Barack Obama set a presidential candidate record by raising $66 million this past August. Obama’s fundraising success was stated to be associated with his “continuing appeal to donors” and “robust outreach to new contributors.” The money was raised with the help of roughly 500,000 first-time donors. In contrast with Obama, McCain raised only $47 million in the month of August. August is typically a poor month for presidential fundraising; however the two candidates achieved fundraising success. McCain has a preexisting advantage over Obama thanks to his federally funded $84 million in tax payer funds. As a result of accepting the federal fund, McCain can no longer raise money for his campaign from donors. McCain is limited to spending that amount. Obama chose to bypass the public financing from tax payer funds, as he proved in the month of August, they can raise more.
As we have mentioned in class, finances play a huge role in political campaigns. Obama is more financially stable than McCain; therefore able to spend more money on his campaign. Obama is exploiting certain concepts of “new politics” to defeat McCain, primarily in the field of finances which leads to the use of technology. Before I read this article, I felt some bitterness concerning Obama’s financial strategies. I could not understand how or why Obama invested so much money into the campaign. Obama is simply playing the game by utilizing his strengths. My bitterness over Obama’s fundraising has transformed into respect and my retrospective view of democrats continues to proven. Democratic candidates continue to prove superior financial and economic strategies opposed to Republicans (example: Bill Clinton’s ability to manage our economy during his term compared to Bush’s current situation).
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Blog for this week
Are the American People Truly Ready for Change?
Are the American people truly ready for change? This is the question that Barack Obama is trying to instill during his interview with David Letterman late Wednesday night. Senator Obama made a bold statement referring to the "Sarah Palin Phenominon" and the idea that we, as Americans, need something fundamentally new. He is confident that once Palin begins talking about issues and giving interviews she will show the American people that she shares the same views as John McCain. He believes she stands by the same policies that George W has had for the past eight years. He really drives it home by saying that if we need someone to find us new jobs, or to send our kids to college, or to find a better health care system, why would we want four more years of the same policies. Barack Obama believes that change is what this election is about and we need something fundamentally new; whoever can get this across to the American people will be the next President of the United States of America.
David Letterman-Obama-Sept 10-2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODOAMI2z6tY
Aubree Walgamuth
Campaign Ads, Gone to Far
Every election, we see campaign advertisements for each candidate; more so for the Democratic and Republican Party than any of the other parties. There are some that bash one another while others are more informative about a candidate’s life or political views.
Recently both the Democrat and Republican Party have reached an all time low in attacking one another. One example of a negative ad by the McCain campaign produced an ad stating that Obama favored sex education for kindergartners. What Obama really voted for was a legislation “that would teach age-appropriate sex education to kindergartners, including information on rejecting advances by sexual predators” (Yen). I believe kindergarten is pretty young to be teaching sex education.
An example of an Obama ad against McCain is about his age and how his style from a 1980s hearing was outdated. It is 2008, and who are we to say it matter too much what a candidates style is, we vote to support their outlook on issues, not so much on how they dress.
I myself am tired of seeing all the negativity in TV advertising. Both candidates seem to have gone too far. I don’t watch a lot of news, but I do see the commercials occasionally on TV or the Internet. I think that advertising shouldn’t be so much on attacking the other candidate; it should be more informative about what changes the candidate is going to bring if they become President.
Recently both the Democrat and Republican Party have reached an all time low in attacking one another. One example of a negative ad by the McCain campaign produced an ad stating that Obama favored sex education for kindergartners. What Obama really voted for was a legislation “that would teach age-appropriate sex education to kindergartners, including information on rejecting advances by sexual predators” (Yen). I believe kindergarten is pretty young to be teaching sex education.
An example of an Obama ad against McCain is about his age and how his style from a 1980s hearing was outdated. It is 2008, and who are we to say it matter too much what a candidates style is, we vote to support their outlook on issues, not so much on how they dress.
I myself am tired of seeing all the negativity in TV advertising. Both candidates seem to have gone too far. I don’t watch a lot of news, but I do see the commercials occasionally on TV or the Internet. I think that advertising shouldn’t be so much on attacking the other candidate; it should be more informative about what changes the candidate is going to bring if they become President.
