Election post 4

Polling Week:

I
McCain is at 42%
Obama is at 52%
"With 1% of registered voters saying they will vote for another specific candidate, only 6% remain undecided, one of the smallest levels to date." -Gallup Polls

Analysis: with only a 3% margin of error on polls, it is obvious that McCain is falling behind. he has maintained between a 40-43% support rating for the past few weeks, but in the past 3 weeks, support of rObama has risen 4% from 48% on october 5th. it may have something to do with the recent endorsement of Coloin Powell, a major figure in the republican party.

II
Debate watchers were more likely to say McCain did a better job than Obama in the third debate than in the second debate (30% vs 23%), but McCain's best showing was the first debate, when 34% said he did the better job. Barack Obama was seen as winning all three, however, with 46%, 56% and 56% of people saying they preffered Obama to McCain in the debate.

Analysis: The debates are one of the most important factors in influencing voters for one candidate or the other, and according to other polls, the combination of Obama's strong performances and the overwhelming approval rate of his performances has positively influenced voters to vote for Obama. It's is most likely his poublic speaking skills which had the most effect on viewers as far as deciding who won, and McCain just doesn't have the same skills as a public speaker as Obama.

Senate Race:
I
Warner(D)- 57% to
Gilmore (R)- 31 %
11% undecided

Analysis: the democrats are winning everything. possibly because of the new found power of the democratic party, headed by barack obama. Senate races in several states are showing a strong lead for the demiocratic candidates, and it may just be time for the dem's to completly take over the senate. the races are still too close to tell in a few states, but overall in VA and elsewhere, the democratic candidates maintain a strong lead over the Republicans

ROLL OF POLLS:
+give almost accurate, up to date information.
+majority of people say theytrust poll results as accurate measures of public opinion.
+show what issues are most important to voters

-candidates are sometimes too concerned with poll results to focus on issues
-poll results published too early or too late will influence voters on certain issues

Volunteering sucks.

soo... sunday my friend lizzie and i went volunteering for Obama. i did it mostly because they kept calling me and hounding me, and somehow got my cell phone number and creeped me the hell out, so i went to shut them up. also to learn some more about obama, see if i want to vote for him.
what i found out is don't go to neighborhoods that the volunteer organizers tell you they have already canvassed. people there are mean. out of 24 houses visited, 11 people answered the door, and only 3 of those people were even civil to us. the rest yelled, got angry and slammed the door on our faces. the people who were nice were the ones who had not been visited before, AND who had already made up their minds to vote for obama. slo really, the whole idea here is, WHY ARE WE DOING THIS IF THEY ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY'RE GOING TO VOTE FOR AND IF THE VOLUNTEERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TO THAT NEIGHBORHOOD????? just give them a flyer that say "GO VOTE DUMB-ASS." it would be easier.

current event tres

current news is as follows: 2nd presidential debate was this week. no one embarrassed themselves.. McCain was Ok and Barack was himself. it was an odd format: having the candidates walk around and the audience ask questions, town-hall style. it was interesting that McCain seemed more comfortable talking directly to the audience than obama did...ususally he is not the easy public speaker.
Newest news: ACORN in undre investigation in 9 states for voter fraud: aka letting ppl vote who shouldnt be... ACORN is currently leading the republican attempt to smear Barack's name and experience so this could be a potential problem for the republican party and candidate. perhaps it will swing votes away from McCain??

election post 3

for those of us who don't know, the VA senatorial race is going on at the same time as the presidential election. candidates are Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore.

Mark Warner (D): former Governor of VA who delivered the keynote speech at the Dem national convention. he was expected to pursue the presidency in 2006, but decided to take over for John Warner as senator for VA instead.

Jim Gilmore (R): Former attorney general for VA for 4 years and Governor for the 4 after that, he was in the race for the presidency until 2007 when he becanme the first major candidate to drop out to run for senate.

The most important issue facing the 2 candidates is state taxes and the economy... the senators are also worried about kick starting the housing market after the recent drop in the market and the recent financial crisis.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds former Democratic Governor Mark Warner’s with 60% of the vote and former republican Governor Jim Gilmore with 34%

Election Blog # 2

even before the stock market started doing funky things and all the banks decided to fail, the economy was the most important issue to me. the recent economic issues have just added to it. money is a big deal to me... but on top of that i'm thinking a lot about being able to afford college, getting a good job, paying bills. car insurance? an apartment? how am i going to own things and pay for things if the country falls into another depression? will i be able to get a job at all?? scary shiit.. a local issue prominent in this part of VA especially is immigration (the illegal kind) i know in north carolina a judge is fining 7-11 owners for letting illegal immigrants hang out in front of the store...they need work too... also a green card. dont punish the business owners because othe ppl are loitering. just put up a sign.
as far as the candidates and the debates go..i didn't see the whole debate but i don't think i missed much... there was no clear winner, but both candidates held their own pretty well (AKA they didn't say anything worthwhile but B.S'd enough to make it seem like they answered the questions; we all already know that Barack is a better public speaker, though he did look a little angry when McCain was talking.. he was staring him down.. and McCain didn;t look at him...
so it was extraaaa boring :/
after the debate obama ran an ad saying if you actually want some substance (which i know you do!) go to my website! so he at least is taking advantage of technology to help his campaign.. McCain may be a little too old or old fashioned for that, but he has plenty of TV ads to compete with barack on that front