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Posted November 10, 2008 12:15PM
We thought about adding John McCain to the Winners list, as his loss on Tuesday assured that he won't have the unenviable task of fixing the colossal clusterf@&% left behind by the Bush administration. But then we'd have to add Barack Obama to the Losers list (congratulations bub, it's your problem now), and that just doesn't seem right, because if anyone deserves to be at the top of the Winners list, it's......:
Barack Obama
MT: Whatever Barack Obama has for breakfast, that’s what you should be ordering. Because whatever it is, it tastes like WIN. Who got the right position on Iraq – don’t go –from the very start, without which there is no room for a Democrat to run and beat Hillary Clinton? WIN. Who intuitively knew what message Americans were looking for and had the intellectual and charismatic talents to deliver it? WIN. Who showed his critics what community organizer can do with a few million passionate campaign workers? WIN. Who made a series of one smart decision after another in a campaign that will be studied for years to come? WIN. Who overcame racial and ideological barriers to chart a career that almost looks like a 90* angle? Barack Hussein Obama, that’s who. And what did he do when his opponents said “Obama cannot win?” WIN.
JW: Few people, if any, in the world have ever made so many billions of people happy. It's that simple. This is the kind of feat that has traditionally been reserved for people like the Dali Lama, Pele or Oprah. But now the person who should have the popular support of the world will: the president of the United States. Obama has also appeared to have weathered one of the most brutal campaign cycles of all time. His family is still intact, his daughters aren't knocked up and he still talks to Joe Biden. Barack Obama may have been the best presidential candidate in my lifetime, but the McCain camp certainly did set a low bar.
MT: Adding:
The World
JW: This is what the world looked like upon hearing that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States of America, the streets of the world looked something like a combination of The World Cup (in which every country has won) and New Years Eve (if it occurred only once in a lifetime), except that it actually mattered. Barack Obama's personal background is the most international of any president of the United States. His ability to break down racial, cultural and political barriers make him not only a citizen of the United States, but also of the world.
MT: Relax, world. Like the man said, he’s got this. "Americans can always be relied upon to do the right thing", said Winston Churchill, "but only after they have exhausted every other alternative." Maybe so, but just when the global community thinks we’ve lost our mojo, when our critics and friends alike think we’re incapable of achieving the seemingly impossible, when the limit of our potential appears to have been reached, we find something more. Yes we can.
Democrats
MT: By the mid-90’s, complacency and a lost sense of purpose had relegated the once dominant Democratic Party to a congressional minority. Why should voters go for Republican Lite when they could have the real thing? Democrats responded to Republican bait, and talked about issues in Republican frames. They worried more that Republicans would call them names than how best to serve the country. More than anything, they forgot they were Democrats. And while it took the unmitigated failure of the Bush administration to remind them, they found their voice and realized a clear contrast with Republicans based on big-D Democratic principles was a winner with voters. The call for “more and better Democrats” was answered. And people responded. Allow me to demonstrate:
With the exception of Appalachia, Arkansas, Oklahoma and some scattered areas of the deep South, America is voting more Democratic. So congratulations, Donks. Don’t forget how you got here.
JW: Well, Dems, you finally pulled it together. You got technology, many Republicans the world on your side, and harnessed these special ingredients for a well-deserved win. While the Republican Primary stand-off became a choice between the lesser of the evils, your lot of choices—at least two of them—were top-notch. While the Republican National Convention looked and sounded like a hood-less KKK board meeting inside a small-town bank, your convention made the light show at Disneyland look anti-climactic. You won over people from the Republic Party the Independent Party and the Green Party. If you were on a high school football team, you would get the award for the "Most Improved Player."
Howard Dean
MT: When Gov. Howard Dean was in the middle of the 2004 campaign rant that would forever be known as the “Dean Scream,” he was describing what would later be termed the “50-state strategy.” Just prior to the “Yeeeeaaarrrrghhh!!!”, he was running down a list of traditionally red states that he thought Democrats should be competitive in, and that would be the key to putting a Dem in the White House. People laughed, “Oh, that nutty Howard Dean! Spreading out money in resources where Republicans are stronger and more likely to say mean things to us. Hahahahaha! That’ll never work!” Dean didn’t secure the 2004 nomination, but his 50-state strategy and mastery of new online fundraising and organizing tools was the blueprint that Barack Obama followed, and it paid off big time. He who screams first, laughs last.
JW: If any single person paved the way for Obama's win on Tuesday, it was Howard Dean. His grassroots organizing, appeal to the youth and ability to energize the base was unprecedented in the early days of the DNC primary campaign season. Obama ceased on this unfulfilled potential, which had grown after nearly four more years of Bush. Dean also has demonstrated strong leadership as the DNC Chair and has helped lead the party to where it is today.
Obama Supporters
MT: Speaking of what Obama has for breakfast, these people were hungry. From the phone banking to the fundraising, from spreading the message on message boards and blogs to knocking on doors in an unprecedented ground game, those people who got out and hustled to make Tuesday happen deserve a clap on the back. The last few years have been bleak, with America’s moral and financial credibility on the brink of the abyss. It’s easy in this culture to be uninvolved, distracted, and before you know it, we’re over the edge. More than just those who voted, the people who put Barack Obama on their collective backs and dragged him to the dance in the first place did us all a great favor. Cheers, mates.
JW: Never before had I personally known so many people who were so active in this campaign. To support the presidential candidate in the case of Obama had gone from something passive to an active way of life. "Supporting" went from meaning "voting for" or "putting a yard sign in front of my house" to "phone banking, driving to swing states, canvassing, donating my much-needed and hard-earned dollars to the campaign," "throwing fundraisers,' "Facebooking," and "declaring far and wide that Obama was the best choice." As a reward, not only do Obama supporters get to see their choice in the White House come January, but they have the satisfaction of knowing they personally and directly help put him there.
America
MT: Aside from the relief of having an adult in charge that doesn’t look at actual governing like the continuation of one long political campaign, America can now start to heal itself from eight years of mis-rule. The importance of having an actual Constitutional scholar in charge of defending the Constitution cannot be understated. The effect of Obama’s election will have a profound impact on the American psyche, all of it good. America can take pride in showing to the world, once again, what it’s like to truly lead. It’s cool to be an American again.
JW: The American people have finally taken steps to reclaiming their country with the election of Obama. Of course there were several set-backs in this election, including the ban of gay marriage in three states, but overall, America has come out of the 2008 as a champion. With a high voter turnout, more people now have their say in the policies and people who lead this country, and more people can sleep better at night knowing that the president-to-be represent more of them.
Dogs
JW: As if the Obama girls' choice of a puppy over a kitten didn't generate enough publicity for dogs after Obama's speech, the media worldwide has been going nuts with turning Obama's puppy statement into a story [news.google.com].
MT: I always had a soft spot for Barney, ever since President Klutz dropped him on the tarmac after getting off Air Force One once, but biting a Reuters reporter covering his daily walk for a fluff story? [wonkette.com] That’s just awesome. I’ll bet Bush wishes he could do that.
Nate Silver
JW: This guy. His projections were more accurate than any single pollster's in the election. His path to successful political forecasting began as a baseball statistician working for a think tank in Chicago. He began applying the same strategies to the political polls on his website, fivethirtyeight.com [fivethirtyeight.com] and ended up predicting the final breakdown of electoral and popular votes one-tenth of a point off from what actually occurred.
MT: Seriously, this guy is scary accurate. What he did was the polling equivalent of hitting a three point shot from a passing airplane. John Zogby is eating his dust right now. 538 is now going to be the go-to source for the next few election cycles. Congrats.
Katie Couric
JW: Despite Sarah Palin's $150,000 plus clothing budget, CBS Evening News anchor, Katie Couric showed the world that the empress, indeed, has no clothes. In her series of interviews [www.cbsnews.com] she let Palin speak for herself and expose her true ineptness and ignorance in a way that no strategist, aid or national presidential campaign could cover up. Even when it came time for the variety shows to parody these interviews, they drew directly from the Couric/Palin script [www.huffingtonpost.com].
MT: If there’s a “Showed Most Improvement” award for the national media, Katie Couric won it hands down. I’ve never been much of a fan of Katie’s brand of Journalism Lite, but, perhaps awareness of her reputation as a media lightweight and sense that she wasn’t going to out-perk Sarah Palin, Katie stepped up her game and actually took it to the Thrilla from Wasilla. Watching her press Palin to name McCain’s reform accomplishments until she essentially cried “uncle!” was a classic campaign moment and a feather in Couric’s cap.
Hawaii
JW: The union's 50th state will never again be thought of merely for its exotic vacation destinations and production of sugar. We now will think of it as home to many, including white people from Kansas! Hawaii also showed us where its heart is by giving the highest share of its votes [www.cqpolitics.com] to Obama. Just don't expect Obama to exploit grass skirts and leis the way Connecticut native George W. Bush popularized cowboy boots and belt buckles, Obama is the real deal.
MT: Hawaii. Not just for elitists anymore [www.huffingtonpost.com] Shaka bra.
Jamie Wong and Michael Turner
To our readers and those who have followed BACK TALK this last month or so, the pleasure was all ours. Thanks for your comments, thank you for voting and thanks for being so damned good-looking. You know you are. And thanks to the Sundance Channel for giving us the opportunity to riff on this special moment in American history. It was fun. Be sure to check out the fine programming on the Sundance Channel now that you're not glued to the nightly news for campaign updates. And if you don't have the Sundance Channel, call your local cable carrier. You'll be glad you did. [/shameless plug]
Peace out.
-- Jamie Wong & Michael Turner
Barack Obama
MT: Whatever Barack Obama has for breakfast, that’s what you should be ordering. Because whatever it is, it tastes like WIN. Who got the right position on Iraq – don’t go –from the very start, without which there is no room for a Democrat to run and beat Hillary Clinton? WIN. Who intuitively knew what message Americans were looking for and had the intellectual and charismatic talents to deliver it? WIN. Who showed his critics what community organizer can do with a few million passionate campaign workers? WIN. Who made a series of one smart decision after another in a campaign that will be studied for years to come? WIN. Who overcame racial and ideological barriers to chart a career that almost looks like a 90* angle? Barack Hussein Obama, that’s who. And what did he do when his opponents said “Obama cannot win?” WIN.
JW: Few people, if any, in the world have ever made so many billions of people happy. It's that simple. This is the kind of feat that has traditionally been reserved for people like the Dali Lama, Pele or Oprah. But now the person who should have the popular support of the world will: the president of the United States. Obama has also appeared to have weathered one of the most brutal campaign cycles of all time. His family is still intact, his daughters aren't knocked up and he still talks to Joe Biden. Barack Obama may have been the best presidential candidate in my lifetime, but the McCain camp certainly did set a low bar.
MT: Adding:
The World
JW: This is what the world looked like upon hearing that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States of America, the streets of the world looked something like a combination of The World Cup (in which every country has won) and New Years Eve (if it occurred only once in a lifetime), except that it actually mattered. Barack Obama's personal background is the most international of any president of the United States. His ability to break down racial, cultural and political barriers make him not only a citizen of the United States, but also of the world.
