It’s been called the “kitchen sink strategy.” That is the name Hillary Clinton’s team have given to the strategy of “throwing everything but the kitchen sink” at Senator Barack Obama in an attempt to make his candidacy less palatable to the American public.
So far though, the “kitchen sink” hasn’t done any significant damage to the junior senator from Illinois. In fact, the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll finds that Senator Obama is continuing to make gains against the Clinton campaign in Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina.
The poll found that Clinton’s double-digit lead over Obama in Pennsylvania has all but vanished. She is now leading by just five points in Pennsylvania, and Obama has taken a sizable lead in neighboring Indiana, another critical primary state.
Voters in both Pennsylvania and Indiana have expressed disappointment and even outrage over the negative tone the Democratic presidential race has taken in the past month. And it would appear that most voters in these critical states find Hillary Clinton to be the more negative of the two candidates, and the quickest to criticize her opponent.
So it would appear that simply throwing anything and everything at Senator Obama in an attempt to diminish his popularity hasn’t actually been effective, and in fact, in Pennsylvania at least, it appears that this strategy has backfired and actually increased Senator Obama’s popularity in the Keystone State.
As the race continues, it begins to look less and less likely that Senator Clinton will be able to clinch the Democratic nomination for president. When all is said and done, the Democratic primary race is all about numbers — who can garner the most delegates and super-delegates. With Barrack Obama now firmly in the lead, it is beginning to look inevitable that he will be the Democratic nominee for president.
With the numbers stacked so firmly against Hillary Clinton, many Democratic Party “bigwigs” are beginning to call for her to drop out of the race for the good of the party. While some senators and congressmen have dared to say so publicly, there are rumors that many others are encouraging Clinton to drop out in private.
Meanwhile, the Republican presumptive nominee, John McCain, is touring the country and raising money for the upcoming general primary. The bitterly disputed contest between Clinton and Obama has actually encouraged the Republican Party, and some Republican insiders are hoping the struggle continues right up through the summer. Republicans see the negative tone of the Democratic primary as effectively “tearing the Democratic party apart.”
If Senator Clinton fails to win the Pennsylvania primary — coming up next Tuesday– by a substantial margin, there will be an enormous amount of pressure for her to drop out of the presidential race. Many concerned Democrats are hoping she will do just that.
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Senator Barack Obama continues to gain momentum in the Democratic primary race. The Illinois Senator received an endorsement from a new democratic superdelegate this morning, helping solidify his lead over Democratic rival Senator Hillary Clinton.
The Washington Post is reporting that Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota declared her support for Barack Obama this morning. Senator Obama won Minnesota handily in that state’s February primary. Klobuchar applauded Senator Obama’s character and presidential campaign, saying that the Illinois Senator brings a “new perspective and inspiring a real excitement.”
Senator Klobuchar’s endorsement continues the growing trend toward Democratic Party superdelegates supporting Senator Obama. This past week, Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont went so far as to call on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race for the good of the Democratic Party. While Senator Leahy’s comments can be easily dismissed, it is clear that Obama has the momentum for the time being, and barring any extreme revelations, is likely to finish the Democratic primary ahead in both the delegate count and the popular vote.
But while some leading Democrats have been calling on Hillary Clinton to quit the race, Senator Obama himself has been taking a very different approach over the last few weeks, encouraging Senator Clinton to continue campaigning. Obama publicly stated that the continuing primary campaign “Battle” would not damage the Democratic Party in the general election in November, but would result in a stronger candidate to face Republican nominee John McCain.
Meanwhile, Senator Hillary Clinton has begun speaking publicly about the controversy over Obama’s former minister’s controversial statements from the pulpit. Mrs. Clinton said that “moving” to a different church would have been the correct response. Overall though, it doesn’t seem that the controversy over Reverent Wright has been particularly damaging to the Obama campaign.
The Clinton campaign, however, was clearly damaged this past week, after Senator Clinton gave a speech claiming that she visited Bosnia as first lady under warlike conditions, and arrived “under sniper fire,” without any reception on the ground. Senator Clinton had to eat her words when video emerged of the trip, clearly showing Senator Clinton arriving in a relaxed manner, and being greeted by hundreds of officials and well-wishers. She even stopped to talk with a small children who greeted her on the runway.
Critics have called Mrs. Clinton’s account of her Bosnia trip “a whopper,” implying that she embellished the story in order to seem more presidential. Whether the fabricated story was intentional, or simply a “confused memory,” it appears to have done some political damage at a time when Senator Clinton’s campaign could really use a break.
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Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain recently returned from a diplomatic trip to the Middle East and Europe. Speaking to the World Affairs Council this week, he emphasized the need for greater diplomacy, saying “our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want, whenever we want…”
McCain’s words are a stark contrast to the diplomatic style of the Bush administration, which has been often seen as acting unilaterally and in an arrogant manner when dealing with other nations. Senator McCain seems to be drawing a clear contrast between his leadership style and that of George W. Bush.
