Saturday, August 30, 2008

What are you watching for at the Republican Convention this week?

Republican Convention Preview (3:17) on Youtube

Directly from the GOP Convention's website:
The convention's overall theme, "Country First," reflects John McCain's remarkable record of leadership and service to America. Each day of proceedings will center on a touchstone theme that has defined John McCain's life and will be central to his vision for leading our nation forward as president. Read more...

79 comments:

Vlad said...

Hi Mr. Bretzmann & old class,
I will be watching for what the Republicans will say to justify all that has happened in these past years and how John McCain will be sold as different from President Bush. I am more interested in this convention because of that reason. Maybe I'll be watching for more awkward old men dancing.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

Hi Vlad. I think the Democrats cornered the market on awkward old men dancing, but we'll see.

I know there is another post about VP choices, but with the convention coming up, I'm interested to see how Sen. McCain's choice is explained and justified. I know what will be said so I guess even moreso I'm looking for who actually buys it. 1. He's a maverick, she's a maverick, this is a maverick pick. 2. She's a conservative. 3. She's a woman. 4. She has executive experience. 5. She has held a real job. 5. She's from outside of Washington, D.C.

My opinion: This is a pick to solidify the base of the Republican Party and that's all it's going to bring. Maybe that is important for Sen. McCain, but it's not enough in a year when the polls show that the majority of people want to vote for a Democrat. They are just not sold yet on Sen. Obama. In part because of his perceived inexperience, people have said they would vote for a generic Democrat and then the numbers go down when you put in Obama's name. McCain has added what people would perceive as even less experience to his ticket. So if people are looking to McCain's ticket for the experience issue, he has just negated that because the least experienced of the four principals is a heartbeat away from the presidency.

A real maverick choice would have been Sen. Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat and former Dem. VP candidate. Social conservatives don't like him. Tom Ridge would have been another maverick choice because he's pro-choice. He could sit across the table with Sen. Biden and talk with real credentials about national security as the first Homeland Security Director.

If a woman was needed, then why not Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Carly Fiorina (just not Madonna). Hutchison is a long-serving senator with strong bi-partisan and national security credentials. Fiorina is a conservatieve CEO who has created jobs and as a CEO has executive experience. And she's not a Washington insider. Are pro-choice, security moms who are Democrats or Independents really going to vote against their issue opinions, economic interests, and security concerns just because Palin is a woman? Isn't this the exact other side of the argument that feminists make: don't judge people on their gender, but on their qualifications?

Palin doesn't help with a state (Alaska is pretty reliably Republican). Ridge would have helped with Pennsylvania. Guiliani would have shaken up the Northeast and put New Hampshire even more in play. Hutchison would have solidified Texas and helped more in the south. Huckabee would have locked up the south and excited the Evangelical vote (admittedly he wouldn't have helped with the fiscal conservatives). Lieberman would have put more distance between the GOP and Obama in Florida and split the Jewish vote throughout the country. Romney would have helped a lot in Michigan and in the West where there are a lot of Mormons(see my other post on why Romney was the best choice, and still is. btw: this post is not sour grapes on my part, it's just true!) :)

John McCain said that his pick would be based on who could be president. I don't think this pick shows that. It's almost purely political; gambling that disaffected Hillary supporters and other women will go toward McCain's ticket now and that conservatives will now be excited about the ticket.

Experience issue: gone. "Country First" slogan: on shaky ground. First decision of his presidency, choosing a running mate: wrong. Picking someone he's comfortable governing with: ? (He met her once and talked to her on the phone twice.)

Sitting here just shaking my head. I just don't understand this pick. Maybe I'm way off and they see all kinds of upsides that I'm missing. Maybe Obama should use the statement from his convention speech about me, "He just doesn't get it." I'll wait and see I guess.

Anonymous said...

Possible downside of picking Palin...teen-age daughter got pregnant.

Vlad said...

Obama doesn't want to be associated with that story nor does he want it to be brought up.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/144946/9115/461/582298

Good move by him.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Obama's stance on it, but you have to believe its going to sway how some socially conservatives will vote.

mlowe1191 said...

Hey all,
I will not really be watching the convention, but i will read about it on CNN. I am really looking to see how McCain will try and seperate himself from Bush, also how McCain will support VP pick, when many females feel that Sarah Palin is not right to represent them as well as Hillary Clinton could have. They also feel Sarah Palin was only picked as the VP because she is female, and McCain picked her for only that reason.

