Presidental Candidate

Harpo

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The 2008 Presidential Election

A large part of Senator Barrack Obama's victory has to with technology and the youth vote. Becuase of social networking and many other forms of technology, Obama was able to reach out to voters in a way that has never been done before. Being able to friend Senator Obama on facebook, or recieve mulitple emails from his campaign, voters made a connection with the candidate that was very new and exciting. This was particularly appealing to the youth of the nation because for most it is very difficult to sit in front of the tv and watch the presidential debates, but through youtube, text messages, email, etc. it is extremely easy to stay on track with what is going on in the election. Also becuase of technology, youtube in particular, such things as skits on SNL had millions more viewers than those that actually watched the program. SNL, as most of us know, was very obvious with thier opinion of who should be the next president, and because of technology, it had even more of an impact. I think Barrack Obama's large use of technology was key in gaining the majority of youth votes, because our generation is know for being generally very technology savy.

Another issue that I found very interesting surrounding the 2008 Election was the impact of global perception. This website gives explanations about what many nations around the world think of the president elect Barrack Obama. It is across the board very optimistic and happy about who is next in line to run the United States. I think this is a very good start to the changes that need to occur for our nation, and with the wide support from around the world, that will be much easier to accomplish. Ther is also this video which talks about how anti-americanism needs to decrease and how the new president will change what happens in Pakistan.

I also found an article that discusses how technology is going to reach out to try and involve the rest of the world with many issues, specifically through facebook. I think it's pretty neat that this one event, being the 2008 election, has brought so many issues together and made so many people around the world aware.

CATO

Since the blog I was following before hasn't been recently updated, I switched to Cato-at-Liberty. A little bit of background: the Cato Istitute is a non-profit public policy research foundation. Their mission is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. There are new topics posted daily about all sorts of politcal issues.

Most of the recent posts focus on the presidential election and a lot of the issues that the candidates are faced with. The most recent post, and the one that interested me the most is about how Hawaii, the only state to have it, dropped it's universal child health care program. There are two main reasons why: 1. Universal Coverage means paying too much and 2. Universal Coverage means getting too little. Then it goes on to talk about Obama's health plans. I found this interesting considering I just did my soapbox on health care and this was extremely related. Also if you click on his picture, there is a video clip of Barack Obama speaking about his proposed plan.

I think especially with the struggling economy the cost of health care is very important, and right now its extremely expensive. Here is a document I found that has all sorts of facts and figures about what health care and insurance cost.

Vice Presidential Debate

On October 2nd, 2008 at 9 p.m. was the most viewed Vice Presidential Debate ever. I happened to be a part of it. I found it pretty interesting. This is the first year that I have really payed any attention to politics and the election, mostly cause I can be a part of it. There were many different issues discussed during the debate, three of them really stuck out for me.

Obviously, with our current economic state, the economy was a big one. Biden really emphasized the focus on the middle class. He said how it drives the economy and right now its not doing so hot. Sarah Palin on the other hand said how people have become to fear the economy and that it needs to be reformed and John McCain will do that.

Another topic discussed was the environment. Palin thinks that we need to become more energy independant and that energy is key to the future. She felt that the change in climate is all natural but that the planet still needs to be cleaned up and related this to her experience in Alaska. In Biden's opinion everything thats happened to the environment is man made and that investing in new, clean energy will also create more jobs.

The final issue that stuck out for me was foreign policy. I did not know a whole lot about this before watching the debate. On the subject of the war, Biden said we will end this war soon but Palin strongly felt that we couldn't pull out now. And when asked which was more of a threat, Iran and thier nuclear weapons or Unstable pakistan, Biden thought Pakistan while Palin thought Iran. It seemed they disagreed on most issues involving foreign policy.

So, although the media stressed what a good job Sarah Palin did, that was only because she had such low expectations. In my opinion, Joe Biden won the debate. From listening to him I felt he really knew what he was talking about and had a lot of experience whereas Palin is extremely new at all this. She hardly answered any questions, and Biden had a good answer for most. Some of my opinion might just be from a general dislike for Palin but overall Biden is much more suited for a position like the Vice President of the Unites States.

All Things Cynthia McKinney

This blog is all about Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party presidential candidate. It has a ton of video clips and and clips of speeches. It also has tons of links to articles, as well as to volunteer, contribute, and other ways to participate in her campaign.

This 'professional' blog is a lot different than most of the other blogs I have seen up to this point. There is a lot more information as well as the video clips and picture. Also all the links to other sites involving Cynthia McKinney help you to further understand who she is and what she stands for. All the other blogs seemed to be mostly just text and not all that appealing to look at. This 'professional' blog makes it easy to find anything you may want to know about this party and the candidates campaign.

One of the major topics discussed in an entry on this blog is energy. McKinney's opinion is to "leave the oil in the soil" She really emphasizes how we need to change our habits on use of energy and everyday events. She thinks we need a president who isn't going to be stuck in old ways. A lof her campaign focuses on the environment. I think this is very important, many companies these days are trying to 'go green' and I am a big believer in this as well, we all need to be a little more aware of the world around us and how the things we have been doing obviously is not working. I think Cynthia's stand for this will win her a decent amount of votes from all those American who also are very pro-earth.

Vocal Cord Dysfunction

VCD

So I'm pretty sure I have this too and I found this blog about the woman's son and I thought it was interesting to read some of the similar situations I've experienced. The only difference is that her son has asthma and I don't. I think it's a little strange that she calls him monkey but other than that, for me at least, I found her entries interesting.

TWILIGHT

MTV Movies Blog

So I just started reading this Twilgiht series, which is really good by the way, and the movie comes out in November. The post is about whether or not the author should continue writing the books from a different characters perspective, or take a break for a while. (Someone posted the first 12 chapters online without her permission) One of the actors from the movie thinks she should wait a little, while many others left comments on what they think on the topic. Personally I don't have an opinion yet because I am still on the first book, however that may change once I finish.

The Dumbest Generation?

Obviously, like everyone else I disagree with this statement. I think that our generation is different and misunderstood by most. Bauerlein makes the assumption that we arent interested in world realities and are actively cut off from them. However, with this 2008 election being one of the most historic with the first african-american candidate as well as the oldest, I personally am very interested in that, and aware of many other issues across the globe. The next thing he uses to make his point is that 'They don't read books- and don't want to, either.' Which makes me angry because first of all we read at least 8 books in school each year, and many people read more on their own outside of school. Personally I like to read outside of school but only books that interest me. They might not be classics but reading is reading. And also, I dont know anyone who is illiterate. Bauerlein's third reason was that we can't spell. Yeah, everyone uses AIM and abbreviations in text messages but that doesn't meant that we don't know how to spell. It's just important that we know when to use appropriate spelling and when it doesn't matter.
The point that bothers me the most is the whole technology thing, how our generation doesn't store the information but simply just find it and pass it along. For me, using the technology to find videos, primary resoures, etc. really helps to further understand some topic or idea. I have learned more in a class with computers all the time than I have in any other class, for me it really helps to make ideas stick. And all the use of technology now is only going to be extremely helpful as I go to college and in the future after that. Most adults these days would take hours to figure out some of the things my generation can do in minutes.
I think that Bauerlein needs to realize that our generation is just very different because we are fourtuneate enough to grow up with such advanced technology that older generations didn't get to experience, it's just different, in no way does that make us dumb.

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