Current Event 6

     Currently in Virginia, former governor and candidate for Senator, Jim Gilmore, is still 30 points behind Mark Warner in polls. What's shocking, and almost pathetic, is that Warner has had this lead since October of 2007. This time last year! Can you believe it? Warner is receiving most of this support from independents (70 % of them)who want to make a difference and believe that difference will be made through Warner. Gilmore is receiving  his minimal support from 58% of conservatives and 56% from white evangelical christians. Most voters in this election are focusing on how they feel the candidate have done as both being former governors of Virginia. Many like Warner for the fact that he cut spending on his own programs as governor, but many laso like Gilmore because he elminated the personal property tax on VA cities and counties put on vehicules. Because this article was from the Washington Post, it was awesome to read an article that was FINALLY not biased. Woohoo! I hope it continues but I doubt it. Still, if Mark Warner is elected senator, it will be the first time 48 years that Virginia will be represented by two Democratic senators. So not only will we most likely be making history with an African American president for the country, Virginia will most like become a democratic state from now on. Whoa!

Election Blog Week Six! (Gasp!)

     Thank goodness the fourth is almost here. I have to admit, I'm getting pretty sick of all the "I'm Barack Obama, and I support this message." Alright already! I'm so done! Let's just pick the people already! Geez! At the beginning of the race, I still had faith that McCain could pull it together and create a Republican victory. Now, Obama is totally going to win. I know, I'm really sorry, but I've pretty much lost all hope. People are drawn in by is ability to express the changes they desire. The way he speaks is pulling in the poor and the people who are heavily effected by our financial downfall, not to mention those with family members in the military. All of these people just want some relief. Whether or not I agree with his policies, I believe he has the many qualities of a great leader including intelligence. Concerning the electoral college, Obama will most likely exceed the 270 vote requirement by at least 100 more votes. I mean, California is his, and Florida will most likely be turning blue, so there's really no doubt there. With regards to the popular vote, it's difficult for me to choose a number. Obviously, he won't have a total unison vote, but I predict that he will probably beat John McCain with at least 3/4 of the nations citizens behind him. I mean, come on, 34 million viewers tuned in for his 30 minute commercial Wednesday night. If that doesn't show a winner with support, I don't know what does.

Mark Warner will definitly be our new senator. He has been leading Jim Gilmore by 30 points since October 2007. Most people really approve of his actions as governor of VA and therefore think he's the man to represent us in the Senate. Because I'm me, I feel soooo bad for Gilmore. I  know that this is how politics goes, but the guy as spent so much money only to lose by a landslide that's been known to happen for a long time. He just keeps hanging in there till the very end. Still, how many people can say they were a governor? Sorry Gilmore! Maybe next time!

           So, who really know who Feder is? I pretty much never see anything on her in the local newspapers or the Washington Post for this 10th district election, or even Frank Wolf for that matter. Because of a lack of education, I believe that most people will see that Frank Wolf has done a fine job in representing us the past 20 years and he can probably continue to do so. It's something about hearing the same person win over and over that I think causes voters to just say "hey, he's hasn't hurt us so far, so I'll just vote for him" without researching who the opposing candidate is. You just keep hearing the same name and so when you show up to vote it could be like, hey, that guy sounds good. Personally, I think Wolf is doing a pretty rock star job, and we need to have some of the opposing party in the house because it could be quite possible that we could pull ourselves out of divided government in this election. Still, like Martin Van Buren once said, once party can't be everything to everybody, so , if we're going to have Republicans in congress, let's have Wolf.

In the 11th district, we have Republican Keith Fimian and Democrat Gerry Connolly. Well, I don't live in the 11th district, but because most of that area's citizens are staunch democrats, I believe the Connolly will have success. When I was doing my service ours,  I was more out in that area and those people are seriously, like, in love with the Democratic party. When I was there, I never so many Obama buttons, or buttons supporting candidates, in my life. Because of that, I have a feeling that those residents will vote straight-ticket despite most likely not being totally in the know of Connolly's postion on issues.

     

Omg! It's Week Five of the elections posts!