Vince said...

While watching this convention I am mostly interested in hearing why Sen. McCain feels that Palin is qualified for the job of VP. I am also interested in hearing what Palin plans to bring to the Republican party, as far as ideas and expierence that will make her a worthy VP choice.

BrandonSh said...

I'm watching right now and I have to say that Giuliani's speech doesn't make much sense.
First he criticized (I believe Pelosi) for saying "this war is lost" and then said something like "well then who won the war?" as if she had said "we lost the war".
Then he criticized Obama for carefully and patiently taking a stance on the Russia/Georgia issue. And THEN he criticized Obama when he did take a stance for trusting in the U.N..

Just some loose ends that have been bothering me: Romney said "We shouldn't be talking about Palin's experience compared to Obama's. It should be Obama to McCain." Fair enough, and I agree. So let's compare Palin's foreign policy experience to Biden's. No contest. End of story.
Lastly, did seeing all the people at the RNC chanting "Drill Baby Drill!" scare anybody else as much as it did me? I am genuinely scared for my life..

mlowe1191 said...

yeah brandon, it is a little scary but what more can you expect from them?

Vina A said...

Hey Mr. Bretzmann,

Talked to my dad today about our class discussion.. wondering what everyone's opinion was about Palin's daughter.. yes we all know she's pregnant, but now she's getting married.. think that will help correct the balance??

Anonymous said...

I think the issue they are trying to push the most at the GOP convention is building up Palin. Pushing the ideas that she has executive experience because she's the governor of Alaska, foreign policy experience because Alaska is close to Russia, and that the whole her daughter is pregnant issue is off limits.

Alaska hardly gives someone the executive experience necessary to run the country. Since Alaska has a population of around 650,000 (slightly more than live in Milwaukee), I doubt very seriously they deal with the many of the problems present in larger states such as California, Illinois, or New York. She says she’s just as qualified as Obama to be president, and yet has very little to back it up with. She says her experience as mayor of her home town in Alaska equals up to Obama’s experience as a community organizer, “except that [she had] actual responsibilities.” Her hometown had a population of 7,000 (which affected the surrounding valley’s population of up to 70,000). Obama’s community of Roseland had a population of 35,000 with the surrounding population of almost 3 million people. Not that I’m saying Obama’s work affected 3 million people, but certainly more chance than Palin had to affect the 70,000 living within 50 miles of her city.

I also doubt that she deals with Russian diplomats on a regular basis just because the state she governs happens to be within a thousand miles of Russia. This must mean that the governor of Florida has foreign policy experience because it is the closest state to Cuba. Or any state bordering Mexico for that matter.

As far as the family being off limits, I can slightly understand, but she seems to be all talk and no walk on this one. I find it slightly hypocritical for her to say that she would oppose abortion even if her own daughter was raped, but then say that she would respect her daughter’s decision (granted after she probably already made it). Considering she wants to take the decision out of women’s hands entirely, I find this to be slightly contradictory.

Sorry for the long post, I’ve been watching lots of Fox News.

mlowe1191 said...

I think people are making a little bit of a big deal with the children...maybe leave the kids out of this cause as we said in BIA today no matter how you raise your kids they are going to do what ever they want too. But this does bring up a thought of mine as in conservatives preach abstinence (as well the church) maybe they should talk more about safe sex and give out condoms and not abstinence packets cause facts say kids are going to have sex no matter what. Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Also, Lieberman speaking at the Republican convention and ripping into Obama at the same time is ridiculous. Talk about taking a steaming dump on everyone half the people that got him into office. Just a couple years ago when he was up for reelection, he was praising Obama. He said he would help Obama "reach the stars." Obama also campaigned for Lieberman when he was up for reelection. Now he criticized Obama for flip-flopping on his views on Iran in June and rips into Obama as unable to lead at the RNC....absolutely ridiculous.

Here's a good link: http://mediamatters.org/items/200809030007

Vina A said...

hmm.. i'm not sure that's the brightest idea Matt. don't get me wrong, if someone is going to have sex.. they should definitely be using some sort of protection. but you know what, you don't want to be giving the younger generation the idea that it's okay. most kids do what they want, yes, but not all of them are ready to make the commitment of having sexual intercourse. Sarah Palin's daughter chose to take that route.. we all make mistakes, but she's owning up to it by getting married. although it's not a message we should be sending out.. safe sex needs to be preached as well as abstinence because kids are starting at an even younger age now, and it's quite sad actually.

sorry that was so super long buddy =]

Mr. Bretzmann said...

