South by Southwest: The election is about --

Friday, August 22, 2008

The election is about --

The Electoral College vote -- The bottom line after November 4, 2008 is which candidate wins the most electoral votes. That has not changed. What could be changing is the "red-state/blue-state" map. This hopeful article is from The Democratic Strategist (8/19/08), titled, "Crunch Time for Southern Electoral Votes," by J. P. Green. It begins,

Bob Moser makes the case about as good as it can be made, so his pre-convention Salon post "How Democrats can take back the South," along with Thomas Schaller's response, is a must-read for Dems focused on electoral vote strategy. The debate also has implications for the veepstakes in both major parties.

Defeating Senator John McCain -- My regular resources are focused, correctly, on how Senator Barack Obama can prevail over his opponent. The real John McCain will need to emerge to the voters who do not yet know him. Here are some little bits of ammunition, thanks to regulars Jon and "betmo" (see * items below).

8/19/08 from Jon, who included this comment, "He should have some fun with his newfound not-stardom, with all the not-appearing on news programs and not-being cited in the print media." The link is: "Former Classmate Exposes the Real McCain." To quote the post's beginning and ending:
Fellow Naval Academy classmate and POW of John McCain Phillip Butler . . . Wow. It's stunning to see someone who knows McCain lay this all out so specifically. And he hits everything -- the age, the temper, the flyboy antics, the policies right in line with Bush. It's all there.

This is also recent from Jon, "The REAL John McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars." The title is self-explanatory.

On 8/17/o8 this came in to my e-mail box from "betmo: "good" writeup on mccain." This story consists of several pages of revelations about Senator McCain, written by an Arizona reporter (now working in New York) who has covered the Senator more than any other. This thorough and well-documented story is from a Phoenix paper.

Understanding the political Right -- Where we get our information colors our understanding. However, someone asked which political party could make us happier; the results might surprise you.

*betmo comments, "shades of gomer pyle . . .well, of course they are - you have to have some sort of intelligence to get sarcasm and satire." The link is from Think Progress (8/18/08) "Colbert, Stewart viewers more well-informed than those watching O’Reilly, Dobbs." To quote:

A new Pew Survey on News Consumption released yesterday reveals that viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are more knowledgeable about current events than those who watch Bill O’Reilly, Lou Dobbs, Larry King . . .

*betmo's link to Short, Sharp Science, A science news blog from New Scientist Blogs, was dated Monday, August 11, 2008. The question is "Why conservatives are happier than liberals?" To quote:

The exuberance displayed by Barack Obama's supporters might make Republicans look like geriatric chess enthusiasts, but a new survey suggests that conservatives are happier than liberals - and offers one reason why.

Liberals, claim New York University psychologists Jaime Napier and John Tost, have a tougher time rationalising social and economic inequality than conservatives.

*betmo labels this "right viewpoint." Written by conservative Pat Bucannan about the Russian situation, I cannot say that I disagree with much of what the author says about the administration's mishandling of recent European events. Remember that McCain's election would likely mean more of the same.