  So, a week from Tuesday is the big day.  Some states we already know which way they're swinging, like obviously, most states in New England will go Democrat. So the question is, what are the swing states going to do? This election in particular, Ohio is a big contender swing state. According the Rasmussen Reports, McCain is actually slightly ahead with 49% of votes in polls, and Obama is coming closely behind with 47%. Whoa! That's a close one! Still, that two percent undecided could make all the difference in which candidate will get the electoral votes (of which they have 20!) Although Ohio elected Bush for two terms, they also elected Clinton for his two as well, making it a classic swing state. You just never know what they're going to do. As of now, though. Ohio is sticking with it's Republican beliefs but because the race is so close, it's not like Obama doesn't have a chance. What has helped to decide these votes is comfortability. Most citizens in Ohio said they would not feel comfortable with Obama in the White House. Also, most citizens believe that McCain as the right amount of experience when compared to Obama. What's interesting, and also another reason why this state can turn red or blue at any minute, it the fact that 40% believe that Obama can make changes in this country, which is pretty awesome for him, compared to the 29% who believe McCain can. 16% said they both could and 12% said neither could. Hmmm... well, they'll make changes alright, but will they be good ones is the question. With these facts, it's plainly clear that Ohio could swing either way come November 4th.

Ever since the closeness of the 2000 election, Florida has been known as a swing state.  And look what's happened again! The race between Obama and McCain is SO close. Obama is leading with 49% but here comes McCain with 48%. Whoa! Talk about neck and neck! What's interesting is last week in Flordia, Obama was leading by 6 points. This goes to show that a lot can happen in just a week. The closeness of this race makes it for sure toss up state again as well as the fact that 15% percent of people believe they still might change their minds. Although Florida has elected a Republican in the past two election, it is not clear to see whether they will again. Florida in general probably wants new immigration changes and so they may see Obama as their contender.

These states are still of for grabs because they are going in a different direction than most would think they would. The issue of the economy, as well as national security is a large concern still. Florida has 27 electoral votes, which, as seen in the 2000 election, can make a HUGE difference. Well, Florida will most likely be Democrat for sure! I think that since they voted for both of George W. Bush's terms, they'd think it'd be a mistake to let another Republican into the White House. I guess it's like a "let's not make the same mistake three times" kind of thing. For Ohio, I think it's still pretty tough to say. Like I said before, a lot can happen in a week, and Obama could totally take over. My guess is that Ohio will possibly lean fully Democrat because those undecided will mostly see Obama as the young, new guy, who makes good speeches and so he can probably run our country, which could be true. But it also depends on who those undecided are. Are they mostly women? Are they mostly voters not much older than 18? In this case, the undecided could make all the difference.

Current Event 5

So, you know how the media can sometimes not always be the greatest source of information? Yeah, that's what I read about in my current event this week. Alexander Mooney from CNN wrote an article on how The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Washington Post (three widely read newspapers) are endorsing the Obama campaign, Well, The Washington Post, I mean, I think we all know that was coming (big surprise). What's interesting is that The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune have never endorsed a Democratic candidate. They reported that they admired his intellectualness as well as his "steadiness," which is something I've noticed over the past few weeks that many people admire about him. They believe that Senator Obama has the qualities of leadership that American leadership has never had before, most likely shown in his amazing rhetorical abilities.
Although Obama is receiving all this endorsement, don't get too excited. Mooney showed that these facts may not mean anything. John Kerry was endorsed by more than 200 newspapers in the 2004 election and his victory was unsuccessful. Still, the fact that Washington Post is an extremely well known newspaper read every day by millions could be a problem...
I was angry at the fact that some newspapers refuse to give an unbiased opinion. I read the Washington Post almost every day and sometimes I can only read it for five minutes before I fume at the unfairness toward the other candidate. For some people who don't have a T. V, the newspaper is their only way of gaining information. Everyone, I believe, deserves unbiased information and from there make their own opinions. But, you can't exactly stop the freedom of the press, so, well all just really need to remember to think for ourselves at not follow a newspaper just because of how well known they are, or because of their biasness.

Service Hour Post Numero deux!

Well, yesterday I went back over to the Reston Farmer's Market to help the Reston Republicans out at their table. Not as many weirdos as last time to talk about (I know, it's sad) but it was still extremely interesting.

I got their at about 10 in the morning when I knew the market would really be crowded. My superviser, Harry, was there, and I saw that he was able to get some NOBAMA buttons and also some more information to hand out about Wolf. Later, another Reston Republican member came by named Judith as well as Harry's friend Lisa. Before I knew it, we were in business. A lot of people started coming over to the table. I was able to get a few more people interested in the RCGR and hand them little bags filled with information about McCain, Palin, Wolf, and other republican candidates. Like the last time when I met the New Englander who was shockingly a Republican, this time I met this wonderful Hispanic woman who was Republican. She was a middle-aged lady who said she had already voted because she was going to be out of town on election day. She told us how she hates the fact that people automatically believe she is going to vote for Obama just because she is Hispanic. She told us how she moved to America a few years ago and it took her a whole year just to learn the English language. She adores Palin and believes that McCain is the man. So again, we're kinda going against the facts here. Woohoo!

