well, not exactly but oh boy this will be a fun one to watch!
Well regardless if this pans out or not...this is going to be interesting. Oh god I'd love to run against that wacky Huckabee! "hey guys, lets change the constitution into the bible...duh duh duh"
Anyways, you won't need to 'keep your eye on the story' because they quite literally stopped both Hardball and Lou Dobbs (worthless) to break the story. Fox News, at least as I last checked, was continuing their crapfest
Check out the article. I'm a 23 year old male so I don't really care but all those conservative Christians are gonna be waggin their fingers.
My thought, if this actually has the teeth to bring down McCain (which isn't exactly likely), we'll see Romney pop right back up. He still holds the majority of delegates over Huckabee and though he endorsed McCain...those delegates can still vote how ever they want. Obviously they'd return to their original caster along with McCains.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Guess what...
I had lunch today and guess what: a table for "Obama '08" with two quite attractive male students (campaign T-Shirts included!)! Feeling my temperature rising and preparing myself for man-slaughter I asked them in the most sweetest voice I had: "Are you involved with the BSU college Democrats?".....well: Of course NOT! (Damn....and I was sooo ready!) They belong to their own Obama supporting group!
And the morale: "Und wenn du denkst es geht nichts mehr, kommt von irgendwo ein Lichtlein her!"
---And when you think nothing works anymore, a tiny light will appear from somewhere!---
Ball State you can do it! Don't give up! I believe in you!
And the morale: "Und wenn du denkst es geht nichts mehr, kommt von irgendwo ein Lichtlein her!"
---And when you think nothing works anymore, a tiny light will appear from somewhere!---
Ball State you can do it! Don't give up! I believe in you!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Reagan Diaries
So I realize that a lot of you will make fun of me for this, but in my spare time, (ha- who has spare time during thesis!) I’ve been reading The Reagan Diaries. It’s a really interesting play-by-play account of a day in the life of the President. It’s not really related to the election, I suppose, but I just got to the day where he has announced he is seeking re-election.
Anyway, I highly recommend it. I actually got it as a birthday present for my dad, but just looking at it was really interesting, so I am reading it before I give it to him!
Obama's wife hates America
Apparently, according to Fox News, Obama's wife said that she is only now proud of America. That, they explain, means that she is an "arch-liberal." And she was never proud of America. Oh, no! I hope Obama has been proud of America his entire life!!! I'm freaking out! What's real anymore!
Patriotism is so last century. Get over it, Fox News. America isn't anything to be proud of most times. Sure, I like it okay. I'm glad I was born here and all that. Proud is just going too far.
Patriotism is so last century. Get over it, Fox News. America isn't anything to be proud of most times. Sure, I like it okay. I'm glad I was born here and all that. Proud is just going too far.
Obama is a cheater
I'm in Cooper Tire waiting for my car to get worked on (Thankfully there is a wifi connection). Fox News was talking about the Obama plagiarism story. He's been lifting lines from another politician's speeches. Not really a huge deal. Nobody is going up on stage and winging it. The words used are just a package for the ideas they are trying to communicate. If Obama or his speech writer knew someone else who already wrote the right words, then why not use them? Unless they didn't get permission beforehand like they're saying they did.
Anyways, there were two old white guys sitting to my left.
One said, "He really put his foot in his mouth."
The other said, "I hope he chews it to the knees."
Oh, racist old white guys. You sure don't appreciate black people very much, do you?
Anyways, there were two old white guys sitting to my left.
One said, "He really put his foot in his mouth."
The other said, "I hope he chews it to the knees."
Oh, racist old white guys. You sure don't appreciate black people very much, do you?
Time to get some cigars
So now that Castro has resigned as president, will this affect the campaigns of our political parties? Is there any benefit from trying to "befriend" Cuba? I know it's a small country, but right now I think our own economy could use help from ANY market that want's to buy our products.
Monday, February 18, 2008
absentee voters.....don't count....obviously
Speaking of absentee voters.....obviously they don't count as much as they could (;p!)....
I found an article from the 2004 election that was quite interesting. I posted only an excerpt here but for the full article go to http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/09/20/vote_ed3__0.php
Pentagon blocks site for voters outside U.S.
