she did but she did it in such a sneaky way that many people did not here the answers she was giving to the specific questions. I do not think I am bias on my comments, I just find it funny that people are now worry about the negative media attention McCain is receiving, however when Hillary Clinton was running she got it worse and the media basically told her to suck it up.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home

Condoleezza Rice as President?

I mistakenly read an article on MSNBC that had me thinking Condoleezza Rice would be running for the next presidential election, but it turns out she is only a candidate for the San Franciso 49ers team president.  But it got me thinking, if Condoleezza Rice ran for president, how successful would she be?

From one perspective, she would be the ultimate history maker.  Assuming Obama doesn't win and assuming that if McCain wins, he lives to serve out his term, she would be both the first black president and first woman president.  Transitively, she should have the combined success of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, (although we know it won't work like that).  She already passed the Katie Couric test that Sarah Palin miserably failed, successfully shooting back a respectable answer to every attempt Couric made to diminish her last year.  She already has enough foreign policy experience to wipe out any opponent who tries to take issue with her on that topic.  She carries herself in a very leaderly-like manner and speaks well.  She also carries the same tough personality Hillary Clinton has.  

An interesting topic would be to see who she would be endorsed by.  We would be able to see whether or not voters and celebrities would rush to her side due to the fact that she is black, a woman, or her policies are simply what they are looking for.  Would women support her from the Demoratic side? Would black democrats support her?  I don't think Condoleezza Rice would get more public support than Obama has for the fact that she is Republican and has ties, a very close relationship in fact, to President Bush.  But I also think Rice just happens to be on the wrong side is she was to run for President.  I have trouble seeing if red states down south would support her, but I don't see liberal states like New York or California supporting her either.  I also think that celebrities who have never endorsed a public figure before, but now endorse Obama would sit this one out.  It seems to me like leadership changes in the future presidents of America in terms of race and gender will only be successful coming from the Democratic side.  It's a shame because if Rice was Democratic she would be the ultimate symbol for cultural and gender integration and I'm sure all Democrats would vote for her.

Some food for thought...

http://iftheworldcouldvote.com/

I stumbled across this website. It's obviously not very accurate, but it's quite interesting to look at. As of a moment ago, John McCain was not favored in a single country.

Just something I thought I'd share.

Tight Race

As the election approaches the polls are getting closer and closer. With one week left the only way we can get a hunch on who might be wining is by looking at poll ratings in Real Clear politics. In the beginning Obama had a clear stretch over McCain. Now, however McCain is coming back. With many states still up for grabs the election is going to be just as tight as it was in the past with Bush. Based on Real Clear Politics McCain has gotten up with a 43.1 percent compared to the 42.5 percent he had last Thursday. Even though Obama is in the lead McCain is not too far behind to win. Based on the poll Obama had a twelve point lead that has drop to a 10 point lead and has given McCain a five point gain. Based on a yahoo news article some polls however might put McCain closer to the race to make it more interesting and appealing. I do not find misleading people amusing or interesting. With this election being so important many people want to have enough knowledge to know which candidate the election is leading to. Also so many people are interested in this election and by misinforming the “new bees”, we will just get discourage and not really want to put our input to the next election. However, just because McCain got some points in the poll that does not mean that he is getting more people to his side. Based on the article the only way to actually tell who the state is leaning towards is by looking at poll rating for a long period of time. All I can say is I hope this election is not fill with surprises at the last second because we all know the consequences we will then have to face. (Ex: Florida and Bush)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl111

Plotting Deaths Already

Now that the election is closing in all I can think of is the safety of Barack Obama. Everyone knows that there are still violent racist people. Based on an article in Yahoo written by Lara Jakes Jordan the plot for Obama’s assassination has already started. Based on the article, the federal government (ATF) has stopped a plot, which was to kill 102 black people and finally end their killing spree with the assassination of Obama. I am terrified to think that if Obama wins presidency he will not be able to step foot in the white house without first getting killed. The scary part about this is that I have had this conversation with my fellow peers and we have all agreed that the assassination of Obama is realistic and the reason is even more hurtful which is because he is black. As a minority I cannot believe that the United States is still not able to put racism behind us and live in a civil society. Instead Obama is going to have to worry about getting killed because he is trying to make our country a better place. The “neo-Nazis”, skin heads stated that they did not think it would be possible to kill him but that they were going to try to fulfill their goal. I do hope that our federal government is protecting Obama as best as they can. I also think that if Barack Obama is killed our country will be in big problem. Like many people, I believe that if Obama is killed society will be ready to revolt back towards government causing a civil discrepancy. The only last thing to state is the United States needs to stop its racist ways and accept the positive movement forward, and not try to plot deaths.

"You can see Russia on the hills of Alaska"

As the big election approaches the big problem McCain is now facing is Sarah Palin. With recent polls taken, Domenico Montanaro states that 55% of people think that Sarah Palin is unqualified. The cause of the unexpected reaction towards Sarah Palin is the belief that McCain is too old to complete the four years of presidency. My biggest fear if McCain becomes president is his death and Sarah Palin taking his spot. Obviously I am not the only person feeling like this. Palin’s unquestionable lack of experience can bring the United States in a deeper hole than what we are already in; “since you can see Russia on the hills of Alaska”. Moontanaro makes a comment that I find interesting which is who would have ever thought that Palin would be the biggest problem instead of George Bush. Even though Obama also lacks experience people are feeling more comfortable in giving him the responsibility of running our country. Something very interesting also is that our country is in great debt, yet we can spend 150,000 on Sarah Palin’s clothes. Also Sarah Palin’s makeup artist has the highest paying job in McCain campaign. The makeup artist was paid 22,800 for only two weeks, which is more than McCain foreign policy advisor and his senior communication staffer. So message is our government stating: is it that we need to spend more money in making a person fit the criteria and look the part, than worry about how we could use that money. Everyone in the beginning was so amused and happy about the Sarah Palin pick, but as time continues everyone is questioning her experience. We are now at the tip of picking our new president and even though Sarah Palin would not be the immediate president if something does happen to McCain our future is looking great right next to Russia.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5056436/palin-power-fails-whip-magic-mccain/
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/us-election/sarah-palins-makeup-artist-is-mccain-campaigns-highest-paid-staffer-14017176.html