Under the Bush administration, even many of America’s closest allies have felt alienated. Longtime allies (and NATO members) such as Norway, and Denmark saw their relationships strained with the US, and citizens in many countries held huge protests against the Iraq war, and against the overall foreign-policy of the Bush administration.
Even our neighbor to the north, Canada, began to see the United States as more of an adversary then an ally. All of these changes took place at a time when the US needed international support and cooperation more than ever. But with the Bush/Cheney era about to end, all three of the current presidential hopefuls are laying out plans to mend the frayed relationships with our allies.
Democratic senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both blasted the Bush administration for its arrogant and shortsighted foreign-policy decisions, including the war in Iraq. But until recently, Senator Jon McCain has refused to speak out publicly against the foreign-policy of the Bush/Cheney administration. Senator McCain’s comments after returning from Europe and the Middle East showed that he clearly has a different foreign-policy agenda, and a different style of “getting things done in the world.”
Though McCain has been careful not to be overly critical of George W. Bush, he has acknowledged that the image of the United States around the world has been damaged by a war in Iraq, and other foreign-policy blunders of the last seven years.
McCain’s “diplomacy first” comments may not play well with the conservative base of the Republican Party. In fact, the right wing of the party hasn’t exactly warmed up to the idea of a McCain presidency so far, and many hard-core conservatives see McCain as far too “independent,” and too willing to break from the established Republican Party line for the sake of achieving his objectives.
Of course, many voters perceive this to be McCain’s greatest strength. He at least gives the appearance of a politician who is willing to put the good of the nation before the good of his party — something we could use a lot more of in this country.
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The Democratic presidential nomination race continues to favor the challenger, Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Obama has now won 12 state primaries in a row, and is looking increasingly like the inevitable Democratic candidate for president in 2008.
Although Senator Hillary Clinton has campaigned long and hard, and has certainly been a tough competitor, Barack Obama continues to gain important endorsements from powerful legislators and political figures around the country. Representative Jon Barrow of Georgia is one of the latest to endorse Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee.
Senator Obama has now garnered the official endorsement of all five of Georgia’s Democratic representatives; while Senator Clinton now finds herself without a single endorsement in the state. To add insult to injury, another Georgia Democrat, Representative John Lewis of Atlanta has announced that he will be switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama.
Georgia is traditionally a very conservative state, even within Democratic circles. The overwhelming endorsement of Barack Obama by Georgia representatives is a clear indication that his appeal crosses over class, race and even political boundaries.
Georgia may well turn out to be an important state in the 2008 presidential election. In the last several elections, the state has gone overwhelmingly Republican, but there are growing signs now of a renewed Democratic Party in Georgia, and even some Georgia Republicans have expressed a willingness to cross over and vote for Obama.
To the contrary, his opponent Hillary Clinton does not enjoy the same type of bipartisan support in Georgia, or indeed in most of the Southern states. Conservatives throughout the South have been nearly unanimously united in their fight against a second Clinton presidency, a widespread attitude that is improving Senator Obama’s fortunes in the South.
As many political pundits have already observed, if the conservative “Deep South” states are favorable toward a black president, there is absolutely no doubt that the country as a whole is capable of electing a black president. While this is certainly a welcome change of attitude, particularly in the South, the real question is, will Senator Obama be our first black president?
At this point in the race, most experts believe that the Democratic nomination a Senator Obama’s to lose. Barring some extreme and shocking news, or a Herculean effort by Senator Clinton to get her message out, Obama looks unstoppable at this point.
And although recent polls indicate Obama would do well running against Republican John McCain, it is still a long time until November, and in presidential politics anything can happen.
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Election years in the United States rarely remain civil and polite — at least not for long. And this is especially true when the stakes are high and the outcome of the election is as critical as this November’s presidential election. Case in point: the Democratic primary is starting to turn ugly, as Senator Barack Obama begins to take the lead, winning the endorsement of many powerful figures in Washington, and influential labor unions.
In the past three weeks, Senator Obama has won hundreds of delegates in primaries around the country, and for the first time has pulled ahead of Senator Hillary Clinton in the primary race. Its funny how quickly things can change; only five weeks ago Senator Clinton was practically being “inaugurated” by the press as the de facto Democratic presidential candidate.
With an ex-president husband, and decades of experience inside the power structure of Washington, most observers believed Hillary Clinton to be unbeatable in the race for the Democratic nomination. But Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, has failed to go quietly into that good night, and in the last few weeks has won primary after primary, continuing to build momentum and raising millions of dollars toward his presidential bid.
