This Blog a requirement for Urban Lobbying II- Politics and the Media and is written by Dennis Beyer.
One of the requirements for my class is to follow a particular political interest for at least 2 weeks in the print and electronic media. Obviously the big one that sticks out to me was the presidential campaign. The media I picked were what I felt would represent each of the media in the most broad way; well known, and well established media. Something that has really stood out to me though, is the balance of the number of articles there are right now for the left side of things versus right.
It's pretty much accepted at this point that McCain is going to get the Republican nomination for presidential candidate, but in a way as far as press coverage anyway, this early lead compared to the Democrats is turning out to seem like a bad thing. Almost all of the headlines are about Clinton and Obama, McCain has few in comparison to even one of them. I don't necessarily see this as intentional bias on the part of the news media, as many would, but it seems like it's just a lack of worthwhile information to publish.
In a way this really turns out to be bad for the Republican party in my opinion. How can you keep the name of your candidate out there if the Democratic candidates are pounding each other like crazy and you are forced to stand back and wait for one of them to be knocked out before you will be noticed? In some ways then, the republicans are powerless to do anything about it. It will be interesting to see if the scales tip back to being more even after the democratic nomination is more solid for one candidate or the other.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
More important time in history than usual
This Blog a requirement for Urban Lobbying II- Politics and the Media and is written by Dennis Beyer.
An important point has been made a lot in class this past few weeks and it really hits home. For several reasons this presidential elections is a more important time in history.
If nothing else it's for the pure fact that this election has awakened the younger people to get off their butts and try to have an influence on this election. It seems they are suddenly aware of the fact that they do have some power in the way things go and they are coming to the polls in droves to show it. To be honest the last time this happened is way back when JFK was running for president... it's been too long and even though I wasn't alive for that I think it's about time that people my age have decided to do something other than complain. Finally people seem to be noticing that if you haven't voted for our president then you have no right to complain about what he (or soon maybe she) is doing.
Even if you don't consider the larger voter turnout, especially of younger people, there's one other thing that is huge for this election. At this point it seems rather obvious that the Democratic Party is going to be nominating a minority for their presidential candidate. I've spoken on here before that as one of the most progressive nations in the world that it's about time this happened. As a age group we can stand back and tell our children, grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren that we were alive to see a black person or a woman make a viable run for president, maybe even be elected. It's a big deal, and personally I'm proud to be here to witness it.
An important point has been made a lot in class this past few weeks and it really hits home. For several reasons this presidential elections is a more important time in history.
If nothing else it's for the pure fact that this election has awakened the younger people to get off their butts and try to have an influence on this election. It seems they are suddenly aware of the fact that they do have some power in the way things go and they are coming to the polls in droves to show it. To be honest the last time this happened is way back when JFK was running for president... it's been too long and even though I wasn't alive for that I think it's about time that people my age have decided to do something other than complain. Finally people seem to be noticing that if you haven't voted for our president then you have no right to complain about what he (or soon maybe she) is doing.
Even if you don't consider the larger voter turnout, especially of younger people, there's one other thing that is huge for this election. At this point it seems rather obvious that the Democratic Party is going to be nominating a minority for their presidential candidate. I've spoken on here before that as one of the most progressive nations in the world that it's about time this happened. As a age group we can stand back and tell our children, grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren that we were alive to see a black person or a woman make a viable run for president, maybe even be elected. It's a big deal, and personally I'm proud to be here to witness it.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Why is Huckabee still holding on?
This Blog a requirement for Urban Lobbying II- Politics and the Media and is written by Dennis Beyer
Just in case you've been living under a rock, Huckabee is pretty much the only person standing between McCain and a Republican nomination for the presidential race. But for more information here's a link to a article I found on Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_el_pr/huckabee;_ylt=Agdte1ZPQFlHJg8v06zjwFms0NUE
I support the idea that he's sticking with it until the final nail is in the coffin. My main reason is that when it comes to elections I want more than one choice. Little disappoints me more at an election than looking at a ballot and seeing one choice for a political position. When somebody runs unopposed, if I'm not mistaken, they only need one vote to win, everyone but the candidate himself could leave that part of the ballot completely blank and they would be elected. I realize this is a primary, and technically winning it means nothing other than the fact that the political party will support the unopposed person in the run for president. But just the same, when I ask for a republican ballot in our primary I'd love to see more than 1 option for a presidential candidate.
If Huckabee pulls out before the Ohio primary (and without McCain locking in the necessary number of delegates he likely wont), I may be more inclined to ask for a Democrat ballot just so I can feel I have more influence over who runs for president in the coming months. A number of my friends seem to be taking the same attitude. So more power to him, I hope he can stick it out to the very last primary.
