NEWS BLOGS
NEWS BLOGS
category: news
05 Nov 2008

The majority of voters cited the economy as the key issue for them in this campaign, unsurprisingly.  This information helps shed light on when, exactly, John McCain lost his chance at the White House.  You’d think it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact moment (or moments, at least) when an election is lost for a candidate.   Journalist and columnist Daniel Gross asks these questions about McCain and his campaign:

But when, precisely, did John McCain lose the narrative on the economy? Was it last July, when economic adviser Phil Gramm, discussing the “mental recession,” noted that “we’ve sort of become a nation of whiners”? Perhaps it was back in December 2007, when McCain said, “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” Or was McCain’s economic goose cooked long before the campaigns started? Ray Fair, the Yale professor who plugs macroeconomic data into an election-predicting model, said that “since November 2006, the model has consistently been predicting that the Democratic candidate would get about 52 percent of the two-party vote.”  (Read more…)

In fact, the beginning of McCain’s loss can be traced back to mid-September of this year.  On the brink of economic crisis, the man told a crowd in Jacksonville, Florida that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

McCain’s misstatement about the economy’s strength was a symptom of a bigger problem for his campaign (that his team had no set narrative or strategy, while Obama stayed strong and true to his message throughout the campaign.  Read more about that here.)

Once he admitted there was a problem with the economy, McCain suspended his campaign to fly to Washington and find a solution.  He was unable to convince Obama he should do the same, and finally resumed his campaign without having solved anything.

Finally, the third debate.  Joe the Plummer, while a wonderful “mascot,” could not stack up to the concrete former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and Warren Buffett presented by Obama.

The point is: Obama ran a flawless campaign that stuck to a clear message.  He stayed away, for the most part, from issues of race - not using it as a crutch to win votes, but also overcoming it as an issue with some white voters.  There were many obstacles to overcome, which Obama did.  And now he can apply that know-how to running the United StatesRead more for a run-down of Obama’s whole campaign…

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category: news
24 Oct 2008

Possibly the most important presidential campaign of a generation is reaching its climax, and you need to keep yourself informed. Here is a list, compiled by Mashable, of some of the best sites on the web for presidential polls and predictions:

270ToWin.com - To win the election a candidate needs 270 electoral votes; this site shows you what the current projections are. Breaks down polls, runs simulations and gives you a detailed history on how each state has voted.

CNN Electoral Map - CNN gives you the current projections based on polls, but also lets you clear the map and run your own scenarios.

Electoral-Vote.com - A map of the electoral votes that is updated daily with the newest data on how the states are breaking down. They also offer information for congressional elections, animated maps, donation information and more.

ElectoralMap.net - This map is based off of the Intrade prediction market and can be backed up to May of 2008 to see how the map keeps changing.

FiveThirtyEight.com - 538 refers to the total number of electoral votes that are up for grab in the presidential election. The site provides you with a standard breakdown of how they see the electoral votes turning out, as well as news and in-depth analysis of possible election scenarios dependent on various factors.

Politico.com - The Politico’s map shows you the latest polling data, focusing heaviest on the states that are still too close to call and how they may swing to decide this election.

Washington Post Pick Your President Project - The Washington Post map will allow you to see either how the actual map is looking at this time, or work on your own version of the map to project different scenarios.

Gallup.com - The election 2008 poll results from Gallup, one of the best known polling companies.

Pollster.com - Tracks various polls and gives you updated charts on how each candidate is tracking. Also offers an electoral map as well as analysis of what each poll means.

RealClearPolitics.com - Features poll breakdowns by state. You can also see a national overview that shows you which candidate is in the lead in each state and by how many points.

USAElectionPolls.com - Brings together information on national and state polls, battleground polls, house & senate polls, and more.

USAToday.com - While USA Today’s map looks like an electoral vote tracker, it is a map of polls with color coding to give you an idea of the percentage of difference between the candidates.

Read more…

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category: news
23 Oct 2008

So the Bible says “Love thy neighbor.” And obviously this woman has taken that to mean, “Love thy neighbor - unless they go to the wrong kind of Christian church, have an atheist mother, are named ‘Obama,’ are part Muslim, or don’t vote according to which candidate is most faith-oriented.” Hypocrisy at its finest, folks.

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