MT: Relax, world. Like the man said, he’s got this. "Americans can always be relied upon to do the right thing", said Winston Churchill, "but only after they have exhausted every other alternative." Maybe so, but just when the global community thinks we’ve lost our mojo, when our critics and friends alike think we’re incapable of achieving the seemingly impossible, when the limit of our potential appears to have been reached, we find something more. Yes we can.
Democrats
MT: By the mid-90’s, complacency and a lost sense of purpose had relegated the once dominant Democratic Party to a congressional minority. Why should voters go for Republican Lite when they could have the real thing? Democrats responded to Republican bait, and talked about issues in Republican frames. They worried more that Republicans would call them names than how best to serve the country. More than anything, they forgot they were Democrats. And while it took the unmitigated failure of the Bush administration to remind them, they found their voice and realized a clear contrast with Republicans based on big-D Democratic principles was a winner with voters. The call for “more and better Democrats” was answered. And people responded. Allow me to demonstrate:
With the exception of Appalachia, Arkansas, Oklahoma and some scattered areas of the deep South, America is voting more Democratic. So congratulations, Donks. Don’t forget how you got here.
JW: Well, Dems, you finally pulled it together. You got technology, many Republicans the world on your side, and harnessed these special ingredients for a well-deserved win. While the Republican Primary stand-off became a choice between the lesser of the evils, your lot of choices—at least two of them—were top-notch. While the Republican National Convention looked and sounded like a hood-less KKK board meeting inside a small-town bank, your convention made the light show at Disneyland look anti-climactic. You won over people from the Republic Party the Independent Party and the Green Party. If you were on a high school football team, you would get the award for the "Most Improved Player."
Howard Dean
MT: When Gov. Howard Dean was in the middle of the 2004 campaign rant that would forever be known as the “Dean Scream,” he was describing what would later be termed the “50-state strategy.” Just prior to the “Yeeeeaaarrrrghhh!!!”, he was running down a list of traditionally red states that he thought Democrats should be competitive in, and that would be the key to putting a Dem in the White House. People laughed, “Oh, that nutty Howard Dean! Spreading out money in resources where Republicans are stronger and more likely to say mean things to us. Hahahahaha! That’ll never work!” Dean didn’t secure the 2004 nomination, but his 50-state strategy and mastery of new online fundraising and organizing tools was the blueprint that Barack Obama followed, and it paid off big time. He who screams first, laughs last.
JW: If any single person paved the way for Obama's win on Tuesday, it was Howard Dean. His grassroots organizing, appeal to the youth and ability to energize the base was unprecedented in the early days of the DNC primary campaign season. Obama ceased on this unfulfilled potential, which had grown after nearly four more years of Bush. Dean also has demonstrated strong leadership as the DNC Chair and has helped lead the party to where it is today.
Obama Supporters
MT: Speaking of what Obama has for breakfast, these people were hungry. From the phone banking to the fundraising, from spreading the message on message boards and blogs to knocking on doors in an unprecedented ground game, those people who got out and hustled to make Tuesday happen deserve a clap on the back. The last few years have been bleak, with America’s moral and financial credibility on the brink of the abyss. It’s easy in this culture to be uninvolved, distracted, and before you know it, we’re over the edge. More than just those who voted, the people who put Barack Obama on their collective backs and dragged him to the dance in the first place did us all a great favor. Cheers, mates.
JW: Never before had I personally known so many people who were so active in this campaign. To support the presidential candidate in the case of Obama had gone from something passive to an active way of life. "Supporting" went from meaning "voting for" or "putting a yard sign in front of my house" to "phone banking, driving to swing states, canvassing, donating my much-needed and hard-earned dollars to the campaign," "throwing fundraisers,' "Facebooking," and "declaring far and wide that Obama was the best choice." As a reward, not only do Obama supporters get to see their choice in the White House come January, but they have the satisfaction of knowing they personally and directly help put him there.
America
MT: Aside from the relief of having an adult in charge that doesn’t look at actual governing like the continuation of one long political campaign, America can now start to heal itself from eight years of mis-rule. The importance of having an actual Constitutional scholar in charge of defending the Constitution cannot be understated. The effect of Obama’s election will have a profound impact on the American psyche, all of it good. America can take pride in showing to the world, once again, what it’s like to truly lead. It’s cool to be an American again.
JW: The American people have finally taken steps to reclaiming their country with the election of Obama. Of course there were several set-backs in this election, including the ban of gay marriage in three states, but overall, America has come out of the 2008 as a champion. With a high voter turnout, more people now have their say in the policies and people who lead this country, and more people can sleep better at night knowing that the president-to-be represent more of them.
Dogs
JW: As if the Obama girls' choice of a puppy over a kitten didn't generate enough publicity for dogs after Obama's speech, the media worldwide has been going nuts with turning Obama's puppy statement into a story [news.google.com].
MT: I always had a soft spot for Barney, ever since President Klutz dropped him on the tarmac after getting off Air Force One once, but biting a Reuters reporter covering his daily walk for a fluff story? [wonkette.com] That’s just awesome. I’ll bet Bush wishes he could do that.
Nate Silver
JW: This guy. His projections were more accurate than any single pollster's in the election. His path to successful political forecasting began as a baseball statistician working for a think tank in Chicago. He began applying the same strategies to the political polls on his website, fivethirtyeight.com [fivethirtyeight.com] and ended up predicting the final breakdown of electoral and popular votes one-tenth of a point off from what actually occurred.
MT: Seriously, this guy is scary accurate. What he did was the polling equivalent of hitting a three point shot from a passing airplane. John Zogby is eating his dust right now. 538 is now going to be the go-to source for the next few election cycles. Congrats.
Katie Couric
JW: Despite Sarah Palin's $150,000 plus clothing budget, CBS Evening News anchor, Katie Couric showed the world that the empress, indeed, has no clothes. In her series of interviews [www.cbsnews.com] she let Palin speak for herself and expose her true ineptness and ignorance in a way that no strategist, aid or national presidential campaign could cover up. Even when it came time for the variety shows to parody these interviews, they drew directly from the Couric/Palin script [www.huffingtonpost.com].
MT: If there’s a “Showed Most Improvement” award for the national media, Katie Couric won it hands down. I’ve never been much of a fan of Katie’s brand of Journalism Lite, but, perhaps awareness of her reputation as a media lightweight and sense that she wasn’t going to out-perk Sarah Palin, Katie stepped up her game and actually took it to the Thrilla from Wasilla. Watching her press Palin to name McCain’s reform accomplishments until she essentially cried “uncle!” was a classic campaign moment and a feather in Couric’s cap.
Hawaii
JW: The union's 50th state will never again be thought of merely for its exotic vacation destinations and production of sugar. We now will think of it as home to many, including white people from Kansas! Hawaii also showed us where its heart is by giving the highest share of its votes [www.cqpolitics.com] to Obama. Just don't expect Obama to exploit grass skirts and leis the way Connecticut native George W. Bush popularized cowboy boots and belt buckles, Obama is the real deal.
MT: Hawaii. Not just for elitists anymore [www.huffingtonpost.com] Shaka bra.
Jamie Wong and Michael Turner
To our readers and those who have followed BACK TALK this last month or so, the pleasure was all ours. Thanks for your comments, thank you for voting and thanks for being so damned good-looking. You know you are. And thanks to the Sundance Channel for giving us the opportunity to riff on this special moment in American history. It was fun. Be sure to check out the fine programming on the Sundance Channel now that you're not glued to the nightly news for campaign updates. And if you don't have the Sundance Channel, call your local cable carrier. You'll be glad you did. [/shameless plug]
Peace out.
-- Jamie Wong & Michael Turner
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Posted November 10, 2008 12:15PM
As the political season comes to a close and we turn our attentions back to our neglected jobs, friends, spouses and significant others, we thought we'd take the time to look back at some of the winners and losers of the 2008 election. So without further ado, and because we don't want to keep them from their pressing appointments with the dustbin of history, here are the Losers:
John McCain
JW: Senator John McCain may appear the most obvious loser in the 2008 Election, but don't expect this guy to stay at home crying! According to campaign manager Rick Davis, "He didn't even spend 24 hours lamenting the loss." [latimesblogs.latimes.com] Instead he plans to cook up some ribs [www.swamppolitics.com] for the family.
MT: And don’t forget the press. McCain will be inviting them back as well, hoping some mouthwatering BBQ will make them overlook how he flip-flopped on everything that made him an appealing politician eight years ago because he thought it would win him a political contest. Maybe the sweet aroma of tangy sauce will cause them to forget he ran the most erratic, rudderless and negative campaigns of the 20 years. Enjoy the ribs, John. Hope they don’t taste bitter.
Sarah Palin
MT: Sarah Palin is not on this list because she is breathtakingly unqualified for the office of Vice President, lacking any apparent understanding of national and global issues or even how our government works. She’s not a loser because she was a horribly dangerous choice, the ACME Rocket Sled to McCain’s Wile E. Coyote. Sarah Palin gets the big L because she lied. She knew she was lying, it was proved she was lying, and she continued to lie. She lied about her record, she lied about her investigations and she lied about her own qualifications – no one’s that un-self aware. She lied about Obama, and in doing so she approached the careful fire of cultural division the GOP had been nursing like a pyromaniac with a gas can. All in the name of a shot at the White House and a really nice wardrobe. Lo. Ser.
JW: Not only did Sarah Palin lose the vice presidency, she has also become the scapegoat [www.politico.com] for many republicans, particularly many of those on McCain's campaign staff. Staff confessed (under the condition of anonymity) that she did not know that Africa was a country, that she refused briefing before her interview with Katie Couric, and that she greeted staffers in her hotel room wearing only a bathrobe. Not only is she a loser, but her reputation is very tainted, and it will be an uphill battle to 2012.
FOX / Sean Hannity
JW: If these guys had any credibility going into the election, they certainly don't have any now. Sean Hannity has repeatedly proven himself not only stupid, but also wrong [www.youtube.com]. Don't be surprised to find Fox News soon downgradig themselves from a twenty-four-hour presidential infomercial to the newest publicist for Sarah Palin (2012!).
MT: I give Fox about 2 months before, without a hint of irony, they start talking about how Barack Obama is abusing his power and shredding the Constitution. I remember two years ago, on the eve of the 2006 mid-terms, Sean Hannity actually went on the air and urged Democratic voters to stay home, for the good of the country. Eat. Me.
Republicans
MT: They had it all. The White House, senate, congress, an edge on SCOTUS; Republicans had the bully pulpit and the complicity of the national media. They set the agenda, took the wheel and told everyone else to shut up, they were driving. Right off a cliff, as it turned out. On foreign and domestic policy, from the economy to the Middle East, Americans have rejected the Republican Party and conservatism. The “Party of Ideas” hasn’t had many for a while now, and the ones they have are bad. Or, to quote Karl Rove, “That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong - deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong.” [www.realclearpolitics.com] Welcome to the wilderness. They set their course for the fringe of the party and got lost along the way, and as long as they let the lunatics run the asylum, they’ll stay lost.
JW: They're broken. The GOP, as Gore Vidal famously put it [www.youtube.com], "The Republican party is not a party like your parties in England. It is a mind set. They love war. They love money. They want to hang on to all the connections they have."