If Sarah Palin makes one of her kids a positive issue by saying that she's proud of him for being in the military, does that justify making the decisions of another child an issue in the race (i.e. having sex out of wedlock)? Did she open the door on that?

btw, I'm pretty sure Jamie meant "wow, that's funny" when she posted wtf...

I feel compelled to defend my buddy, Sen. Teeth against one of Mike Huckabee's attacks: "A Political Wire reader notes that Mike Huckabee's convention applause line that Sarah Palin got more votes as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Sen. Joe Biden got running for president isn't even close to accurate. In the state of Florida alone, Biden got more votes from voters who didn't even know if their primary would even count -- after his his campaign was already suspended -- than live in Wasilla."

Sarah Palin gave a great speech. The expectations were low, but she did everything she had to do and was supposed to do in that speech. She knocked it out of the park! The speechwriting was very good (even though some parts seemed like it was her talking and some parts seemed like it was the McCain speech writers talking). The line about using change to help your career vs. using your career to help create change...that was brilliant. It was a clever turn of a phrase AND it fit into the narrative that the campaign wants to enforce about Sen. Obama. She delivered it really well. I don't know if people expected her to walk out there and say, "duh, I don't know these words..." but she did a heckuva job. It was especially good since it was such a significant speech with so many people watching and she nailed it.

The one thing I didn't like about last night was the seemingly dichotomous message that John McCain was going to unify the country juxtaposed with the name-calling, sarcasm and personal attacks. Actually, I guess the president started it off Tuesday. I spent a good part of the day telling American Issues students that we weren't going to have any put-downs in class and that we will have disagreements, but we should attack an idea not a person. Then the President of the United States goes on TV and calls those people who disagree with him, "the angry left." No put-downs or name-calling Mr. President. That won't unify the country.

MattC said...

Hello everyone. For the most part I am looking for what the party line issues are going to be. I am trying not to focus on individuals that the media storm gets clouded up in. So far I can see the GOP is shaping up to shoot themselves in the foot as the national mood moves towards the left; especially on social issues.I see the GOP standing by on its policy switch; the GOP used to advocate non-interventionist foreign policy to the "international terror war" we're in now. A majority of Americans are fed up with the wars and the GOP's position will be very unpopular come November.

I think it's also very important to point out. Whoever wins the presidential election, polls show, that Americans will overwhelmingly vote democrat when it comes to congressional campaigns. This is set to throw the democratic party in a very powerful position no matter if John McCain wins. With a majority of democrats in congress, McCain will be a lame duck president. If Obama wins, democrats will be able to pass their own bills with ease.

My thoughts on GOP candidates are varied.I'm ready for McCain's speech. I do like that he's mostly stayed consistent on issues and if he keeps up this image (compared to Obama's now slightly tarnished image), it could really help. Hopefully, he's worked on his speech skills since the primaries.
Sarah Palin so far gives off a good character and appears to be very comfortable in a national spotlight and I think the GOP is hoping to embrace her in a way that could change it's "old, white, men" image.

kylem27 said...

I swear, if I hear the word "maverick" one more time.

mlowe1191 said...

yeah im with you, calling him that is kind of redicules now of days. maybe a few years back but not today.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

Drill, baby, drill...

kylem27 said...

Also, he just talks about what he will do, he doesn't give any specifics on how he will get it done.

Plus, just me noticing things again, isn't it kinda wierd with Sarah Palin having a son that is only a few months older than her daughter's child?

Aren't conservatives supposed to be against pre-marital sex?

kylem27 said...

Start laying some pipe Mr. Bretzmann.

mlowe1191 said...

yes they are but again read my comment up a little higher. and no drill baby....no drilling...i think less money spent on oil we will see in 2 months- 10 years(thats the range given) and more money spent on solor, wind, ETC. now would be a better idea, but thats just me.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

I noticed one sign that said, "Mavrick" which is apparently the maverick way to spell maverick.

mlowe1191 said...

maybe thats the way to spell it when your really not one anymore, but dont want people to group you with Bush.

mlowe1191 said...
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BrandonSh said...

Lots of stuff a'brewin over here so heres some thought provoking, mostly related to the topic... stuff. (Yes, people who have taken this class can stray from the topic and say stuff) Sorry about the length in advance.

