Election Day 2008

It’s over. The longest and most expensive presidential campaign in U. S. history ended last night with Barack Obama’s clear victory, both in the electoral and popular vote. His victory did not come easy; he had to outfight formidable opponents in Hillary Clinton and John McCain and persuade Americans that he had the ability to lead them in tough times. But the precision and professionalism with which he and his advisors ran his campaign made him the decisive winner and gave America its first African American president. It was a stunning moment, especially for people like me who vividly remember that less than fifty years ago, segregation was legal in the South and de facto segregation was pervasive in the North. Barack Obama’s victory does not mark the end of racism in the United States, but I think that it marks the beginning of the end.

This election galvanized voters of all parties. Everywhere I went yesterday, people sported “I Voted” stickers and were eager to discuss the election. My husband and I went to West Springfield High School at 7:15 AM to vote and found that the line was already snaking its way out of the building. But despite the early hour and the long line, people were upbeat and talkative, energized (in part) by the coffee and baked goods volunteers were selling outside, but mostly by a keen awareness that we were taking part in a historic election. Our long line moved swiftly, and in less than an hour, my husband and I were inside the school and voting. The use of scannable paper ballots made it possible for more people to vote at once, and this new voting method kept the line moving and frustration low. What about you? What happened when you went to vote?

On Mason’s campus, the weather was dreary and damp, but spirits were high.

Student Government ran vans to the Woodson High School polling place, and volunteers promoted this service by becoming “human advertisements.”

Rain apparently, does not damper revolutions!


This guy stole my heart!

Our university was not without its own drama. Yesterday morning, a hacker broke into the Provost’s email account and sent out a fake message announcing that the election had been moved to November 5th. Rumors circulated that Mason students who voted could lose their financial aid.

But such lame attempts proved ineffective against the smart and savvy youthful voters who went to the polls in record numbers. Your demographic – voters between the ages of 18 and 25 – voted overwhelmingly for Obama and helped power him to victory. Now it’s your turn to act upon that mandate and consider how you will help him guide our nation toward economic recovery, energy reform, and improved security both at home and abroad.

How will you meet the challenge Obama made to all Americans in his victory speech last night that change can’t happen without “a new spirit of patriotism, a new spirit of sacrifice?” How has this election influenced your outlook on the future and the role you will play in it as a working professional?

The Undecided voters will decide the election

While Barack Obama has a comfortable lead in the latest national polls, the number of people voting undecided or unsure is at a high rate in some key states, and that really worries me as a Obama supporter. Take a look at the percentages of voters undecided in the key battleground states.

Obama has a 1o point lead in Pennsylvania, but their is 9% gap of undecided voters. In Ohio, Obama has a 8 point lead, but a 9% voted undecided. Florida, Obama has a 7 point lead, but a 9% undecided. These percentage of undecided voters are the same at the key states. That is big margin especially within a week to go before we go to the polls. However, with these undecided percentages in place, can we really trust the national polls at this point of the campaign? Does it really give an indicator on who going to win the election? Remember Al gore had these similar types of leads in the polls in 2000. The result, George W. Bush won the election in a more controversial fashion.

Now, i am not saying that Obama will have a similar result in 2008, but the election itself isn't going to determine who wins the battleground states. It is how much of a turnout the undecided voters will have on election day, and most importantly who they are going to vote for McCain or Obama? These are the people that are really going to determine the election. Some of these voters are gonna vote for Obama because of McCain pick of Sarah Palin and her inexperience at Vice President. On the other hand, they could also vote for McCain because they think Obama is too inexperience and they do not like Obama tax plan (A.K.A "Joe the plumber route") or they just do not want a black president. I don't know!! They are undecided, they can change their minds on anything. But as scary as it sounds, they will probably be the difference for the candidates to get the 270 electoral votes or not, and it could tip a typical blue state into a red state and vice versa. Then again, they might not have a major turnout, and the national polls could reflect on the outcome of the election.

So students, while you go cast your vote for your candidate and watch the election results unfold on television, just prepare for the unexpected such as voting fraud in swing states, Obama winning Virginia, and McCain winning Pennsylvania, because its likely that the undecided voters played that major role in determining the 44th President of the United States.

Focusing on the Negative

Last night was the final presidential debate (here is a link to the transcript if you somehow missed it: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/16/politics/2008debates/main4525254.shtml), which the major news organizations are calling a win for Obama. I wasn’t too excited going into the debate, I felt that I had heard all the information the candidates intended to give and that the only thing that might change was that they might act in a more aggressive fashion. While I was right in regards to Senator McCain’s conduct (Obama chose instead to treat McCain as a doddering old man), Bob Schieffer surprised me by asking new and interesting questions. The one I found most interesting moment to be when Bob Schieffer called both candidates out on their use of negative campaigning after saying they would not. Both candidates gave rather lame explanations for why they did it: McCain says he did it because Obama refused to do what McCain wanted, Obama responded that American’s simply expected their campaigns to turn negative. I found Obama’s statement troubling, because I think he is right. I don’t believe it is possible for a presidential candidate or someone aiming for any political position to win an in today’s current political atmosphere without resorting to negative campaigning, because despite all that is said against it, negative campaigning works. People deny it all the time, saying they only care about the issues, but just listening to the ads starts affecting how we look at a candidate. And if this article is any indication (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/904a9f24-9baf-11dd-ae76-000077b07658.html) we’re only in for more.