Hurricane Ike: The Tragedy
The next president of the United States must be able to lead the country through a time of tragedy. As yet another storm roamed across the country, Senator Obama addressed a gathered crowd at a park in N.H on Saturday morning. He said that all Americans need to come together, no matter their race or political preference, to support and pray for the people in crisis. Obama spoke to the people about donating to the American Red Cross. Obama has kept open communication with FEMA administrator David Paulison and Houston mayor, Bill White. Senator Obama has added a section to his website to help raise funds for the relief effort in the southern states. Before the hurricane hit the southern states, Haiti and other countries in the Caribbean were torn apart. Obama also addressed the need for international aid to be sent to Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Obama then continued his speech to discuss the “many quiet storms that are taking place throughout America.” These issues included: health care problems, pensions disappearing, and having American jobs shipped overseas.
I think that even though the hurricane has been moving, the political front also continues to move. The presidential candidates need to acknowledge their place as known figures of the United States, and use the power to help out those people in need. America as a country needs to be called to bring forth and start a collective effort to help our fellow brothers and sisters who have been affected by the storm.
I think that even though the hurricane has been moving, the political front also continues to move. The presidential candidates need to acknowledge their place as known figures of the United States, and use the power to help out those people in need. America as a country needs to be called to bring forth and start a collective effort to help our fellow brothers and sisters who have been affected by the storm.
Tina Fey for V.P?
For those of you who haven’t yet seen the SNL skit from last night, you MUST google “SNL Tina Fey-Palin.” As funny and ridiculous as it seems, it does seem to parallel the message of Hillary Clinton in Ohio this weekend.
By now we all know that Governor Palin is very different from Senator Clinton, but we have not heard much about it from Clinton until this weekend. In Ohio, she reiterated a phrase that she had said at the DNC a few weeks ago, but added Palin’s name to it: "No way, no how, no McCain and no Palin.” Because of McCain’s slight lead in the polls post-RNC, I think that Obama needs Hillary talking to her supporters more and more about the differences between her and Palin. I am actually surprised that this did not come sooner.
As difficult as it has proven for Obama to secure all of the female Democratic votes after the hard-fought primaries, I think that at this time in the campaign he needs to use Hillary as much as possible to ensure her supporters are voting for the issues that Hillary supported in her campaign, and not just another woman.
By now we all know that Governor Palin is very different from Senator Clinton, but we have not heard much about it from Clinton until this weekend. In Ohio, she reiterated a phrase that she had said at the DNC a few weeks ago, but added Palin’s name to it: "No way, no how, no McCain and no Palin.” Because of McCain’s slight lead in the polls post-RNC, I think that Obama needs Hillary talking to her supporters more and more about the differences between her and Palin. I am actually surprised that this did not come sooner.
As difficult as it has proven for Obama to secure all of the female Democratic votes after the hard-fought primaries, I think that at this time in the campaign he needs to use Hillary as much as possible to ensure her supporters are voting for the issues that Hillary supported in her campaign, and not just another woman.
Whom does this biased media really support?
To quote John Mayer, "when you trust your television, what you get it what you got, 'cuz when the own the information, they can bend it all they want." Normally, this seems to be a common complaint from the Republican Party. No matter how bipartisan a news anchor or even a news network tries to be, you can never take your personal opinion and biases out of what you report. There have been reports, for years and years, that the major news networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, so forth and so on) have had a "liberal bias" and report the Republican Party in a negative light. Evidence of this was never so glaring when NBC edited President Bush's answer, deliberately, to change his answer with regards to "appeasement." Conversely, Fox News is the subject of boisterous and constant criticism of their "conservative bias," reporting the Democratic Party in a negative light. Evidence of this was equally as glaring when Fox News covered Barack Obama's former minister, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, for about a month straight. You couldn't go 10 minutes without hearing those infamous sound bytes from Reverend Wright.
