Pres Debates #2

Well, to start off... I will quote Kevin Carmony (don't know who he is.. but he had my exact thought) :
"If I hear John McCain say "my friends" one more time, I think I'll have to turn off the TV and Radio until it's safe to come back out again."


Anyways,
This debate was kind of hard to watch. I noticed that my Dad wasn't even watching it about half way through, and when I asked why he just replied that he had to turn it off because he couldn't take anymore of it. I think both candidates could have 'stepped their game up' on this one, and taken the opportunity to really address the serious questions American people have about our economy right now. They need to show to us the SPECIFIC things they will do in order to improve things, and that it makes them the better candidate. It's not all about making the other one seem worse, because right now neither of them are the perfect person for the job in my eyes. This is such a serious election too, and we need to be able to put faith that one of them can keep our country from crashing. It seemed that almost all of the people in the forum asked similar questions, just re worded but all revolving around if America can overcome this economic crisis. This is obviously what's on everyone's mind and they need to address this.

And let me just add that I CANT wait to see the SNL skit for this one :)
the VP debate skit is pretty good too if you havent already seen it..

VP Debate

I think both VP's did a good job of speaking and properly represented their candidates. I am still on the side of Biden because he is voicing the things I am in favor of, but Palin still did a much better job than I was expecting.

I found this debate harder to watch and stay interested in because of the fact that they are just re saying what the candidates did during their debate. Neither of them made it especially exciting, and I think they went back and forth at each other (or just saying how the other one was wrong because of this, and what they're doing is right because of this) and it just made it unpleasant. In my opinion, Palin tried too hard to fit in and make herself part of the middle class/soccer mom ideal, which I don't think is the case. You have to have at least money to get that high in politics, and she may not have as much as anyone else in these positions, but she certainly seems to have more than the average american. I also found it interesting that Palin said flat out that she wasn't going to answer the questions asked, but just revoke what he said and show how she's right, he's wrong.
Overall, I think it was a strong debate but hard to say if one did better than the other simply because Palin's performance was so much stronger than anyone anticipated.

poltical cartoon

This cartoon is definitely political humor because they are making fun of the fact that Palin's daughter is pregnant as a teenager, and Palin/McCain advocate pro life. This goes along with the ideas that there should not be sex education in schools, advocating abstinence, etc. It makes a point that she's a hypocrite for saying all this stuff and then having this problem in her own family.

Energy/Environment

Just based on the issue of energy and environment, I would vote for Obama.
I would do this because I don't agree with McCain's beliefs on having "clean coal" or on drilling in Alaska/our country. I do think that we should become less dependable on foreign oils, but that doesn't mean we have to ruin our country to get there. We need to focus on alternate resources and I believe Obama has a better plan for implementing this. He is doing some similar things to what McCain wants to do such as in tax credits, etc. which I do believe are somewhat necessary because we have to make our country WANT to help our environment, and by offering things to them if they take a step in the right direction will help this.

typology

After taking the typology test, my results were liberal.
I agree that I am this.. I am pretty open to new ideas and new things and typically go along with many of the liberal/democratic ideas.
It didn't really surprise me.. I believe i took this quiz a year or two ago and got the same thing. But, it's nice to see that I actually have a stand/ side on some of the issues raised in the test that i hadn't really thought about. I had sided with things and feelings about them that I had never known because Id never tested them.

election issues

I think some of the very important issues in this election are obviously gas prices, but also global warming/environment issues. Gas prices affect everyone in the country, and as much as people would like to limit their driving or stop driving at all it's just not something that's logically going to happen. For instance, my mom wouldn't be able to get to work (she works at Reagan Nat'l Airport) and I wouldn't be able to get to school with living 45 mins away. There needs to be something that we can do to be able to live our lives and not go into debt trying to pay for gas. I think it really needs to be put into consideration for all candidates. Global warming is also a huge problem in my mind. Not all people believe it poses a threat because they may not believe in it, but I think that it's a huge issue. When a part of our world (including living beings) is being put into danger because of our wastefulness, we need to do something to fix it. This is where the government comes in, in finding ways to help and prevent this from getting worse.

McCain

I thought it was interesting how when he told about his ideas, he used the word 'we' instead of I believe.. it makes him seem like he's not only thinking of himself, but everyone who is with him and helping him in this process. I also liked how he incorporated actual people, and used their life stories to show that he's thinking about /learning about the common person and the typical American. I think his speech was very and thoughtful, then he starts talking about what he will be doing as President vs. 'his opponent' saying that everything he does is good, and what he does is but. Ok, this is understandable.. this is what he's supposed to be doing.. but shouldn't he be explaining more about what his actual plans are instead of just saying ' it will decrease taxes'? Maybe this is something you learn about from lots of research behind the candidates that I have not done, but just from watching this speech, you don't get a sense of the individual changes he will make.. just his word that they're going to be good.