Palin's Off Script Comments

McCain's aides were upset that Palin spoke "unscript" and brought attention back to her wardrobe which has risen some controversy. She spoke about The Republican National Committee's (RNC) spending $150,000 on her family. Palin's remarks about the spending was that her wardrobe is rediculous and the clothes are not her property and and the things that the RNC purchased for her, she is not taking them. McCain adviser told CNN that the comments that Palin made were not the remarks given to her to talk about. However, Palin's aide defends her by saying that Palin felt that she needed to defend her self against the controversy of her wardrobe. CNN sources revealed that there were tension between McCain's and Palin's aides. McCain's sources revealed that this wasnt the first time Palin has spoke about things that she wasnt suppose to and it seem that she is trying to defend her self with putting McCain's campaign at risk. Both Palin'and McCain's advisors discussed that when Palin was elected that her media attention would be limited because she is not ready McCain's source says that Palin lacks the understanding on many important issues as well as keeping her up to speed.
It is obvious that Palin wasnt the best candidate that McCain could have elected to be his vice president candidate. It's obvious that Palin is a puppet in the whole campaign just someone that some people could relate to. When she speaks on her own, Palin shows how inexperienced she is and creates bad media for McCain's campaign. This just points out repeatedly that Palin really does not know what she is doing and if given the opportunity to be president, that she would not know what to do with that as well.

We've Got the Election Covered

Every single day, there are at least two or three articles in every newspaper and blog site and magazine about voter fraud and voter suppression - some of it accused at Democrats, and lots of it accused at Republicans.  Everyone seems terrified that McCain will steal the election, like Dubya did in 2000.  But to me, it seems like this election will be un-stealable.

First of all, Obama's campaign is superbly run.  He's got millions of dollars to spend, and boy, is he spending them.  He's even turning Republican stronghold states into battleground states.

Second, the polls are being watched so closely, you won't be able to pick your nose without it appearing on YouTube.  There have been calls for voters to bring their cameras with them to the polls, in order to document any untoward activity on the part of the workers or the machines.  The early voting turnout has been in record numbers, highlighting errors that can and will be fixed before Tuesday.  The Democrats are sending hundreds of poll watchers and lawyers to polling stations around the country, in order to back up any challenged voters.

So I think that, while we can never be too confident, and we definitely cannot call the election before the polls close, this election will be more fraud - free than any other, maybe in the history of the U.S.  Because remember - we'll be watching.

McCain seems to frequently wake up on the other side of the bed...

There is much talk about John McCain's temper, as he is frequently known as "Senator Hothead" from numerous publications. He is also known for his famous quotes: "F*** you" (directed towards Texas Senator John Cornyn), "Only an a****** would put together a budget like this," (directed towards Senator Pete Domenici), and "I'm calling you a f****** jerk!" (directed towards Senator Chuck Grassley).  He has also been seen lashing out at his fellow citizens, as he called a high school student a jerk after he was claimed too old to be president (ABC News).   There are also numerous video clippings of McCain's 'freak outs'. Here are some examples:

Temper Tantrum 1

Temper Tantrum 2 (Where he makes a lady cry!)

Plus many other YouTube videos with examples, search "McCain Temper".

These videos also contain examples of McCain cursing excessively. 

Yet both John and Cindy McCain's reasoning for his temperament is simply because McCain feels so passionate and concerned for his country, and that many just happen to confuse McCain's strong passion for quick temperament. Many citizens of the US find his temer to be very crude and disrespectful, while others believe that McCain just represents the common man, and that his temper is equivalent to the average person (New York Times). 

I  guess it all depends on the citizen, whether they prefer the common man, who is  erratic and willing to freak out on anyone who comes in his way. Or a more calm and collected Barack Obama, who is willing to hold back such unnecessary 'freak outs'.

Can McCain Still Win the Election?

I wrote the following for the upcoming Wire issue and felt it deserved to be published here as well:

With only less than two weeks to go in the General Election campaign, the intensity has grown to a new level. Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate; is still ahead of the polls across the board in many key states: Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, Florida; but McCain’s campaign staff is still not giving up. It is well known that Senator McCain has pulled out of many states, surrendering them to Obama: both Nevada and Colorado. He has given up on 14 electoral votes.

The position Obama is in gives him considerably more winning combinations to reach the magical number of 270 electoral votes, the amount needed to secure the Presidency. As of today (10/23) according to CNN, Obama has 192 safe electoral votes coming from the states Kerry won in 2004 while McCain has slightly less ‘safe’ votes totaling 122. Obama continues to outspend McCain by a 4:1 margin in all of the Kerry states and in many Bush states; turning once safe Republican strongholds into political battlegrounds.

Many political science experts believe that through the number of winning combinations Obama has, it is almost an impossible chance that he could loose the Electoral College (he has 8 possible combinations, McCain only has 1); there is still some doubt, even with the campaign season coming to a close.

The only combination that McCain has to win every single remaining state including: Florida, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Colorado, Nevada and West Virginia; however if Virginia goes to Obama (which at the time of publication is leaning 52% Obama, 45% McCain), the election is automatically Obama’s because McCain will be unable to obtain 270 electoral votes with Virginia’s 13 votes. Obama on the other hand has 8 winning combinations, which involve many states that were once safe, Republican havens and if they switch from Red to blue this election cycle, they will remain that way for many cycles to come.