Alaska
JW: Sorry, Alaska, the 2008 Presidential Election provided you with a huge opportunity to prove to the lower 48 that you are made up of more than small-town hockey players and snow-machine drivers who are insulated from the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the message never really made its way to us. In fact, it was only reinforced by the nomination, and subsequent loss of your state's poster girl, former Miss Wasilla [wonkette.com] and current Governor, Sarah Palin.
MT: Seriously, Alaska, WTF? You just re-elected a convicted felon, Ted Stevens, and possibly another in Don Young. Despite Sarah Palin’s own self-appointed board clearing her of all misdeeds in the Troopergate scandal, she still broke your own ethics laws, and now there’s talk of sending her to the U.S. Senate (y’know, to replace that convicted felon you just re-elected)? What do you have to do to get rejected by Alaskan voters? Boil kittens on live TV? What?
Joe Lieberman
MT: Man, talk about betting on the wrong horse. It had already been a messy divorce between the Democratic Party and Sen. Joe Lieberman (Lieberman-CT) since the 2006 mid-term election, but Joe agreed to caucus with the Democrats so they could claim the majority, and Joe could keep his plum committee chairmanships. But when he announced his endorsement for John McCain, Lieberman laid down the gauntlet; he saw his future in the senate on shaky ground and put all his chips on a Republican in the White House. Putting on his best “this hurts me more than it hurts you” Droopy Dog face, Lieberman accused Obama of not putting “country first,” thought it was a good question if Obama was a Marxist, and suggested he didn’t support American troops. In other words, Joe was being Joe. For the last dozen years or so, that sharp pain Democrats have felt in their right side has been a shiv in the ribs with Joe Lieberman’s name on it. Now he’s all, “Let’s not bicker about who said what and endorsed whom. Let’s forget all that and move on.” Fat chance, Joe. Say goodbye to your chairmanships. Good luck with your new friends.
JW: Joe Lieberman is one of many Joe's who have lost out this election. Everyone is looking at him like a fair-weather idiot. In 2000 he ran as vice president for the Democratic Party, and lost. In 2008 he didn't make the cut for the coveted vice-presidential spot on the GOP ticket. And not only did he not get the post, but he lost it to Sarah Palin.
George W. Bush
MT: W would be on this list no matter who won the election. His EPIC FAIL administration is not going to be judged kindly by history under any circumstances. But Bush’s one chance to salvage some plausible denial that he was not, in fact, the Worst President Ever hinged on McCain winning the election. Now, instead of the continued cover-up and mitigation of all the bad stuff we don’t even know about yet (and you know it’s there), the White House will get a proper fumigation and Bush’s legacy will get its trousers yanked down and bent over the fence by history and given the proper rogering it deserves. Have I mentioned EPIC FAIL? That’s important.
JW: For anyone angry that a the president-elect has been working in Washington for only two years, or is black or did not grow up in the continental United States or served on the board with William Ayers, or is loved internationally, you have George W. Bush to thank. We need only look at history to know that the political and cultural pendulum of the country swings constantly. But in Bush's case, it ripped off from its axis and destroyed itself.
Gay Marriage
JW: Just six months after the California State Supreme Court decided that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, California voters passed Proposition 8, which amends the state constitution to make gay marriage illegal [www.sfgate.com].
MT: This is just sad. In an election where one major barrier was torn down, another is erected. Hopefully the California courts will decide again, rightfully, that you cannot legislate taking rights away from a minority. In the meantime, keep up the fight [www.nbclosangeles.com].
Joe the Plumber
MT: To be fair, Joe really shouldn’t be on here all by his lonesome. Joe Wurzelbacher should share this prestigious space with all the yahoos at the Palin rallies; all the rightwing bloggers who parroted every insane conspiracy theory that came down the pike, even ones that contradicted other ones. Joe the Plumber should share this dishonor with the listeners of Rush Limbaugh and the readers of National Review Online. But since they declared “We are all Joe the Plumber!”, then Joe it is. And really, Joe is the perfect embodiment of all those people; totally misinformed , under the delusion they are society’s real victims, and shamelessly self-interested. They are all Joe the Plumber, and if any last one of them could parlay a set-up “gotcha” moment with wingnut talking points into an agent, a book deal, recording contract and possible political career, they would in heartbeat. Of course, with the historic whuppin’ McCain just received, some of those deals may sort of dry up. Loser(s).
JW: The only thing that plumbers gained from this election was a new vault of plumber jokes and puns. Other than that, if people didn't already make a joke of their, albeit very important, job, they do now. Joe the Plumber became a national symbol fabricated by the McCain campaign, making his campaign rally no-shows and disastrous media appearances [www.youtube.com] even more devastating for McCain.
Cats
JW: Face it felines, you're sooo last term! Move over with Ernie and India Bush, the country has spoken and dogs are the news cats come 2009. In Barack Obama's victory speech [edition.cnn.com] in Grant Park, Chicago on Tuesday, he said that his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, have "earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."
MT: While I have nothing personal against feline-Americans, they really shouldn’t have let the ostensibly pro-Hillary/anti-Obama/pro-McCain nutjobs who called themselves PUMAs (for Party Unity My Ass) [pumaparty.com] sully their species like that. Isn’t there a Feline Anti-Defamation League or something?
-- Jamie Wong & Michael Turner
John McCain
JW: Senator John McCain may appear the most obvious loser in the 2008 Election, but don't expect this guy to stay at home crying! According to campaign manager Rick Davis, "He didn't even spend 24 hours lamenting the loss." [latimesblogs.latimes.com] Instead he plans to cook up some ribs [www.swamppolitics.com] for the family.
MT: And don’t forget the press. McCain will be inviting them back as well, hoping some mouthwatering BBQ will make them overlook how he flip-flopped on everything that made him an appealing politician eight years ago because he thought it would win him a political contest. Maybe the sweet aroma of tangy sauce will cause them to forget he ran the most erratic, rudderless and negative campaigns of the 20 years. Enjoy the ribs, John. Hope they don’t taste bitter.
Sarah Palin
MT: Sarah Palin is not on this list because she is breathtakingly unqualified for the office of Vice President, lacking any apparent understanding of national and global issues or even how our government works. She’s not a loser because she was a horribly dangerous choice, the ACME Rocket Sled to McCain’s Wile E. Coyote. Sarah Palin gets the big L because she lied. She knew she was lying, it was proved she was lying, and she continued to lie. She lied about her record, she lied about her investigations and she lied about her own qualifications – no one’s that un-self aware. She lied about Obama, and in doing so she approached the careful fire of cultural division the GOP had been nursing like a pyromaniac with a gas can. All in the name of a shot at the White House and a really nice wardrobe. Lo. Ser.
JW: Not only did Sarah Palin lose the vice presidency, she has also become the scapegoat [www.politico.com] for many republicans, particularly many of those on McCain's campaign staff. Staff confessed (under the condition of anonymity) that she did not know that Africa was a country, that she refused briefing before her interview with Katie Couric, and that she greeted staffers in her hotel room wearing only a bathrobe. Not only is she a loser, but her reputation is very tainted, and it will be an uphill battle to 2012.
FOX / Sean Hannity
JW: If these guys had any credibility going into the election, they certainly don't have any now. Sean Hannity has repeatedly proven himself not only stupid, but also wrong [www.youtube.com]. Don't be surprised to find Fox News soon downgradig themselves from a twenty-four-hour presidential infomercial to the newest publicist for Sarah Palin (2012!).
MT: I give Fox about 2 months before, without a hint of irony, they start talking about how Barack Obama is abusing his power and shredding the Constitution. I remember two years ago, on the eve of the 2006 mid-terms, Sean Hannity actually went on the air and urged Democratic voters to stay home, for the good of the country. Eat. Me.
Republicans
MT: They had it all. The White House, senate, congress, an edge on SCOTUS; Republicans had the bully pulpit and the complicity of the national media. They set the agenda, took the wheel and told everyone else to shut up, they were driving. Right off a cliff, as it turned out. On foreign and domestic policy, from the economy to the Middle East, Americans have rejected the Republican Party and conservatism. The “Party of Ideas” hasn’t had many for a while now, and the ones they have are bad. Or, to quote Karl Rove, “That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong - deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong.” [www.realclearpolitics.com] Welcome to the wilderness. They set their course for the fringe of the party and got lost along the way, and as long as they let the lunatics run the asylum, they’ll stay lost.
JW: They're broken. The GOP, as Gore Vidal famously put it [www.youtube.com], "The Republican party is not a party like your parties in England. It is a mind set. They love war. They love money. They want to hang on to all the connections they have."
Alaska
JW: Sorry, Alaska, the 2008 Presidential Election provided you with a huge opportunity to prove to the lower 48 that you are made up of more than small-town hockey players and snow-machine drivers who are insulated from the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the message never really made its way to us. In fact, it was only reinforced by the nomination, and subsequent loss of your state's poster girl, former Miss Wasilla [wonkette.com] and current Governor, Sarah Palin.
MT: Seriously, Alaska, WTF? You just re-elected a convicted felon, Ted Stevens, and possibly another in Don Young. Despite Sarah Palin’s own self-appointed board clearing her of all misdeeds in the Troopergate scandal, she still broke your own ethics laws, and now there’s talk of sending her to the U.S. Senate (y’know, to replace that convicted felon you just re-elected)? What do you have to do to get rejected by Alaskan voters? Boil kittens on live TV? What?
Joe Lieberman
MT: Man, talk about betting on the wrong horse. It had already been a messy divorce between the Democratic Party and Sen. Joe Lieberman (Lieberman-CT) since the 2006 mid-term election, but Joe agreed to caucus with the Democrats so they could claim the majority, and Joe could keep his plum committee chairmanships. But when he announced his endorsement for John McCain, Lieberman laid down the gauntlet; he saw his future in the senate on shaky ground and put all his chips on a Republican in the White House. Putting on his best “this hurts me more than it hurts you” Droopy Dog face, Lieberman accused Obama of not putting “country first,” thought it was a good question if Obama was a Marxist, and suggested he didn’t support American troops. In other words, Joe was being Joe. For the last dozen years or so, that sharp pain Democrats have felt in their right side has been a shiv in the ribs with Joe Lieberman’s name on it. Now he’s all, “Let’s not bicker about who said what and endorsed whom. Let’s forget all that and move on.” Fat chance, Joe. Say goodbye to your chairmanships. Good luck with your new friends.
JW: Joe Lieberman is one of many Joe's who have lost out this election. Everyone is looking at him like a fair-weather idiot. In 2000 he ran as vice president for the Democratic Party, and lost. In 2008 he didn't make the cut for the coveted vice-presidential spot on the GOP ticket. And not only did he not get the post, but he lost it to Sarah Palin.
George W. Bush
MT: W would be on this list no matter who won the election. His EPIC FAIL administration is not going to be judged kindly by history under any circumstances. But Bush’s one chance to salvage some plausible denial that he was not, in fact, the Worst President Ever hinged on McCain winning the election. Now, instead of the continued cover-up and mitigation of all the bad stuff we don’t even know about yet (and you know it’s there), the White House will get a proper fumigation and Bush’s legacy will get its trousers yanked down and bent over the fence by history and given the proper rogering it deserves. Have I mentioned EPIC FAIL? That’s important.
JW: For anyone angry that a the president-elect has been working in Washington for only two years, or is black or did not grow up in the continental United States or served on the board with William Ayers, or is loved internationally, you have George W. Bush to thank. We need only look at history to know that the political and cultural pendulum of the country swings constantly. But in Bush's case, it ripped off from its axis and destroyed itself.