Who has a better energy plan Obama or McCain?

Energy Sites:
Obama
McCain

Judging from the sites above, Obama has a better energy plan than McCain. I believe that energy is the most important issue in this election for it affects many other parts of the United States and the world. Money is being drained from our economy every day to foreign countries that we purchase oil from. The United States has the resources to develop green energy technologies and we need a president that will make that happen. If we develop and practice green energy technologies we will keep our money at home and pull in money from other countries when we sell our technologies.

I think we should drill domestically, but not invest a lot of money in it, since we are planning to switch over to green energy. Palin is bragging about Alaska’s oil but guess what, in order to have access to it, we have to pump through this huge oil line that was extremely expensive to build. McCain policies on oil seem to be in the hands of the public, tax breaks if you own a hybrid car or contests for a new battery. McCain also supports alcohol based fuel which is also a lost cause, these fuels have to be mined and farmed making them not efficient. Obama’s policies on oil sound as if they are using oil as a crutch until they are able to switch over. This is the right attitude as long as we do not linger.

Obama wins greatly over McCain in the department over housing energy and so forth. McCain wants to support Nuclear Power Plants and “Clean” Coal Plants, this is just stupid talk. To mine for Uranium that fuels Nuclear Power Plants is not energy efficient at all and then they got to find a place to store the nuclear waste. Clean Coal Plants still are bad for the environment just not as bad as the regular coal plants. Obama wants to rely more on solar and wind power energy. Both of these energies are very efficient because they have no wastes and do not require resource intensive farming or gathering.

Overall Obama seems to have a better idea on how to make the United States more Green and energy dependant. I think the candidates need to stop worrying about their voters feelings and act like a leader. Presidents recently have been wiped by the public and the media. I believe people will not change there wasteful habits unless forced to, we are all to busy worrying about our own lives to know or do what is best sometimes. And we need a leader that will pass laws and setup programs that promote clean energy and a greener lifestyle. We need a leader that will slap us in the face and give us a wake up call and let us know what needs to be done. Becoming energy dependant on clean energy will strengthen our economy by keeping and pulling money into our country.

VOTE!

When McCain elected Sarah Palin as his running mate, I found it half insulting. Yeah it was strategically a great move to steal Hilary Clinton's women supporters but how can McCain hate on Barack Obama for not being experienced enough when Palin is less qualified then Obama is. Palin's supporters claim that when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska she gained more experience then Obama ever could. Uh, I called BS! Wasilla had about 6300 residents when Palin left office... Can I let you in on a little fact? Most Fairfax County Schools have the same, if not more, students then she had residents. George Mason has more students then Palin had residents. Is that REALLY who you want as vice president, oh and God forbid Palin become president if (er, when) McCain croaks. If we are basing levels of qualification on how many people our candidates are governing over, then I would like to nominate my elementary school principal. She was a great principal and if she could handle a few thousand kids under the age of twelve, well golly gee, she can run this country! Or even our student government president, but I guess my principal would be better... cause she is a chick.

And for all those voters who had supported Hilary Clinton and quickly ran over to the McCain/Palin campaign only because Palin is a chick... how uninformed and shallow can you be? What ever happened to voting your interest? If every American was dumb enough to vote that way, I mean Paris Hilton could be president. Aaaand, that would be so hot! If people are going to vote according to gender, why not vote according to how hot the candidates are? That would mean the Obama/Biden campaign would crush! (Right?) Its outrageous that some Americans can't take the time to look up the candidate's position on atleast some of the issues, but instead they support and vote for candidates according to thier gender. Its just dumb!

But I can't hate too hard on dumb voters. Atleast they are voting. How about those Americans who aren't even bothering to register. Sitting in the JC at school, those nice ladies walk around and are pretty much signing up for you. You don't even have to get off your lazy butt, yet I hear a good number of students who say they aren't registered and just don't have the time or don't want to. ARE YOU SERIOUS? They are saving you the trip and the time, they are holding your hand and spelling your name out for you! You don't even have to think and you're turning them down? Oh man! You are so cool, I hope to be as cool as you someday. For those people, I don't want to hear you complain about anything! You don't have the right! You gave up that right when you decided you were too cool or too busy to register and vote. Americans before you fought thier asses off for you to have the right to vote and make a difference. By not voting you are saying you just don't care that they fought and died for your rights and freedom.

Guys this is by far the most important and ground breaking election ever! For the first time in our history we not only have a non-white candidate running but a female candidate! So vote and vote smart! Vote your interest! Do you want the government telling you what to do with your body? Do you want your father, boyfriend or brother to be absent in your life while fighting in Iraq? Do you want a repeat of the past four years? VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Have the culture wars returned?

If your email exercise responses are any indication, the overwhelming majority of you believe more Americans identify with Barack Obama's story of multiculturalism, compromise, and change than with John McCain's story of duty, heroism, and tradition. But I wonder how people who live in small towns across the United States, towns with populations that share the same race and religion, might have responded. Do you think they would agree with your opinion?

Reconsider your response. How much of it was influenced by your personal history and by living in a multicultural, largely urban region? Sarah Palin's acceptance speech last night offered a lively and determined defense of small-town conservative values, and the buzz in the media hints that she may have ignited a culture war between liberal, urban cosmopolitanism and conservative, rural conservatism. Given the positive reaction to her speech, can we continue to argue that her embrace of tradition, duty, and heroism represents only a minority of Americans?