Politics
Touring the JFK Museum
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!On a recent trip to New England I visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston. Alas, I received no admission discount because of my name, but I did receive some insights that negative campaigns are […]
Demonizing Differences
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008For the past week, many in the mainstream media have been trying to ridicule Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Initially, the pundits at NBC, The New York Times and elsewhere decried Palin for being “unqualified,” supposedly because of her age (44) and inexperience (20 months as governor of Alaska). CNN anchor Campbell Brown nearly […]
The Veepstakes
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008It used to be that vice presidential picks didn’t matter much, important only to balance a ticket geographically such as Texan Lyndon Johnson did for New Englander John F. Kennedy.
But with no incumbent president or vice president in the contest, this is no ordinary election year. Both nominees seem to have picked running mates designed […]
More Coverage Please
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008Hurricane-permitting, the Republican National Convention will be upon us tonight. But I’ll be frustrated with the lack of television coverage by the major networks. ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX all argue that political conventions have become too scripted and are in essence just free commercials. Thus, the broadcast networks usually are showing only one hour […]
If Dogs Vote, McCain Wins
Monday, August 18th, 2008I understand opinion polls that ask voters which presidential candidate they prefer based on such factors as religiosity. For instance, a June Gallup poll indicated that John McCain would defeat Barack Obama 57-32 percent among white voters who say religion is an important part of their daily lives. The poll is relevant because spirituality is […]
On the Campaign Trail
Thursday, July 31st, 2008The great advantage to living in a swing state such as Missouri is that presidential candidates are apt to pay frequent visits. Even a city the size of Springfield (population 151,580) draws the two major party nominees. Last month, John McCain held a town hall meeting where I live to discuss the economy; Barack Obama […]
Running Mate Speculation
Thursday, July 24th, 2008With the identity of presidential nominees decided long ago, pundits lately have been obsessed with trying to handicap the contest for vice president.
A pair of new polls indicates that voters favor Barack Obama picking his closest rival Hillary Clinton as a running mate. Likewise, much of the populace wants John McCain to select Mitt Romney as […]
Denigrating the Candidates
Monday, March 31st, 2008Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are the sole survivors in the intense public scrutiny to vie for the role as the next president of the United States. En route, various media outlets have hailed one of those three candidates as the only great hope this nation has to turn the nation around in […]
What’s the Rush?
Thursday, February 14th, 2008Media outlets, particularly television and magazines, spent much of 2007 touting various presidential candidates. The pack journalism mentality even picked a front-runner for the Republicans, a candidate who managed to go nowhere once the votes started being counted.
Now, more than eight months from the general election, the major networks are in a hurry for it […]
The privilege of picking a president
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008Super Tuesday has passed, with voters in two dozen states (including Missouri where I live) having the opportunity to have a say in the presidential nomination process.
Of course by early February only two or three viable candidates are left for each of the major parties, compared to the seven or eight the Democrats and Republicans […]