McCain, although down in the polls and has lost considerable ground to the Democratic campaign, he still has some aces he could play in the last week or two; namely, instigate the poor White residents of Appalachia; whom Governor Sarah Palin has described “the Real America.” She has also thrown out many negative attacks on Senator Obama including: ‘terrorist’, ‘socialist’, and ‘Anti-American.’ The people who live in this part of the country have generally voted Democratic, especially the State of West Virginia but anything can happen. McCain had once stated that this type of politics, Dog Whistling, is a shameful way to win an election but as statistical information shows that unless he continues this method of campaigning there is no way to win the election. Right now if the current campaign style is still used, the undecided independent voters will continue to gravitate closer to the Democrats. McCain needs the independents and he needs to seriously consider revising his strategy in the last two weeks.

In my opinion however, I am not completely ready to say Obama is the winner just because of what the media is saying. Obama is in the position Kerry was in the last election cycle but if McCain is able to instigate these poor, mostly rural white folks; then McCain might be able to show some force against Obama’s many advantages in Electoral-rich states. There is one conflict that should be noted: Will Reverend Wright be unleashed against Obama? The answer is no. The reason is that those unfortunate people who live in Appalachia are not completely blind and they will eventually realize there is a limit and once its reached, it will turn them off. Not to mention the independent voters will rush to Obama's side if he even attempted to do so -- McCain needs every vote he can get and distancing himself from the center is the worst that can happen to him -- and will ultimately cost him the election as well.

In summation: in regards to both sides of the political spectrum and the amount of discussion given by independent pundits and surrogate speakers, there is almost no way McCain can win but we need to watch closely over the last few days. Anything can happen.

Conservatives and Christians

This weekend a family friend was telling me an interesting story about a religious pamphlet she was mailed from a local church. This pamphlet was full of instructions and suggestions for how the members of its congregation should vote. This struck me as odd: should this really be allowed to happen? I dont think so. This in my opinion undermines the democratic structure of the election. While it is perfectly fine and necessary to provide varied view points and differing ideas, it just seems wrong to attempt to coerce people into voting for one candidate because your church suggests it. Due to the issues at hand regarding abortion and stem cell research the pamphlet took a decidedly conservative stance, which was no suprise to me. According to Publiceye.org, a study conducted in 2000 showed that 79% of people who classified themselves as members of the "Christian Right" voted for Bush and that 14% of the electorate was composed of this supposed "Chrisitian Right". Due to the size of this religious demographic, the role of religion in politics is increasingly important for the candidates.

Another bone I have to pick with this is that it ignores what are, in my mind at least, the biggest issues on the table for America in this election. While abortion and stem cell research are important hot button topics for candidates, it would appear that national security, the economy, the Iraq War and the environment are all issues that should be paid the most attention to, yet were naively excluded from this pamphlet. While pamphlets of this nature are virtually unavoidable, I just "pray" that people can see past the alter and remember that regardless of what their church's pamphlet says about McCain, stem cell research and abortion, there are other issues that deserve serious attention.

Is race a factor when it comes to voting?

Theres a new poll that states that race wouldnt be a big factor when it comes to voting. For Obama to be the first African American president would be a symbolic change. But many people feel that many people is voting for Obama because of his race. Many Republicans say that race influences their votes where they wouldnt be voting Democrats this year claimed by CNN polling director,Holland. He also states that the amount of votes Obama may be loosing due to his race will be equal to the amount of votes he is getting, where race would work with and against Obama. The poll will also show that age will also be a factor too. McCain would be the oldest president, so for many voters his votes would also impact McCain's standing as well.
When deciding on a candidate there are many factors that will either make or break each candidate. Both McCain and Obama has potential down falls that can be seen through polls. So to point out that race is the reason why some people are supporting Obama is contradictory because some people is voting for McCain may be for the same reason. Theres so much to consider, but the main focus on voting has a lot to do with what each candidate would do to office.

Biden vs. Palin

In terms of how each candidate should act towards this debate is evident especially since they both have some kind of weakness, such as Palin inexperience. The way each candidate approach each other has been counted for such as how Palin asked Biden if she may call him Joe which also shows similarity towards the young and old distinction is being played with Obama and McCain as well. Palin has also taken the approach to applaud Biden for his opinions instead of "bashing" his claims. This was a smart role for Palin since her inexperience would be questioned if he was to cynical towards Biden when her accountablity is constantly questioned.On the issue of same sex, both Palin and Biden both were opposed. How ever, Biden claim that he want to give same sex couples the same crediablity as heterosexual couples. But Palin says that she supports the "traditional family values." Before being direct about where she stood, she made sure that Biden also agreed. This action made me question if she did this for understanding or to not make her self look like the "bad guy."On the issue of deregulation, Palin avoided the question that was asked of her and replied that she will answer the question the way she feels that she need to. Thus, instead of answering the question, Palin just talked about her credentials which had nothing to do with what was really asked. Biden says that the reason she is avoiding this question is because show that her "team" support deregulation.Palin says that it is not patriotic to raise taxes for Big Business when it would decrease the "growing economy."( This means that she want Big Business to prosper for sake of the economy-not mentioning the American people that she is so "passionate" about).I noticed that Biden emphasizing on important difference he share with Palin really had an affect on the audience and the way one would think about the positon they are placed in. When Biden broke down the health plan it is evident that the audience did have an affect to that. His ability to emphasize on his points than to really ridicule Palin, seems to make him more attracting to watch and listen. How ever, Palin has occasionally been playing the "mom card" where she feels that she can relate to everyone "since her family is so diverse" and her connection to the kitchen table. Biden has also shared his experience of being a parent to make his point of experience actually noticed since Palin obviously gave her self the image of being a "mom."

What did he just say?

A recent post on Politico yesterday highlights elitism and its relativity to the campaign and its voters. In the interview between Brian Williams and Palin/ McCain, the Republican ticket gives interesting insight into their definition of the American elite.

