Targeting voters

As Obese Population Rises, More Candidates Courting The Fat Vote

I think that this video perfectly satires what we have discussed at length in class. That is how the politicians of today very specifically target voters based on profiles they get. Although this video is purely fiction the sad truth is, in the future politicians may get this desperate and start targeting specific people on just about anything.

Who will be elected

I think that McCain will be elected president because of the way the democrats have been going at each other. Obama and Clinton have spent so much time, energy, and money beating each other up that they have hardly spent any attention on McCain. Not only that but they have also sharply divided the democrat party between the themselves to such a degree that I think that if for example Clinton does not get the nomination that her supporters will vote for McCain. Also Obama and Clinton have given McCain plenty of ammunition to use against either one of them in the general election. To me it seems like the democrats are treating this primary like the general election and I think that will allow McCain to simply slip through and win the presidency.

Clinton raises money on the internet

Clinton has raised over $10 million on the Internet after her Pennsylvania win. I think that this will make the race even tighter for the democrats simply because Obama used to have a huge advantage with his ability to generate a large amount of money over the Internet, but now so can Clinton. This has made the race even tighter when combined with Clinton's recent wins and now her ability to also raise money on the Internet. If this primary drags on any longer we'll be unable to tell Clinton from Obama simply because as the race progress they become more and more similar on issues and even their financial resources. The only thing left to differentiate the candidates is Clinton's lies and Obama's acquittance's who embarrass him.

Clinton says she's ahead

Clinton recently stated that she was ahead in the primaries because of the states she won that held early primaries. Although Clinton may be technically ahead Obama still basically has the popular vote. However if we have learned anything from previous election you can win the popular vote and still lose the election. However this whole democratic primary has gone on long enough and while the media attention may be good I think many people are just getting tired of it. Also the longer it goes the weaker the democrats become, they lose money they could have used for the general election, the create a sharp divide between supporters which may lead them to vote for the republics instead of the opposite democratic candidates, and they also give McCain an advantage by digging up dirt on each other that McCain can use the general election. I think the democrats just need to get the primary over with as soon as possible if they want to survive the general election.

McCain critizes Bush

McCain recently criticized Bush on his response to Hurricane Katrina. I think McCain is trying to distance himself from Bush without appearing too much like a hypocrite, McCain is for the war and so is Bush so he can't criticize him on that. McCain just found another area where he could criticize him but at the same time not appear as a hypocrite. Obama and Clinton will follow suit I believe and also give some attention to the New Orleans simply because they cannot appear uncaring. Although this is just more political grandstanding I think it will have a positive effect on New Orleans simply because it is finally get some attention again so maybe finally the city can be rebuilt instead of languishing in purgatory.

Obama' speech

I think Obama was taken out of context when he said they people cling to their guns, religion, etc. I think that what he was saying was simply that working class people have a lot of problems and they perceive that the politicians and corporate entities are basically making their lives difficult to live. So when they try to change something or take away a right the people hold to those rights. I think that what Obama was basically saying was that they need to see that not all politicians are bad and that he does want to make meaningful changes to help.

Bennett Chp. 13-14

I think that Bennett is right in the sense that democratic plurality has been diminished by technology. Politicians now can basically lie to everyone. In the past politicians had to choose issues that affected the majority of the people and take a stance on it, however with todays technology politicians basically never have to take a stance. They can be pro gun in South Dakota and anti-gun in California simply because of carefully directed messages. With these kind of directed messages political parties become obsolete. If a candidate can say whatever will get the vote and get away with it basically then there is no distinction between Democrats or Republicans since to a person on the receiving end of those messages they are for and against the same things.