Down to the Wire

Evan Tracy who is the CEO and founder of the Campaign Media Analysis Group explains exactly what his company does. He talks about how last-minute campaigns are becoming more common. He also explains that the common theme in these last-minute campaign as outlines in an article by the Wall Street Journal is that they go for the jugular.

Attack of the Ads

Bill Adair is the editor of the website politifact.com; which rates whether or not an elected official has kept their promises or not as well as whether or not what a politician or ad says is true or not by a "truth o' meeter." In this video, Adair is asked how he rated the validity of the ads thats were for the race for the Florida Senate between Marco Rubio and Charlie Frist.

Perry's Woes Continue

Throughout the majority of August and September, Texas Governor Rick Perry was a serious contender in the race for the Republican Party's nomination for the 2012 election. According to a Rasmussen Poll conducted back in August, Perry was the frontrunner with 29 % of the vote. At the end of the third quarter, Perry lead all of his opponents in the total amount of money raised in the quarter with $17,168,589 raised and had $15,078,415 on hand to go with it. But once the quarter ended Perry found himself heading in a downward spiral that seems to not have an end. The spark was ignited as I wrote about in earlier entries, when it was leaked to the public that outside his hunting ranch in rural Texas there was a rock that had the word "Ni****head" spray-painted on it. From that moment on, Perry has seemed to be self-destructing. He has conducted himself poorly in numerous debates by saying things that made others perceive him as inarticulate and ignorant.

Today, Perry no longer has that commanding lead in the polls that he once did at the end of summer. Instead, his campaign is in shambles and his chances of winning the nomination are slim to none. He has been forced to take drastic and rather desperate measures to help salvage his campaign and to maintain the support that he still has. Recently, Perry invited House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to a debate to most likely prove that he has the brains to be the next Republican Party's nominee for president. Pelosi declined his offer, but could not resist to have some fun along the way. According to an article from cnn.com that was written by Xuan Thai, when Pelosi was asked why declined Perry's offer she said: "It is my understanding that such a letter has come in. Monday I'm going to be in Portland in the morning and I'm going to be visiting some of our labs in the afternoon, that's two, I can't remember what the third thing is I'm going to be doing."This is a reference that was made to mock Perry when he could not remember the third government agency that he said he would shutdown in a recent debate. It seems like Perry has unfortunately for himself been labeled as the clown of the race who nobody seems to take seriously anymore. What makes this so bad for Perry is that the House Minority Leader insulted his intelligence as opposed to mocking his ideologies. This would never happen to Mitt Romney who will most likely win the nomination when all is said and done.

There are growing concerns in his campaign as well. Perry and his campaign manager Rob Johnson spent several days in New Hampshire last week since he has not campaigned this much in this particular state. In fact, on Wednesday a Bloomberg Poll showed that Perry only has 3% of the support from probable voters in New Hampshire. On Monday they attended a meet-and-greet at the Portsmouth's 100 club; in which one attendee described it as being an "Apology Tour." However, two Perry supporters Pam Tucker and Sean Mahoney did not voice any concerns about this so-called "Apology Tour." Despite this there is no question that Perry needs to do more than this if he hopes to win the nomination let alone be the next president of our country.

Links used:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/20/perry-supporters-in-new-hampshire-voice-concerns-to-campaign-manager/

http://roaringrepublican.com/blog/2011/10/18/third-quarter-2011-fundraising-numbers-for-election-2012/

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/gop_primary_perry_29_romney_18_bachmann_13

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/17/third-reason-pelosi-cant-debate-perry-slips-her-mind/

Hoop Dreams

Barrack Obama needs all the help and support that he can possibly get on his journey to of winning the election that is around one year away. Much of the hope that carried Obama in his victory over John McCain in 2008 has evaporated into thin air. In other words, many Americans believe that Obama has fallen short on several of the promises he made in his previous campaign. Promises that our President has broken include: increasing the dividends taxes for higher-income taxpayers, expand the child and dependent care credit, repeal the Bush tax cuts, sign the Employee Free Choice Act, and many more. But above all our nation is grieving about our economy that is in shambles. In regards to how Americans think Obama is handling our economy, only 26% of Americans believe that he is handling our economy well according to a Gallup Poll conducted in August. Also, a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports reveals that just 23% of our population strongly agrees with the way that Obama is handling out government and 38% strongly agrees of what he has done since he has been in office. As a result of the economy, the unemployment rate is at 9.1% are the notorious Occupy Wall Street Movement has reached new heights as seen through the protests that took place week. 

