Week 5

Swing States

Florida, Pennslvania, Ohio and Nevada are important swing states in this election. They are still up for grabs because the states have contrasting populations, which are fairly equally numbered, so their electoral votes are up grabs. Also, Maimi is a hung democratic city and Jacksonville is a juge republican city. Candidates are both fighting extra hard for Florida, Ohio and Pennslvania because they all have a considerable amount of electoral votes.

Florida is a swing state because it has a large population of spanish voters, who are more likely to vote democratic and a large population of old voters who are more likely to vote republican. Polls do suggest that Obama maintains a slight lead ahead of McCain. The candidates are bombarding the state with ads (including spanish ads) and other proaganda to try and gain the upper hand. I predict Obama will win Florida, because he is better than McCain.

Pennslvania is a swing state because there are two large democratic cities on either end, Philadelphia and PITTSBURG!!!!!!!! and in the middle its all rural and republican. That concoction whips up a tasty serving of contested state. The candidates are both helping themselves to nice large servings of it in this delicious election. Obama is also going to win Pennslvania becuase more people in the cities are going to vote in this election becuase it has gained so much publicity and there are such high stakes with our economy.

Current Event #5

Colon Powell announced on Meet the Press this week that he endorses Barack Obama in this presidental race. Powell is a former gerneral in our military and a republican. An endorsement from such a well known and respected member of the Republican Party will undoubtedly boost support for Obama. It will be interesting to see how this will be reflected in polls in the coming weeks. I agree with Powell when he says Obama is handling the economic crisis better than McCain and that Obama will be a better leader for this nation.

Week 4

According to a gallup's polls 52% of registered voters are planning to vote Obama and 42% are planning to vote McCain with a margin of error of 3%. 6% are undecided and 1% plans to vote for another candidate.
CNN's polls show Obama with 49% and McCain with 43% of voters. 8% is still unsure, and there is a 3% margin of error. CNN polls also show that the economy is definitely the most important issue in this election.

"The Mason-Dixon Virginia poll, conducted earlier this week, found Warner preferred by 57 percent of state voters, compared to 31 percent for Republican Jim Gilmore. Eleven percent of those polled said they remain undecided." -HispanicBuisness.com
RealClearPolitics.com also shows Warner with a 28% runaway lead. Good for you, Mark Warner, good for you.

I believe that these polls are an accurate reflection of the public's opinions. The samples chosen seem to be unbiased and reliable. The polls can change campaigns by giving candidates more confidence or putting candidates under pressure to perform better in debates. Polls can also make a candidate change their focus of issues. For instance, polls are showing that a majority of our population is most concerned with our economic problems and that has been reflected in Obama and McCain's speeches and debate performances.

Week 3

In the 10th congressional district, there are three candidates for the office: Judy Feder (D), Frank Wolf (R), and Neeraj Nigam (I).

Judy Feder is a mother who has lived in Northern Virginia for over thirty years. She is a supporter of reforming no child left behind, early childhood education and a womans right to choose. She has worked for decades to make health care affordable, and she wants to responsibly end the war in Iraq as soon as possible.

Frank Wolf has represented the 10th district since 1981. He has always placed reforming our regions transportation system high on his priority list, so nobody is stuck in traffic. Wolf has also battled gangs and spoke out for the prosecuted around the world.

Neeraj Nigam moved to the USA from India in 1989. He and his family fell in love with this country, but were angered when their representatives stopped working to help those that they represent and started looking for things to blame on their opponets. He is running to put America back into the hands of the people. He also likes soft, soothing music that he can relax to. It can be instrumental or vocal.

Top issues in this election are similar to those of the presidental election: how to end the Iraq war, making health care affordable, and our educational system.

I cannot find any poll results, but Wolf is favored to win.

Currnet Event #2

I don’t want another great depression. I don’t like the idea of pouring 300 billion tax dollars into two private corporations, and leaving an additional 400 billion to Bush to do what he feels is necessary with while our nation is still so deep in debt. However, if it is necessary to save our economy and save our economic future, I’m for it. I don’t know all the logistics of this failed bill, or exactly what happened in congress yesterday, but I hope that in the coming days congress will find a solution, and save this nation. Congress needs to drop party alliances and interests and start thinking about what is best for this country.