The Internet's Niche

It is no question that the Internet is a bigger form of mass media, almost in its own realm. Using text, sound, video, interactivity, customization, pushing of information by message creators, and pulling of information by consumers all make the Internet an ideal marketplace for political campaigning. Trent and Friedenberg predicted that in the 2008 presidential campaign ads would be tested online before broadcasted on television. This is indeed true. As the authors have also mentioned, due to the decision by the Federal Election Commission, any content created for a campaign used for web ads, websites, or e-mail is not subject to campaign finance regulations. This does not include paid ads for other websites. The freedom of message creation and cheap feedback can dynamically change a campaign from its very core.

One gross underestimation by the authors is their comparison of the 2004 election with this one. Four years have passed, and more people are online. Not only that, but a great increase in voting-age citizens has also occurred. More people rely on the Internet for information; more people check their e-mail multiple times a day; more people subscribe to RSS feeds for a daily dose of customized literature. By the next election, I feel it is safe to say that the Internet will be the primary focus of a campaign using mass media.

Already Obama has raised record amounts of money from his website. Credible news sources use each candidate's website for information to write articles. As I've mentioned before: the book is already outdated, and it was published this year.

Obama Still Leading in the Swing States

Although the most recent polls show a smaller gap between the candidates in several of the key swing states, Obama continues to maintain his lead. Its difficult to tell how accurate these polls truly are. Will the same people actually exercise their right and vote on November 4th? And how large and diverse is the population sample?
However, it does not seem that McCain will be able to catch up this late in the game and his attack strategies continue to push voters away. I think he uses the same sayings like "maverick" and most recently "Joe the Plumber" until they come across as fake and fall on deaf ears.
I suppose on November 4th, Americans will finally know who will be serving our country for the next four years.

Obama-Biden Support in Spain, Europe, and the World

Does anyone else think it is weird that the United States presidential election gets nightly coverage on the news in Spain and other places around the world, while we learn almost nothing about their elections on ours? I think it is bad that things like that don’t matter to most people in our country. While other countries realize that our president might affect their countries, the United States might as well say that we don’t think it matters who the president of countries like Spain is. A comment made by McCain in September goes along these same lines. He made a series of remarks to a reporter’s questions about meeting with the president of Spain, Mr. Zapatero, which really didn’t make sense. Most people took it as he didn’t know who Zapatero was, and had assumed he was from Latin America. Even after the reporter clarified his question and included the word Europe, McCain didn’t change his implications that he wouldn’t meet with Zapatero. Many people from Spain appreciated Biden’s comment in the vice presidential election that he thought it was crazy that McCain isn’t interested in having talks with the president of Spain. According to a poll in Spain, 89% of people who said they had an opinion about the president of the United States would vote for Obama. This percentage is around what most other countries in Europe are at, and is slightly higher than Mexico and Canada. Almost every country in the world prefers Obama to McCain. With our nation’s current foreign policies it is not hard to imagine that almost all foreigners want to see some serious change in our president.

Obama's Website

Through this whole experience with this class and doing blogs, I have actually come to find that I have learned a lot. Even people around me that I speak with almost on a daily basis have given their imput on how much I have come from before I started with this class. Just from this class I am now able to have an opinion on the election, and it really feels good. My blog for this week is about the websites of the candidates. I have visited both candidates websites, and honestly but have honestly only really been able to focus on one...and that is Obamas. The functions of a candidates website are to affect visitor opinions, a means of fundraising, and a means of developing a body of candidate volunteers. When I first go onto Obama's website, the first thing that catches my eye, is saying "5 Things you can do to Volunteer." This right of the bat is performing one of the functions of a candidate's website. I also like how it goes nice and neat, and really is informative for visitors. I think that the Obama website can affect visitor opinions because when you visit the site, everything is laid out and easy to get to and read. I actually think that it shows a little bit about how Obama would run the country. He will lay it out on the table, and not hide anything. I think as time goes on the use of the internet will increase even more in the time of elections. People will be developing even crazier things and ways people can add this into their actual campaign.

McCain needs big muscles to climb this hill

Looking at polls all across the country it is not looking good for John McCain. He looks to be behind in states like Ohio, Missouri, Florida, Nevada, and and Virginia. Bush won all these states in 2004 and there is no way for McCain to win without them. In Ohio McCain is down 50 to 46 percent. This is a crucial state for McCain since no Republican has every won the presidency without the Ohio on their side. In Missouri Obama is ahead by a closer one point margin. In Florida and Nevada Obama continues to have a 2 to 4 point lead consistently. Finally in Virginia Obama seems to be widening the gap with a 5 point lead. In some polls Virgina is solid blue for Obama. The only light the McCain campaign is seeing right now is in Indiana and West Virgina where McCain still holds his lead over Obama. The only problem is McCain needs all the states that Bush won to win the presidency and he is down 8 of them across the nation. McCain is going to need a miracle on Nov. 4th to pull this off.

Higher Purpose

After weeks and months of down and dirty campaigning, Barack Obama is returning back to his "new politics." He's delivering his "Closing Argument Speech on the Change We Need." He talks of ending politics that divide a nation, and starting a new politic that brings out the best in people. He claims that the past 8 years a higher purpose has been missing from our country and he promises that change.
One of the reasons I chose this article was because of one thing Obama said, The question in this election is not “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” We know the answer to that. The real question is, “Will this country be better off four years from now?”

This is true. We shouldn't be examining the election from a retrospective viewpoint. We should all ask ourselves this question before the vote. So what do you think? Will this country be better off four years from now with Obama or McCain?

Alaska's Largest Newspaper Endorses Obama

Just today, the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska's largest newspaper) has endorsed Senator Obama.  With the election just over a week away, any endorsements gained are helpful to either party.  The fact that Sarah Palin is their governor has no affect on their decision.  The paper is quoted as saying:

"The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation."

Like many other critics of Palin in the United States, the paper believes she is truly ready to step into the job of being president.  This is interesting that a paper from her home state would be so blunt about their support for the opposition.  However, Anchorage is not the only paper declaring support against their state's perceived party affliation.  In Muncie, Indiana, The Star Press endorses Obama because he has set an example by remaining calm during the financial collapse.  Interestingly enough, other newspapers based out of "swing states" have endorsed Obama, such as:  The Erie Times-News (PA) and The Lansing State Journal (MI).

The Anchorage paper concluded their article with a funny, yet mean statement about Palin and McCain:  "Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time."