So then there was this kid. He looked about,oh...let's say 9. He walked by the table once and saw the NOBAMA buttons. He said "Wow, those are cool." I gave him a piece of candy that we have for kids at the table and went on his way. About an hour or so later. He was walking around with his friend, who just happened to be holding Obama bumber stickers. This kid took a look at the table and then held the bumber stickers to us in protest or something, then walked away. I was like, yeah, keep walkin, twerp. Like anyone cares what he thinks anyway.

Almost every single person who walked by the table kept asking "Do we have a chance?" We were asked the by the Hispanic woman, by a mother with two little boys under the age of 4, by the little old lady who keeps praying. Others were very confident and believed that there was no question. Some didn't like Obama or McCain, but they decided that since they had to pick, they'd pick McCain. What was also interesting was that people like Lisa and Harry who have gown up in Europe (Harry grew up in England, Lisa grew up in Germany) knew the effects of some ideas such as universal health care. They just had two words for that: "bad idea."

I don't if I will be going again next Saturday. But I have pictures this time. Enjoy!

P.S. The violinists are these two juniors from Madison. They always play right next to our table. They say they're not playing for the Republicans, they are doing it to get some donations. But we like to think they are encouraging people to come to our table. =-)

Current Event 4

  So what I learned this week through my current event is that know only do Americans have very big opinions about who becomes president, but so does the rest of the world! The editorial in the Washington Post concluded by polls by Gallup, BBC, and the Pew Foundation that Latin Americans, Africans, Asians, and Europeans favor Obama overwhelmingly.  I didn't even know they cared!  Most of these people, especially the Europeans, believe that Obama will reform Bush policies. What's not so great, or so the author of this editorial thought, is that where the U.S. needs the biggest boost, the Middle East, most people actually favor McCain, with only 22% of Jordanians, 31% of Egyptians, and 34% of Lebanese having confidence that Senator Obama will make the correct decisions regarding world affairs. Hmmmm... very interesting, wouldn't you say?

       When I first read this I thought, why do other countries care? It's not their problem, geez. Then I remembered, duh! What about the United Nations and NATO?! What about the war in Iraq!? We all have to work together and how well we get along heavily depends on who is elected President and how he is perceived by other countries.  If other national leaders don't approve of our president and are reluctant to work with him, then as my Physics teacher Mr. Johnson used to say: We'd have trouble in river city. (I don't know where river city is, but we'd have trouble, okay?) The author of this editorial, though, wanted to make it clear that he supports Obama, and a large majority of the world supports Obama, so Obama should be president. Well it's not over yet, dude. I mean, some people say it is, like my parents and pretty much the rest of the country, but hey, like the Red Sox won the other day, you never know what may happen. And if he is elected, will he do what other countries believe he will do?Clearly, though, if the world had their vote, Obama would be moving in the White House, like, now.

Election Post Week Four!!! =-)

Wow! Can you believe it's only about 18 days till the election. The days are going by a lot faster than one would have they thought they would over the summer. The shortness of time is obviously adding more stress to campaigners, and I bet, based on recent polling data, McCain probably needs a stress ball really bad. I know I would.

A few weeks ago, I commented on a poll found on CNN on the ways states were swinging. Since then, numbers have slightly increased. According to the American Research Group, McCain is leading with 49% of votes, and McCain is coming behind with only 43%. Fortunately for him, 8% are still unsure. Although, as the weeks are going by, CNN shows that states are slowly becoming more sure than they are unsure, they are most likely sure about Obama too. Also on CNN, when people were asked what issue influenced their presidential vote the most, 58% said the economy, with health care and terrorism tying for 2nd place with 13%. Because these polls are very recent, they have obviously been influenced by the debates, media, rallies, speeches, etc. The increasing change of prices for food, gas, clothing, etc are starting to frighten people. I read in the newspaper just the other day that no one believes that the holiday season will bring such great profits as they have in the past because everyone is trying to be more careful. It's basically an example on the rational choice theory. Voters, such as these, who have made their opinions heard about which candidate they prefer and what issues are important are fighting in their own best interests to elect the candidate who will enforce help for them. As of now, it seems that the majority of people favor Obama's economic plan over McCains, and with the economy in such a lowly state, it is no wonder the presidential poll results are the way they are.