PARIS: In a decision that could affect Americans abroad who are not yet registered to vote in the Nov. 2 presidential election, the Pentagon has begun restricting international access to the official Web site intended to help overseas absentee voters cast ballots.According to overseas-voter advocates who have been monitoring the situation, Internet service providers in at least 25 countries — including Yahoo Broadband in Japan, Wanadoo in France, BT Yahoo Broadband in Britain and Telefónica in Spain — have been denied access to the site of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, apparently to protect it from hackers.In an e-mail addressed to a person in France who had tried to access the Web site, the Federal Voting Assistance Program's Web manager, Susan Leader, wrote: "We are sorry you cannot access www.fvap.gov. Unfortunately, Wanadoo France has had its access blocked to U.S. government Web sites due to Wanadoo users constantly attempting to hack these sites. We do not expect the block to be lifted."In Washington, a Pentagon spokeswoman reached by telephone confirmed that a number of Internet service providers worldwide had been blacklisted to thwart hackers. The spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Ellen Krenke, declined to comment further.The Federal Voting Assistance Program, which was designed to help both military and civilian voters abroad, is under the authority of the Defense Department.
(......article continued on website)
I found an article from the 2004 election that was quite interesting. I posted only an excerpt here but for the full article go to http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/09/20/vote_ed3__0.php
Pentagon blocks site for voters outside U.S.
PARIS: In a decision that could affect Americans abroad who are not yet registered to vote in the Nov. 2 presidential election, the Pentagon has begun restricting international access to the official Web site intended to help overseas absentee voters cast ballots.According to overseas-voter advocates who have been monitoring the situation, Internet service providers in at least 25 countries — including Yahoo Broadband in Japan, Wanadoo in France, BT Yahoo Broadband in Britain and Telefónica in Spain — have been denied access to the site of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, apparently to protect it from hackers.In an e-mail addressed to a person in France who had tried to access the Web site, the Federal Voting Assistance Program's Web manager, Susan Leader, wrote: "We are sorry you cannot access www.fvap.gov. Unfortunately, Wanadoo France has had its access blocked to U.S. government Web sites due to Wanadoo users constantly attempting to hack these sites. We do not expect the block to be lifted."In Washington, a Pentagon spokeswoman reached by telephone confirmed that a number of Internet service providers worldwide had been blacklisted to thwart hackers. The spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Ellen Krenke, declined to comment further.The Federal Voting Assistance Program, which was designed to help both military and civilian voters abroad, is under the authority of the Defense Department.
(......article continued on website)
Absentee voters
Since I was an absentee voter for my election at home I was interested how much impact absentee voters outside the US may have
LexisNexis has numbers (article published 2004)
http://www.lexisnexis.com/about/releases/0729.asp
The article states:
"Sources vary when it comes to quantifying the number of eligible American voters abroad. The non-partisan Center for Voting and Democracy says 2 million to 3 million expatriates are eligible voters. Federal officials say roughly 6 million Americans overseas are eligible to vote: 3.2 million private expatriates; 1.4 million members of the armed forces and 1.3 million of their relatives; and about 200,000 State Department workers and other government employees."
......no matter if the lower or higher estimation is closer to the true number - I think it is still pretty impressive.
LexisNexis even describes the political affiliation of certain groups of US voters abroad (e.g. military personnel etc.)
It means that for the presidential election absentee voters indeed count....especially when the race is close!
LexisNexis has numbers (article published 2004)
http://www.lexisnexis.com/about/releases/0729.asp
The article states:
"Sources vary when it comes to quantifying the number of eligible American voters abroad. The non-partisan Center for Voting and Democracy says 2 million to 3 million expatriates are eligible voters. Federal officials say roughly 6 million Americans overseas are eligible to vote: 3.2 million private expatriates; 1.4 million members of the armed forces and 1.3 million of their relatives; and about 200,000 State Department workers and other government employees."
......no matter if the lower or higher estimation is closer to the true number - I think it is still pretty impressive.
LexisNexis even describes the political affiliation of certain groups of US voters abroad (e.g. military personnel etc.)
It means that for the presidential election absentee voters indeed count....especially when the race is close!
Random Thoughts
Well, we finally have our front runner for the republicans. Despite Huckabee and Paul hanging on, it seems McCain is getting the nod
With this happening, does anyone here think that the Democratic race will be affected by attack ads from McCain's camp? And who will McCain choose to attack?
