A scattered potpourri!
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Thursday, February 21, 2008
Fraternity political parties?
USC's Theta Chi is hosting a political rally, where they're hoping USC students will come out and support their candidates. They're calling it "Super Saturday" and there will be plenty of "games" to help each side prove their candidate is the best suited by USC standards.This is the way it works. The admission is one dollar per person. You put that dollar into your candidate's box, and it will count as your vote. At the end of the night, all of the "votes" will be counted up to get the winner. However, unlike typical voting policy, if you want to support your candidate more, you can throw more money into the box.
Seems like just another way to get money, right? Well, it probably is. But think about it this way. Their target audience is college students. That is where the money will be coming from. Theta Chi wants to earn money for their fraternity by getting the most amount of students possible to show up to their house Saturday night. So why not a concert? Why not a themed dance party? Something that students our age probably would pay money to go to.
Why would they bank on politics, especially when kids our age apparently "don't care" one bit about voting, or the elections, or supporting a candidate? Hmm...do I see a change in the political climate of the youth demographic?
Well, maybe...maybe not. Maybe it is just this: an excuse for all-you-can-drink alcohol and a social atmosphere. That might very well be the case. But if it is, who's to say that none of those students that go to "Super Saturday" will listen to the kids who actually care and get more interested in the elections?
It turns out to be a bit of a chicken or the egg scenario. Care about politics, then go to the party...go to the party, then care about politics. Either way, chances are, a party like this would have been a huge flop four years ago. And now, according to Facebook.com, close to 70 people are confirmed guests. That's something.
If you are a part of Facebook.com, click here to confirm yourself as a guest for this party or find out more about it.
Democrats deadlocked down south
It may be 12 days away, but campaigning in Texas has already begun. With how close the Democratic race is, and with 193 delegates on the line on March 4 awarded in Texas alone, there hasn't been a bigger contest for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. So far, each candidate has spoken at numerous stops within Texas, and both plan on giving plenty more speeches in the next week and a half.
For Clinton, who has slipped a great deal since Super Tuesday, Texas could be the momentum swing she has been looking for and needing. She has focused much of her energy on Texas and Ohio since Super Tuesday, neglecting some states along the way. Critics have questioned this method, but it could all pay off for the New York senator if March 4 goes according to plan.
So far, the polls in Texas are neck and neck. Below are some of the speeches both candidates have made since they've been down south.
These speeches may not be complete; however, the full speeches can be found at Youtube.com with the simple search of Clinton Texas or Obama Texas.
For Clinton, who has slipped a great deal since Super Tuesday, Texas could be the momentum swing she has been looking for and needing. She has focused much of her energy on Texas and Ohio since Super Tuesday, neglecting some states along the way. Critics have questioned this method, but it could all pay off for the New York senator if March 4 goes according to plan.
So far, the polls in Texas are neck and neck. Below are some of the speeches both candidates have made since they've been down south.
These speeches may not be complete; however, the full speeches can be found at Youtube.com with the simple search of Clinton Texas or Obama Texas.
Hawaiin youth perspective
Sen. Barack Obama took Hawaii handily on Tuesday with 76 percent of the vote. Hawaii, where Obama was born and spent much of his youth, was covered extensively in the news for the first time in ages. Perhaps it was because of the personal connection Obama has with the state. Perhaps it was because Hawaii could, and did, become Obama's tenth straight state victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton. Perhaps it was because the Democratic battle is the closest it has been during the primaries in a while, and is occurring during an election year that could potentially become one that goes down in history.But Hawaii, hours and hours off the coast of the mainland, typically gets ignored in coverage. In fact, neither Democratic candidate visited the state, but rather stayed in Wisconsin to do some last-minute campaigning. Coming toward the end of a tiring campaign trail, the travel time and time difference makes the distance of Hawaii a bit foreboding. Besides, the state only offers 20 delegates compared to the more promising victories the candidates can achieve in other states. Frankly, Hawaii is too inconvenient to bother with. Instead, Clinton sent her daughter Chelsea and Obama sent his sister Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng.
