CE #5

Well, everyone's favorite topic in this year's election has had to be Sarah Palin! Good news, even advocates for McCain find her to be an idiot. In a recent CNN news story, a McCain aide said that Palin is "a diva" and that she is "playing for her own future." This was a response to recent incidents where she answered questions that opposed the McCain campaign. Some tried to defend her by saying she is "not good with processed questions," which is secretly code for she does not know how to answer anything at all. Okay now I am not one to criticize obnoxiously, but really? If you can't answer questions on the spot, how are you going to lead a country? How can you live? Oh I am sorry, I can't ask those questions because they are too processed for you.

All I am saying is that people should really evaluate who they are voting for...

WEEK #5 ELECTION POST

Now that it is closer to Election Day (one week and two days to be exact) everyone bites their nails in anticipation for who is going to win those swing states.
The swing states include:
West Virginia
Virginia
Ohio
North Dakota
North Carolina
Nevada
Montana
Missouri
Indiana
Florida
Colorado

HOW INTENSE IS THAT! Both candidates depend on these states to have their back because these states basically determine the winner. These states are considered "swing states," meaning they can lean either Democrat or Republican, because their traditions of voting with a certain party have dewindled. For example, West Virginia was a Democratic state until the election of 2000 when they flipped and voted Republican. The question is, will they go back to tradition or will they continue their current status? Which is the question in most of these swing states.

Two states that I think already have their answers to the question are Virginia and West Virginia. I feel that Virginia will vote for Obama. Recently in the polls Obama has had a lead here in VA and the upcoming metropolitin of Northern Virginia has a great deal of impact in the state versus southern Virginia which does not have much of an influence. Also, Palin has called NOVA "fake America" which let's be honest, will not go well with the voters that reside in NOVA. Is it not true that if it is US territory it is considered "real America." Hey Sarah Palin Alaska was not even a state until 1959! So I am as, if not more American than you are...Anyway...

West Virginia I have to admit is going to go for McCain. Let's be honest they have voted republican in the last two elections and I think that is just going to carry on in this election. However, the polls in that state have made the distance between Obama and McCain smaller, so you never really know what could happen. I guess that is why it is a swing state, you can never really predict the outcome.

Hopefully all of the swing states will have Obama's back...but we all know that probably won't happen. Well until next time...

Chanel

P.S. VOTE ON MY POLL. ALSO IF OLD ENOUGH VOTE NOV. 4TH...FOR OBAMA OFCOURSE :D

WEEK #4 ELECTION POST

Polling! One of the most important ways to see what America is thinking in terms of Election '08. Recently in the Presidential Election, it is evident that Obama is in the lead that has reached double digits, giving hope to Obama supporters everywhere. However there is a lapse in data considering there are different polls. In this post, I will analyze current polls and their impact on the election.

Gallup Poll

Registered Voters:
Obama: 52%
McCain: 42%

Likely Voters (Expanded):
Obama: 51%
McCain: 44%

Likely Voters (Traditional):
Obama: 49%
McCain: 46%

The most intreresting thing about this specific poll is that they break the voters into categories. The registered voters poll is more legit than the other ones because these are people who are going to most likely vote and have prospects for voting, while the other two are based on how things have changed or how they are traditionally based with their party. I like how they classified the votes because it gives a broad exploration of what the country thinks and also gives more legitimacy to who is in the lead and who is not.

For More Information: http://www.gallup.com/Home.aspx

CNN Poll

Obama: 49%
McCain: 43%
Unsure: 8%

With the CNN poll, they are full flegged with pie charts and a map of the country that is cohesive with current state results. For example they have Virginia as blue because Obama is now in the lead in Virginia. What is interesting about the CNN Poll is that they do not classify their voters which could lead to more of an error because we don't know who votes and there could be voters in this poll who are not even registered or allowed to vote. I do however like the visual aspects of their website because it is easier to understand and follow.

