Blog Post #4

There was a ton of new stuff posted over this past week on the political blog that I'm following. As you already know, this blog is all about following the media and different sites, TV channels, and radio stations. There's not much about the actual politics themselves; there's just more information about how the media portrays the candidates, the political parties, and the debates. Michael Calderone updates his blog several times through out the day so there's a ton of new stuff on there. I decided to focus on his posts over the last few days (10/14, 10/15, 10/16).

Last night, after the debate, there were many new updates on Calderone's blog. Many feel as though Obama won the debate last night hands-down. On Fox, Frank Lunster (Fox's pollster) asked everyone at Fox who they thought wont he debate. An over-whelming majority believed that Barack Obama was the clear winner. I'm going to have to agree. Obama has a presense and ease about him that is easy to listen to and follow. He didn't get worked up. I feel like McCain, on the other hand, was tense and angered throughout the debate. I think that Obama won the debate, and Calderone posted about how many others in the media feel the same way.

Today, Calderone posted an update entitled "Obama v. Fox."

He says, "Barack Obama's swinging back at Fox News."

I was very unaware of the fact that Barack Obama feels as though he is negatively portrayed on the Fox News station. Apparently, people have been falsely stating that Obama voted for a tax increase for those in America who make under $50,000. This is untrue, and Obama was very upset about it, rightfully so. Last night during the debate, he said "even Fox news disputes it, and that doesn't happen very often when it comes to accusations about me." He's clearly taking a stab at Fox News when he says this because he's saying that normally, Fox doesn't dispute any false accusations about Obama. In this past Sunday's NY Times Magazine cover story, Obama brings up fox as well. He says:

"I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls. If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me, right? Because the way I'm portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I'm a latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?"

Even Obama's communications director agrees that Fox really isn't very fair when talking about the candidates when he says "fair and admirable reporters at Fox are the exception rather than the rule." I think that America has to do their own research and become informed on their own. We can not always rely on the news channels to deliver us accurate information.

After Obama's comments towards Fox; they fired back:

Fox v. Obama; Fox's comments.

Fox pretty much says that both Obama and McCain have complained about Fox, but they think that it's only because Fox asks tough questions and neither candidate can take the heat.

I think it is very interesting that Obama thinks that he would be a few points higher in the polls if it wasn't for Fox News! When I first read that, I wasn't sure if Fox News had that much of an impact or not, but after I thought about it I think that it really could. Think about it. Every single morning, afternoon, and evening; people are watching the news. Whether it be Fox or any other news station, people listen to, trust, and rely on the new channels. I think if Fox portrayed Obama in a negative way; people would start to look at him in a negative way. The media is extremely powerful, and it definitely comes into play when people decide who they are going to vote for.

I found these videos to be really surprising and worth watching. They're Fox News reports about Obama.

Fox Attacks Obama

Part 2

VP Debate

I thought the Vice President debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden was pretty entertaining and interesting. There were three main issues discussed: the economy, the war in Iraq, and off-shore drilling for oil.

Clearly, there is currently a financial crisis in the USA. Biden and Palin both had different views and opinons on the crisis. Biden went against Bush at full force; he blamed Bush for this major financial crisis that is consuming America today. Palin, on the other hand, blamed the whole situation on Wall Street. She believes that this whole crisis is due to the selfish workers on Wall Street. Personally, I would have to say that I agree with both Biden and Palin. I think that George Bush waited way to long to take notice to this financial crisis. Now, it's too late to go back and fix anything, and we're being forced to put $7 billion back into the banking system. However, Palin has a point when she says the Wall Street workers were very greedy and selfish and kind of screwed over the banks in America by writing bad checks and paying themselves incredible amounts of money. I think both of the VP candidates made good points concerning this issue.

Another main issue discussed was the war in Iraq. Biden and Palin have very extremely different opinions on where the government should be putting their money when it comes to the war. Joe Biden thinks that the money should go towards rebuilding the nation, while Palin thinks that we should use the money to put even more troops in Iraq! Palin looks down upon Obama's yearning to meet with the president of Iran; she thinks it will be dangerous and that nothing good will come of it. Biden didn't really have that much to say in response. I believe that we should use the money to rebuild. I don't think that we should put any more money into sending more troops to Iraq. I don't think we should send any more troops to Iraq at all; I feel like it's time to pull them out. I do have to agree with Palin though when she says that meeting with the president of Iran is a bad idea. I think that would cause even more tension then there already is.

The last issue debated was off-shore drilling for oil. Palin thinks that we should most definitely drill offshore for oil to lower our dependency on other countries in the Middle East. Biden thinks that we should look for alternative energy sources so that we don't endanger the environment. I think that if we can find other sources, then that's great, but if not, I think that we should drill offshore because we can not go on being dependent on the Middle East for oil.

Overall, I thought that Biden won the debate. I think that Sarah Palin did much better then she was expected to which was great for her, but I still think Biden made better points. I really didn't like how Sarah was all smiles and winking at the camera. It's a debate not a beauty pageant. Sarah definitely got back some of her dignity during the debate, but overall, I think Biden was better.