Sarah Palin describes the elite as those "who think they are better than everyone else", apparently without regard to education, political power, or wealth, terms which are the characteristics of ALL American social elites. So, according to Palin, you don't have to be wealthy or educated, or politicians, to be part of the elite network of American culture, a notion completely untrue and manipulative in that it positions the Republican ticket as serving the interests of the middle class. She has clearly been taught how to be ignorantly vague in hypocritical subjects. These remarks further lead to the candidates using the media to denounce elitist "outsiders",  surely of which they aren't a part. 

Later, they directly contradict each other, Palin defining the term itself instead of its application, while John McCain claiming those arrogant elites (who?) have fundamental centralized locations in DC and NYC. What might that imply, Mr. McCain? I find it hard to understand how McCain claims not to be part of the elite if he has friends among them, and runs a campaign that spends 150K at Neiman Markus and Saks for the VP. Yes, those scummy elitist snobs who "think that they can dictate what they believe to America rather than let Americans decide for themselves". 

McCains Brain

On top of discouraging polls, McCain is now becoming the object of mockery like his vp, Sarah Palin. The presidential hopeful is now part of a video series called McCains Brain, a skit of what does through his head during the debates. All of these are carefully thought out and perfectly positioned to tear McCain down. 

The videos are part of mainstream media, being on youtube. They are part of a five part series, personally i think that the fifth one is the funniest. Check them out!

number one!

number two!

number three!

number four!

number five!

White Privilege and the '08 Campaign

The following link is to a blog post which purports to give examples of white privilege from the presidential campaign, which I thought the rest of you might find interesting since it bridges class topics. Warning: contains liberal content.

http://www.siasaduni.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-is-white-privilege.html

An excerpt:

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

What do you all think of this?

John Kerry's Joke?

John Kerry took a jab at John McCain at a summit concerning about energy issues. Kerry joked, "Barack got asked the famous boxers or briefs question...then they asked McCain and McCain said, 'Depends'." Depends referring to the adult sized diaper used mainly be geriatrics. Is this joke a reflection of this elections personal attacks and ill humor, or a harmless jab?

Muslims in America

One of the attacks that many Republican surrogates have been making against Obama is that he's secretly a Muslim - and that's somehow something bad, and scary.  Well, he's not, he is a Christian and has been one his whole life.  But it begs the question - what if he were a Muslim?

In an OP - ED article today in The New York Times, Maureen Dowd brought up the same point.  Sure, there are Islamic Extremists in the Middle East, and they hate us and want to destroy America, but that does NOT, in any way, reflect on American Muslims.  It's disturbing that the Republicans want us to think that all Muslims are evil, and want to kill us, but Obama should show some respect for his roots (his father was a Muslim), and refute the attacks on Muslims.  

It's just as bad as racism, or sexism, to discriminate based on religion.  So far, in class,we've mainly been talking about racism, and how it appears in society.  But religion hatred is just as bad, maybe worse, because it isn't hidden - it's right out there, plain for everyone to see.  In the 21st century, we should be recognize the difference between an extremist and someone who is given solace and purpose by a little religion in their life.  JFK was the first Roman Catholic president, Obama may become the first African-American president, but will we ever be able to elect a Muslim president?

The "real" America

Recently, Palin and other Republican surrogates have begun declaring that the "real" America is the one that supports John McCain.  Ridiculous!  And John Stewart tells us why.  Check out the video.

And they say McCain's methods are bad...

Now more than ever McCain has been highly criticized for his method of getting voters to support him: negative attack ads, associating Obama with Ayers, and allowing pundits to slander Obama's race and religious preferences. But why are they criticized? Well, they are offensive to most, conveyed only partially truthfully, but most importantly, they stray from the key political issues. Now I don't condone McCain's tactics, but I think people too easily accept some of Obama's more suspicious campaign methods, while fuming at McCain. Obama has been using/abusing his celebrity-like popularity to his advantage.  For example, I was talking to my boyfriend who told me at his college, Obama campaign officials had set up a booth offering free shirts in exchange for participation in an Obama march. Now is bribing college students a good way to get their vote? Absolutely, hordes of people flocked to get a shirt. But again, it ignores the substance of what this election should be about, the issues. So as much as we would all like to believe Obama doesn't use any questionable methods to gain support, at times he can campaign just as dirty as McCain.  

The Bradley Effect

As of October 20, 2008, according to pollster.com, the current polling percentages between the two major party candidates are Barack Obama with 49.3% and John McCain with 43.7%. As Barack Obama’s polling numbers grow, I have heard a growing use of the term “the Bradley Effect” being used by pundits and political analysts in the media. This term “Bradley Effect” is used to describe the discrepancy between the projected polling numbers and the actual outcome of election results for non-white candidates.
This effect is believed to be caused by people giving inaccurate polling responses to pollsters saying they would vote for the non-white candidate in order to not be perceived as racist instead of stating their true preference. This originated from the 1982 gubernatorial election in California in which Tom Bradley, an African-American democrat ran against a white, Republican candidate George Deukmejian and lost. In the last days before the election, polls showed that Bradley had a significant lead over Deukmejian, yet on election day, Bradley had a worse turnout with white voters then formerly received and narrowly lost the election.
This effect is not always relevant to all elections between a white and non-white candidate as there are still non-white politicians. But in this historical election, the media appears to be becoming more skeptical of Barack Obama’s advantage in the polls and the term Bradley Effect has been making its way into the vernacular of the media. We will only know if this phenomenon had any impact on this election on November 4.

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, Retired General and Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell formally endorsed Barack Obama after many months of observation through the conventions and the recent Presidential Debates. Powell's decision was based upon the financial crisis plaguing the nation and the attack ads McCain has been airing over the last two weeks. Powell said when he mentioned McCain's running mate, Governor Palin:

“She’s a very distinguished woman, and she’s to be admired, but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president."