For More Information: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/polling/

Senate Races:

VoteFromAbroad.org Poll

Virginia:
Mark Warner: 58%
Jim Gilmore: 29%

This site was similar to the CNN poll in which they have visual representaions of the results of recent polls. The weird aspect about the Senate race is that not every state has one, so it seems that it is not as an important election as it should be. I'm not surprised at these results because Warner has proabably had more experience than Gilmore and now that Obama has the lead in Virginia Polls it is not surprising that the Democratic nominee of Virginia, Warner, is in the lead as well.

For More Information: http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Senate/Maps/Oct20-s.html

SurveyUSA Poll

Norm Coleman: 41%
Al Fraken: 39%
Dean Barkley: 18%
Undecided: 2%

I like SurveyUSA because they focus on individual areas. For example this poll was taken in Minnesota. I also like how they break down different groups and their results. For example they separated by gender and 42% of females voted for Fraken while 36% of males voted for him as well. I think this method of polling really highlights voting based on certain categories such as gender and age, which could also help the validity of statistics now and in the future. This poll gives the knowledge of why and how people vote instead of just a simple "vote for your candidate" poll.

For More Information: http://www.surveyusa.com/

In all, the polls have margin error in common because we never know who votes in these polls and from now until Election Day, people's opinions could take a complete 180 or people might get to the polls and be unsure about who they were going to vote for. However, polling is still a great way to see the nation's viewpoint and can alter the way that people vote. This election shall be interesting...

Until next post...

Chanel

P.S. Vote on my poll on the right side of my page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CE #3

The No Child Left Behind act has made its impact through Bush's administration and probably will have an influence in the next administration. This week in Sacremento an elementary school which usually meets requirements under the "No Child" act failed to raise their test scores. The reason for their failure was that the act increased the difficulty of meeting the test scores by 11%. The problem with this recent drop in "passing schools" is that they will have a harder time in achieving excellence in the future. This will prevent them from aquiring funds and also will kill their attendence rate.

WEEK #3 ELECTION POST

Hello all, today I will be posting about the local elections that are also important along with the Presidential Elections. The local election that I decided to zoom in on is the one for US House of Representatives in the 10th District. Like the Presidential election there are candidates of each party:

Judy Feder (Democrat): She has lived in Virginia for over 30 years and served as the Dean of Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute from 1999-2007 and was also a professor there. Her main focus is that of health care. Feder believes in making health care affordable and also to extend the choice and coverage for health care to all Americans, even without a job. She is again running against Frank Wolf.

Frank Wolf (Republican): Wolf has been the representative of the 10th District since 1981, so he is a veteran when it comes to representing Virginia. He is a well known delegate and is the co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. His priority which he says is "always the priority" is the transportation issues in Northern Virginia. He wants to cut down on gridlock as well as teaming up with organizations such as MADD to prevent drunk driving.

Neeraj Nigam (Independent): Nigam only arrived to the US in 1989, but is determined to change the face of government. He became a citizen in 1995 and is now a Senior Systems Analyst and Manager for a Crystal City project. His goal is to reform what the government is all about because he feels that the governemnt is becoming Socialist which he thinks will fail.

I failed to find any recent polling data on how every one is measuring up in the race, but Feder is obviously the "underdog" especially running after her loss in 2005. However I feel that Feder is the best candidate. She focuses on local issues while also talking about national issues and what is important. Wolf's priorities seem off to me because I feel like most people at this point in the economy and health care, care about traffic patterns as much. Maybe its because I don't drive...

Well until next time...

Chanel

Want to learn more about these candidates?

Judy Feder: http://judyfeder.com/

Frank Wolf: http://wolfforcongress.com/

Neeraj Nigam: http://www.nigamforcongress.org/

CE #2

My current event involved the circumstances in which would follow a failed bill. My main concern was what would happen to the future of students applying to college. Like I said in my last post, I was mostly concered with this because I need money for college and if all of these companies fail, than I possibly could not go to college.

Another reason I am worried is because what is the economy going to be like when my genereation goes out into the work force. This is why I think the bill is so crucial and such a big deal because either way we don't know what could happen because both sides of the bill have consequences.