Raising the Bar--Brienne

Many people feel that Barack Obama's lack of experience is a terrible thing that will cause him to be unsuccessful. However, I feel that because he doesn't have much experience, he hasn't been as corrupted by the political world. Everyone can agree that politics are dirty. Politicians lie, cheat, and steal. Many come to think that because they hold political offices, they are above the law. This is basically how scandals such as the Bill Clinton scandal and the Spitzer scandal came about. They were in politics so long that they start to feel the rules don't apply to them and they become careless and selfish. This is where Obama's lack of experience is a great thing. Obama hasn't been pulled into the world of cheating and scandal. He is above the rest in a way that not many people can understand. He doesn't try to bring the other candidates down, he merely defends his positions. This is one of the main reasons I am voting for Obama. He isn't a typical candidate and he is what I feel our country needs right now to get back on its feet. We have been pulled down by our current administration over the last eight years and putting the same type of people into office will not help us regain our strength. Obama is who we need. Not to mention that there was another president with a lack of political experience who did great things. That president was Abraham Lincoln. I think that we can all agree his lack of experience had no effect on his presidential capabilities. We just need to all have a little faith that this is the breath of fresh air our country needs in order to get ourselves back on track!

McCain's High School Days

John McCain has run a successful campaign so far and Republicans are hoping he will continue his streak into the November election. McCain recently spent hours answering questions at his old high school, where a town meeting was held. He answered questions about teachers pay and public service. One high school student stood up and blatantly asked McCain what his purpose was for being there. McCain jokingly responded, he knew he should have ended the meeting. It seems like McCain loves campaigning at town hall meetings.
As most all ready know McCain is the presumptive republican presidential nominee. McCain has ran an unscripted, any-question-goes campaign, which is an advantage. It gives the voters a chance to ask what is really on their mind and he can give an honest answer. I guess that we will find out how effective McCain’s “town hall” meetings are in the 2008 presidential election.

The Election in the Cyber World

I have recently realized that there is no way to escape the 2008 presidential election. The election is covered on the TV, newspaper, magazines, radio, and now the cyber world. The presidential election is so heated that online games are now discussing the election. One popular game is the World of Warcraft , where players are supposed to be fighting dragons, raiding enemies, and performing magical quest are now discussing who will be our next president. Sean Goldman told USA TODAY, “Here we are logging into the virtual world to escape the grip of the real world for a few hours, but this election has brought the real world closer to the virtual world. Players have been in debates for hours trying to make their point to the other players. Goldman also told them that, “99 percent of the gamers on WoW are talking about politics. Not only are gamers discussing the election, but MySpace and Facebook contributors are battling for the support for candidates. It seems like no one will be escaping this election.

MTV in the 2008 Election

MTV is a music based TV station, but as most people are aware, it is host to many reality TV shows. The Real World, Road Rules, and Making the Band are all popular reality TV shows, but recently they have taken a back seat. Instead there have been many news briefs interrupting the shows. The news briefs are covering the 2008 election. USA TODAY (April 2 edition) reports that MTV has educated young voters for 16 years, but this year will hopefully be their biggest success. If you recall in the 2004 election, MTV launched the Choose or Lose campaign. This was to try and get young eligible voters to actually go out and vote. However, this campaign wasn’t as successful as they hoped to be. For this year’s election they have launched a Street Team 08’. This is where they will have one young reporter from each state reporting on what the young voters are doing in their state. Hopefully MTV will be more successful in this year’s election than in 2004.

Voting in the 2008 Election

In several months, the citizens of the U.S. will be voting on a new President. It seems to be very important for young people to get out and vote. However, I was watching the TODAY Show and they were talking about who Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama were counting on for votes. They reported that Hilary was campaiging for the older generation and the womens votes. Obama is campaigning for the younger generation and the black vote. This election is one of the most historic elections that we have ever had, because the minorities are rising and the race is so close. Personally, I feel that younger voters mean the most in this election and that candidates should focus more on the younger generations votes. The candidates should remember that the younger generariont is the future. Props to Obama for focusing on the younger vote and maybe Hilary will take a hint

President Bill Clinton

On Tuesday, March 25, I had the opportunity to watch former President Bill Clinton give a speech in Frankfort. This was a rally to get supporters for his wife in Kentucky. Now, although I am not a Clinton supporter I wasn’t going to dog Hillary or protest against her, but I wanted to give him the chance to tell me why I should vote for her. I have to be honest with you, he was an excellent speaker, but he did not persuade me enough to vote for Hilary. President Clinton spent the first 15 minutes of his speech talking about how great it is to be a democrat. Now, I am not disagreeing with him, but I wanted him to get the crowd fired up and for him to jump straight into why I should give Hillary my vote. He didn’t do this; instead he focused on being a democrat and what happened in the 90’s. Now the 90’s for the most part was great, but we are in 2008, so let’s focus on how we are going to try and change the economy and the war we are currently in. I loved listening to him speak and thought he was an awesome speaker, I just wished that he would have focused more on Hillary and her campaign.

Votes--Brienne

The way that the United States typically votes is somewhat unfair. In general elections, the people vote. Whichever candidate, republican or democrat, receives the most votes, all of the electoral votes go to that candidate. Now, it is the same in the republican primary. However, in the democratic primary, it is based on percentages. Say 60% of the democrats in one state vote for Obama and 40% of the democrats in that state vote for Hillary. Around 60% of the delegates will be counted for Obama and 40% will be counted for Hillary. This seems to me to be a much more accurate way of getting what the people want. For example, in the general election, one candidate could get more of the popular vote (or the votes by the people), while the other candidate could get more electoral votes. I feel like we should do our elections based on percentages, as it is done in the Democratic primary. It brings the people closer to the executive branch and people would feel like their vote really could make a difference. It would encourage more people to get out there and vote. Some people say that the reason we do not do this now is because it takes too long to count. However, I feel that the president of the United States is a very important profession. If it takes longer to count votes, so be it. The presidency should be based on what the people want, or the popular vote.