Clearly, Obama is in much need of support if he hopes to re-claim his throne in the upcoming election. Not surprisingly, Obama is once again seeking unorthodox methods to build support for his 2012 campaign. Obama is not adhering to the traditional approach to gain support and raise my by sucking up to interest groups to seek potential donors. Instead, he is heading to the courts. No I do not mean a court of law, I mean a basketball court. 

Our presidents love for the game of basketball has been documented over the past four years in a subtle manner. In the wake of the NBA lockout, the only chance that fans might get to say their favorite players on the court this year is in the "First Ever Obama Classic." The "Obama Classic" is set to take place an a to be determined venue in Washington D.C. on December 12; which is three days before the first possible NBA game will be played if the lockout comes to an end. Tickets that will be purchased to see the "Obama Classic" will go directly to his re-election campaign. This event has already attracted some of the NBA's biggest stars to participate in it including Ray Allen, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard. Former Knick Patrick Ewing is also on board to participate and Cheryl Miller and Tina Thompson of the WNBA are set to be in the "Obama Classic" as well. The Obama campaign also claims that several more players will be in the "Obama Classic" too. Ticket prices vary for this event. There is a limited number of $100 tickets that are reserved for "Gen44" (younger supporters) donors. General admission tickets are priced at $200, premium seats go for $5,000 dollars.

Can the "Obama Classic" have a positive effect on his re-election campaign? Aside from the fact that it does bring in money, it does help him maintain his hip and empathetic image that was a piece to the puzzle that lead him to winning the election in 2008. Also, the sports industry has been known to be predominately right-wing. Although I do believe that this can have some positive effect on his bid for re-election, it will be very minimal at best. He is going to have to do a lot more than just the "Obama Classic" if he hopes to serve a second term in office. 


Links used:


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/19/nba-players-sign-on-for-obama-classic-fundraiser/


http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll


http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/11/10/07/september-unemployment-by-the-numbers

http://www.gallup.com/poll/149042/new-low-approve-obama-economy.aspx

Bush vs. Kerry

The 2004 election between George Bush and John Kerry occurred at a time of great uncertainty. We were in the midst of the War in Iraq and many people no longer had the feelings that they had about it when it was first waged. As a result, the first question that was asked in the debate was: Will our children ever live in a safe and secure world? Kerry answered the question by being able to improve a better job of ensuring a good level of national security than Bush did. He said that he would do whatever possible to capture the terrorists. Bush responded by saying that we must stay the course in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He highlighted what he thought were triumphs in his War on Terror.

Reagan vs. Mondale

This debate occurred in 1984 when Ronald Reagan was seeking re-election. His opponent was Democrat Walter Mondale. The debated over the federal budget, and Mondale claimed that if he were elected president he would better manage it than Reagan has. Reagan responded by highlighting the triumphs of his budget plan as well as how he will improve it if he is to be re-elected.

The Debates of 1992

In 1992 something new happened: a candidate from the Independent Party (Ross Perot) was not just the theird party candidate but at one point had a legitimate shot at the presidency. His opponents were Republican George Bush Sr. who was running for re-election and Democrat Bill Clinton who ultimately won the election. This excerpt from this debate is about taxed. Bill Clinton criticized Bush's use of trick-down economics because it only benefitted the rich, promised relief for the middle-class, and said he would address deficit spending. Bush responded by saying that Clinton's proposal would be "trickle-down government"; which would be bad for our country. Perot talked about his opinion on the issue and what he would do as president.