7
Oct
2008
Round 2: Debate in Nashvegas
In just a few hours John McCain and Barack Obama will face off for their second (of three) debates in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the past few days, as we discussed in class, the campaign has taken an especially nasty turn. McCain and Palin have questioned Obama’s ties to 60′s radical William Ayers. While Obama has called McCain ‘erratic’ (calling into question his age perhaps), and brought up McCain’s involvement in the Keating 5 scandle of in the early 1990′s.
In the mean time, the Dow Industrial Average plummeted yesterday and the world wide economy looks to be in dire straights. This appears to be helping Obama as his poll numbers continue to rise nationally, and in key states, ahead of McCain.
Tonight, Obama will simply need to not mess up. He’ll need to avoid any serious pitfalls and keep McCain from landing any ‘zingers’ on him. McCain on the other hand needs to be on the offense. He needs to reverse the tidal wave of new support heading Obama’s way.
McCain’s task is significantly more difficult than Obama’s – but possible. Remember the Reagan/Carter debate from 1980?
The debate will be held in a ‘Town Hall’ format. Traditionally pundits have said this format favors McCain. Questions are asked from audience members to the candidates with a free flowing format ensuing after the questions are asked. The candidates will be able to roam around on the stage and walk up to the audience in order to respond. It allows the candidates to be more spontaneous and more personable. You’ll hear a lot of ‘plainfolk’ talk tonight. See if you can point it out!
Some analysis on what to watch for tonight from the political ‘experts’:
Will they stay civil tonight? Who will throw the first punch? Will Obama avoid McCain’s attacks?
24
Sep
2008
Which way do you lean?
Take the quiz, figure out where you lean politically!
Liberal or Conservative? Somewhere in between?
Many of you will find that you agree more with a third party candidate:
(Libertarian, Green Party, R. Nader, etc…)
Find three issues of that party that you agree with
Summarize what that party believes about those three important issues
(You can do this in Microsoft Word or your own sheet of paper)
Do NOT copy and paste!
Democrats http://democrats.org
Green Party http://gp.org
Libertarian http://lp.org/
Republicans http://gop.org
21
Sep
2008
10
Sep
2008
McCain’s New Lead (tie?) in the Polls
John McCain’s Surge in the Polls!
It appear that John McCain is pulling ahead of Barack Obama in the national polls. We’ve seen an increasing trend in the past week puching McCain ahead. Some believe it is simply a post convention ‘bump’ in the polls, but many other believe that it is John McCain’s excellent pick of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate. In the begining of the summer, McCain was behind Obama by 15-20 percentage points. For him to be tied, and even leading in some polls, is quite amazing.
While the national polls have significant value, we have to remember that the Electoral College actually elects the President. The national trends may lead (or be pushed) by trends leaning McCain in key states. However, we haven’t seen the data yet from those key states quite yet. You Obama folks will really need to worry if polls in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, and New Hampshire really start swinging McCain’s way. In addition, you McCain kids should really worry if those same few states swing the other way.
Let’s see if this trend lasts more than a week, or it’s something that will really stick for McCain.
There is an excellent site out there, www.electoral-vote.com, that posts the most recent polls as they are published. Remember though: not all polls are equal! Some are MUCH more reliable than others! There are several inheirent flaws to most polls today, including the increased use of cell phones and caller-ID.
You need 270 to win!
You can play it all out at www.270towin.com and predict what YOU think will happen on November 4th. Will Texas go Obama? California for McCain? What about something in between that’s a little more likely?
A bonus question for you!
Bonus to the person who finds the ‘reddest’ state out there right now, and the ‘bluest’ state also!
But here’s something, after you’ve read some articles and crunched some numbers, that you can really discuss:
[poll ID=4]
5
Sep
2008
McCain’s Acceptance Speech
John McCain gave an acceptance speech from Thursday night at the RNC. The 45 minute speech outlined his history, where he sees the Republican party moving in the future, and why he sees himself as an agent of change in Washington. He also spoke a lot about his running-mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
A video and written transcript of the speech.
McCain did a good job of telling his story to the American people. Watch for yourself and make your own mind up.
Check it out: The 2008 Republican National Conventions YouTube Channel. It has all of the speeches from the convention and more!