First: McCain gave an excellent speech BUT did anybody notice where he was trying to contrast himself from Obama and talked about rewarding good teachers, etc. and acted as if Obama hasn't been saying that since the primaries?

Also, after his speech, the match of McCain/Palin seems even stranger to me. Maybe they're only thinking short term to create a balanced ticket, but her ridicule and sarcasm towards the left and his point about working together and actually having liberals working for/with him (cabinet perhaps?) seems to be completely contradictory.

I also want to ask how he expects to create a "long-standing peace" with the rest of the world when his extreme nationalism (clear throughout the speech and especially towards the end) makes him believe that America's people, system, and ideals are head and shoulder's above all others. (there's a bit of opinion in there but he said very close to all of that, i swear)

Still, it was an excellent speech and it was surprisingly well delivered with almost no slip-ups

PS: I know he's a war hero, but i've lost count on how many times i've heard the pow story..

Kyle K said...

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing the green background in the beginning of John McCain's speech, I can't wait to see if Stephen Colbert will create a "Make McCain Interesting Part II" Green-Screen Challenge.

mlowe1191 said...

I think VP choice Palin made a big error when she attacked Obama during her speech. Less then 24 hours after the speech, Obama rose over $10 MILLION DOLLORS... from over 130,000 people. Well over the $1 Million made by McCain during the entire RNC. Well with the attacks you just made Obama's supporters even closer and stronger in belief.

Vina A said...

hahaha, we all know why matt has a problem with the phrase "drill baby drill" lol. so i heard something that reminded me of the "baby" comment today, when Biden was asked, he said the only difference between himself and Palin, was that she was good looking.. ha-ha Mr. Biden, good one... =\

Mr. Bretzmann said...

I think this blog can be accessed from school...

BrandonSh said...

yes it can..

Anonymous said...

My favorite contradiction about Palin is that she is supposed to be anti-earmark (as is John McCain). And yet she secured over $40 million for her home town in Alaska. Additionally she was originally for building the bridge to nowhere in Alaska. Once it became a national embarrassment, she changed her stance on it. If she's put into office we can get that bridge built after all...

Jenni F said...

remember how we talked in class the other day about how the vp is supposed to be the "attack bear" and do all the dirty work? well, i totally noticed that difference in mccain and palin's speeches :)

but i digress, in mccains speech yesterday he made some progress to win over some moderates by using the allusion to "great presidents" like lincoln, roosevelt and reagan. i believe reminding people about familar presidents from the SAME PARTY will help him in winning over some moderate voters that don't know all there is to know about politics.

mlowe1191 said...

jenni that is a great point, but this is 2008 and them presidents were a LONG time ago. Times, views, thoughts, opions change greatly over that long of time so that far back it almost does not matter what party they were in. either party. but yet again great point jenni

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see the vice-presidential debate. I have a feeling that Biden is going to tear Palin apart. She is a very good speaker. She isn't quite as eloquent at Obama, but she knows how to get the crowd into it (Something McCain has to work on). I think Obama will do better against McCain in a debate than Palin will against Biden for 2 reasons. One is that Obama has been on the campaign trail for much longer than Palin has. He has had to deal with tough debates with Clinton. The second is that Biden is so much more ruthless than McCain is. Biden's best quality is to just rip into his opponents, a skill he has had decades to hone on the Senate floor. Either way, I can't wait until the next couple presidential debates. They should prove to be very interesting.

Kyle K said...

Whats the deal with Gov. Sara Palin repeating over and over that she sold her plane on E-bay? First at the NRC, then in Cedarburg yesterday and again today at their stop in Colorado. I get the fact that she wanted to cut spending on useless things, but it seems like every time I hear her speak she has to talk about E-bay, is it really that big of a deal?

Jenni F said...

ebay is where the magic happens kyle.

i think it's in part because she wants to show people that she cut spending and in part because there was some brief talks about ebay's CEO, meg whitman, to be mccains vp pick. i think she's going to play some part in mccain's campaign in the future and she is someone to watch out for. palin's just setting her up.

JeremyL said...

I am really getting sick of people ripping Palin because of her daughter... She should be getting attacked for what SHE did, not her daughter. I stiil dont know if I like the decision to pick her but I guess we'll see what she's really made of when it gets closer to election time.

kylem27 said...

I wonder if Palin is as proud of her daughter getting pregnant as she is of her son going off to Iraq.

Alli B said...

