New Challenge Awaits

Barack Obama must now win over all those doubted him, if he is truly to be the uniting piece that our country has long sought. While the election was considered a landslide, more than 40 percent of people still voted for the opposing candidate.

No Change in This State

Once again Pennsylvania goes Democratic, and this time so does America. Starting out as a long shot candidate in a party that was more than likely going to elect another Clinton as their potential presidential candidate, Obama came to the forefront and won this election in a landslide. Winning by more than 11 percent in a state, Pennsylvania, that was supposed to be a contest just goes to show how big of a landslide this election truly was. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and the Democrats were able to mobilize and energize voters across the nation and it sure paid off. Congratulations and best of luck.

As Expected, Problems at the Polls

Lines that run more than two or three hours long and polling sites that run out of ballots, what has our political process come to? I don't know how someone can take a few hours out of their day to wait in line to vote, but it is absolutely absurd that in our democracy that people must wait this long. As an American citizen it is our right to be able to vote. And how are we expected to vote if our polling sites run out of ballots? These seem like some genuinely standard things but after all this time we still cannot get it right. Maybe in four year?

Politcs At Its Worst

Propoganda has appeared on the streets of Philadelphia, some of it stating that election day is on Wednesday Novermber 5th. Other information has been released throughout the mostly black neighborhoods of Philadelphia stating that if a voter has a past criminal record they will be detained and jailed at the polling location. This type of advertisement is a last minute effort by Republicans to disrupt the political system in order to gain an advantage in a state they trail. This just goes to show how scary politics really has become.

Palin in the Small Towns of Pennsylvania

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will spend her Halloween day campaigning in the smaller more rural areas of Pennsylvania. In the morning she went to Latrobe, PA and talked about how Barack Obama will increase taxes for middle Americans, and how the democratic presidential candidate will limit cut military spending by more than a quarter. Palin used these two issues in an attempt to scare voters away from Obama. This has been a common tactic for both parties and all candidates but we greatly see this type of negative campaigning towards the opposing candidate coming from governor Palin.
Another interesting tactic by the Republican campaign was the use of former NFL star Mike Ditka. He is a very known and well liked former University of Pittsburgh player who grew up in a small suburban town just outside of Pittsburgh. On Friday in Latrobe he openly explained his endorsement of Sarah Palin and the GOP ticket. Using this type of figure in western Pennsylvania is very smart because of Mike Ditka's general appeal to the public. Whether we like it or not, social figures in our society do persuade voters politically. Going on with the GOP attempt to energize middle class white voters, Sarah Palin will be campaigning in York Pennsylvania by the end of the day.

Talking About Issues...For Once

On Tuesday, both presidential candidates were campaigning in the state of Pennsylvania and the hot topic of the day was health care reform and income taxes. While campaigning in Chester, PA Barack Obama attacked John McCain's health care plan by saying, "it's radical and it's unaffordable." McCain responded by attacking the democratic candidate's agenda to increase the size of government by spending more money that will be collected from an increase in income taxes. The income tax references set off the Obama camp, and they came back with their same response, that their tax plan would not raise taxes for anyone making less than $200,000 a year. The McCain camp chose to reference a Joe Biden quote, in which the senator said that the cut off for an increase in taxes was at $150,000, thus trying to prove that Democrats continually lower the income level in which they will tax. This continual response of opposing candidates is exactly what elections are supposed to entail, but the real differences this time is that we are not talking about the amount of money spent on a candidates wardrobe or the type of cars candidates drive, instead this time the real issues that will affect Americans are those being discussed. It only took three months but now we are finally getting down to what will ultimately determine our future as a country, and these types of things ane what voters should base their reasoning off of, not the freak show that we have seen in the media since day one. To all voters who have not made up their minds, and even to those who have, issues matter and nothing else.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/28/campaign.wrap/index.html

Must Win for McCain

Former Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge, has publicly stated that, "Unless we win Pennsylvania, I don't think he (John McCain) is elected." This is a bold statement from a former governor that knows his state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the time before he himself was in office. Currently in Pennsylvania, polls show Obama with an 8 to 13 percent lead over McCain. But even with the substantial leads in most polls, the current Governor, Ed Rendell, has asked Obama, Hillary, and Bill Clinton to make appearances over the last eight days of the campaign. And Obama himself has schedule two stops in Pennsylvania for the upcoming week. These stops were added just this past weekend by his campaign in order to assure the Democratic candidate the electoral votes of this large swing state.
However, the McCain campaign has already planned for its own final push and has scheduled both McCain and Palin in at least two stops apiece during the last days of campaigning. While both parties' events are anticipated to have high attendances the reality that any voters will be swayed over the last view days is very minimal. The purpose of the final rallies is to reinforce the importance to people that they must show up at the polls on Election Day.