Obama’s strategic gains in the past few weeks have put the “fear of God” into the Clinton campaign. Senator Clinton recently restructured her campaign organization, and “loaned” her campaign $5 million of her own personal money to compete against Senator Obama in the Chesapeake primary.
It is interesting to note that while Hillary Clinton is easily able to write her campaign a check for $5 million, Senator Barack Obama’s total net worth is reported to be approximately $1.7 million.
And although the Democratic campaign has been mostly a “love-fest” so far, things are now beginning to veer into darker territory. Senator Clinton is now going on the offensive against Obama, accusing the junior senator of being both inexperienced and a talker, not a doer. Visiting Cincinnati earlier this week, Senator Clinton said, “It is time we had a president who was a fighter, a doer and a champion for the American middle class,” a possible jab at Senator Obama’s relatively short-lived career in politics.
Clinton has also begun to associate her candidacy more closely with the middle class. But while she claims to be “from and for the middle class of America,” the reality is that she grew up in a well-to-do suburb of Chicago, going on to attend both Wellesley College and Yale Law School. Not exactly a middle-class résumé.
Oddly enough, Clinton has also attacked Obama on what many see as his greatest strength — his ability to communicate coherently and passionately with the public. Senator Clinton has suggested that Obabma is all about the “rhetoric,” not substance, saying “You can choose speeches or solutions.”
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The use of subliminal messages in advertising has been around for a long time, though the public has mostly taken little notice of the practice of using split-second images or subliminal suggestions in ads. For example, it is a widely held urban myth that subliminal messages used in advertisements are illegal in the United States. In fact, the US has no such law on the books.
Other countries, however, do have laws against the use of subliminal content, including India, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, among others. And several recent studies suggest that subliminal content can and does have a very real effect on viewers/listeners.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently published the results of a research trial that confirmed that subliminal messages can influence the attitudes and behavior of voters in the Israeli general election. The study, as reported by the Jerusalem Post, used images of both the Palestine and Israeli flag, which were then flashed for mere milliseconds on a video display being watched by study participants.
While the research showed that none of the experiments participants were aware of seeing a flag on the monitor, their political positions and feelings regarding the Israeli-Palestine conflict changed when presented with the subliminal images of either flag.
Ironically, Israelis who were exposed to a subliminal image of their own flag, became more moderate in their views of the conflict. Palestinians who were exposed to the subliminal Palestine flag also moderated their views somewhat, becoming less extreme in their opinions.
This result was actually the opposite of what was expected. Researchers theorized that when exposed to images of their own flag, the subjects would become more reactionary, and even nationalistic. The study results proved that the subliminal image of their own flag made subjects more temperate and moderate in their political views.
And it is interesting to note that both Israeli and Palestine subjects responded the same to the subliminal “flag-waving.” Both became more open minded about negotiations, and exhibited less nationalistic tendencies.
An additional experiment was conducted prior to Isreals last general election. In this study as well, the subliminal flag image was shown to influence both right-wing and left-wing Israelis, with the effect of “pulling” both of these political extremes toward the center. Subjects who were exposed to the flag expressed an intention to vote for the centrist parties in greater numbers than those who were not exposed to the subliminal image.
During follow-up research, it was established that the subjects who intended to vote for center candidates had indeed voted that way, suggesting that the exposure to the subliminal image may have actually affected their voting behavior, as well as their point of view.
Researchers are uncertain why a symbol of the nation — such as the flag — would cause subjects to moderate their views, but it is clear that the subject of subliminal political persuasion will be studied closely in years to come.
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With the election season fast approaching, millions of Americans find themselves in the “undecided” category. Between the many primary debates, and mostly negative campaign commercials, it’s difficult to know how any particular candidate stands on the issues.
But taking a cue from “matchmaker” web sites like eHarmony.com, a new web site called GlassBooth.com uses a questionnaire format which determines the user’s position on issues as varied as immigration, the war in Iraq, and health care reform. After analyzing the user’s responses, the site’s proprietary software algorithm determines the ideal candidate the user should vote for in the next presidential election.
For example, if you believe that health care for all Americans is more important than bringing democracy to the Middle East, the GlassBooth software will analyze those responses and find a presidential candidate who takes similar positions. GlassBooth cofounder Ian Mannheimer says the new web site is filling a “massive void.”
The “void” Mannheimer refers to is the lack of knowledge about where any particular candidate stands on actual issues. Often, presidential races come down to questions of personality and which candidate is more “likable,” because there is so little information available to the general public about the differences between candidates on serious political issues.
GlassBooth.com aims to fill this void by providing a head-on comparison of candidates to assist voters in backing a candidate who supports issues they care about. The target demographic for the news site is 18 to 31 year-old voters. And although traditional wisdom holds that voters in this younger age group do not go to the polls in significant numbers, the reality is that the 18 to 31 year-old demographic has shown a steady increase in voting habits over the last three presidential elections.