With this happening, does anyone here think that the Democratic race will be affected by attack ads from McCain's camp? And who will McCain choose to attack?
Modern day equivelant of the smoke filled room?
I've been reading more about how Candidates Pay Superdelegates in Campaign Contributions. It all seems a bit fishy to me, but then again it is politics.
Usually, when journalists look at campaign financing, we look at who gave the candidates money. But here is a twist. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have Political Action Committees that have doled out thousands of dollars to the very people who will be voting to nominate them.
These recipients are so called "superdelegates," mostly party insiders who may back whomever they wish. Many are elected officials, such as congressmen, governors and the like. If you look at how candidates spend their campaign funds, you will often see that they help finance their political pals. Just go here and type in a congressperson, then click "expenditures" on the left side of the page. You can see how the elected official spends every dime of his or her campaign contributions.
The Center for Responsive Politics finds:
While it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials who are superdelegates have received at least $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Obama, who narrowly leads in the count of pledged, "non-super" delegates, has doled out more than $694,000 to superdelegates from his political action committee, Hope Fund, or campaign committee since 2005. Of the 81 elected officials who had announced as of Feb. 12 that their superdelegate votes would go to the Illinois senator, 34, or 40 percent of this group, have received campaign contributions from him in the 2006 or 2008 election cycles, totaling $228,000. In addition, Obama has been endorsed by 52 superdelegates who haven't held elected office recently and, therefore, didn't receive campaign contributions from him.
Clinton does not appear to have been as openhanded. Her PAC, HILLPAC, and campaign committee appear to have distributed $195,500 to superdelegates. Only 12 percent of her elected superdelegates, or 13 of 109 who have said they will back her, have received campaign contributions, totaling about $95,000 since 2005. An additional 128 unelected superdelegates support Clinton, according to a blog tracking superdelegates and their endorsements, 2008 Democratic Convention Watch.
Because superdelegates will make up around 20 percent of 4,000 delegates to the Democratic convention in August--Republicans don't have superdelegates-Clinton and Obama are aggressively wooing the more than 400 superdelegates who haven't yet made up their minds. Since 2005 Obama has given 52 of the undecided superdelegates a total of at least $363,900, while Clinton has given a total of $88,000 to 15 of them.
Many superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic Convention have officially announced whom they plan to nominate. Others have not yet endorsed a candidate.
Usually, when journalists look at campaign financing, we look at who gave the candidates money. But here is a twist. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have Political Action Committees that have doled out thousands of dollars to the very people who will be voting to nominate them.
These recipients are so called "superdelegates," mostly party insiders who may back whomever they wish. Many are elected officials, such as congressmen, governors and the like. If you look at how candidates spend their campaign funds, you will often see that they help finance their political pals. Just go here and type in a congressperson, then click "expenditures" on the left side of the page. You can see how the elected official spends every dime of his or her campaign contributions.
The Center for Responsive Politics finds:
While it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials who are superdelegates have received at least $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Obama, who narrowly leads in the count of pledged, "non-super" delegates, has doled out more than $694,000 to superdelegates from his political action committee, Hope Fund, or campaign committee since 2005. Of the 81 elected officials who had announced as of Feb. 12 that their superdelegate votes would go to the Illinois senator, 34, or 40 percent of this group, have received campaign contributions from him in the 2006 or 2008 election cycles, totaling $228,000. In addition, Obama has been endorsed by 52 superdelegates who haven't held elected office recently and, therefore, didn't receive campaign contributions from him.
Clinton does not appear to have been as openhanded. Her PAC, HILLPAC, and campaign committee appear to have distributed $195,500 to superdelegates. Only 12 percent of her elected superdelegates, or 13 of 109 who have said they will back her, have received campaign contributions, totaling about $95,000 since 2005. An additional 128 unelected superdelegates support Clinton, according to a blog tracking superdelegates and their endorsements, 2008 Democratic Convention Watch.
Because superdelegates will make up around 20 percent of 4,000 delegates to the Democratic convention in August--Republicans don't have superdelegates-Clinton and Obama are aggressively wooing the more than 400 superdelegates who haven't yet made up their minds. Since 2005 Obama has given 52 of the undecided superdelegates a total of at least $363,900, while Clinton has given a total of $88,000 to 15 of them.
Many superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic Convention have officially announced whom they plan to nominate. Others have not yet endorsed a candidate.
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