Gay Marriage
JW: Just six months after the California State Supreme Court decided that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, California voters passed Proposition 8, which amends the state constitution to make gay marriage illegal [www.sfgate.com].
MT: This is just sad. In an election where one major barrier was torn down, another is erected. Hopefully the California courts will decide again, rightfully, that you cannot legislate taking rights away from a minority. In the meantime, keep up the fight [www.nbclosangeles.com].
Joe the Plumber
MT: To be fair, Joe really shouldn’t be on here all by his lonesome. Joe Wurzelbacher should share this prestigious space with all the yahoos at the Palin rallies; all the rightwing bloggers who parroted every insane conspiracy theory that came down the pike, even ones that contradicted other ones. Joe the Plumber should share this dishonor with the listeners of Rush Limbaugh and the readers of National Review Online. But since they declared “We are all Joe the Plumber!”, then Joe it is. And really, Joe is the perfect embodiment of all those people; totally misinformed , under the delusion they are society’s real victims, and shamelessly self-interested. They are all Joe the Plumber, and if any last one of them could parlay a set-up “gotcha” moment with wingnut talking points into an agent, a book deal, recording contract and possible political career, they would in heartbeat. Of course, with the historic whuppin’ McCain just received, some of those deals may sort of dry up. Loser(s).
JW: The only thing that plumbers gained from this election was a new vault of plumber jokes and puns. Other than that, if people didn't already make a joke of their, albeit very important, job, they do now. Joe the Plumber became a national symbol fabricated by the McCain campaign, making his campaign rally no-shows and disastrous media appearances [www.youtube.com] even more devastating for McCain.
Cats
JW: Face it felines, you're sooo last term! Move over with Ernie and India Bush, the country has spoken and dogs are the news cats come 2009. In Barack Obama's victory speech [edition.cnn.com] in Grant Park, Chicago on Tuesday, he said that his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, have "earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."
MT: While I have nothing personal against feline-Americans, they really shouldn’t have let the ostensibly pro-Hillary/anti-Obama/pro-McCain nutjobs who called themselves PUMAs (for Party Unity My Ass) [pumaparty.com] sully their species like that. Isn’t there a Feline Anti-Defamation League or something?
-- Jamie Wong & Michael Turner
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Posted November 07, 2008 03:00PM
Africa. Most of us know little about it. Even some important political figures [www.huffingtonpost.com] in this country don’t even know it’s a continent. I remember an assignment my freshman history teacher at Berkeley High gave us that demonstrated to me how ignorant so many of us, even in the "enlightened" town of Berkeley, were about Africa. My teacher asked us each to write down anonymously what came to mind when we heard the word, “Africa.” We then handed her what we had written and she read them all aloud: “Big, equator, wild animals, AIDS, poverty, Kenya, Ghana, AIDS, elephants.” And this was Berkeley. Not that our public schools are recognized for providing an outstanding education, but they were known for teaching cultural awareness. Apparently this lesson also fell short.
In a high school that offered African American economics classes as an alternative to “regular” economics classes, African American psychology, a mandatory ethnic studies class for all freshman and Swahili language as an alternative to French and Spanish, it was pretty upsetting to discover that very few of us knew much about Africa, especially considering how much we had learned about Europe, Latin America and even part of Asia.
The problem, as I saw it, was that for most of us—and the ethnic and racial break-down of Berkeley High School mirrors that of the country—Africa did not seem relevant the way Europe or even Latin America did. Few of us had been there (and for those of us who have been to Africa, it was probably to Morocco via Spain).
But if anyone in this country felt that Africa was not relevant before, it is now. Our president-elect is the son of a Kenyan. For those of us who have felt little reason to live abroad, there is now. Obama spent much of his childhood with his family in Indonesia. For those of us who believe that single-parent homes cannot provide what children need, we now know they can. Our president-elect was raised by a single mother. He only knew his father for one month.
Obama’s win is a victory for Africa—and thereby for the world for finally paying attention to a significant part of it that has traditionally gone ignored. It’s a victory for those with international backgrounds, for cross-cultural understanding, for exploration, for curious minds, for single parents and their children and for everyone one else in their communities.
--Jamie Wong
In a high school that offered African American economics classes as an alternative to “regular” economics classes, African American psychology, a mandatory ethnic studies class for all freshman and Swahili language as an alternative to French and Spanish, it was pretty upsetting to discover that very few of us knew much about Africa, especially considering how much we had learned about Europe, Latin America and even part of Asia.
The problem, as I saw it, was that for most of us—and the ethnic and racial break-down of Berkeley High School mirrors that of the country—Africa did not seem relevant the way Europe or even Latin America did. Few of us had been there (and for those of us who have been to Africa, it was probably to Morocco via Spain).
But if anyone in this country felt that Africa was not relevant before, it is now. Our president-elect is the son of a Kenyan. For those of us who have felt little reason to live abroad, there is now. Obama spent much of his childhood with his family in Indonesia. For those of us who believe that single-parent homes cannot provide what children need, we now know they can. Our president-elect was raised by a single mother. He only knew his father for one month.
Obama’s win is a victory for Africa—and thereby for the world for finally paying attention to a significant part of it that has traditionally gone ignored. It’s a victory for those with international backgrounds, for cross-cultural understanding, for exploration, for curious minds, for single parents and their children and for everyone one else in their communities.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted November 06, 2008 06:30PM
Top Hollywood talent agent and inspiration for Jeremy Piven’s character, Ari Gold, in the HBO series, Entourage, Ari Emanual, will no longer need big development deals to have his influence on the country’s most popular narrative. Emanual’s brother, Rahm Emanual, is going to be President-elect Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff. This will make the two Emanual brothers arguably two of the most powerful men on either coasts of the country.
Ari Emanual is well-known not only for his reputation as a notorious and successful agent at the Hollywood talent agency, Endeavor, and also for his contributions to the Democratic party. He works closely with the Weinstein brothers—other major Democrats in the industry—and is behind the careers of leftist stars such as Michael Moore.
Rahm has been a long-time colleague of Barack Obama, serving as an Illinois congressman and was former Clinton White House staffer.
Both brothers have a reputation for abrasive personalities, foul language, and unparalleled determination (obviously).
Perhaps this newest chapter in the American tale can provide Entourage, will a plot revival which it desperately needs after four years on the air.
This latest twist in the national narrative that has come about with Obama’s win will undoubtedly provide all of Hollywood—not just Endeavor—with new story ideas, characters and settings in which to tell American stories. This is a victory not only in Washington, but also in Hollywood, as underrepresented actors, untold stories and new realities have a shot at the small and large screens.
--Jamie Wong
Ari Emanual is well-known not only for his reputation as a notorious and successful agent at the Hollywood talent agency, Endeavor, and also for his contributions to the Democratic party. He works closely with the Weinstein brothers—other major Democrats in the industry—and is behind the careers of leftist stars such as Michael Moore.
Rahm has been a long-time colleague of Barack Obama, serving as an Illinois congressman and was former Clinton White House staffer.
Both brothers have a reputation for abrasive personalities, foul language, and unparalleled determination (obviously).
Perhaps this newest chapter in the American tale can provide Entourage, will a plot revival which it desperately needs after four years on the air.
This latest twist in the national narrative that has come about with Obama’s win will undoubtedly provide all of Hollywood—not just Endeavor—with new story ideas, characters and settings in which to tell American stories. This is a victory not only in Washington, but also in Hollywood, as underrepresented actors, untold stories and new realities have a shot at the small and large screens.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted November 06, 2008 05:30PM
Transitioning from a President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama is going to be a huge deal for this country, but Bush is still in office for another two-and-a-half months. In the meantime, we all have the opportunity to practice our ability to transition from chaos and fear to peace-of-mind by taking the proper steps to ease out of the election cycle and back into real life.
Here are some tips to help you in this transition:
1. Stop watching the news, start watching The Hills
The Hills is a reality-television program produced by MTV, the network that brought you The Real World and all those Snoop Dog music videos in the early nineties. Watching this program will quickly remind you that not every minute spent in your day has to be productive, class division in this country is probably a good thing, and that it’s possible to not care about too much other than your clothes and who your friends are kissing.
2. Start writing Obama jokes
For those of you who would kill to have a career in comedy—television, stand-up, whatever—you may not need to break the law to make your dreams come true. The industry is desperate for jokes. Everyone is scrambling to fill the impending joke deficit that Bush will leave behind, and they’ll take anyone who can figure out how to crack the code for Obama humor.
3. Shop at the Obama Store!
If you’re low on cash (and I don’t know how you couldn’t be) and need fail-proof Christmas gifts for your loved ones, go to the Obama store [store.barackobama.com], they’re having a major sale! Not only can you score coveted fear at 50 percent off, but no one can trash your gifts because they will say “Obama” on them. Who’s gonna hate on him? You can call them collector items and people will probably think you spent twice as much for them (they way people are spending $200 for the Nov. 5 New York Times on ebay).
4. Hang out with your liberal, activist friends again (without feeling guilty)
Everyone has them, those friends who would travel to a swing state every weekend to volunteer for the Obama campaign, or those who up and left their jobs and homes to take up residency in a swing state or in Chicago to work at the Obama headquarters. Yeah, those guys who had a knack for making you feel totally crappy about yourself for not doing those things (even though you probably had a “real job with real responsibilities”). Maybe these friends even pressured you into phone banking for a day or donating the money you were going to use to pay your utility bill this month, but no still, there was no way you were going to be as good as them. Well no more running from your activist friends! Now we can all hang out without it being a do-gooder competition. Yeah, sure, they may give themselves more credit for Obama’s win than they’ll give you, but most likely they’re so giddy and feel-goody from handing out “Unity” pins for six weeks that they’ll just demand a group hug and buy everyone drinks.
5. Take a personal day for introspection.
I actually think this is a good idea. And you can probably get Obama to pick up the tab. His campaign encouraged people to ask their bosses for Election Day off so that they could volunteer. I think it’s completely reasonable to assume that from now on, the Friday after elections, would be a paid holiday called National Don’t Do Shit Day.
--Jamie Wong
Here are some tips to help you in this transition:
1. Stop watching the news, start watching The Hills
The Hills is a reality-television program produced by MTV, the network that brought you The Real World and all those Snoop Dog music videos in the early nineties. Watching this program will quickly remind you that not every minute spent in your day has to be productive, class division in this country is probably a good thing, and that it’s possible to not care about too much other than your clothes and who your friends are kissing.
2. Start writing Obama jokes
For those of you who would kill to have a career in comedy—television, stand-up, whatever—you may not need to break the law to make your dreams come true. The industry is desperate for jokes. Everyone is scrambling to fill the impending joke deficit that Bush will leave behind, and they’ll take anyone who can figure out how to crack the code for Obama humor.
3. Shop at the Obama Store!
If you’re low on cash (and I don’t know how you couldn’t be) and need fail-proof Christmas gifts for your loved ones, go to the Obama store [store.barackobama.com], they’re having a major sale! Not only can you score coveted fear at 50 percent off, but no one can trash your gifts because they will say “Obama” on them. Who’s gonna hate on him? You can call them collector items and people will probably think you spent twice as much for them (they way people are spending $200 for the Nov. 5 New York Times on ebay).
