Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Two Of Their Best Speeches
Here are the two speeches I have selected as the best to present as these campaigns come to a close. Here is how I chose these speeches.
1. Length: I chose speeches that were long, but not too long. Obama had another speech that I would have used instead but it was over 30 minutes.
2. Time: These speeches were given relatively early in these campaigns, so they do not contain anywhere near as many attacks and finger pointing. Though note that McCain's still has a good deal of it (let me also say that at Obama's speech he did not know he would have the nomination or be facing McCain). By looking at these older speeches we can see where these candidates came from and how their campaigns have changed, for better or worse.
3. Message: I chose speeches that had a good general message, and one that the candidate, at least for some time, used as their main argument. I was not looking for specifics, attacks, or the usual stump speeches.
4. Popularity: McCain's speech here was the most viewed, nearly full length speech of his on Youtube. Obama had a couple more popular speech videos but they did not fit the criteria I set out to use.
The quotes I give highlight the lines in the speech that I used to fulfill the criteria.
McCain (Broken up to remove attacks and specifics):
"The decision facing Americans in this election couldn't be more important to the future security and prosperity of American families. This is indeed a change election. No matter who wins this election the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change. Between going forward and going backward. America has seen tough times before, but we have always known how to get through them, and we have always believed that the best days are ahead of us....
......Now you'll hear from my opponent's campaign in every speech, in every interview, every press release that I am running for president Bush's third term. You'll hear every policy of the president is described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does senator Obama believe it's so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it's very difficult to get American's to believe something that they know is false......
........They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving. They've seen me put our country before any president, before any party, before any special interest, before my own interest."
Obama:
"We will restore out moral standing in the world, and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the 21st century. Terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease. All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All of the candidates in this race have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably. But the reason our campaign has always been different. The reason we began this improbable journey almost a year ago. Is because it's not just about what I will do as president. It is also about what you, the people who love this country, the citizens of the United States of America, can do to change it. That's what this election is all about. That's why tonight belongs to you."
1. Length: I chose speeches that were long, but not too long. Obama had another speech that I would have used instead but it was over 30 minutes.
2. Time: These speeches were given relatively early in these campaigns, so they do not contain anywhere near as many attacks and finger pointing. Though note that McCain's still has a good deal of it (let me also say that at Obama's speech he did not know he would have the nomination or be facing McCain). By looking at these older speeches we can see where these candidates came from and how their campaigns have changed, for better or worse.
3. Message: I chose speeches that had a good general message, and one that the candidate, at least for some time, used as their main argument. I was not looking for specifics, attacks, or the usual stump speeches.
4. Popularity: McCain's speech here was the most viewed, nearly full length speech of his on Youtube. Obama had a couple more popular speech videos but they did not fit the criteria I set out to use.
The quotes I give highlight the lines in the speech that I used to fulfill the criteria.
McCain (Broken up to remove attacks and specifics):
"The decision facing Americans in this election couldn't be more important to the future security and prosperity of American families. This is indeed a change election. No matter who wins this election the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change. Between going forward and going backward. America has seen tough times before, but we have always known how to get through them, and we have always believed that the best days are ahead of us....
......Now you'll hear from my opponent's campaign in every speech, in every interview, every press release that I am running for president Bush's third term. You'll hear every policy of the president is described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does senator Obama believe it's so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it's very difficult to get American's to believe something that they know is false......
........They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving. They've seen me put our country before any president, before any party, before any special interest, before my own interest."
Obama:
"We will restore out moral standing in the world, and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the 21st century. Terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease. All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All of the candidates in this race have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably. But the reason our campaign has always been different. The reason we began this improbable journey almost a year ago. Is because it's not just about what I will do as president. It is also about what you, the people who love this country, the citizens of the United States of America, can do to change it. That's what this election is all about. That's why tonight belongs to you."
Football and Politics
Fox News (yes I watch it sometimes, just to see what the bias is saying) is reporting that ESPN will be interviewing McCain and Obama and then showing snips of those interviews during Monday night football next week. How great is that?
If nothing else it will be another reminder for people to go vote.
If nothing else it will be another reminder for people to go vote.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Why I Miss Tim Russert
Well, this is just one of many examples.
Let me add that McCaine as on Meet the Press (with Brokaw) again today. I will have it up when I can.
Let me add that McCaine as on Meet the Press (with Brokaw) again today. I will have it up when I can.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Charisma and Character
This is a spam e-mail I got:
I responded with this:
There are plenty of people like this on both sides. The fact of the matter is that for a long time many people have cared more about character than content. I think much of the blame can be attributed to politics itself, not the people. Here are a few reasons why.
1. The 2 party system means people don't need to even pay attention. They can just align themselves to one side and always vote that way.
2. Campaigns are run with an emphasis on character. Look at McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin. She stands for many things that McCain has fought for much of his career, and has little experience in public office, but she was chosen simply for her character. Look at how McCain's campaign is attacking Obama's character. Biden has, rarely, attacked McCain's character too. They run negative campaigns because they are statisticly known to have a bigger impact. Remember Bush's attacks on Kerry's service in Vietnam? That is widely believed to be the reason Bush won in 2004.
3. Television. There are a million reasons why TV has exacerbated the problem. I don't think I need to explain all of them. TV could have been a tool to get the issues out, and it still can be.
