In an unexpected move (sarcasm), Time magazine has named president-elect Barack Obama person of the year for 2008. He fought a long and difficult battle to the presidency, and gave hope to America and the world; plus he overcame a mess of obstacles I’m not even going to get into. For these reasons, he is the person of the year, and we await his inauguration anxiously. Read more…
But, that doesn’t mean he’s not worth keeping a watchful eye on. John Hastings thinks so:
A little transparency from president-elect Barack Obama: a set of “behind the scenes” photos from election night. Relive the evening here…
Now that the election is over, Newsweek is at liberity to reveal all the juicy gossip it’s been saving up throughout the campaign. Here are a few nuggets:
- $150,000 is actually a low estimate for the amount Sarah Palin spent on her wardrobe.
- The Secret Service found “a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October” after vitrolic Palin rallies.
- McCain’s advisers decided not to tell him the campaign was over before his last debate.
- Palin brought up Obama’s relationship with William Ayers without McCain’s approval.
- McCain set the following boundaries: “no Jeremiah Wright; no attacking Michelle Obama; no attacking Obama for not serving in the military.”
- Obama didn’t choose Hillary Clinton because of her husband. This relieved McCain.
- Hillary Clinton and John McCain are friends who do shots together.
- Before her RNC speech, Sarah Palin greeted campaign advisors wearing only a towel.
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 States. Read more for a run-down of Obama’s whole campaign…
Kenya has declared Thursday a national holiday, in honor of Barack Obama being elected US president. Obama’s father was from Kenya, and the people see his election as a step in the right direction. Read more…
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s grandmother passed away late yesterday at the age of 86. She had been battling cancer. Obama had taken some time off from his grueling campaign to spend time with her at the end of last month. He had described her as “the cornerstone of his family.” Read more…
We’ve been hearing Conservatives and Republicans endorsing Barack Obama left and right. In the past, I had never understood how people who vote one way their entire lives could all of a sudden change their minds and vote for the other side. This, at least, is a great way to look at things if you’re Republican but can’t bring yourself to vote for John McCain.
“If I were to give one reason why I believe electing Barack Obama is essential tomorrow, it would be an end to this dark, lawless period in American constitutional government. The domestic cultural and political reasons for an Obama presidency remain as strong as they were when I wrote “Goodbye To All That” over a year ago. His ability to get us past the culture war has been proven in this campaign, in the generation now coming of age that will elect him if they turn out, in Obama’s staggering ability not to take the bait. His fiscal policies are too liberal for me - I don’t believe in raising taxes, I believe in cutting entitlements for the middle classes as the way to fiscal balance. I don’t believe in “progressive taxation”, I support a flat tax. I don’t want to give unions any more power. I’m sure there will be moments when a Democratic Congress will make me wince. But I also understand that money has to come from somewhere, and it will not come in any meaningful measure from freezing pork or the other transparent gimmicks advertized in advance by McCain. McCain is not serious on spending. But he is deadly serious in not touching taxes. So, on the core question of debt, on bringing America back to fiscal reason, Obama is still better than McCain. If I have to take an ideological hit to head toward fiscal solvency, I’ll put country before ideology.
[…]
But I do know that he [Obama] will handle these wars with reason, with prudence and with care. Those are three qualities absent from the White House for eight years. And I do know that Obama’s very person, and what he symbolizes, will do more to restore America’s image and repair our global public relations than any single measure any new administration will be able to accomplish.[…]”
May the best man win. Read more…
So the evidence is in: These are two electoral maps. The first one is from before the Great Depression.
And this next one is from after the Great Depression:
So it would seem, in the face of an economic meltdown, Americans historically trust the Democrats to help. Let’s see if that trend continues next Tuesday. Read more… buy cialisbuy cialisBuy Cialisbuy cialisbuy accutanebuy acompliabuy cialisbuy levitrabuy viagrabuy cialis onlinebuy viagra onlinebuy levitrabuy acompliabuy accutanebuy cialis onlinebuy viagra onlinebuy levitrabuy accutanebuy acompliacialis onlineviagra onlinelevitra onlinebuy acompliabuy accutanebuy viagrabuy cialisbuy levitrabuy accutanebuy viagrabuy cialisbuy levitrabuy accutanebuy viagrabuy cialiscialisbuy cialisviagrabuy viagralevitrabuy levitrazithromax
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.
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