4. Hang out with your liberal, activist friends again (without feeling guilty)
Everyone has them, those friends who would travel to a swing state every weekend to volunteer for the Obama campaign, or those who up and left their jobs and homes to take up residency in a swing state or in Chicago to work at the Obama headquarters. Yeah, those guys who had a knack for making you feel totally crappy about yourself for not doing those things (even though you probably had a “real job with real responsibilities”). Maybe these friends even pressured you into phone banking for a day or donating the money you were going to use to pay your utility bill this month, but no still, there was no way you were going to be as good as them. Well no more running from your activist friends! Now we can all hang out without it being a do-gooder competition. Yeah, sure, they may give themselves more credit for Obama’s win than they’ll give you, but most likely they’re so giddy and feel-goody from handing out “Unity” pins for six weeks that they’ll just demand a group hug and buy everyone drinks.
5. Take a personal day for introspection.
I actually think this is a good idea. And you can probably get Obama to pick up the tab. His campaign encouraged people to ask their bosses for Election Day off so that they could volunteer. I think it’s completely reasonable to assume that from now on, the Friday after elections, would be a paid holiday called National Don’t Do Shit Day.
--Jamie Wong
I suppose we can also sport an american flag somewhere too. Did we get it back? whoa
Posted November 06, 2008 05:00PM
The last time I felt my own heart beat along with the emotional pulse of the country was also on a sunny, fall Tuesday, seven years ago. A phone call from my then boyfriend, who was working in the International Herald Tribune newsroom in Paris, woke me up shortly before 9 a.m., (an ungodly hour for a college senior!). “A plane just flew into one of the World Trade Center towers,” he said. I couldn’t comprehend what he could possibly be talking about. Planes flying into buildings? My brain could not compute. I barked at him for calling me so early, hung up and turned on the television. Moments later, I watched a plane fly through the second World Trade Center tower. I realized this would be too much for me to take in, no matter what time of day.
This past Tuesday, when Jon Stewart announced that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States, moments before the end of our live special, I wondered what the punch line was. I refused to believe it was happening until I verified through several online sources that it would be impossible to dispute the projections: Obama would be our president.
I gathered around the television with those around like I did seven years earlier upon hearing the colossal news. This time, however, a large flat-screen television replaced the 13-inch TV/VCR combo in my student house, colleagues replaced roommates, and tears of joy replaced tears of fear and sorrow.
Yet the weight of Obama’s victory felt similar to that of Sept. 11. I experienced a visceral acknowledgment that the world would never be the same, that change was coming and that it would be impossible to escape the effects of this day.
And also similar to that September Tuesday seven years ago, I did not know how to digest my feelings. It brought me so much joy to see people in the streets greeting one another, congratulatory text messages flying between friends and family and emails of joy from friends throughout the world pouring into my inbox. It felt good to be a part of a community unified by triumph rather than defeat, as I had spent so many months fearing. But I found my internal response to be the most powerful. Not since Sept. 11 had I felt such a strong need to be introspective, to reevaluate my personal choices and consider personal changes within this new framework.
I recall reading about the effect the 9/11 terrorist attacks had on romantic relationships in the aftermath of the event. The country saw a rise in break-ups and marriage proposals in the month proceeding Sept. 11. My own anecdotal evidence, however, was even more convincing. Within that month, three of my best friends had broken up with their long-term boyfriends (relationships that had held strong for thee and six years, respectively) and I broke up with my boyfriend of three years on Sept. 15, 2001, two weeks before he was to move back to New York (and closer to me) from Paris.
While college-relationship break-ups are hardly the kind of “change” Obama intended in his message or that the world anticipates, I can’t help but consider the way in which the symbolism and the pragmatism of the election of Obama to the highest office in the land will inspire the more private, personal changes in our lives.
--Jamie Wong
This past Tuesday, when Jon Stewart announced that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States, moments before the end of our live special, I wondered what the punch line was. I refused to believe it was happening until I verified through several online sources that it would be impossible to dispute the projections: Obama would be our president.
I gathered around the television with those around like I did seven years earlier upon hearing the colossal news. This time, however, a large flat-screen television replaced the 13-inch TV/VCR combo in my student house, colleagues replaced roommates, and tears of joy replaced tears of fear and sorrow.
Yet the weight of Obama’s victory felt similar to that of Sept. 11. I experienced a visceral acknowledgment that the world would never be the same, that change was coming and that it would be impossible to escape the effects of this day.
And also similar to that September Tuesday seven years ago, I did not know how to digest my feelings. It brought me so much joy to see people in the streets greeting one another, congratulatory text messages flying between friends and family and emails of joy from friends throughout the world pouring into my inbox. It felt good to be a part of a community unified by triumph rather than defeat, as I had spent so many months fearing. But I found my internal response to be the most powerful. Not since Sept. 11 had I felt such a strong need to be introspective, to reevaluate my personal choices and consider personal changes within this new framework.
I recall reading about the effect the 9/11 terrorist attacks had on romantic relationships in the aftermath of the event. The country saw a rise in break-ups and marriage proposals in the month proceeding Sept. 11. My own anecdotal evidence, however, was even more convincing. Within that month, three of my best friends had broken up with their long-term boyfriends (relationships that had held strong for thee and six years, respectively) and I broke up with my boyfriend of three years on Sept. 15, 2001, two weeks before he was to move back to New York (and closer to me) from Paris.
While college-relationship break-ups are hardly the kind of “change” Obama intended in his message or that the world anticipates, I can’t help but consider the way in which the symbolism and the pragmatism of the election of Obama to the highest office in the land will inspire the more private, personal changes in our lives.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted November 05, 2008 06:00PM
The election this year forced down a wall of racial discrimination. For the first time, an African American family will be living in the White House and man born to a father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas and who who grew up outside of the continental United States will be our president. The Democrats have won the House and the Senate, Michigan has legalized medical marijuana and California chickens will no longer have to live in cramped cages.
Yet with all these steps forward, the elected also presented some major set-backs. California passed Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriages in a state in which the State Supreme Court declared such a ban illegal just six months ago [www.latimes.com].
Prop 8 campaigns spent $70 million dollars, making it the second-most expensive campaign [www.sfgate.com], outspent only by the presidential campaigns.
It remains unclear whether same-sex couples already married in California will still be recognized by the state, and because of the uncertainty, couples have been rushing to the court to get married through yesterday in the case that marriages between same-sex partners would be banned.
One poll had showed that the ban would not pass, and some speculate that the inaccuracy of the poll could be based on a certain “Bradley”-type of effect in which people told pollsters that they would support gay rights, then when in the voting booth, they would not.
Also, because it was clear that Barack Obama would win the presidency before the polls closed in California, many liberal voters would have supported gay marriage may not have showed up to the polls after seeing that their presidential choice was already picked by the rest of the country.
Arizona and Florida also passed similar propositions that would make gay marriage illegal in those states.
So amid the victory felt worldwide after a landslide win for Obama, many communities in this country are suffering from having their ability to marry revoked or denied. While the sigh of relief is undoubtedly the first reaction of many of us, in the days to come the losses nationwide will also come to light, reminding us yet again, the fight is not over.
--Jamie Wong
Yet with all these steps forward, the elected also presented some major set-backs. California passed Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriages in a state in which the State Supreme Court declared such a ban illegal just six months ago [www.latimes.com].
Prop 8 campaigns spent $70 million dollars, making it the second-most expensive campaign [www.sfgate.com], outspent only by the presidential campaigns.
It remains unclear whether same-sex couples already married in California will still be recognized by the state, and because of the uncertainty, couples have been rushing to the court to get married through yesterday in the case that marriages between same-sex partners would be banned.
One poll had showed that the ban would not pass, and some speculate that the inaccuracy of the poll could be based on a certain “Bradley”-type of effect in which people told pollsters that they would support gay rights, then when in the voting booth, they would not.
Also, because it was clear that Barack Obama would win the presidency before the polls closed in California, many liberal voters would have supported gay marriage may not have showed up to the polls after seeing that their presidential choice was already picked by the rest of the country.
Arizona and Florida also passed similar propositions that would make gay marriage illegal in those states.
So amid the victory felt worldwide after a landslide win for Obama, many communities in this country are suffering from having their ability to marry revoked or denied. While the sigh of relief is undoubtedly the first reaction of many of us, in the days to come the losses nationwide will also come to light, reminding us yet again, the fight is not over.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted November 05, 2008 09:00PM
Last night the United States of America elected its first African American president. It also elected its first mixed-race president, which to me, holds a very special significance.
When I was 18 and worked as a hostess in an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side all the servers and busboys there called me “Tiger Woods” because they thought I looked like him. I don’t. But he is half Asian (and one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch) and I am half Asian (and a quarter Russian and a quarter Polish). My coworkers saw the resemblance among two people who did not fit into one racial category.
Now that Barack Obama, who is of both African and Caucasian ancestry, has been elected, multicultural references will not be dependent on a single champion golfer. Hopefully with all Americans' eyes on Obama, the stigma's brought forth by politically-derived categories of race will dissolve as we begin to recognize that those categories do not hold the way we hoped they once would. White does not negate black, black does not negate white, and perhaps we will begin to view those with a multiplicity of racial and ethnic backgrounds as a composite of everything they embody and bring to the table rather than as pieces of outdated and inaccurate categories.
In The Audacity of Hope Obama writes: "I've never had the option of restricting my loyalties on the basis of race, or measuring my worth on the basis of tribe.” He said that he has "blood relatives who resemble Margaret Thatcher and others who could pass for Bernie Mac."
Whether Obama’s leadership brings the country closer to a post-ethnic America, or a more representative America remains to be seen, and eventually it may do both as history spirals. But regardless of how America's conception of race plays out, Obama’s victory yesterday has fundamentally redefined the role of race in this country and has reframed the discourse from black and white, something more dynamic. Similar to Obama’s platform, the conversation about race will now have to be inclusive rather than polarizing by virtue of the fact that Obama is comprised of two races: black and white. He is also the son of a Kenayn and the step-son of an Indonesian. He will hold the highest office in the land come January and will be one of the most powerful people in the world, and for the first time, we will not be able to put the American president into a census box with any kind of accuracy.
--Jamie Wong
When I was 18 and worked as a hostess in an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side all the servers and busboys there called me “Tiger Woods” because they thought I looked like him. I don’t. But he is half Asian (and one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch) and I am half Asian (and a quarter Russian and a quarter Polish). My coworkers saw the resemblance among two people who did not fit into one racial category.
Now that Barack Obama, who is of both African and Caucasian ancestry, has been elected, multicultural references will not be dependent on a single champion golfer. Hopefully with all Americans' eyes on Obama, the stigma's brought forth by politically-derived categories of race will dissolve as we begin to recognize that those categories do not hold the way we hoped they once would. White does not negate black, black does not negate white, and perhaps we will begin to view those with a multiplicity of racial and ethnic backgrounds as a composite of everything they embody and bring to the table rather than as pieces of outdated and inaccurate categories.
In The Audacity of Hope Obama writes: "I've never had the option of restricting my loyalties on the basis of race, or measuring my worth on the basis of tribe.” He said that he has "blood relatives who resemble Margaret Thatcher and others who could pass for Bernie Mac."