Following that, he explained why Obama was a better choice:

And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities – and we have to take that into account – as well as his substance. He has both style and substance. He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming in to the world, on to the world stage, on to the American stage. And for that reason, I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

With appoximately 2 weeks until Election Day, Powell's endorsement is the highest Republican endorsement since the beginning of the General Election campaigning season for Obama. McCain later on this afternoon dismissed the endorsement: "Well, I’ve always admired and respected General Powell,” he said. “We’re longtime friends. This doesn’t come as a surprise. But I’m also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state” - Henry A. Kissenger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander M. Haig — “and I’m proud to have the endorsement of well over 200 retired army generals and admirals. I respect and continue to respect and admire Secretary Powell.”

As many would think, this is just another nail in McCain's campaign and just further's the Democrats chances of winning the election. Obama called Powell ten minutes after his interview on Meet the Press and thanked him for his endorsement. He confirmed that he would not be campaigning with Mr. Obama in the last weeks of the campaign but he did not rule out the possibility of a cabinet appointment.

Below is the video footage of his interview on Meet the Press:

Ayers and Obama: CNN Reports, You Decide

Fear of a Black Planet

In 1990, Public Enemy released Fear of a Black Planet, its follow-up to the 1988 It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, which established PE as hip hop's political conscience. The title track on Fear ends with a question:

"Excuse us for the news
I question those accused
Why does this fear of Black from White
Influence who you choose?"

PE's front-man, Chuck D, strikes at the heart of a division that has been sown for decades in American culture and society. Michael Omi, a leading voice on the relationship between race and popular media, has argued that "a crucial dimension of racial oppression in the United States has been the articulation of an ideology of difference, or 'otherness'. This involves defining 'us' (i.e., white Americans) in opposition to 'them.'"

I've been making the case that recent efforts — undertaken both by the McCain-Palin campaign and a growing legion of official and unofficial surrogates and supporters — to de-Americanize Barack Obama not only taps into some Americans' xenophobia, but to some white people's racism. In other words, Obama has become a triple threat: a racial, religious and national Other. Now white. Not Christian. Not American.

Political campaigns, especially at the presidential level, are bloodsports. When one campaign has a lead and a large cash advantage, moreover, the campaign that is trying to refocus attention will often resort to negative campaigning. People say they don't like it, but history shows that it's an effective technique.

I'm not one to argue that Obama should be spared this rite of passage; he wasn't during the primary and it would be foolhardy to think he should or would be now. My concern is with the theme of the negative attacks. Calling Obama inexperienced didn't work. Deriding him as a 'celebrity' didn't work. Mocking his popularity didn't work.

If there's a silver lining here, perhaps it's that the right-wing attack machine saved the best/worst for last. But this is tinsel wrapped around a hurricane; as we've seen recently, McCain and Palin may have dialed down their rhetoric, but it really doesn't matter. The meme is out there, and others have picked it up and run with it. For instance, three days ago, the Chafee County Republican Women organization featured the image below in its newsletter.



Diane Fedele, who included the image, said she had received it as part of a chain email and has apologized to anyone who was offended but insists she did not mean this to be racist. She thought it was funny, since Obama had made a crack about not looking like all the other guys on U.S. currency. She did not see watermelon, fried chicken or ribs as being specifically associated with black Americans any more than she thought it might be problematic to circulate an image that links Obama to food stamps rather than currency. Ironically, the person who claims to have created this image did so back in May as part of a satire about Republican fears that Obama was going to run a 'black' campaign. The blogger, listed only as TK, maintains a blog called Please God, No, which seems to be in the vein of The Onion and features over-the-top satire and parody pieces. The giant flap Fedele has sparked seems only to have proved TK's original point, and goes some way as a cautionary tale about quoting someone out of context.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Republican Party posted the image below to its official site last week before apparently bowing to widespread condemnation, including a sharp rebuke from Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state GOP:



County party chairman, Craig MacGlashan, who manages the web site, offered a pretty spineless defense to the Sacramento Bee: "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things." Translation: any impropriety was purely inferential, not implicit.

And while I'm the last one to defend crowd behavior at any sort of event, it seems worth including this assortment of McCain-Palin supporters in Johnstown, PA last week, not because the things they say or do is particularly represenative of, or particularly exceptional to, other things that are circulating in the air these days. Rather, I offer it as a coda to my initial point... now that the meme is out there, others will carry it regardless of what the campaign's official line is. Short of aggressive, repeated condemnations, such behavior is probably going to continue in certain situations, and as it does, it continues to promote an 'ideology of difference' that has historically worked to solidify and normalize racial antipathy in this country.





Update: In keeping with the growing frequency of these images starting to crop up, this flyer was just mailed to voters in Minneapolis and St. Paul, warning everyone about their vision of American under an Obama presidency. Unsurprisingly, the mailer seems have been sent anonymously. Not only classy, but courageous.

What's worse than a 3:00 am phone call...

Despite proclaiming "I don't care about a washed-up terrorist" when answering a question about William Ayers at the final presidential debate, John McCain's campaign is now flooding battleground states with robocalls that indicate the Straight Talker™ may have been a little less than candid:

Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500.

It's worth pointing out that during the 2000 Republican primary, McCain, coming off a major victory in the New Hampshire victory, seemed poised to steamroll through the crucial early primaries and lock up his party's nomination. But something happened on the way to the next primary, which was in South Carolina. A then little-known man named Karl Rove, chief campaign strategist for Texas Governor George W. Bush, flooded South Carolina with robocalls about Cindy McCain's addiction to prescription medication and implying that the McCains' adopted Bangladeshi daughter was actually John McCain's illegitimate inter-racial child fathered by a black woman. Bush went on to win the SC primary and the party's nomination before ultimately winning the presidency by a final vote of 5-4 in the Supreme Court. McCain decried robocalls as hateful smear tactics. Indeed, just nine months ago his campaign manager Steve Schmidt denounced the practice. Apparently, they've changed their tune.