The site was founded by Mannheimer and Robert Boyle, a law student from Cambridge, Massachusetts. GlassBooth.com claims to be a completely nonpartisan web site, which simply keeps an exhaustive database of candidate votes and position papers. The concept of the site is to inform the electorate, not to persuade.
Although GlassBooth is obviously filling a void in American politics, the real question is whether voters will actually vote for a candidate based on the results of a computer database search. Americans have a long tradition of wanting to feel like they know their presidential candidates personally — that they can relate to them in some way.
It remains to be seen, however, whether voters will put aside the “cult of personality” and actually vote for a presidential candidate on the basis of issues, not who they’d most like to have a beer with.
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Although the state of New Jersey has not executed a criminal in nearly 45 years, the state’s legislature recently passed a bill officially abolishing the death penalty. To some, the bill seems like a mere formality, but political insiders consider New Jersey’s abolishment of capital punishment as a symbolic act that could have far-reaching consequences.
Critics of the death penalty are praising New Jersey’s move to repeal the death penalty law, pointing out that New Jersey is the first state to abolish capital punishment in the modern era. And New Jersey’s symbolic move could spread to other states, particularly those who still have the death penalty law on the books, but seldom if ever use it.
The New Jersey bill came after a special commission of the Legislature determined that capital punishment wastes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, and is too emotionally draining on both victim’s and criminal’s families. By making the argument as much about financial waste as ethical concerns, the New Jersey bill managed to receive support from both conservative and progressive legislators, and was signed into law by Democratic Governor Jon Corzine.
But New Jersey is not the only state questioning the ethics, legitimacy and cost-effectiveness of maintaining a death penalty law. Both Maryland and New Mexico currently have bills in their Legislatures that would repeal death penalty laws. South Dakota also appears to be within a few votes of success on a law to ban capital punishment.
And even in traditional strongholds of capital punishment such as Tennessee and
Florida, there are now special state appointed committees similar to New Jersey’s investigating the effectiveness, cost and ethical concerns of capital punishment.
Nationwide, the number of criminals sentenced to death has seen a dramatic downturn over the past 10 years. And even in cases where the death sentence is handed down, less than 3% of death row inmates will actually be executed in a year’s time.
With the United States being the last of the so-called “industrialized” nations to maintain the death penalty as public policy, there is also growing international pressure to repeal capital punishment at the federal level. Countries as diverse as Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands have all banned the death penalty many years ago, leaving the United States in the company of nations such as Saudi Arabia, China, and Libya when it comes to supporting capital punishment.
While New Jersey’s abolishment of execution is undoubtedly symbolic and will have no real consequences within the state itself, capital punishment opponents around the world see it as a step in the right direction — a direction that could finally bring the United States into alignment with its allies, and end capital punishment once and for all in North America.
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Stephen Colbert is not a fan of books. The comedian and self fashioned tongue-in-cheek “conservative watchdog” is fond of saying that reading is for pantywaists or liberals. So it’s a bit surprising that the ever excitable fake news pundit has now released a book of his own, humorously entitled, “I am America (and so can you!).”
Colbert’s night-time comedy show, “The Colbert Report” is riding high in the ratings, and the lovable, self-promoting comedian hasn’t been shy about pushing his new book on the air. In true Colbert style, his face beams exuberantly from the cover of the new book, inviting the reader to dive in to the world of his comically misguided altar ego to discover the “real America.”
You see, there are actually two Stephen Colberts. One is the mild-mannered South Carolina native who cut his teeth portraying a bumbling news reporter in a recurring role on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” The other Stephen Colbert is his alter-ego: the brash but ultimately lovable mock conservative pundit with an ego as big as the nation he claims to adore. And oddly enough, both Stephen Colberts show up in the new book.
“I am America” is written “in character,” as Colbert’s on-air persona, laying waste to all manner of hypocritical political punditry in Colbert’s well-known style. He covers most of the big issues, such as family, religion and race in a bumbling everyman style that very closely imitates the writing of his late-night show. But ultimately, the book is neither as inspired nor as funny as his nightly broadcasts on Comedy Central.
It is surprising in some ways that the excellent writing of “the Colbert Report” TV show doesn’t seem to always translate that well to a flat page of text. Of course there are high points–the comical annotations in the margins help to spice things up somewhat, for example. But in the end, the reader gets the feeling that most of this material would be better presented by Colbert himself as part of his nightly show.
But regardless of what readers may take away from “I am America,” Colbert’s book is sure to be a huge commercial success, debuting high on the Amazon.com list in its first 24 hours. And there is no doubt the so-called “Colbert bump” will also apply to Colbert’s first book. Expect to see it near the top of the New York Times that seller list in the coming weeks.
Love him or hate him, you might as well get used to Stephen Colbert, because it’s a safe bet you will be seeing much more of him in the future.
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