It Begins....

This flyer is being distributed in Virginia, it looks pretty official, and to the first time or uninformed voter, this is pretty official looking. 

Looking Backward to Look Forward

The movie Recount really brought forward the question of how reliable our ballot system is. We could theoretically look at every state and try and predict where similar issues that took place in 2000, but they all came from the central issue of how can we best figure out the intent of voters. Perhaps we could gather everyone from each county at high noon and use one of these to figure out who everyone wants to vote for, we might get a better result than in Florida. 

On a more serious note, what has really been done by each state (especially in Florida) to ensure that improvements have been made to ensure that there is an established way of ensuring each citizen's vote is counted and counted accurately. This piece of data shows that by the 2oo2 mid-term congressional elections, Florida had not really learned much. The Niemi article shows that the Florida election, while probably the most significant, was not the only occurrence of discrepancy in ballot uniformity and counting. 

I believe that this is a significant issue in this upcoming election. With the ACORN situation threatening the integrity of voting, (according to CNN.) and the continued lack of ability to track computerized/touch screen voting machines, Recount highlights that lack of uniform balloting as well as the threat to the Voter of their intent not being taken into account when their votes are being counted. It seems that we have much to still learn and change from the debacle that was the 2000 Presidential Election. 

From the Producer of Borat...

I think before Recount is really analyzed, its important to look at the background of the movie. It was produced by the same producer as the Borat Movie, to subject it to scrutiny as if it is a documentary is unfair. Very often the cynicism and comedy portrayed in the film may not have actually happened in November 2000, the comedic attitude is used to get what I think is a specific message across, what happened in November of 2000 was almost comedic.

It is ironic that according to Mccormack "Representative of the American conservative movement have denounced the exponents of these theories for attempting to lure students away from traditional cherished academic ideals like objectivity and truth, toward a cynical, despairing view of history, politics, literature, and law." It is ironic because it seems (on the surface at least) that this movie is doing exactly that, using cynicism to lure students away from the truth and the facts. However this is the point that makes this movie truly unique, the cynicism in this film is an extension of the facts.

I think this can apply to this election based on the following clip of a popular TV show:

It was so popular that Gov Palin herself decided that she would appear on the program. It seems she made a great decision as Saturday Night Live saw its best ratings in 14 years!

I think that says a lot  about the value of comedy, as the numbers for Gov. Palin's interview with Katie Couric, were not in the 14-17 million viewer range during Gov. Palin's time on SNL.

The creators of Recount are not political analysts or historical experts, but rather talented comedic writers. Gov. Palin and the Mccain figured out that for the best exposure, and the best way to get her point across was through comedy. It seems that the use of Comedy in this election will play it in quite a significant way. Either by making Gov. Palin a "laughable" candidate or by elevating her via the comedic realm of media.

F.Y.E.

This video just made me laugh so hard, I had to share it with you all. I am not making any political statement's regarding this video. It may be offensive to some both in terms of content, and possibly in its generalizing of the Russian people. Enjoy!

Mccain Concedes?

There is a blog that I have been following which has a really great synthesis of recent polling information, to say the least it isn't looking good for Senator Mccain. There is an ad airing for a North Carolina congressional campaign that encourages people to vote for the Republican candidate because the less seats in Congress the Republicans have the more of a "Blank Check" the Democrats will have. Hmm, that would mean that there would be Democratic President,  seems like a poor choice of words that shows just how "down in the dumps" the GOP is. While a GOP representative had this to say: 

"The NRSC is not conceding a Barack Obama presidency," he said. "Fiscally irresponsible liberals like Kay Hagan are not the answer in these tough economic times and would only make things worse. Our ad was intended to highlight Hagan's many failings in light of the Democrats' promise to close debate should they control the executive and legislative branches of the federal government."

it still seems to be sign of the bad times of the GOP.

Robocall

This is an example of a robocall, which is being used in battleground states. They are a way for campaigns to have a last ditch effort to attack their opponents before election day. While both parties are using these, this is an example of one from the Mccain Campaign.

Advertising to Vote?

I was driving down the street in LA and I have noticed that the County Registrar has purchased billboard and bus-stop ads encouraging people to register to vote and if already registered to go and vote. Perhaps this is the first step in encouraging people to go and vote. I will post a picture from my phone as soon as possible.

Obsession?

I saw a great CNN article speculating that the distribution in 28 million newspapers (in key battleground states) of a film called Obsession, was connected to theories that Obama is a closet Muslim. This is quite an interesting proposition as it would suggest the Israeli distribution company that ran this promotion believes that Obama might be a Muslim.

I have another take on this media promotion. Perhaps the promoter is sending a message to both candidates. That message is that people find the the threat of radical Islam important and we should not get caught up in only voting on economic issues. The threat of terrorism is a real one and we must let the candidates know it is important to us. It will be interesting to note the response of the candidates to this film's "sudden" and timely distribution.

Even Fox News Viewers Are Saying Obama Won

Before I post my extended comments on the debate, I'd like to direct your attention to the Fox News Debate Winner Poll. Now I know that these aren't reliable but if MOSTLY republicans watch Fox News/read Fox News and Obama is still winning that poll, thats a bad sign for Mccain. This is not scientific data, but I do think this is a significant development. (Keep in Mind the VP debate poll went 80/20 to Palin).

Don't Mess With Obama!

 Senator Obama unleashed his attack on Senator Mccain with this video, but if that isn't enough it comes with an entire website to support the attack. It makes it more difficult for Mccain to respond to this as so many facts are available to support the Obama campaign's claim. This is in complete opposition to the Mccain campaign's inability to support the claim that Obama has a relationship with William Ayers. How will the voting public respond, perhaps by further increasing Obama's lead in National Polls.

Can't We Just Play Fair?

The 2008 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth......Vets For Freedom

See the Resemblance?

So Senator Obama and William Ayers are from the same city, and had some relationship of some kind at some point. Gov. Palin has made it seem that he is best friends with Ayers despite the fact that :

Palin cited an article in Saturday's New York Times about Obama's relationship
with Ayers, now 63. But that article concluded that "the two men do not appear
to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical
views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in
detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' "

It seems that the Mccain campaign is continuing their attacks as Mccain had promised, but with no regard for the truth. It seems Agnew had troubles with truth as well.

"Winning" A Debate

So what does it mean to really "win" a pre-election debate. I do not believe that it means who makes the best arguments or counter-arguments, but rather who achieves their goal. I know that I have a personal bias and would say Sen. Biden won the debate, but that would be intellectually dishonest. In terms of achievement of their goal, Gov. Palin succeeded in showing that she wasn't a complete fool. I think a proof of this, is that in a recent ad released the Obama Campaign isn't attack her lack of knowledge, but rather attack the Mccain health care plan.

While I must say that it bothered me that she only had answers for questions that she was prepared to answer, nothing bothered me more than her obnoxious little quips. (see :52 in the next video)

But in Sen. Biden's fear of coming across as rude, he just laughs it off. I think that was his failure in the debate. If, and I believe there is a way, he could have responded to her quips politely it would have made her look like a fool, but no matter what, she could always save herself with this: 

I don't think that in the long run this will effect the polling for the general election but we will have to wait a few days to see the full effects of this debate, when we can really analyze who is the real "winner" of the debate. 

Is Gov. Palin Going To Be That Bad?

It seems that the Mccain campaign is pre-empting the debate with ads to lessen the effect of Gov. Palin's expected failure in tonight's debate. In elections it seems that if you can't beat them, just smear them.