4. Promises. Even if we judge the candidates by where they stand on the issues and their promises, we have no reason to believe promises will be kept, and we have no reason to believe these candidates won't ever change on any issues.
So we can't judge a candidate based on their promises, and the majority of messages we get from the campaigns are attacks. Why WOULDN'T people vote on character?
If you think voting on character is something bad, then I would be surprised you are a McCain supporter. For weeks he has done nothing but attack Obama's character. If character is something that doesn't matter to you, then I see no reason why those ads would effect you.
Heres an example of 2 attacks, 1 from McCain, 1 from Obama.
McCain - Obama "pals around with terrorists."
Obama - McCain "has voted with Bush over 90% of the time."
McCain's attack is about character, and is a perfect example of the kind of politics that cause people to focus on character INSTEAD of issues. Obama's attack is about voting record, which is one of the only good ways to make a decision in my opinion.
I do not vote based on charisma or character. Whether those are important things to consider when voting is debatable. My vote is based on the voting record of these two candidates, as well as how they have run their campaigns. McCain is running a negative campaign about Obama's character, and Obama is running a campaign about McCain's voting record.
McCain's record is that he voted with Bush 90% of the time. I do not like Bush's policies at all, so I also would not like 90% of Bush's policies either. Bush gave tax cuts to the rich, reduced funding to science, wire-tapped, went to war without any other country and without UN approval based on false intelligence, allowed that war to last for years, tortured, created Homeland Security, authorized the extensive use of military contractors from private companies instead of actual federal employees and US military, and failed with Katrina.
McCain agreed with all of these things that Bush did with the exception of torture. Obama disagreed with most of them. These are simple facts. These are records. These are not promises or charisma or character arguments.
This short clip of black voters being interviewed in Harlem is clean in content, even though it comes from Howard Stern. It's worth listening to because it's probably a good representation of voters across the US. Most people do not vote on the issues, but on charisma – which is sad for the rest of us who worry about the reality of day to day life and not whether someone is warm and likeable. Please pass this on to others.
http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3
I responded with this:
There are plenty of people like this on both sides. The fact of the matter is that for a long time many people have cared more about character than content. I think much of the blame can be attributed to politics itself, not the people. Here are a few reasons why.
1. The 2 party system means people don't need to even pay attention. They can just align themselves to one side and always vote that way.
2. Campaigns are run with an emphasis on character. Look at McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin. She stands for many things that McCain has fought for much of his career, and has little experience in public office, but she was chosen simply for her character. Look at how McCain's campaign is attacking Obama's character. Biden has, rarely, attacked McCain's character too. They run negative campaigns because they are statisticly known to have a bigger impact. Remember Bush's attacks on Kerry's service in Vietnam? That is widely believed to be the reason Bush won in 2004.
3. Television. There are a million reasons why TV has exacerbated the problem. I don't think I need to explain all of them. TV could have been a tool to get the issues out, and it still can be.
4. Promises. Even if we judge the candidates by where they stand on the issues and their promises, we have no reason to believe promises will be kept, and we have no reason to believe these candidates won't ever change on any issues.
So we can't judge a candidate based on their promises, and the majority of messages we get from the campaigns are attacks. Why WOULDN'T people vote on character?
If you think voting on character is something bad, then I would be surprised you are a McCain supporter. For weeks he has done nothing but attack Obama's character. If character is something that doesn't matter to you, then I see no reason why those ads would effect you.
Heres an example of 2 attacks, 1 from McCain, 1 from Obama.
McCain - Obama "pals around with terrorists."
Obama - McCain "has voted with Bush over 90% of the time."
McCain's attack is about character, and is a perfect example of the kind of politics that cause people to focus on character INSTEAD of issues. Obama's attack is about voting record, which is one of the only good ways to make a decision in my opinion.
I do not vote based on charisma or character. Whether those are important things to consider when voting is debatable. My vote is based on the voting record of these two candidates, as well as how they have run their campaigns. McCain is running a negative campaign about Obama's character, and Obama is running a campaign about McCain's voting record.
McCain's record is that he voted with Bush 90% of the time. I do not like Bush's policies at all, so I also would not like 90% of Bush's policies either. Bush gave tax cuts to the rich, reduced funding to science, wire-tapped, went to war without any other country and without UN approval based on false intelligence, allowed that war to last for years, tortured, created Homeland Security, authorized the extensive use of military contractors from private companies instead of actual federal employees and US military, and failed with Katrina.
McCain agreed with all of these things that Bush did with the exception of torture. Obama disagreed with most of them. These are simple facts. These are records. These are not promises or charisma or character arguments.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
US Missle Hits Pakistan School
A suspected US missile strike has killed at least eight students at a religious school in north-western Pakistan, witnesses say.
The school, in North Waziristan, is close to the residence of a fugitive Taleban leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, witnesses told the BBC Urdu Service.
At least two missiles, reportedly fired by pilotless US drones, hit the school early on Thursday.
The Pakistani army is investigating the incident. The US has made no comment.
The attack comes hours after the Pakistani parliament unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the government to defend its sovereignty and expel foreign fighters from the region.
Article at BBC News
Imagine for a moment what would happen if a US school was hit by missiles from a foreign country.
What is the cost we are willing to pay to fight these terrorists? Aren't these Pakistani civilians just as valuable as those lost on 9/11?
You may argue that Pakistan is not doing everything it can to help track these people down, but that should not be an excuse for this.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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