Whether Obama’s leadership brings the country closer to a post-ethnic America, or a more representative America remains to be seen, and eventually it may do both as history spirals. But regardless of how America's conception of race plays out, Obama’s victory yesterday has fundamentally redefined the role of race in this country and has reframed the discourse from black and white, something more dynamic. Similar to Obama’s platform, the conversation about race will now have to be inclusive rather than polarizing by virtue of the fact that Obama is comprised of two races: black and white. He is also the son of a Kenayn and the step-son of an Indonesian. He will hold the highest office in the land come January and will be one of the most powerful people in the world, and for the first time, we will not be able to put the American president into a census box with any kind of accuracy.
--Jamie Wong
How stupid can Americans actually be?
Posted October 31, 2008 10:00AM
The Bradley Effect. The Reverse Bradley Effect. The Box Effect [www.rrstar.com], The Obama Effect [www.weeklystandard.com]. The Coattail Effect [www.wausaudailyherald.com]. The Presidential Election Effect [www.marketwatch.com]. The Bandwagon Effect [www.politico.com]
It seems that these days everyone is finding ways to capture the idea that this particular presidential election will generate a variety of responses among the voters. As if we don’t already understand that this election will have many significant effects on all of us, politicians, economists and pundits are working hard to slap all kinds of silly names on patterns that may or may not occur on November 4 and the days leading up to it. They seem to have fallen into the American trap of over-diagnosis and hyper-naming. Looks like we have another patch of I Need To Be the First To Label This Bitch Before Anyone Else Does Syndrome. Oops, there it goes again!
It’s not just the people coming up with these “effects,” however, who are addicted to them, it’s also the rest of us who eat ‘em up. It makes us feeling like we understand the indiscernible. Buying into these trends and labels makes us feel like we are part of a larger discourse. It makes us feel like maybe if we identify it, we can control it. But we’ll take whatever sense of security we can get, even if it’s false, if it can help us alleviate our pre-election jitters.
One of the latest “effects” that people are posturing may take place on November 4 is the “bandwagon effect.” This plays on the idea that many of us process a “fear of missing out” or being the “other” and that deep down we all have a desire to be a part of a team, and ideally, the winning team.
The “bandwagon effect” is sort of like fair-weather voting.
"The original bandwagon theory is that people don't want to miss the party. There will be somebody in the end who says, 'I don't want to vote for him because he's black, but McCain's going to lose so I'll vote for him to tell my grandkids I did,'" Samuel Popkin, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego told Politico [www.politico.com].
Perhaps if all of these “effects” are indeed in effect on November 4, there may be no effect at all.
--Jamie Wong
It seems that these days everyone is finding ways to capture the idea that this particular presidential election will generate a variety of responses among the voters. As if we don’t already understand that this election will have many significant effects on all of us, politicians, economists and pundits are working hard to slap all kinds of silly names on patterns that may or may not occur on November 4 and the days leading up to it. They seem to have fallen into the American trap of over-diagnosis and hyper-naming. Looks like we have another patch of I Need To Be the First To Label This Bitch Before Anyone Else Does Syndrome. Oops, there it goes again!
It’s not just the people coming up with these “effects,” however, who are addicted to them, it’s also the rest of us who eat ‘em up. It makes us feeling like we understand the indiscernible. Buying into these trends and labels makes us feel like we are part of a larger discourse. It makes us feel like maybe if we identify it, we can control it. But we’ll take whatever sense of security we can get, even if it’s false, if it can help us alleviate our pre-election jitters.
One of the latest “effects” that people are posturing may take place on November 4 is the “bandwagon effect.” This plays on the idea that many of us process a “fear of missing out” or being the “other” and that deep down we all have a desire to be a part of a team, and ideally, the winning team.
The “bandwagon effect” is sort of like fair-weather voting.
"The original bandwagon theory is that people don't want to miss the party. There will be somebody in the end who says, 'I don't want to vote for him because he's black, but McCain's going to lose so I'll vote for him to tell my grandkids I did,'" Samuel Popkin, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego told Politico [www.politico.com].
Perhaps if all of these “effects” are indeed in effect on November 4, there may be no effect at all.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted October 31, 2008 08:00PM
As a kid growing up in California, Tuesdays were always Dad’s night, so I would go home from school and watch the returns from the big blue couch in the living room. My dad would surf between the Networks and PBS. I remember Tom Jennings the most because he was my dad’s favorite. The first Election Night I remember was in 1988 when George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis. I remember looking out the window at our Dukakis yard sign and feeling sad, as if somehow we had failed. Clearly sticking one yard sign in the front yard of a Berkeley home was not enough. It was going to take more involvement.
Years later I watched the 2000 Election from ratty, old thrift-shop couches in my college living room. What had once been an every-four-year ritual of gathering around the television in the evening to watch the votes pour in became a nightly ritual for two months. I felt like Bill Murray in a way-more devastating version of the movie Groundhog Day (as if watching Gore and another Bush campaign didn’t already make me feel that way).
Then there was the 2004 Election Night, which was the first Election Night I spent in New York City, and of all places, I spent it on the couch of Michael Moore’s Manhattan production office. Michael and all my other co-workers had been in Florida, Ohio and eventually Michigan on that day, leaving me in the office with an army of interns, monitoring the news, digitizing tapes and coordinating shoots for a documentary on the 2004 youth vote that Michael was making. By two-in-the-morning all the interns were gone, the phone had stopped ringing, and I was curled up on Michael’s couch, full of lemon cake (which I had bought for the interns to celebrate Kerry’s victory) and despair. A few hours later I realized I must have drifted into sleep when the phone rang with the BBC on the other line. She wanted a comment from Michael about Kerry’s loss. For the first time ever, after answering millions of calls, I asked the woman to call back. I couldn’t even take a message in my 5 a.m. election hangover.
But that’s all me. Feeling despair seems to be my primary ritual on Election Day. It’s a bit sad. I don’t even go to the polls since I always vote early by absentee ballot.
Luckily, someone has a much better Election Day ritual that he does not intend to break this year, despite the fact that he is RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
From US Weekly [www.usmagazine.com]:
John McCain and his wife, Cindy have set an election day date: lunch and a movie!
"We have a routine [we've] done for years," Cindy said on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show Thursday morning. "We'll go vote, and then we'll go to the movies...I don't know what we'll see yet, I haven't had a chance to look.
"And then we'll come back and have Mexican food and then probably watch some TV," she added. "And by then, it'll be late afternoon and the returns will start to come in."
Joked Seacrest: "So you're watching High School Musical 3 and having a burrito?"
"Exactly!" said Cindy.
--Jamie Wong
Years later I watched the 2000 Election from ratty, old thrift-shop couches in my college living room. What had once been an every-four-year ritual of gathering around the television in the evening to watch the votes pour in became a nightly ritual for two months. I felt like Bill Murray in a way-more devastating version of the movie Groundhog Day (as if watching Gore and another Bush campaign didn’t already make me feel that way).
Then there was the 2004 Election Night, which was the first Election Night I spent in New York City, and of all places, I spent it on the couch of Michael Moore’s Manhattan production office. Michael and all my other co-workers had been in Florida, Ohio and eventually Michigan on that day, leaving me in the office with an army of interns, monitoring the news, digitizing tapes and coordinating shoots for a documentary on the 2004 youth vote that Michael was making. By two-in-the-morning all the interns were gone, the phone had stopped ringing, and I was curled up on Michael’s couch, full of lemon cake (which I had bought for the interns to celebrate Kerry’s victory) and despair. A few hours later I realized I must have drifted into sleep when the phone rang with the BBC on the other line. She wanted a comment from Michael about Kerry’s loss. For the first time ever, after answering millions of calls, I asked the woman to call back. I couldn’t even take a message in my 5 a.m. election hangover.
But that’s all me. Feeling despair seems to be my primary ritual on Election Day. It’s a bit sad. I don’t even go to the polls since I always vote early by absentee ballot.
Luckily, someone has a much better Election Day ritual that he does not intend to break this year, despite the fact that he is RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
From US Weekly [www.usmagazine.com]:
John McCain and his wife, Cindy have set an election day date: lunch and a movie!
"We have a routine [we've] done for years," Cindy said on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show Thursday morning. "We'll go vote, and then we'll go to the movies...I don't know what we'll see yet, I haven't had a chance to look.
"And then we'll come back and have Mexican food and then probably watch some TV," she added. "And by then, it'll be late afternoon and the returns will start to come in."
Joked Seacrest: "So you're watching High School Musical 3 and having a burrito?"
"Exactly!" said Cindy.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted October 30, 2008 03:00PM
If you missed the Obama “Special” that simultaneously aired on seven networks last night, I highly suggest you steal away from whatever you’re doing and treat yourself to the 30-minute blitz [donate.barackobama.com].
Dim the lights, light a candle, grab the box of tissues, (don’t worry about the sappy music, Obama will take care of that for you), and prepare yourself to drift away to an place where the audacity of hope, change and corniness reign.
I won’t lie, like most spa treatments that are good for the body, mind and soul, this blitz too may feel highly uncomfortable at first. But like a deep-tissue massage or a chemical peel, if you endure the initial the pain of seeing the modest Senator from Illinois that you fell in love with appear in a Perot-esque infomercial, you will be rewarded later. Once you adjust to the montage of favorite Obama speech moments, talking points in front of a large American flag and individual stories, you will find that your worries begin to turn to hope, and your cynicism fade into belief.
The key to repeating maximum benefits from the Obama blitz is to let your mind go: stop thinking and start feeling. Odds are you know the candidate wants to cut taxes for the middle class, that he wants to provide healthcare to everyone and begin to bring troops home from Iraq. But when before in your entire life have you seen so many people father behind a candidate who they actually believe in? And when was the last time you saw a candidate run for president who has the capacity to truly represent so many Americans and whose eyes tell us he really wants to serve for the sake of bettering our lives? I for one have never in my life felt this way about a candidate.
As I watched, bored at times with the personal stories or hearing the same soundbites for the umpteenth time, but nonetheless, inspired. I let my thoughts drift to 2004 when the only candidate I was behind was “Not-Bush,” but my heart was not for Kerry. I recall, even before the Democrats lost the election, I (albeit cynically) began making homemade “Obama 2008” signs and changed my password to everything at work to “Obama 2008.” Butt the hope Obama gave me with his 2004 Democratic Convention speech was quickly washed away when Bush secured another presidential win, and I knew things were going to get much worse before I could even dream of them getting better.
To see my optimism—as expressed by my early belief in Obama more than four years ago—realized, as we are five days away from Election Day, engendered a visceral feeling completely foreign to my body. Similar to the toxin release, and the subsequent revitalization one experiences from a good schvitz, I felt the chemicals of cynicism depart from my body, and a strange tingling sensation (I think this was hope), replace it. Ah, there’s nothing like a good blitz.
(Of course this all could have been the M.S.G. from my ramen noodle dinner, so if that’s the case, I’m full of sh*t, so feel free to disregard).
--Jamie Wong
Dim the lights, light a candle, grab the box of tissues, (don’t worry about the sappy music, Obama will take care of that for you), and prepare yourself to drift away to an place where the audacity of hope, change and corniness reign.