Sources:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/mccain-robo-calls-critical-of-obama/
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/flashback_mccain_condemned_rob.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/17/report-mccain-using-same_n_135699.html

New Dangers in Speaking Truth to Power

Imagine you are sitting at home minding your own business. There is a knock at the door, a presidential candidate is there, asking for your vote. In return for this privilege you ask him a question that reveals, to many in the country, a new perspective on his candidacy. For this you are subject to myriad of investigations,insults, your livelihood is threatened,and your dreams are belittled. This is the story of Joe Wurzelbacher, a regular citizen whose attentive questioning brought into question the nature of Senator Obama's tax plan.



No he doesn't yet make 250,000 dollars, he hopes too. No he doesn't have a plumbing license, he does residential work so he doesn't need one. Yes has a tax lien, but so does Obama's treasurer, a fact which has never been trumpeted with such vigor by the media as all of the little pecadillos of poor Mr.Wurzelbacher, an ordinary citizen whose only crime was to question Orthodox political thought. Here is a man who hopes to work hard, save, and achieve, slandered.

p.s. the idea that McCain's campaign needs to vet people who ask Obama tough but illuminating questions strikes me as a trifle absurd.

Also, Another American paying the price for his Heterodoxy.



Update, Quotes from the Plumber in Question:

"Hopefully they'll have me to thank for it as far as telling people to get out and find their own answers," Mr. Wurzelbacher said. "That's where I hope they go with it."

"It actually upsets me," Mr. Wurzelbacher said. "I am a plumber, and just a plumber, and here Barack Obama or John McCain, I mean these guys are going to deal with some serious issues coming up shortly. The media's worried about whether I paid my taxes, they're worried about any number of silly things that have nothing to do with America. They really don't. I asked a question. When you can't ask a question to your leaders anymore, that gets scary. That bothers me."

When the Witch Wants a Witch Hunt

Anti-Anti-Americanism — a Hollywood story:
In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (better known by the acronym HUAC) began conducting public hearings in its investigation of allegations that communists had 'taken over' the film industry. As a result of these hearings, nine screenwriters and one director — who together became known as the Hollywood Ten — were sentenced to one year in federal prison after being found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to recognize HUAC's authority to inquire into their political views.

Ironically, the following year, the United States Supreme Court issued what is known as the Paramount decree, which found that the Hollywood studios — the leaders of which had pressed for the HUAC hearings — constituted an illegal, vertically integrated oligopoly (or trust), in which the eight major studios colluded to fix prices, restrict access to the production, distribution and exhibition of movies in the United States. A cynical person might look at this other 'group of eight', which did not compete in a free market but instead illegally sought to 'fix' the market — certainly not a communist attitude toward business, but not exactly in the spirit of the American dream that Hollywood had grown rich from making movies about either.

HUAC also laid the groundwork for the blacklist. This list, the existence of which studio heads vigorously denied, was used for well over a decade to keep anyone even suspected of having communist sympathies from gaining employment in the entertainment industry (which had grown to include television by the early 1950s).

HUAC also paved the way for the more well-known anti-communist witch hunts conducted by Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. In short, from late 1940s through the mid-1950s, acute fears of Soviet Russia and nuclear war fueled a number of ferocious assaults on American civil liberties — including restrictions on the rights to free speech, a free press, and especially when these were employed to criticize one's own government. People who voiced dissent, or were even suspected of doing so — often people with 'funny names' like Rosenberg or Maltz or Biberman — were accused of being "un-American" by individuals, industries and government bodies who sought to define 'Americanism' as a blind and total acceptance of the status quo. America was an unimpeachable beacon of freedom, and if you thought otherwise, you were free to 'go back to Russia', to jail or to hell.


Anti-Anti-Americanism — Bringing Irony Back
In his testimony as a friendly witness before HUAC, Jack Warner began his remarks by declaring that "Ideological termites have burrowed into many American industries, organizations, and societies. Wherever they may be, I say let us dig them out and get rid of them."

Yesterday, on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (MN-R) became the latest to sound the "Obama isn't one of us" alarm. Only this time, she manages to trump Palin's xenophobic saber-rattling. Bachmann doesn't bother with silly innuendoes about Obama "palling around with terrorists". And she's not interested in summoning Palin's classic Everymom tone she uses when talking to rallies about Obama — "And I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America, as the greatest source for good in this world." — as if she's warning the neighborhood association that a godless pedophile was running for elementary school principal and ahead in the polls.

No. Bachmann just calls 'em like she sees 'em. "I think the people that Barack Obama has been associating with are anti-American, by and large" and "I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views."

Partisan smears like this are ugly, but hardly unprecedented. What's truly terrifying, however, is that these remarks were used to pitch a much broader call to arms, in which Congresswoman Bachmann actually called for "The news media should do a penetrating exposé and [investigate] the views of the people in Congress and find out are they are pro-America or anti-America."

Notes from the Debate: Facts on Colombian Free Trade

Congress, oh mighty home of the ineffectual part two, Colombian Lobbyists have put the full court press on Congress to approve a free trade agreement that would eliminate tariffs and normalize trade relations between that Andean Republic and ourselves. Businesses here look to benefit far more than their Colombian brethren as our tariffs on Colombian exports are significantly lower then Colombian’s tariffs on our exports. Congress seems to oppose the deal on human rights grounds, which would at least be a legitimate base for discussion except we are supplying the country with billions of dollars of munitions, financial aid, and we have special forces in country training their soldiers. This is akin to Congress and Senator Obama saying, “here’s large pistol and a box of explosives, Let me show you how to use them. But, no, we don’t trust you to sell us guava juice. “ If the Colombian regime is so egregious that it would be criminal to trade with them then it seems beyond belief that we should be arming them. If instead, as our strongest ally in South America and a country which has made great strides in ending its own civil war with our aid, we deny them a trading deal they want that would in the short term benefit our producers more then theirs, well, it seems a gross inconsistency bordering on madness. Oh, and naturally they have exportable oil. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friendly country close by with oil to sell now that Chavez is drifting into cloud coocoo land? Oh well… perhaps just another example of Senator Obama’s habit of voting present when the tough issues come up.