Just in case you've been living under a rock, Huckabee is pretty much the only person standing between McCain and a Republican nomination for the presidential race. But for more information here's a link to a article I found on Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_el_pr/huckabee;_ylt=Agdte1ZPQFlHJg8v06zjwFms0NUE
I support the idea that he's sticking with it until the final nail is in the coffin. My main reason is that when it comes to elections I want more than one choice. Little disappoints me more at an election than looking at a ballot and seeing one choice for a political position. When somebody runs unopposed, if I'm not mistaken, they only need one vote to win, everyone but the candidate himself could leave that part of the ballot completely blank and they would be elected. I realize this is a primary, and technically winning it means nothing other than the fact that the political party will support the unopposed person in the run for president. But just the same, when I ask for a republican ballot in our primary I'd love to see more than 1 option for a presidential candidate.
If Huckabee pulls out before the Ohio primary (and without McCain locking in the necessary number of delegates he likely wont), I may be more inclined to ask for a Democrat ballot just so I can feel I have more influence over who runs for president in the coming months. A number of my friends seem to be taking the same attitude. So more power to him, I hope he can stick it out to the very last primary.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Is the US ready for an African American president?
This Blog a requirement for Urban Lobbying II- Politics and the Media and is written by Dennis Beyer
An interresting subject came up during one of the speaker's presentations last week in my Urban Lobbying class, Lincoln Ware (a local radio personality) was asked the very question that is my subject: In the US ready for an African American President?
From Mr. Ware, being an African American, I had expected the obvious answer of yes, of course. Imagine my surprise when he said no. He didn't think as a nation the US is ready for a president that is not a white person, essentially saying that the very person he supports to be president was not going to win the election. When asked when he thought the nation would be ready his reply was fairly simple (I'm paraphrasing here of course), that when race could be left out of campaigns completely, then the nation would be ready.
I agreed with a lot of what Mr. Ware had to say, obviously not all, but I don't agree with everything that either major political party thinks. So, it kind of sent me on some evaluation of where I think things are headed. We are supposed to be one of the most progressive nations on the face of the planet. How is it that we've never had any leader for our nation that wasn't white and male? What comes into my mind was mentioned in class. We can never know if we are ready if we don't try. It's rather obvious that at least some of the nation is ready, the man is kicking some major butt on the campaign trail. I think in the least this is a step in the right direction, if people of "minorities" continue to make the run for president, maybe things will happen sooner than Mr. Ware had imagined.
So to set my opinion in black and white, yes, I do think that the nation is ready for an African American President. If we're supposed to be one of the most progressive nations on earth, let's prove it. Let's show that we can set our prejudice aside and simply elect the best person for the position, if that happens to be Obama then so be it, skin color, sex, sexual preferance, religious background, whatever has no place in it.
So for the few readers that I have: Is the United States ready for a African American President? Why or why not?
An interresting subject came up during one of the speaker's presentations last week in my Urban Lobbying class, Lincoln Ware (a local radio personality) was asked the very question that is my subject: In the US ready for an African American President?
From Mr. Ware, being an African American, I had expected the obvious answer of yes, of course. Imagine my surprise when he said no. He didn't think as a nation the US is ready for a president that is not a white person, essentially saying that the very person he supports to be president was not going to win the election. When asked when he thought the nation would be ready his reply was fairly simple (I'm paraphrasing here of course), that when race could be left out of campaigns completely, then the nation would be ready.
I agreed with a lot of what Mr. Ware had to say, obviously not all, but I don't agree with everything that either major political party thinks. So, it kind of sent me on some evaluation of where I think things are headed. We are supposed to be one of the most progressive nations on the face of the planet. How is it that we've never had any leader for our nation that wasn't white and male? What comes into my mind was mentioned in class. We can never know if we are ready if we don't try. It's rather obvious that at least some of the nation is ready, the man is kicking some major butt on the campaign trail. I think in the least this is a step in the right direction, if people of "minorities" continue to make the run for president, maybe things will happen sooner than Mr. Ware had imagined.
So to set my opinion in black and white, yes, I do think that the nation is ready for an African American President. If we're supposed to be one of the most progressive nations on earth, let's prove it. Let's show that we can set our prejudice aside and simply elect the best person for the position, if that happens to be Obama then so be it, skin color, sex, sexual preferance, religious background, whatever has no place in it.
So for the few readers that I have: Is the United States ready for a African American President? Why or why not?
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