I won’t lie, like most spa treatments that are good for the body, mind and soul, this blitz too may feel highly uncomfortable at first. But like a deep-tissue massage or a chemical peel, if you endure the initial the pain of seeing the modest Senator from Illinois that you fell in love with appear in a Perot-esque infomercial, you will be rewarded later. Once you adjust to the montage of favorite Obama speech moments, talking points in front of a large American flag and individual stories, you will find that your worries begin to turn to hope, and your cynicism fade into belief.
The key to repeating maximum benefits from the Obama blitz is to let your mind go: stop thinking and start feeling. Odds are you know the candidate wants to cut taxes for the middle class, that he wants to provide healthcare to everyone and begin to bring troops home from Iraq. But when before in your entire life have you seen so many people father behind a candidate who they actually believe in? And when was the last time you saw a candidate run for president who has the capacity to truly represent so many Americans and whose eyes tell us he really wants to serve for the sake of bettering our lives? I for one have never in my life felt this way about a candidate.
As I watched, bored at times with the personal stories or hearing the same soundbites for the umpteenth time, but nonetheless, inspired. I let my thoughts drift to 2004 when the only candidate I was behind was “Not-Bush,” but my heart was not for Kerry. I recall, even before the Democrats lost the election, I (albeit cynically) began making homemade “Obama 2008” signs and changed my password to everything at work to “Obama 2008.” Butt the hope Obama gave me with his 2004 Democratic Convention speech was quickly washed away when Bush secured another presidential win, and I knew things were going to get much worse before I could even dream of them getting better.
To see my optimism—as expressed by my early belief in Obama more than four years ago—realized, as we are five days away from Election Day, engendered a visceral feeling completely foreign to my body. Similar to the toxin release, and the subsequent revitalization one experiences from a good schvitz, I felt the chemicals of cynicism depart from my body, and a strange tingling sensation (I think this was hope), replace it. Ah, there’s nothing like a good blitz.
(Of course this all could have been the M.S.G. from my ramen noodle dinner, so if that’s the case, I’m full of sh*t, so feel free to disregard).
--Jamie Wong
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Posted October 29, 2008 10:00AM
The Republican Party is looking an awful like American banks these days. Years of corruption and the exploitation of the American public has caused a historic decline that’s dragged the rest of the country down with it. Experts and insiders are now saying that, like the banks, the GOP is going to need a major bailout, perhaps in the form of electing its members to White House and Congress. The problem here, however, is that unlike the financial bailout, convincing the public to trust the future of the party enough to invest in it is proving much more difficult.
Failing a win in the White House or a gaining a Congressional majority when voting closes on November 4, the Republican Party will have to rely on their own resources to maintain their position in the political market.
Following in the great American tradition of pragmatism (and perhaps cynicism), conservatives are planning several post-mortem meetings in the wake of next week’s election.
A week after Election Day, The Republican Governor’s Association will take place. It’s theme: “The GOP In Transition.” In North Carolina, Republican leaders will convene to “discuss the lessons learned from the 2008 campaign, what we can do better and what it will take to win in 2010.” [www.politico.com]
In two weeks, top conservatives will gather for a weekend retreat in a Virginia mansion to discuss how to bring the party back to its glory days of the Reagan years. One of attendees told Politico [www.politico.com] that one of the topics they group will cover is who to groom for the next presidential election, if the party loses next week, and Sarah Palin is at or near the top of the list.
As the parallels between the banks and the GOP continue, don’t hold your breath for a Greenspan-esque admittance of responsibility from Bush or Cheney. Do expect, however, for things to get worse before they get better.
--Jamie Wong
Failing a win in the White House or a gaining a Congressional majority when voting closes on November 4, the Republican Party will have to rely on their own resources to maintain their position in the political market.
Following in the great American tradition of pragmatism (and perhaps cynicism), conservatives are planning several post-mortem meetings in the wake of next week’s election.
A week after Election Day, The Republican Governor’s Association will take place. It’s theme: “The GOP In Transition.” In North Carolina, Republican leaders will convene to “discuss the lessons learned from the 2008 campaign, what we can do better and what it will take to win in 2010.” [www.politico.com]
In two weeks, top conservatives will gather for a weekend retreat in a Virginia mansion to discuss how to bring the party back to its glory days of the Reagan years. One of attendees told Politico [www.politico.com] that one of the topics they group will cover is who to groom for the next presidential election, if the party loses next week, and Sarah Palin is at or near the top of the list.
As the parallels between the banks and the GOP continue, don’t hold your breath for a Greenspan-esque admittance of responsibility from Bush or Cheney. Do expect, however, for things to get worse before they get better.
--Jamie Wong
There are no comments yet for this blog posting. Be the first to make one.
Posted October 28, 2008 03:00PM
A new pro-Obama ads to come from an organization outside of the campaign reads on a white and blue flyer:
For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger, and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothes me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.
-Matthew 25:30-40
Then, next to a photo of Barack Obama, in large, bold letters, the flyer reads: "IMAGINE A PRESIDENT WHO STANDS FOR THIS."
The newest 527 group to back Obama for president does not look or sound much like the kind of group you’d expect to come out with a campaign in support Obama a week before the election.
The group, Matthew 25 Network, is an evangelical Christian group that is airing radio ads for Obama that focus on the candidate’s commitment to family and Christian values.
And who better than to transmit the message of the group than the guy who knows what it’s like to be a good Christian and a good president (on television)? Yup, Martin Sheen [www.youtube.com] is the new face of the evangelicals for Obama.
The group’s hope is to help sway white, evangelical Christian votes away from John McCain and toward Obama. A CBS/New York Times poll [cbs5.com] conducted last week showed that McCain was leading among white evangelicals 69 percent to 21 percent who say they would vote for Obama. Although the numbers are strong, 42 percent of those who support McCain say they “have reservations” about him. In 2004, George W. Bush received 78 percent of the white evangelical vote.
Because many of these evangelicals are unenthusiastic about McCain, there is some opportunity in these final days for Obama to swing some of them his way, and the Mathew 25 Network is at the helm of this effort. The ads will air on Christian music stations in battleground states. The group has also posted video ads [www.youtube.com] on their website, (a site that will look awfully familiar for anyone who has seen Obama’s site).
The ads all target evangelicals who in recent years have formed the base of the Republican electorate, and who are largely responsible for Bush’s rise to power. One of the spots, “Pro-Life, Pro-Obama,” tries to persuade Christina pro-lifers to vote for Obama by emphasizing his support for prenatal care and adoptions, despite his stance on abortion.
While the ads are unlikely to appeal to everyone, their mere conception is a clear demonstration of shifting plates within the Republican party, and even within the evangelical bloc, a group that has long been considered off-limits to Democrats, especially non-white, pro-abortion Democrats such as Obama.
--Jamie Wong
For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger, and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothes me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.
-Matthew 25:30-40
Then, next to a photo of Barack Obama, in large, bold letters, the flyer reads: "IMAGINE A PRESIDENT WHO STANDS FOR THIS."
The newest 527 group to back Obama for president does not look or sound much like the kind of group you’d expect to come out with a campaign in support Obama a week before the election.
The group, Matthew 25 Network, is an evangelical Christian group that is airing radio ads for Obama that focus on the candidate’s commitment to family and Christian values.
And who better than to transmit the message of the group than the guy who knows what it’s like to be a good Christian and a good president (on television)? Yup, Martin Sheen [www.youtube.com] is the new face of the evangelicals for Obama.
The group’s hope is to help sway white, evangelical Christian votes away from John McCain and toward Obama. A CBS/New York Times poll [cbs5.com] conducted last week showed that McCain was leading among white evangelicals 69 percent to 21 percent who say they would vote for Obama. Although the numbers are strong, 42 percent of those who support McCain say they “have reservations” about him. In 2004, George W. Bush received 78 percent of the white evangelical vote.
Because many of these evangelicals are unenthusiastic about McCain, there is some opportunity in these final days for Obama to swing some of them his way, and the Mathew 25 Network is at the helm of this effort. The ads will air on Christian music stations in battleground states. The group has also posted video ads [www.youtube.com] on their website, (a site that will look awfully familiar for anyone who has seen Obama’s site).
The ads all target evangelicals who in recent years have formed the base of the Republican electorate, and who are largely responsible for Bush’s rise to power. One of the spots, “Pro-Life, Pro-Obama,” tries to persuade Christina pro-lifers to vote for Obama by emphasizing his support for prenatal care and adoptions, despite his stance on abortion.
While the ads are unlikely to appeal to everyone, their mere conception is a clear demonstration of shifting plates within the Republican party, and even within the evangelical bloc, a group that has long been considered off-limits to Democrats, especially non-white, pro-abortion Democrats such as Obama.
--Jamie Wong
Wow--looks like the evangelicals, led by Jed Bartlet are having their own Great Schlepp. The reach of Obama's capacity to inspire never ceases to amaze me!
Posted October 28, 2008 02:00PM
With one week left until Election Days, campaign’s strategies on the ground have shifted. Rather than trying to register voters, convert voters and win over swing voters, campaigns are now trying to get voters to vote. The focus on the youth vote in the 2000 and 2004 elections shows that while young people were great at mobilizing during the campaign season, not nearly as many of them actually cast their votes when Election Day arrived.
But getting people to the polls may not be as complicated as it seems. In fact, no brainwashing, coercion or force in needed, according to Princeton psychologist and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, Daniel Kahneman.
In a conference last week, Kahneman exlained how phone calls and canvassing is actually the post effective way to for campaigns to get people to the polls. The conversation between psychologists Kahnman, Nathan Myhrvold and Richard Thaler was as follows:
KAHNEMAN: ...there are those effects that are small at the margin that can change election results. You call and ask people ahead of time, "Will you vote?". That's all. "Do you intend to vote?". That increases voting participation substantially, and you can measure it. It's a completely trivial manipulation, but saying 'Yes' to a stranger, "I will vote" ...
MYHRVOLD: But to Elon's point, suppose you had the choice of calling up and saying, "Are you going to vote?", so you prime them to vote, versus exhorting them to vote.
KAHNEMAN: The prime could very well work better than the exhortation because exhortation is going to induce resistance, whereas the prime‚ the mild embarrassment causes you to make what feels like a commitment, and the commitment, if it's sufficiently precise, is going to have an effect on behavior.
THALER: If you ask them when they're going to vote, and how they're going to get there, that increases voting.
KAHNEMAN: And where.
The full transcript [www.edge.org] of the conference is here.
So for those of you debating whether it’s worth your time to spend a day at that phone bank, making calls from home, or driving to the nearest swing state to ask voters if they’re voting, the answer is “yes,” a Nobel laureate said so.
--Jamie Wong
But getting people to the polls may not be as complicated as it seems. In fact, no brainwashing, coercion or force in needed, according to Princeton psychologist and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, Daniel Kahneman.
In a conference last week, Kahneman exlained how phone calls and canvassing is actually the post effective way to for campaigns to get people to the polls. The conversation between psychologists Kahnman, Nathan Myhrvold and Richard Thaler was as follows:
KAHNEMAN: ...there are those effects that are small at the margin that can change election results. You call and ask people ahead of time, "Will you vote?". That's all. "Do you intend to vote?". That increases voting participation substantially, and you can measure it. It's a completely trivial manipulation, but saying 'Yes' to a stranger, "I will vote" ...