I agree with Jeremy. The actions of Palin’s daughter isn't relevant to how Palin might perform as vice-president so it is pointless to keep discussing it. Even Obama said that discussion about the issue is off limits so the media should follow suit and just focus on Governor Palin's own actions.

Addie said...
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Addie said...

And Sarah Palin looks a lot like Tina Fey.

Addie said...

Have you guys visited John McCain's website? You can totally tell that McCain is trying to jump ship from the Republican Party, or at least the current administration.

I'd like to think it's a direct effect of the infamous Bush/McCain Hug-It-Out picture


(http://doctore.blog.is/users/b4/doctore/img/bush-mccain-hug.jpg)

Feast your eyes on awkwardness.

mlowe1191 said...

OMG Addie post enough?? but moving on to everything you said, I agree with the whole kids thing, she might have wanted to step back and think of her family. Have you heard of her EX brother in law?? thats a crazy mess of a situation. and I don’t know what plane crash you are talking about but I do know that when he was in the navy or w/e he crashed 4 planes. which is a lot considering none were shot down but HE crashed each of them. and as much as McCain wants to be separate from bush he hugs him to much to be that far away...and that hug looked so awkward and weird.

Ryan K said...

Why do people keep talking about Palin's family? We all have screwed up family somewhere but they don't define who we are. Why are we basing who Palin is off of her family?

As for the McCain plane crashes they were not really his fault. The first two were because of an engine failure. The third one was because someone onboard an aircraft carrier with McCain accidentally fired a missile at him. How that happens I don't know. The last crash he actually was shot down in over Vietnam. I'm pretty sure there is a rumor online that a fifth plane crash too place but I don't think there is any proof of that.

And by the way that picture is a little creepy.

Addie said...

I was hoping the plane crashes were a joke. It helps knowing how/why they were crashed. I suppose I can't believe everything I hear on the Daily Show... oops.

I think there's a lot of talk about Sarah Palin's family because there's not a whole lot more that people know about her.

Like how she went to five colleges in six years and no college adminstrations will disclose her grades.

Or how she tried to censor books in her community library.

But those, admittedly, aren't as interesting as a semi-dysfunctional family. Yet.

Addie said...
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Addie said...
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mlowe1191 said...
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Mr. Bretzmann said...

I'm glad to see that there is a vibrant discussion on the blog. That's excellent. I will remind you, however, that this is not only an opportunity to express your ideas, but also an academic assignment. To that end, please monitor and police yourselves as you post and attempt to make your posts and the links that you provide school-appropriate. When they are not, I will step in to remove them. Thank you for your mandatory compliance.

Let me also mention that as the leaders in political and government knowledge in our school, we have a responsibility to riase the discourse to a more sophisticated level. We should be more concerned about the substantive issues and even more so in their impact on the races. We should be less concerned with the knee-jerk emotional hair-on-fire reactions than the analytical analysis of the impact and the legitimacy of considering small issues to pick someone to fill a big position.

Let's talk less about how someone got to their pregnancy and more about how someone should get to the presidency.

Finally, selling stuff on e-bay shows that she is "just like one of us." Many people sell or buy on e-bay (or know someone who has). Incidentally, she put the plane on e-bay and it didn't sell so someone else in her gubernatorial administration negotiated a deal and sold the plane at a net loss for the Alaskan government.

mevanoff said...

VP candidate Palin i believe will unite the republican party. the McCain-Feingold legislation did not help McCain's cause at all with the conservatives of the republican party but i believe Palin will help unite the republican party helping the Republicans retain the White House

Mr. Bretzmann said...

...and by the way, spelling should count (at least when making a serious argument, it is important not to distract from it by spelling words incorrectly).

...and if you're going to make a point, either verify it first or provide a legitimate link to a reliable source that is appropriate for school. Again, we have a higher responsibility to refrain from spreading rumor and conjecture on our blog. I wonder if that kind of thing every happens on blogs????

...and finally, Republican Party and Democratic Party are proper nouns and should be capitalized. ALWAYS. On the other hand, a democratic form of government that is republican in nature should NOT be capitalized. FYI.

nathanl said...

I would liked to have seen Palin's speech, since I haven't gotten to chance to hear her speak yet, but she was on pretty late that night and I decided it would be prudent to sleep.

In regards to Addie's comment about McCain "jumping ship" from the Republican Party, I don't blame him at all. I may be a conservative, but I'd never call myself a Republican. There's just too much baggage that comes with the title. I believe that candidates should be judged on their individual merit, not their party's beliefs.