In terms of the VA Senate race, the state is leaning very far to the left. According to the Survey USA polls, Mark Warner is in the lead with slightly more the 60% of the votes and Gilmore is trailing behind with only about 31%. There is many reasons for this enormous gap, but with so many issues on the policy agenda, I think people may be more nit-picky about candidates for the Senate and their positions. For example, from people I have talked to at the RCGR (Republican Community of Greater Reston), they all aren't big fans of the recent bailout bill, and neither is Warner. Although these people are Republican, there's a chance that many of them won't be voting straight ticket because of certain candidates opinions that affect them. What's also interesting though, is that many people may just be uneducated at about the race and since the majority so far is voting for Warner, they feel they will too. I read the Washington Post every day and seldom see an article that has to do with these candidates, which is kind of a big deal considering the Senate is a powerful voice for us in government. So, the lack of knowledge could also be an issue and thus having people jump on the bandwagon.

Polls have a huge impact on campaigns. They show politicians if their support is weak or strong, so from their, they can create or maintain a new campaign strategy. From what I have noticed from volunteering, polls also make people nervous. McCain fans look at polls and just loose all hope, or if they have any left, it is most likely very minimal. The wonderful thing about polls, though, is that they keep politicians up to date, and therefore have no excuse to be unknowing of the concerns of people. From the polls I have read, I do believe they are accurate in gauging public opinion. Although they don't speak for every single citizen, they represent us a whole.

Service Hour Post

Well, this morning was interesting. Today, I volunteered with the RCGR at the Reston Farmers' Market to help get the word out about McCain.  I made sure I didn't wear blue, just in case, and drove on over. My supervisor, Harry,  and the RCGR have a table there every weekend with information brochures, bumper stickers, yard signs, etc that support McCain but also other people like Gilmore and Wolf. He also gives out information on absentee ballots as well. What's funny is the table next to a bus stop bench, and on the other side of the bench are the Obama people. I just found it kinda funny. It was like the dividing line of war or something. Anyway, at first it was really slow. Although quite a few people were at the market, they pretty much just walked pass the table. Harry pointed out this guy to me at the market who organizes the whole thing I guess, and he's also a staunch democrat. So basicaly, he never gave us a glance. Fine dude, be that way. After about 20 minutes or so, things started to pick up a little bit. I started noticing more people coming over to grab a "Veteran for McCain" sticker or other stuff. Although, by just looking at the people shopping, it was totally evident how liberal Northern VA is. I saw a lot of little old ladies with their Obama buttons on, which are kind of tacky, but whatever. I was able to recruit a few more volunteers and I think some people, although they didn't exactly say it, were glad to see I was there, because hardly any youth care about what's going on. Since we've been studying liberal and conservative areas in the country in class,  I found it really interesting to meet a New England man from Massachusetts. He was telling us how happy he was the see the table because up in New England, it is Obama-Country. He seemed almost relieved and it was pretty cool to meet someone whose different from their surrounding society. This man was staying in Reston with his Republican brother who walked over to the table wearing a "No-bama" shirt. Again, I think anything political that is apart of fashion is super tacky, but at least it supports a cause. With him, he had his daughter and he asked her "What does Daddy's shirt say?" And she replied "NOBAMA!"   Well, there's political socialization for you.

Although the Democrats were practically right next door, they were pretty nice...ish. We kind of got the stink-eye from some, and I just stood thinking can't we all be friends!!??"  Ugh. 

Later this middle-age lady dressed all in pink was with her sister who wanted to come by our table. The pink lady was a Democrat, and her sister was a Republican. She kept telling her sister "Don't take the stickers!" But her sister didn't listen. The pink lady then went on to complain about Palin and said "I just don't understand how she can see Russia from her house!" She was serious, too. I just let Harry handle that one.

Overall, it was really interesting because it restored my faith that we still have a large amount of Republicans in this area. The people I met, as you have read, were also interesting. One lady just said, "I'm voting for McCain, but it's up to the Lord." She also said we should get rid of Congress...hmmm. There were others who kept saying how we just can't let Obama get into the White House. It opened my eyes to the people who are really serious about this. Being just a teenager, this election does not effect me as much as it effects all the men and woman with families and careers. People are really serious about this. To some, whoever gets into office is the be-all end-all for them. It was like...whoa. Some do go a little overboard, but they have a purpose and they are doing what they can to see it through. I'm looking foreward to my next weekend there, and I'll also have pictures next time.