But the truth of the matter is, Hawaii has been in the news. And after Texas, Hawaii sends most out-of-state students to USC, so it was easy to catch up with a few to see what they thought about the attention as well as the candidates.
“Its’ really kind of exciting for
Brian Chung, another USC student, said, “I also plan on voting for Barack Obama because of his stance uniting the country together. I feel its very important, but also because he went to my school.”
Somebody once told me that if a candidate can reach a person on five different levels, he or she will get the vote. If a common birth state, school, understanding of an island, etc. is factored in, it's no wonder Obama took Hawaii in stride.McCain's got love for the lobby
If the New York Times hadn’t been the ones to break Lobbygate I would have probably dismissed it. But considering the reputation the newspaper has, as well as the astonishing number of reporters who pursued the story (how many NY Times reporters does it take to bring down the Republican nominee-elect for president? 4—plus two researchers) this really has my attention.
In case you missed it, the Times published a report Wednesday evening (EST) on their website detailing the relationship between Republican 71-year-old John McCain, the all but nominated nominee for president, and the 40-year-old Vicki Iseman, a lobbyist for media mogul Lowell W. Paxon. Iseman by the way, looks eerily like a younger version of McCain’s wife.
The article, which for the most part received its information from anonymous aides within the McCain campaign, stated that Ms. Iseman had been showing up often at McCain fundraisers, been taking private flights with the senator on a client’s corporate jet, even making numerous personal visits to McCain’s office.
His aides became convinced that the relationship had become romantic and they began taking steps to cut off the candidate’s contact with her for fear that word of it would get out, especially when media outlets started running stories about McCain writing letters on Paxon’s behalf. The article alleges that aides actually blocked her access several times when she visited, warned her about her actions in private, and even approached the senator about the prudence in cooling off his Boeing jets.
When these warning went unheeded, the aides decided to—for fear that word of McCain’s affairs would get out—get the word out. In all fairness to the McCain camp, both the senator, who has known about the article for months, and Iseman have denied the allegations that they were having an affair.
So what will the fallout look like?
Obviously, it won’t affect his standing as the Republican nominee (but wouldn’t that be the miracle the Huckabee camp has been waiting for? Or one of them at least).
But it will certainly change the way McCain is going to run his campaign against either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. As a candidate who has staked his value set to a platform of campaign finance reforms and revolutions in the way politicians make policy, this Lobbygate business has dumped a big bucket of ironic paint all over McCain’s face that his Democratic opponent would have to be blind and unscrupulous to miss. So unless Dick Nixon and Stevie Wonder have a tone-deaf kid that wants to run for president, McCain going to have to reign in the barbs if he doesn’t want to this brought up nine months from now.
People will forget this happened. There aren’t enough details to keep people interested for the next few weeks, much less the coming months. And I don’t see that creepy voyeur Ken Starr hanging around in the bushes so I doubt there will be any more naughty specifics to report.
But should McCain’s attacks get too numerous or too spurious, the Democrats have one hell of a bullet to fire back.
As far as the kids are concerned, if you’re worried about losing the youth vote Senator McCain, there are always television commercials. Don’ be like Bob Dole. Don’t wait until after the election to prove to the kids that, though you may be an old veteran, you’re still virile.
Make it happen Cialis. Make it happen.
In case you missed it, the Times published a report Wednesday evening (EST) on their website detailing the relationship between Republican 71-year-old John McCain, the all but nominated nominee for president, and the 40-year-old Vicki Iseman, a lobbyist for media mogul Lowell W. Paxon. Iseman by the way, looks eerily like a younger version of McCain’s wife.
The article, which for the most part received its information from anonymous aides within the McCain campaign, stated that Ms. Iseman had been showing up often at McCain fundraisers, been taking private flights with the senator on a client’s corporate jet, even making numerous personal visits to McCain’s office.
His aides became convinced that the relationship had become romantic and they began taking steps to cut off the candidate’s contact with her for fear that word of it would get out, especially when media outlets started running stories about McCain writing letters on Paxon’s behalf. The article alleges that aides actually blocked her access several times when she visited, warned her about her actions in private, and even approached the senator about the prudence in cooling off his Boeing jets.