Alexk said...

Anytime I see McCain speak I can't stop looking at the lump on the side of his face.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

That sure doesn't elevate the discourse (i.e. going from personal attacks on teenage pregnancy to personal attacks on the looks of a candidate after the removal of cancerous skin).

Health care, environment, tax policy, federal financial aid, creationism vs. evolution, choice, global terrorism...pick one.

Sergeant K. said...

I had the chance to watch both governor Palins' speech and John McCains. Throughout this whole election I have sided more with the republicans on the majority of the issues for this election. I think that we do need to clean up spending on oil and fuel but we cant just stop drilling. I think McCain has the right idea by wanting to drill now for more oil. I think that we need to clean up our emmisions and reduce oil use but we cant just stop and switch to cleaner methods. I think drilling for more oil will give us the resources and to begin the change to cleaner and more efficient oil alternatives.

I am also very pleased with his VP choice. I think that by introducing a person with executive into the race will really help him gain points in the polls and in the long run. I understand that there are probably other people out there that would have been good choices but I feel the gov. Palin has experience not just in government but also in daily life that sets her apart from the other choices.

-Erik K.

P.S. I already had a blog under this name but I will sign my name after posts.

Jessie R said...

I wasn't really expecting much out of the Republican Convention, but I was surprised, because I actually liked one of McCain's speeches. Personally I didn't believe in everything that McCain talked about, because it sounded a tad bit like Bush. However, I really liked the slideshow about McCain's life. My favorite part of his speech was when he wanted to talk to the Obama supporters.I really expected him to slam Obama and talk about how much more experienced he is.

Addie said...

In response to Mr. Bretzmann's comment, here are some links to both the college and the censor issues I brought up in past posts:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

How does everyone feel about Wikipedia credibility? I realize you can't believe everything on there, but I tried to fact check using Associated Press.

Addie said...

For the original topic regarding the Republican Convention:

It is difficult to watch the Republican Convention in my house because of how loudly my dad yells at the T.V. when any major player in the Republican Party speaks.

I did watch Sarah Palin's speech and I know why McCain chose her as his vice president. She is very charismatic and very charming, and very confident. I really admire her speaking skills. It was really a fantastic speech.

ryanh said...

When watching the Republic convention I was watching for John McCain and Sarah Palin to try and attempt to steal some of Barack Obama's momentum that he seemed to gain during the Democratic Convention. Overall I think that they seemed to do a pretty good job of creating their own spotlight.

Unknown said...

Mr. Bretzmann,
it's not even October yet and you already have to discuss capitalization errors with proper nouns. I found this humorous.
I found it necessary to post something - it's Sunday!
Only two more weeks until College Democrats!

Tyler L said...

Overall I was very pleased with the Republican Convention. I was a little disappointed that McCain or Palin did not address the issue of our economy. It seems that the Democrats are focusing on improving our economy. They are making the economic health of our country a major part of their campagin stratagy. The fact that the Republicans did not mention this suprises me. Since I support the Republican party, I expected them to say something about this. I feel this may hurt them in the short term. However, once the debates begin, I feel the best man for the job will become obvious.

Tyler L said...

Overall I was very pleased with the Republican Convention. I was a little disappointed that McCain or Palin did not address the issue of our economy. It seems that the Democrats are focusing on improving our economy. They are making the economic health of our country a major part of their campagin stratagy. The fact that the Republicans did not mention this suprises me. Since I support the Republican party, I expected them to say something about this. I feel this may hurt them in the short term. However, once the debates begin, I feel the best man for the job will become obvious.

shannon_o said...

I personally like Palin. She shows herself as an independent thinker. She's not afraid to stand up against others, even in her own party. She is proud of her family and I don't believe she should be held accountable for her daughter's mistake. It's simply that, her daughter's mistake.

mlowe1191 said...

We keep talking about the economy which I feel is very important, but there are other issues that are more controversial and are being very over looked. in instance, gay marriage(California just recently made it legal and McCain is now strongly supporting those who are trying to reverse it), abortion, marijuana use for medical purposes, how to keep guns under control yet keep the 2en amendment alive, and these just scratch the surface.

mevanoff said...

I also am curious, if Senator Obama wins the election, to see how the "universal health care plan" will turn out. The plain economics behind it, the basics of supply and demand, show that it is almost impossible to succeed but we will see if it can sort itself out, i do not believe it will.

mlowe1191 said...

