Obama's infomercial

I had my doubts about how Obama's 30 minute infomercial would turn out and effect the polls. It is too early to tell the effect of this video in national polls, but I was simply awed at the way the video was put together; no bashing of john McCain, and barack Obama could speak directly to the viewers. I was touched by the stories mentioned in the video, and saw the way Barack Obama would help
them put as president. This video was almost a closer to the case of why Barack should be chosen. I think and hope that Americans will feel
more comfortable imagining him in the white house now, and that they feel that he is the right one for the job. This infomercial should give him a lift in the polls, but may now be quite as much as he would have hoped.

Electoral Maps

I posted a website to see electoral maps throughout the election, but this page is even better. It shows what each state was before it changed, what is became, the delegate votes for Obama and McCain, and the RCP average at the time.
Here it is!

From these maps and the data, I have noticed some key changes which could account for the change in the electoral votes for each of the candidates. Earlier this month:
1) Florida was leaning Obama, and is now toss up- again!
2)Washington was leaning Obama, and is now solid Obama
3)Montana was leaning McCain, then solid McCain, and is now leaning McCain
4)Wisconsin and Michigan were leaning Obama, and are now solid Obama
5)Georgia was Solid McCain, and is now leaning McCain

These changes indicated one thing all around- McCain is not doing as well as he was earlier in the general election. Today, I heard that he is stepping up to the knotch in speaking more to the people about the issues and is getting to meet more people.
This IS what he needs to do- and WELL to get some of these states to back him once again.

Campaign Cash

Today it was announced that Barack Obama broke a record for money raised in one month of a campaign- $150 million dollars during the month of September! This money is half the amount John Kerry raised during his entire campaign. But where did Barack Obama get all of that money? And same with John McCain- we don't really know where he gets all his campaign money. So, I have found a page which shows details about each of the candidate's financial status- where they got the money, debt, spent, and raised. Check it out.

The presidential debate was much better this time around. The candidates both seemed as though they were more into the debate than during the last two rounds. I would have to give it to john mcCain for doing well in this debate, which was essential for him to come even close to closing the large gap between him and Barack Obama. Now, the polls have reflected John mcCain's victory in the debate, but Barack Obama in still winning by 6-7 points in the national polls.

John Mccain spoke more qgressively against Obama, and really tried to nail him on things he said which were wrong. This worked for him. What I didn't like was his erratic behavior/ expressions. They clearly displayed some sort of anger or frustration.. It just didn't look good to watch. I do believe though, that he slacked off a bit towards the end of the debate, causing an Obama victory for the second half.

Barack Obama kept his cool during the debate, but had to go on defense at many times. Be did make many strong points during the course of the evening, but didn't speak as well as he usually does.

One thing that struck out about this debate was that both the candidates actually answered the questions better, and that the answers were directed to each other, and not to the audience as it was in the past.

Palin Abused Her Power

This Friday, a report released that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power as governor of Alaska to fire an official who was once married to her sister. This breaks the state ethics law, which prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain. The report also says that Sarah Palin allowed her husband, Todd Palin to use her resources as governor to pressure employees to fire Wooten.

The report was centered around the dismissal of Walter Monegen, Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner. This was because he had refused to fire Mike Wooten, the ex-husband of Palin's sister. Sarah Palin claimed that Walter Monegen was fired due to an arguement over a budget.

As much as the charges are serious, nowhere does it say in the 300 page report that sanctions or further investigation is necessary. Conservative Jonah Goldberg said,"it sounds to me that this was a political enterprise that came up with a compromise where they basically said, 'She broke no laws but they don't want to seem like a whitewash, because we have Obama supporters on the investigating parties.' So what we're going to do is say she did something wrong, even though she broke no law."

One the other hand, Democrat Lanny Davis said, "The abuse of power finding is very serious for an elected executive," said Davis. "The Constitution and precedent suggest that abusing governmental power are grounds for impeaching a president. I suspect they would be grounds in Alaska. So the abuse of governmental power is a serious offense for an elected official."

Whether Republicans or Democrats are talking, analysts will agree that this investigation is something that could hurt John McCain's campaign, one that is already behind in the race.

This investigation shows how Sarah Palin BROKE the law as governor of alaska. There should be some further penalties for her, as abusing governmental powers is a reason for impeachment. Although this is not the most serious of crimes, it is still breaking the state ethics law. She should not be left unpenalized just because she is running for the second highest office position of this country.

http://voanews.com/english/2008-10-11-voa3.cfm

Debate 10/7

The debate from last night was much more exciting than the last one, and the candidates stepped it up a knotch. Barack Obama had excellent eye contact with the audience and watched John McCain very intently while he spoke. He kept a smile on his face throughout it, and appeared to be the more confident of the two candidates.

John McCain spoke better than last time, and made an effort to use past records to hold Barack Obama back. He was however nervous, and this could be seen in the way he was sitting, his facial expressions, and through what he was saying. What I didn't like though, was that he never answered some questions. Many of the times, he spoke around the topic, but not directly about it. One example of this was when asked to rank the topics of energy independence, education, and health care. Barack Obama recited his priorities and gave us reasons for his choices. John McCain on the other hand, said that all of them should be tackled at once. This answer clearly does not answer the question asked.

The polls will show the winners of the debate in the coming days- and I am rather confident that Obama's poll numbers will increase from it.

The debate was one I was very anxious to see, and kept me a little more interested than the last presidential debate. Sarah Palin did well, while speaking clearly and making excellent eye contact with the audience. What I noticed though, was that she had memorized everything she was going to say and that she wasn't speaking from her own knowledge. She didn't have a rebuttle a few times when asked if she had one, and tried to hide this by switching to the topic of energy. This didn't work for her, as she couldn't even try to disprove what senator joe biden was saying that was negative about her and john McCain's campaign. It also seemed that when she kept switching to the topic of energy that she didn't have answers to the questions the moderator was asking.

Joe biden had some weaknesses too; he didn't make good eye contact with the audience, and he stuttered at some times. He did speak well though while fighting against false statements palin made or just while giving his answers to the moderator's questions.

Overall, the debate well for both candidates, and I don't expect any big rise in the polls for either of the candidates. Being democratic, I guess I would easily find a win the the dem.- joe biden. Let's see how the next debate goes on Tuesday September 7!