When these warning went unheeded, the aides decided to—for fear that word of McCain’s affairs would get out—get the word out. In all fairness to the McCain camp, both the senator, who has known about the article for months, and Iseman have denied the allegations that they were having an affair.
So what will the fallout look like?
Obviously, it won’t affect his standing as the Republican nominee (but wouldn’t that be the miracle the Huckabee camp has been waiting for? Or one of them at least).
But it will certainly change the way McCain is going to run his campaign against either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. As a candidate who has staked his value set to a platform of campaign finance reforms and revolutions in the way politicians make policy, this Lobbygate business has dumped a big bucket of ironic paint all over McCain’s face that his Democratic opponent would have to be blind and unscrupulous to miss. So unless Dick Nixon and Stevie Wonder have a tone-deaf kid that wants to run for president, McCain going to have to reign in the barbs if he doesn’t want to this brought up nine months from now.
People will forget this happened. There aren’t enough details to keep people interested for the next few weeks, much less the coming months. And I don’t see that creepy voyeur Ken Starr hanging around in the bushes so I doubt there will be any more naughty specifics to report.
But should McCain’s attacks get too numerous or too spurious, the Democrats have one hell of a bullet to fire back.
As far as the kids are concerned, if you’re worried about losing the youth vote Senator McCain, there are always television commercials. Don’ be like Bob Dole. Don’t wait until after the election to prove to the kids that, though you may be an old veteran, you’re still virile.
Make it happen Cialis. Make it happen.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Students organize around Obama
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Adding to the list of campaign qualities unique to Barack Obama, a student army backs the impending democratic nominee in a magnitude not seen in any of the other campaigns. Students for Hillary and Students for McCain remain disorganized and meager. The following is a map of the Students for Obama campaign offices in California alone. There are more than one thousand in the United States, including one right here at USC.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Room Service for 1,000?
Obama likes it cushy. What? According to the LA Times’ Travel Blog, the Chicago dreamboat’s campaign has spent almost $300,000 more on luxury hotels than Hil-Hil, and almost $500,000 more than McCain’s campaign. What’s going on Barack? Did Obama girl and her sorority sisters run you dry? You don’t want to be that candidate, and now your wife is especially going to kick your ass. Holiday Inn Express’s website uses a “Smart Meter” that calculates how much each candidate would’ve saved if they had stayed in their cheaper, more conservative abode, than champagne parties at fancy digs. Here’s the rundown:
Which campaigns spent more $$ on hotels?
Republicans vs. Democrats: Democrats! ($1,753,000 vs. $2,083,000)
Obama vs. Hillary: Obama! ($833k vs. $503k)
Romney vs. Giuliani: Romney! ($708k vs. $509k)
Romney vs. McCain: Romney! ($708k vs. $361k)
McCain vs. Huckabee: McCain! ($361k vs. $42k)
Laurel O’Connor, current lifestyle marketing for Holiday Inn Express in Dallas, gave some examples, gleaned from the expenses and donations that each candidate files with the Federal Election Commission:
Obama’s campaign spent $1,798.34 at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in L.A. If you booked a standard room at that hotel tonight, it would cost approximately $545 based on info provided by its website. In contrast, the Holiday Inn Express Century City would run $199 for a standard room this evening.Clinton’s campaign spent $2,436.59 at the Fontainbleau Resort in Miami Beach. If you booked a standard room at that hotel tonight, it would cost approximately $350 based on info provided by its website. In contrast, the Holiday Inn Express Miami-Airport (near Miami Beach) would run $209.99 for a standard room this evening.Romney’s campaign spent $11,700 at the Mandarin Oriental New York Hotel. If you booked a standard room at that hotel tonight, it would cost approximately $530 on info provided by their website. In contrast, the Holiday Inn Express Madison Square Garden would run $249 for a standard room this evening.
Well the real story is, what the hell is Romney doing spending $700,000 on hotels? I mean besides the fact that Mormons ARE supposed to be heavy drinkers and all….
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