I hope it will because in my personal case my dad can NOT get insurance at all because of his pre exciting diabetes. So it’s really hard on our family for him not to have insurance.

kylem27 said...

I also do not believe we will have universal health care anytime soon. We just simply can't afford it right now. In my not so humble opinion, I think Obama is basically getting the ball rolling. McCain really isn't doing anything about health care.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

Re: Healthcare Reform

Before the 1992 presidential election, James Carville ran the Senate campaign for Harris Wofford in PA. He noticed that healthcare reform was an issue that voters cared about. When he started running Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, he kept the campaign focused with these simple guiding ideas: "It's the economy, stupid." "Change, vs. more of the same." "and don't forget about healthcare." When he became president, Clinton had a taskforce that was charged with recommending changes. Those recommendations were defeated for a variety of reasons. The reason I write this is in reference to the idea that Sen. Obama is getting the ball rolling. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that he is going to continue to roll the ball that began it's journey in the 1990's.

kylem27 said...

^^^ That makes sense. What I meant was that if Obama keeps bringing the subject up, and he gets people talking, then maybe in 2012 or maybe even later than that there will be health care reform.

amandak said...

So my sociology professor keeps saying "you're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts." I found that hilarious and thought you would appreciate it, Mr. Bretzmann.

Also, fun fact: 45% of Americans believe that WMDs were discovered in Iraq.
95% of these people say that FOX News is their main source of news.


No joke.

mlowe1191 said...

I am sure you all heard about Obama's ex pastor and how he has not been there in a while, but it still made him look bad. Well here is Palin's semi old religion which some may call "crazy" some may not, what is everyone else think?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/08/palin.pastor/index.html

Unknown said...

Today in Historical Perspectives someone brought up the Lock Box. I almost fell out of my chair laughing and nobody else seemed to get it. All I could think of was that picture and I completely lost it for a good 5 minutes. Now that my whole class thinks I'm nuts...just wanted to say that I miss this class x a lot. (two words. NOT one)

Anonymous said...

We did discover WMDs in Iraq didn't we? Otherwise our entire reason for going there would've been a fallacy. Waaaiit...

Obama should use his politics of distraction argument again. That was a good one. And WMDs is a perfect example of this. The administration got everyone caught up in that they actually caught Saddam (right before the election...coincidence?), that the fact that WMDs were not found in Iraq was totally lost. They just switched off the WMD message and turned on their "spread democracy" propaganda. Brilliantly executed if you ask me...

Addie said...

I think ryano brings up some very interesting points. The main reason for being in Iraq has shifted since the initial mission. Whether you believe the reasons to be liegitimate of not, the "politics of distraction" would be a big gun Obama could wield in the debates.

I recently visited the John McCain website. I noticed one point that is stressed for both Sarah Palin and John McCain was that both politicians fought corruption in their own parties and weren't afraid to vote against their own party.

I don't think that this is said to dissassociate them from their party, but the current administraion.

If I were John McCain and the "politics of distraction" and the war in Iraq were brought up in a debate, I'd make the maverick claim. Like he has been doing.

mevanoff said...

About the WMD's that weren't found in Iraq, I have here the Guinness Book of World Records the 2003 edition, and one of the world records is titled, "Highest Death Toll from a Chemical Warfare Attack". It goes on to describe itself, "The greatest number of people killed in a single chemical weapons attack is estimated at around 4,000, all though the exact figure may never b known. The victims died when President Saddam Hussein of Iraq attacked members of his country's Kurdish minority at Halabja, Iraq, in March 1988. the attack was ostensibly punishment for the support the Kurds had biven to Iran during the Iran--Iraq War."
I am thinking if Saddam Hussein could pull off a world record of this kind, how can we not find the WMD's? Well it could be that Saddam hid them well or they all just magically disappeared, we may never know.

Mr. Bretzmann said...

Pardon my sarcasm, but maybe they weren't found because the U.N. Coalition led by the U.S. destroyed them during Operation Desert Storm in the 1990's. And good for us for jumping right into Iraq and helping those Kurds in 2003 for that attack on them in 1988. Send in the really, really slow cavalry.

mlowe1191 said...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PAKISTAN?SITE=TXKER&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT here is some info about Bush and PAKISTAN.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAKISTAN?SITE=MOJOP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAKISTAN_MISSILE_STRIKE?SITE=MOJOP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
and these too links are about US war drones (un-maned war planes)