So what is the point of the media anyway? Well, for one, it is how most of the country stays informed on the issues: political, economical, social, sports and the like. This particular election has been interesting. John McCain's campaign often criticizes the "liberal media" for proclaiming Barack Obama as "the messiah" and seems to be in awe with Obama. On the other side, Barack Obama has criticized that same media for showing favoritism to Senator McCain. Particularly after the election, Senator Obama called out the media for not questioning several unfounded and dishonest claims from the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin and John McCain. The big issue was the both McCain and Palin criticized Barack Obama for placing $1 billion in earmarks while he has been in office. This number, has been rounded up to the nearest billion, as Barack Obama has only placed $850 million in earmarks while he has been in office. It will be particularly interesting to see how this plays out. While there will always be those claims that the major networks have a liberal bias, John McCain does have a "media darling" status with the media.
On that tangent, it will be interesting to see how John McCain handles Barack Obama's interview with Bill O'Reilly. From the get go of his campaign, Barack Obama has been the "anti-war" candidate and has said numerous times, "I knew invading Iraq was a mistake before we invaded, and stand firm in that belief." He won several voters over with that claim, and many believe that is how he got the nomination of Hillary Clinton. However, since securing the nomination, he stance has change. Barack Obama, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly, stated that "the surge" is in fact working, and progress is being made in Iraq. John McCain has stated that he would stay in Iraq for "100 years" to finish this war, and has been chastised for that claim. I think we will Obama's stance on Iraq questioned hard in the coming weeks, especially in that first debate.
So what is the point of the media anyway? Well, for one, it is how most of the country stays informed on the issues: political, economical, social, sports and the like. This particular election has been interesting. John McCain's campaign often criticizes the "liberal media" for proclaiming Barack Obama as "the messiah" and seems to be in awe with Obama. On the other side, Barack Obama has criticized that same media for showing favoritism to Senator McCain. Particularly after the election, Senator Obama called out the media for not questioning several unfounded and dishonest claims from the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin and John McCain. The big issue was the both McCain and Palin criticized Barack Obama for placing $1 billion in earmarks while he has been in office. This number, has been rounded up to the nearest billion, as Barack Obama has only placed $850 million in earmarks while he has been in office. It will be particularly interesting to see how this plays out. While there will always be those claims that the major networks have a liberal bias, John McCain does have a "media darling" status with the media.
On that tangent, it will be interesting to see how John McCain handles Barack Obama's interview with Bill O'Reilly. From the get go of his campaign, Barack Obama has been the "anti-war" candidate and has said numerous times, "I knew invading Iraq was a mistake before we invaded, and stand firm in that belief." He won several voters over with that claim, and many believe that is how he got the nomination of Hillary Clinton. However, since securing the nomination, he stance has change. Barack Obama, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly, stated that "the surge" is in fact working, and progress is being made in Iraq. John McCain has stated that he would stay in Iraq for "100 years" to finish this war, and has been chastised for that claim. I think we will Obama's stance on Iraq questioned hard in the coming weeks, especially in that first debate.
Obama
On Obama website, there’s a piece of press release on Obama’s proposal of doubling federal funding for charter schools at Dayton campaign stop. Obama expressed his ambition to an audience of 750 inside the Stebbins High School gymnasium, and he pointed out that both democratic and republican parties should set aside the disputes between the two sides and do something really constructive to the public. Obama’s speech boosted the confidence of the audience and gave them hope, which could be seen through the response of the audience according to the news.
This piece of news proves that political campaign fulfills the functions of informing the public of the position of presidential candidates on issues that are of great importance to them, and it also engages the audience’s involvement in political campaign. Actually, the speech is interactive in the sense that it helps the speaker and the audience know each other better. It serves as a resource for the candidate to better adjust his campaign them for the future; while for the audience, it either reinforces their expectation in the candidate or changes their view towards him.
Anyway, the debates between the presidential candidates which show their different approaches to the same problem can help the public make better judgment for their future president.
This piece of news proves that political campaign fulfills the functions of informing the public of the position of presidential candidates on issues that are of great importance to them, and it also engages the audience’s involvement in political campaign. Actually, the speech is interactive in the sense that it helps the speaker and the audience know each other better. It serves as a resource for the candidate to better adjust his campaign them for the future; while for the audience, it either reinforces their expectation in the candidate or changes their view towards him.
Anyway, the debates between the presidential candidates which show their different approaches to the same problem can help the public make better judgment for their future president.
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