20 Minutes of Political Hilarity

It's Friday, and we all deserve a little levity to kick off the weekend. Last night, John McCain and Barack Obama attended the Alfred E. Smith memorial dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. The ultra-formal, white-tie affair is known for it's "roast"-like atmosphere, where speakers on the dais saddle up to the mic and play stand-up comedian for a few minutes. I doubt McCain or Obama wrote their own material, but they both seem to enjoy laughing at their own and one another's expense for awhile. Odds are, you will too. If only the debates had been this entertaining...

Joe the Plumber: The Real Story

In the debate on Monday, McCain made Joe the Plumber from Ohio a centerpiece of his policy points, especially when he attacked Obama's tax and health care policies.  Overnight, Joe was transformed into a political celebrity.  However, it seems that (surprise!) McCain didn't really find out the whole deal with Joe.  Like Sarah Palin, Joe Wurzelbacher was not vetted by McCain's team, and now there are some nasty truths coming out.

It turns out, Joe's not such a perfect citizen.  He owes the state of Ohio $1,182.98 in personal income taxes, doesn't have a plumbing license, and he actually makes less than $250,000 a year - so he would most definitely be getting tax cuts under Obama's tax plan, contrary to what McCain repeatedly claimed in Wednesday's debate.

But McCain doesn't care, he's a maverick - who cares what skeletons are in the closets of his people?  Palin abused her power in Alaska, but whatever - she's his VP choice and nothing will stop that!  Joe will actually be benefitted by Obama's tax plan and not McCain's, but hey, McCain doesn't care!  Joe has become the poster boy of the McCain campaign, being used as a talking point in rallies, and is the focus of a new ad that McCain has released.

As the new poster boy, Joe needs to be defended from the Democrats at all costs.  When Obama's campaign and the media began calling attention to Joe's less-than-perfect record, the campaign went on the attack.  Tucker Bounds, the McCain-Palin campaign spokesman, said, "It's an outrage that the Obama campaign and the media are attacking Joe the Plumber for asking a legitimate question of a Presidential candidate.  Instead of answering tough questions, his campaign attacks average Americans for daring to look at the reality behind his words."

The question being to referred to was when Obama met Joe at a campaign stop, and Joe asked about his taxes, claiming he would make $250,000 a year as owner of a plumbing business.  Obama responded honestly, that those making $250,000 or less would not get tax raises - which would include Joe, if he was honest in his taxes.  

So to me, Bounds' defense of Joe in inexcusable.  Obama and the media are only completing the vetting process that McCain utterly failed to even begin.  I mean, they found Joe on the Drudge Report, and immediately made him a campaign focus!  Which makes me wonder, where did McCain find Palin - in an old beauty contest magazine?

All of this only highlights a side of McCain that worries me.  It seems to me that he can be impetuous, making a decision without fully examining any background information, and then sticking by it no matter what.  We saw this with Palin, when it was revealed by the bloggers and mainstream media that her daughter was pregnant, and then that she was involved in a power-abuse scandal in Alaska.  Then we saw that she knew nothing policy-wise, with her despicable interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric.  Unbelievably, McCain still stuck by her, when others began calling for her to be dropped.  Kathleen Parker, a well-known conservative columnist with the National Review, wrote an article in which she called for Palin to be dropped, and then stuck by her article, defending it to Stephen Colbert on an episode of the Colbert Report.  But still, McCain has made a decision, and he DOES NOT BACK DOWN! That would be showing WEAKNESS!  And now, he's made a campaign hero out of a man that is in no way someone that he should be trumpeting.  Come on, McCain!  Show some humility, accept the fact that you made a stupid, rush decision, and drop Joe the plumber!  I doubt he would mind, anyway - he never signed up to be a political celebrity.  I would say drop Palin while you're at it, but it's way, way too late for that now.  You're stuck with her.  

Of course, if McCain had changed his mind after choosing Palin, or even Joe, well, that would be flip-flopping, right?  And it's dangerous for a politician to change his mind on an issue, as we found out in 2004.  A leader needs to make decisions and stick by them, NO MATTER WHAT!  Like Bush once said, "I'm the decider!"

Yeah, right.

Sources: Politico.com: McCain Discovers plumber no ordinary joe

Stephen Colbert, a known satirist, compares the candidates to shakespeare characters. What he does with McCain is the interesting thing, comparing him to blood hungry ineffective man hungry for power no matter the cost. He also enlists a Harvard scholar to help entertain the idea. 

While apt to attack McCain and Palin, he quietly raises up Obama.

Watch Here!!

McCain's Got Nothing To Say

Woooo!!! 3rd and final debate last night!  Of course, I was rooting for Obama, but I was really interested to see if either of them had anything, ANYTHING new to say, or if it would simply be the same old, same old.  Even Bob Schieffer agreed: "By now, we've heard all the talking points, so let's try to tell the people tonight some things that they - they haven't heard."  And, of course, we were both disappointed.  This far close into the campaign, there's nothing else to say, it's all been said before - they're just fighting over every small difference in their policies, trying to win those few percentage points in the battleground states.  