MYHRVOLD: But to Elon's point, suppose you had the choice of calling up and saying, "Are you going to vote?", so you prime them to vote, versus exhorting them to vote.
KAHNEMAN: The prime could very well work better than the exhortation because exhortation is going to induce resistance, whereas the prime‚ the mild embarrassment causes you to make what feels like a commitment, and the commitment, if it's sufficiently precise, is going to have an effect on behavior.
THALER: If you ask them when they're going to vote, and how they're going to get there, that increases voting.
KAHNEMAN: And where.
The full transcript [www.edge.org] of the conference is here.
So for those of you debating whether it’s worth your time to spend a day at that phone bank, making calls from home, or driving to the nearest swing state to ask voters if they’re voting, the answer is “yes,” a Nobel laureate said so.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted October 28, 2008 10:00AM
After the GOP’s latest effort to sway Jewish voters, it’s clear there’s nothing they won’t do for votes. Last week the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s “Victory 2008” committee began circulating an email in Pennsylvania that has gone largely unnoticed by the media, other than an article in The New York Times political blog, The Caucus [thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com].
The email was sent to an estimated 75,000 people, including Jewish voters. The letter said that voting for Obama, would mean that Jewish voters would be following in the footsteps of their predecessors who “ignored the warning signs in the 1930’s and 1940’s.”
The email was signed by McCain supporters including Judge Sandra Schwartz Newman whose job it is to monitoring Election Day voting for the McCain campaign.
The letter further perpetuated McCain talking-point inaccuracies by stating that Obama is “associated with a known terrorist, William Ayers, who thought the terrorists didn’t do enough on 9/11.”
The email letter also called voting for Obama a “tragic mistake” and also falsely claimed that Obama “taught members of Acorn to commit voter registration fraud.”
The same day that the Times published an article about the anti-Obama email, Gallup released a poll [www.haaretz.com] that shows that three out of four American Jews now support Obama. And those Jews with the highest support for Obama? Jews over 55-years-old. And the Jewish population most supportive of McCain? Orthodox Jews.
So did The Great Schlep [www.thegreatschlep.com] work? Maybe. Also, the economic crisis has helped Obama win over Jewish voters, as it has voters of most demographics.
These smears are harmful to many people—least of whom is Obama. To instill this kind of fear in voters is the kind of method that the GOP has been relying on in the last days of the election. And expect to see the GOP continue to exploit voters’ pasts and vulnerability for political gain, not only through the campaign, but also in the form of purging at the polls on Election Day.
--Jamie Wong
The email was sent to an estimated 75,000 people, including Jewish voters. The letter said that voting for Obama, would mean that Jewish voters would be following in the footsteps of their predecessors who “ignored the warning signs in the 1930’s and 1940’s.”
The email was signed by McCain supporters including Judge Sandra Schwartz Newman whose job it is to monitoring Election Day voting for the McCain campaign.
The letter further perpetuated McCain talking-point inaccuracies by stating that Obama is “associated with a known terrorist, William Ayers, who thought the terrorists didn’t do enough on 9/11.”
The email letter also called voting for Obama a “tragic mistake” and also falsely claimed that Obama “taught members of Acorn to commit voter registration fraud.”
The same day that the Times published an article about the anti-Obama email, Gallup released a poll [www.haaretz.com] that shows that three out of four American Jews now support Obama. And those Jews with the highest support for Obama? Jews over 55-years-old. And the Jewish population most supportive of McCain? Orthodox Jews.
So did The Great Schlep [www.thegreatschlep.com] work? Maybe. Also, the economic crisis has helped Obama win over Jewish voters, as it has voters of most demographics.
These smears are harmful to many people—least of whom is Obama. To instill this kind of fear in voters is the kind of method that the GOP has been relying on in the last days of the election. And expect to see the GOP continue to exploit voters’ pasts and vulnerability for political gain, not only through the campaign, but also in the form of purging at the polls on Election Day.
--Jamie Wong
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Posted October 24, 2008 12:00PM
Dave the Dentist, Tito the Builder, Joe the Florist, Phil the Bricklayer and Pam the Republican Teacher are just a few of the characters John McCain has met in his own great schlep through Central Florida the critical battleground states of Ohio and Florida. While Sarah Palin is running around spouting keywords like “terrorist” and “god” to appeal to her base, McCain is reaching out to blue-collar workers, which McCain seems to have turned into the corny nickname demographic.
McCain has continued his attacks by framing Obama as a “Socialist” because he believes it’s good for everyone to “spread the wealth.”
"Let's be clear who John McCain is fighting for. He is not fighting for Joe the Plumber. He's fighting for Joe the Hedge Fund Manager," [ap.google.com] Obama said.
Is anyone else sick of this ridiculous rhetoric?! Have we just run out of things to talk about? I feel like this election has turned into one of those parties that has gone way past it’s prime, and people are just kinda lingering around because they don’t want to go home, and they’re drunk and high and tired and don’t really know what else to say so they start doing things making each other laugh with farts. Then there’s that guy who really has nothing to say, but he’s trying to keep the conversations going and make some friends, so he starts making up nicknames: “hey it’s little fart-a-lot Francis over here! Hey Stingy Sarah, pass those chips! Oh, what a surprise, Political Penelope going to an Obama meet-up tomorrow!”
It’s cute at first, but this gets old.
The issues are out there. We know the candidates’ policies, we know their daemons, we even know tiny of their medical history [www.nytimes.com] (which is personally enough for me. I get the gist—Biden had an aneurism, McCain has recurring melanoma has suffered from PTSD and is likely to kick the bucket within the next decade, Palin gave birth to four or five kids and Obama has excellent abs. This is more than I know about my friend’s bodies. It’s enough).
--Jamie Wong
McCain has continued his attacks by framing Obama as a “Socialist” because he believes it’s good for everyone to “spread the wealth.”
"Let's be clear who John McCain is fighting for. He is not fighting for Joe the Plumber. He's fighting for Joe the Hedge Fund Manager," [ap.google.com] Obama said.
Is anyone else sick of this ridiculous rhetoric?! Have we just run out of things to talk about? I feel like this election has turned into one of those parties that has gone way past it’s prime, and people are just kinda lingering around because they don’t want to go home, and they’re drunk and high and tired and don’t really know what else to say so they start doing things making each other laugh with farts. Then there’s that guy who really has nothing to say, but he’s trying to keep the conversations going and make some friends, so he starts making up nicknames: “hey it’s little fart-a-lot Francis over here! Hey Stingy Sarah, pass those chips! Oh, what a surprise, Political Penelope going to an Obama meet-up tomorrow!”
It’s cute at first, but this gets old.
The issues are out there. We know the candidates’ policies, we know their daemons, we even know tiny of their medical history [www.nytimes.com] (which is personally enough for me. I get the gist—Biden had an aneurism, McCain has recurring melanoma has suffered from PTSD and is likely to kick the bucket within the next decade, Palin gave birth to four or five kids and Obama has excellent abs. This is more than I know about my friend’s bodies. It’s enough).
--Jamie Wong
The U.S. incursion into Syria shows to what lengths Repubs. will go to win. Bush chose now to invoke fear so we'd vote for a war horse. Lives lost are simply collateral damage. McCain has this mentality as his ugly, fallacious attacks on Obama illustrate. They hope we're still stupid. Pity for them we're waking up! Beside the assassination plan just revealed in Tenn., this is our "October surprise."
Posted October 24, 2008 09:00AM
When John McCain’s campaign picked Sarah Palin to be the veteran Senator’s running mate, they hoped this move would snatch up votes from women—primarily white, working class women—from Barack Obama. From the outset, the campaign has tried to brand Palin as the hockey mom next door. She’s a working mother of five. She began her political career on the PTA at her kid’s school. She’s a churchgoer, a pro-lifer, and can keep up with the boys.
Unfortunately for the McCain campaign, the branding didn’t quite take off the way they wanted it too. Rather than being adored by women who saw themselves in her, she is more popular among men, who hope to see themselves in her. She’s come off less as the “hockey mom” and more as the sexy librarian (who doesn’t actually read books).
As it turns out, these guys, who The New York Times refers to as the “Sarah Dude population” [www.nytimes.com], and who yell out things at rallies such as, “You tell ’em baby,”are Palin’s top supporters. In fact, 44 percent of men approve of Palin compare to 36 percent of women, according to a Times poll.
If Palin’s biggest supporters are dudes, then who are women voting for? Yup. Barack Obama.
Obama has been leading overall in the polls, so it may come as little surprise that, despite Palin’s effort to win the female vote and convert Clinton supporters, Obama still leads among women, and more so each day. Afterall, he has a superior campaign, an unprecended ground effort and policies that appeal to more women than McCain’s policies.
But there may be more to this. If Palin has attracted the “dude” demographic, in part because of her sex appeal, then it’s probably safe to assume that Obama has done the same. He has been hailed for his fashion, his good looks and muscular body, and of course he is brilliant and successful, traits more important to women than men, studies show. He could probably afford to be a little funnier, but hey, you can’t have it all.
For whatever the reason they’re doing it, the fact that women like Obama more than McCain is significant because more women vote than men. Women have come out to the polls in greater numbers in every single election for the past 40 years, and are expected to do so again this year. They tend to be the most educated voters as well.
When we’re not in the thick of smears, policies, promises and stump speeches, and when we finally have an outcome of this election, it will be hard not to speculate on the extent to which sex appeal informs a voters decision. Perhaps we’ll then better understand if some of us vote more from heads, our hearts or other parts.
--Jamie Wong
Unfortunately for the McCain campaign, the branding didn’t quite take off the way they wanted it too. Rather than being adored by women who saw themselves in her, she is more popular among men, who hope to see themselves in her. She’s come off less as the “hockey mom” and more as the sexy librarian (who doesn’t actually read books).
As it turns out, these guys, who The New York Times refers to as the “Sarah Dude population” [www.nytimes.com], and who yell out things at rallies such as, “You tell ’em baby,”are Palin’s top supporters. In fact, 44 percent of men approve of Palin compare to 36 percent of women, according to a Times poll.
If Palin’s biggest supporters are dudes, then who are women voting for? Yup. Barack Obama.
Obama has been leading overall in the polls, so it may come as little surprise that, despite Palin’s effort to win the female vote and convert Clinton supporters, Obama still leads among women, and more so each day. Afterall, he has a superior campaign, an unprecended ground effort and policies that appeal to more women than McCain’s policies.
But there may be more to this. If Palin has attracted the “dude” demographic, in part because of her sex appeal, then it’s probably safe to assume that Obama has done the same. He has been hailed for his fashion, his good looks and muscular body, and of course he is brilliant and successful, traits more important to women than men, studies show. He could probably afford to be a little funnier, but hey, you can’t have it all.
For whatever the reason they’re doing it, the fact that women like Obama more than McCain is significant because more women vote than men. Women have come out to the polls in greater numbers in every single election for the past 40 years, and are expected to do so again this year. They tend to be the most educated voters as well.
When we’re not in the thick of smears, policies, promises and stump speeches, and when we finally have an outcome of this election, it will be hard not to speculate on the extent to which sex appeal informs a voters decision. Perhaps we’ll then better understand if some of us vote more from heads, our hearts or other parts.
--Jamie Wong