Current Event Number 3

With 25 days left in the election, and John McCain trailing slightly behind Obama, McCain, according to the Washington Post, as decided the attack the campaign in a new way. Lately, McCain has been playing "Mr. Nice Guy" with his strategy, although Obama is attacking him with ads about his character. Now, McCain feels that he must do the same. McCain's new campaign strategy is going to be to focus more heavily on Obama's character. Some people believe that this is taking away from the real issues of the campaign. Others believe it is McCain's only hope to get some unsure votes. To me, I think McCain has already done enough in focusing on this issues, because he has said what his opinions are and what he agrees or disagrees with. Now, the man has to do what he has to do to get him that (probably comfy) chair in the Oval Office. To see how this new way of rhetoric has worked in the passed week, and since we've been focusing a lot on polls, I went on CNN. com to see what the people were saying this week. According to the map, it seems that regular areas (Northeast and West Coast) are for Obama, and middle America is for McCain. Obama is leading with 49% of the votes and McCain is behind with 42%. 9% of states are unsure.  Maybe this new rhetoric needs more time, or maybe it's just not working at all. Since polls are really accurate, and sometimes the best fortune tellers, it will make November 4th and interesting day. Check it out at CNN.com under politics!

Election Post Week 3

People seem to be forgetting about another important election in our area: the race of Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore to grab a seat in the Senate. This election helps our state of Virginia be heard in the Senate so we need to elect the possible candidate to represent us.

Mark Warner is the democratic candidate. As some may remember, he was the keynote speaker of the Democratic convention. In 2002, he was voted the 69th governor of VA. He achieved many accomplishments during his term such as lowering food and income taxes, and he  allowed the largest investment in K-12 education in the history of Virginia.

Jim Gilmore served as governor before Warner, being the 68th governor of Virginia. Before being elected governor, he worked as the Attorney General of the state. During his time as governor, Gilmore created new Standards of Learning reforms to measure achievement amoung students. He also signed into law the acceptence of a Martin Luther King holiday which is pretty cool. With this law, he later also created another one that required a 24-hour waiting period and consent for women wanting an abortion.

The Senate played a HUGE role in the passing of the $700 billion dollar rescue plan. While not exactly at state issue, it is a top issue in which opinion could help the candidates win or lose votes. Although our president is Republican, the Republican Senate candidate disagreed with this plan. Gilmore believes this plan is stealing taxpayer money of hard working men and woman and giving it to Wall Street. Warner on the other hand, believe that this plan, although perhaps not the most perfect, is the best chance of preventing an economic downfall especially concerning unemployment. Gilmore predicts the plan will lead to raised taxes. In situations as this where the Senate makes the important decisions, it makes it especially difficult to decide whose opinion should represent us as a state.

On October 4th, it was found that Gilmore is trailing far behind in this election. A Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey showed and reported to Channel 8 News that 57% favored Warner over the 31% who favor Gilmore. What a gap! It was conducted with 625 registered voters and it's margin of sampling error for minus or plus 4%. With this being taken just a week ago, and less than 30 days till election day, it may seem obvious that Warner has this seat taken. Still, who knows? Maybe it will be like sports and Gilmore make a comeback, but if he does, it's going to have be GINORMOUS!

Souces: 

Current Event Week 2!!!!

According to the report from CNNs' writer Paul Steinhauser , it seems that Obama is gaining swing states by a small margin. Florida, for example, now seems to be leaning closer to Obama, with Obama leading McCain by five points. This could be the outcome that many older people (of which many live in Florida) have been shown to favor Obama so far. This surprises me because I would think think people who may be around 50 or older would support McCain for his experience, as well as the fact that many people around that age fought in Vietnam as he did. This is just one surprise out this campaign. In our state of Virginia, polls suggest that Obama has a nine point lead with 53% of the votes. Virginia is changing sides this election, being known for voting Republican since elections in 1964.  Many people regard this success to the debate last week. Although Obama agreed with McCain a lot (which was weird) many people liked seeing a candidate who could understand another point of view, which is something he will have to do if elected office. This I can understand. If the US is going to work with other nations, compromises will have to be made, and can only be made by equal understanding. Still, this is so weird! This election is changing everything!  It's cool but so different at the same time. And is it for the best? 

What's also interesting is that Thursday night Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are going to have their debate in Missouri, a state that recentley is being thought to swing democrat. McCain is going to really have to step it up. If he doesn't win at least one of the next two debates, we'll probably being saying hello to President Obama.