But one thing really struck me hard - McCain focused so much on attacking Obama, it just made me want to puke.  On the majority of the issues, he would make an attack on Obama's policy, and then seem to ignore what Obama said to refute the attack - because he would then repeat his attack, with different wording, in his next chance to speak.  Here are several examples I picked up on:

TAXES

McCain used an encounter with a plumber named Joe from Ohio to accuse Obama of planning to raise his taxes.  Obama refuted the attack, saying that the plumber would most likely be making less that $250,000 a year, and so therefore would not see a tax raise.  McCain then came right back at him, saying all over again that Obama would raise his taxes.

NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING

McCain made his good ol' attack about Obama's relationship to Ayers, and then threw in a new one, where the organization ACORN was "now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy" - and then having the gall to insinuate that Obama was connected to them.  Bizarre claim, but Obama refuted the attacks with skill, proving there was no justification for McCain's claims.  (All of this is old hat, been said before by both of them).  But does McCain listen? No, of course not!  He comes right back with more of the same, taking a quote from a book Ayers wrote way, WAY out of proportion and still insinuating Obama had something to do with ACORN.

HEALTH CARE

McCain goes back to his good buddy Joe the plumber, and claims that under Obama's plan, Joe would have to pay fines if he didn't take Obama's health care plan.  But Obama refutes this point, saying that Joe, as a small business owner, would be exempt from the health care requirements that big businesses would have to cover.  But McCain wasn't listening, because he repeated himself once more, saying that, under Obama, Joe the plumber would have to pay fines if he didn't provide the health care that Obama wanted.

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that McCain really has nothing to go on now.  He's slipping in the polls, the voters trust Obama way more than McCain on economic issues, and his policies really don't look that different than Bush's.  So what does he have left to run on?  Nothing but (incorrect) attacks on Obama's policies, and, what's really troubling, accusations calling into question Obama's character.  I believe I've said this before in an earlier post, but it seems like I need to say it again: McCain is calling out the worst in American Politics, by getting down and dirty in his attacks against Obama.  We, the voters of America, need to show him and his fellow Republicans that we are not going to accept any longer the terrible and demeaning campaign methods that "elected" Bush into office.  Vote Obama into office on November 4, and vote out an era of negative campaigning.

Source: CNN Transcript of the Debate

Palin As President

Palin in the president's office, check it out: 

www.palinaspresident.com 

The Numbers Dont Lie

In the past couple of weeks John McCain has been falling steadily farther back behind Barack Obama in the national polls. A recent CBS/ New York Times poll revealed that Obama has now opened up a 14 point lead over McCain, which is monumental (Obama-53 McCain-39). The article featured in the New York Times suggests that McCain may in fact be the cause of his own problems. The article states that "The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are McCain's attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate" (CBS News, "Poll: Obama Opens 14-Point Lead on McCain").

This is an interesting situation for McCain, because, as it stands now, Obama's lead appears to be insurmountable. This lead seems even more daunting when it becomes apparent that the reasons for this significant gap are stemming from McCain and his vice presidential pick. These issues that are plaguing McCain in the polls are not easy, quick fixes. Unfortunately for McCain, it would appear that his attempt to skew the political narrative in his favor backfired and he is now being burned by the flame that he lit. As the saying goes, the numbers don't lie, and at this moment the numbers are telling a sad, lonely tale for McCain.

Sources:

CBS News, "Poll: Obama Opens 14-Point Lead On McCain", http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/14/opinion/polls/main4522273.shtml?source=mostpop_story, October 14, 2008

We Need An End

It’s is time for war to end. Kirk von Ackermann has marked his fifth year of his disappearance as a hostage of Iraq and he is the first man to get kidnapped in the war in Iraq. With now 39 kidnaps, the terrorist have found a new tactics in harming the US. With numbers of 342 foreign hostages including American troops the war has gone up to another level. I believe it is time for the United States to take another approach in the war. With new forms of torturing we can just pray that these soldiers can once again be with their family. Going back to the presidential election McCain wants to continue the war. He needs to notice that we have no business continuing this war and we don’t need to risk having more of our soldiers captured and tortured.

“Iraq has been most dangerous for Americans, who have a better than even chance of being murdered by their captors there — an 80 percent chance if the nine still missing are factored in. Foreigners, kidnapped in much higher numbers, have had a 20 percent chance of execution. Thirty-nine Americans have been taken hostage since 2003 in Iraq, and 22 are known to have been executed”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081013/ap_on_go_ot/terrorist_hostages;_ylt=AnH4Bi.gitQqV1Cl5ZQ8A3myFz4D“Iraq

Going back to Kirk von Ackermann the American Criminal Investigators has stated that the person responsible for Ackermann kidnapped is nowhere to be found “disappeared”. How can a person disappear, does the investigators mean that they cannot track or capture the terrorist. It is scary to think that people risk their lives to defend our country, but yet we cannot find the leading cause of this war (Osama Bin Laden) or even terrorist. However, we can kill Sadam Hussein, bomb hundreds of homes of innocent people, and keep losing soldiers, for the war (oil). We were supposed to be looking/ killing Osama Bin Laden and the terrorist group of Al Qaeda instead we have dug ourselves in a bigger hole. As Barack Obama stated in the debate this war has caused many of the alliances from the United States to lose their respect and trust. The United States is getting more and more unsecure. How can we continue a war, when we don’t even know where to start or who to find?

Palin's mother-in-law uncertain about how she'll vote

It's a sad day when one of your close relatives won't even vote for you. In a recent article , Sarah Palin's mother-in-law shared with a reporter that she is "uncertain about how she'll vote." I'm sorry, but if your daughter-in-law is running for such a high-ranking office and you're "uncertain" about how you'll vote so close to the election, you're either amazingly ignorant, or just plain lying. Faye Palin admitted , "We (Sarah Palin) don't always agree on everything. But I respect her passion." She even goes on to snub Sarah with a laugh, "I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative." Well, that will certainly make for an awkward Thanksgiving dinner.