Electoral College Graph
I thought that I would share this neat graphic from Electoral-vote.com with you.
The lines represent the number of electoral votes (EVs) that McCain or Obama will get (according to electoral-vote.com).

From electoral-vote.com:
The graph above shows the current number of electoral votes for each candidate since Mar 22, The brown horizontal line shows the 270 electoral vote mark needed to be elected president. The gray vertical lines show the boundaries between the months.
Tags: 270, Barack Obama, electoral votes, Electoral Votes Estimate, electoral-vote.com, EVs, graph, John McCain
Posted in Current Events, Electoral Process | 2 Comments »
Joe the Plumber
The Winner of Round 3???
Obama? McCain? The moderator? Joe the plumber?
Wait – Who is this Joe the Plumber guy?
Conversation about Joe the Plumber dominated the debate last night. McCain and Obama used the example of Joe, a plumber, to illustrate what will happen under their economic plans. This guy, is a real guy who asked Obama a question at a recent rally. To me, however, the point was quite tiring and seemed more like pandering than anything (from both sides). Maybe you liked it however?
Funny enough, there is another Joe the Plumber from Amarillo who has his own website! He’s the “Friendliest Plumber in Town!”
All-in-all, however, I found this to be the best of the three debates so far. They hit some key and interesting issues: how dirty the campaigns have gotten lately, the economy, abortion, and education. Immigration, however, stayed off the table I would have enjoyed a conversation on that important issue.
Update: Joe the Plumber isn’t a licensed plumber and he owes $1200 in back taxes. He’s also already held more press conferences than Gov. Sarah Palin.
Tags: abortion, Amarillo, Barack Obama, economy, Education, Friendliest Plumber in Town, immigration, Joe the Plumber, John McCain, rally, Round 3
Posted in Current Events, Electoral Process | 2 Comments »
Round 3: TONIGHT
The third, and FINAL, debate between McCain and Obama is tonight! I bet, like me, you felt like you’ve seen it all. You’ve seen a few (if not all) debates and things haven’t changed much. It’s the same old stuff. Right? Why waste your time watching?
I’ll give you one good reason to watch.
Tonight is John McCain’s last chance to change the course of this race and win it all. If he doesn’t land a few zingers and convince the American public that HE is the man to handle the economy, that he is the man to solve American problems, then it could all be over. McCain needs to paint Obama as unknown, risky, and unexperienced. He has to go back to his original point: Trust me, I’m experienced, I’ve been there before.
How do you think the debate will affect the people in your state?
Second of all: Watch the debate WITH someone. Don’t watch it alone, it’s boring if you can’t talk to someone about it! It’s especially fun if you watch it with someone who disagrees with you.
Next: What do you think Saturday Night Live and John Stewart will make fun of this weekend? Usually, those things are the things that stick in the American people’s minds!
Finally: Who do you think will be the best President for the country??? Why? What did they show you in the debate tonight???
Tags: Barack Obama, debate, John McCain, John Stewart, President, Saturday Night Live, zingers
Posted in Current Events | Comments Off
State of the Polls
A great resource from Pollster that we’ve seen a lot in class. You can adjust it, and play with the settings. Pretty cool!
The red and blue lines stand for the ‘trend’ over time of the polls for John McCain or Barack Obama. The small dots reflect individual polls conducted by various organizations through various methods. Pollster puts all the data from the individual polls to create a ‘trend’ for each candidate.
Because each poll can have smaller errors, biases, or fundamental flaws, I find that looking at the trends is a much more efficient way to study which way the race is headed towards.
Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, polling, polling trends, Pollster, sampling errors
Posted in Current Events, Electoral Process | 1 Comment »
Money, Money, Money!!!
The Fix reports that Barack Obama is outspending John McCain nearly 3 to 1 on television ads! The Fix even believes that this may account for Obama’s surge in the polls.
He also breaks the spending so far down by individual states. How much are Obama and McCain spending in YOUR state? Do you think this will translate to one particular candidate winning your state?
Tags: Barack Obama, Chris Cillizza, electoral analysis, Electoral College, John McCain, state by state, television ads, The Fix
Posted in Current Events, Electoral Process | Comments Off


