Remember, remember…

On the eve of one of the more auspicious nights of the year, I thought it fitting to remind everyone that if you refused to participate in a certain civic obligation I will not stand for even the slightest grumble from you. In short, vote.

With any luck someone should emerge victorious without consequence and find themselves at the helm of this great country.

-V

Coming to a Close: We Are All One Nation

You’ve gotta hand it to the man, he knows how to present a speech.

With this race coming to close, each candidate is throwing (or not throwing) their final punches, hoping to come out on top. As the nation looks forward to a week from now, I’d like to take a moment to look back, and see when Barack Obama first appeared nationally, when the senator from Illinois captured the attention of many, and first began the path that has led to today – a day when we wait to see if we are going to elect the first black President, not because he’s black, but because he has given the people hope for change and faith in our own power.

I remember Obama’s speech at the 2004 DNC, and his message hasn’t changed in the four years since.

I remember the beginning. Do you?

Insanity Alert! Changing which team you support is bad!

What is this insanity? Is this really something that BBC should be reporting on in their Election 2008 section?

No matter what people say about this not being a battle about the issues, but it really is, and the evidence sways us to vote one way or another. Which team you cheer for – or don’t cheer for, or just show some support for – doesn’t matter, truly.

– Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown

Some Days You Just Can’t Get Rid of a Bomb

I can’t help but think that John McCain and I have some things in common.

-Batman

The Message Doesn’t Matter Anymore

I hate to say it, but this race isn’t about issues anymore. It’s all image and the debate last night should be more than enough to prove that point. McCain had Obama on the ropes most of the night hitting Obama hard on his economic policy. McCain did so well in fact that many of the pundits said McCain won this debate before the snap polls were released half an hour after the debate had finished.

But turn off the sound during the debate and you get a totally different image.

Yet again (for the third time), McCain failed to control his image, rolling his eyes Obama and even gawking while Obama remained composed and collected. The polls show this (even Fox news said they liked Obama’s delivery much better than McCain’s) giving Obama the win almost 2 to 1.

McCain’s problem from the start is either he or his team don’t understand that this political cycle is different from four years ago. He’s been running his campaign like Hillary Clinton did against Obama pushing old strategies into a new arena. Undecided voters that McCain and Obama are fighting for can be split into two different categories: informed and uninformed. To both of these groups image is extremely important, but for two entirely different reasons.

In a media saturated, American Idol America, it’s more about how you do than what you do. Television has taught the uninformed masses that image is important because its the only thing you can use to differentiate between competitors. There is no doubt that anyone who gets on American Idol has talent, so what do people vote on? Image. Image is the only difference the contestants share. And even when a contestant has more talent than another it’s the contestants with the better image that end up with the big record deals and endorsements.

Uninformed voters don’t have the time to filter through all the information being thrown at them. For the most part these voters are going to look at Obama and McCain as two contestants vying for presidency. Both of their policies sound like they’ll work (and both probably would in the long run). Both say they plan on changing government, so how do you decide? Who looks more presidential. The YouTube Wars don’t matter to these people, in fact; I can bet the only time they’ll actually see the candidates is on the news and during presidential debates. In both the news and the debates McCain looks very un-presidential when contrasted with Obama and the undecided, uniformed voters are reacting accordingly.

Those that have the time to sift through all the information being crammed down their throats, the informed voters, have a different reason for relying on image. In this new media arena anything you say can immediately be rebuked. As soon as a candidate says, “I am this. My opponent is that” or “I did this. My Opponent did that” someone is going to be checking the validity of that statement and I guarantee you every time someone is going to find an instance where the statement is false.

If informed voters are judging the candidate on how truthful their statements this puts candidates in a difficult position. These statements are how a candidate normally separates themselves from their opponents and forms a connection with the voter. When these statements are constantly brought into question the message breaks down and the only difference between candidates is how they deliver their message.

McCain has been playing the “I am this. My opponent is that” or “I did this. My Opponent did that” a lot during his campaign and every time the message has been thrown back in his face by someone who checks the facts. Obama on the other hand has had a fair amount of backfires, but his primary message of “Hope” focuses on the future and what Obama will do instead of what McCain did or what McCain is. In this era of new media Obama’s message is harder turn against him because of Obama’s young record and the “I will do this” as opposed to McCain’s “I’ve done this” message.

Within the last week McCain has begun to move away from negative attacks on Obama to more Obama-esque hope for the future messages. A recent shift in the polls shows that this tactic is the way to go, but does McCain have enough time to turn the race around?

-Hunter S. Thompson

The Final Debate

So, in order for McCain to have more than a snowball’s chance on Tatooine, he was going to have to pull out the Ultimate Trump Card. Seems like it really doesn’t exist (not surprised, personally). Can’t say that I wasn’t thinking that it was possible that McCain had been sitting on something this whole time, but it seems, if Nate Silver is to be believed, it will take some kind of miracle for the vote to swing back his way.

Now, I’m often one for betting on high risk, high payoff situations, but while the odds are against McCain, and, if I were to bet on him, the payout could be good, I don’t think this is an overall “high payoff” situation. While I’m all one for deregulation of certain things – you know, perhaps gambling or bans and such things – that isn’t what we need right now. Even out here in the Outer Rim, we’ve felt the financial troubles that are affecting everyone.

Regulation is what we need, and it looks like I’m going to have to stick with the pirate title.

-Han Solo

Palin Booed

When Sarah “Hockey Mom” Palin went to Philadelphia for the Flyer’s Hockey Game, it seemed no one there was a Republican supporter….Some hockey “mom” she is if she can’t even rally the support of hockey fans and hockey players….

And sure, some might say there was cheers among the boos, but if you listen closely, I’m sure it’s only the music covering up some of the boos…

And really, if you’re a Hockey Mom, the puck isn’t something disgusting, though it is a bit dirty….Doesn’t mean you have to hold and drop it like it’s infected with some kind of plague…

And really, don’t push the boos….Palin, you know they were all directed at you, so don’t go saying that the fans were booing your daughter…..

– Mallory McMallard

And the Winner Is…

After the presidential debates Friday mant people weighed in on who won the debates. As expected, Left leaning blogs claim Obama won while the right retorts the win goes to McCain.

Neither of these opinions matter as Joshua Trevino points out on his blog,

If you want to assess the “winner” of a campaign debate, the only data that matters is the post-debate polling — not the pronouncements of the pundits.

What really matters are the undecided voters and what they have to say about the debate.

Let’s crunch some of those numbers:

Image

Obama 49% Better – 8% Worse = +41%

McCain 32% Better – 21% Worse = +11%

Prepared to be President

Obama 60% (Post Debate) – 44% (Pre Debate) = +16%

McCain 78% (Post Debate) – 79% (Pre Debate) = -1%

Understands Your Needs and Problems

Obama 79% (Post Debate) – 58% (Pre Debate) = +21%

McCain 41% (Post Debate) – 36% (Pre Debate) = +5%

Overall, it seems like Obama gained more from this debate than McCain did. What do you think Dave?

-Hal 9000

On Multitasking

You know, I’m just trying to figure out what Sen. McCain is doing. I know that, politically, it’s both a brilliant and moronic move, but really? Suspending his campaign to go “work” on a bill that neither he nor Sen. Obama actually have any more than a yes/no say on? (The Senate Banking Committee Members will be doing most of the work on that.)

 

Any hero knows, you’ve gotta multitask, and anyone who can’t do that doesn’t deserve to be President of this nation.

-Mr. Incredible

The Battleground

I have to say that this election is turning into one of the most interesting and strangest set ups I have seen. See, I’m pretty sure that it is John McCain who is running for President, but it seems as though Palin and the media don’t think so. They seem to enjoy pitting her against Barack Obama, instead of her equivalent on the rival party’s ticket, Joe Biden.

There are several other battles going on here. The first and most prominent is, of course, Obama vs. Palin/McCain McCain/Palin, which seems to continually focus on Obama vs. Palin.

We’ve also got what should be the main debating point, Obama vs. McSame, as well as Now we get to some interesting ones!

McCains vs. McCain – his own family doesn’t support him!

Oh, and don’t forget Media vs. Palin: (We’re at 36, as of 9/22)

And there’s one particular match-up that I find extremely interesting:

McCain vs. Palin.

Seems the Republicans combat themselves as much as the other party.

-Han Solo