The Real Beginning

I came across another great column from the New York Times. It analyzes the label that Barack Obama is an ‘elitist’ and somehow ‘out of touch’ with the average American.

This has been a common theme coming from the Republican’s during this campaign season. It has never completely made sense to me, and it seems the idea is not stick with a lot of other people either. The column points out the irony of Republican’s such as Karl Rove trying to paint Obama as an elitist.

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”

Actually, that sounds more like W.

Excellent point. Wouldn’t George W. be considered an elitist by that measure? He was born into a family of wealth and a powerful and influential father, who did about as much as anyone could to bring W. to where he is today.

Barack Obama certainly did not have the type of elitist advantage that W. had growing up. Through hard work and perseverance he made the most of his opportunities to get where he is at today. It seems almost outrageous that people such as Karl Rove criticize Obama of this when they themselves are wealthy and powerful.

Fortunately, this does not seem to be sticking or even damaging Obama as he continues to distance himself from his opponent John McCain. It seems that most people are too smart to be tricked into lie that Obama is not fit to lead this country because he is ‘elite’ and ‘out of touch.’

While searching YouTube, I found a play list (click on the link below) on Fox News attacking Barack Obama. Now, we all know Fox News is clearly sided with the right, however some of the things they say and report are completely irresponsible as a news organization.

Fox News Attacks Obama

The above link is a collection of 44 clips showing downright unfair attacks on Barack Obama. I am not a regular viewer of Fox News, although I do tune in from time to time. Compared to other news networks such as CNN (which I happen to watch the most), it is a shame how biased this network is to the candidates. Don’t believe me?  Take a look for yourself and see how “fair & balanced” Fox News really is.

I wrote a post about Barack Obama recently catching his bounce. It appears the trend is continuing as new polls coming out the past few days show Obama opening up a lead over his opponent John McCain.

With this data at hand, I pose the question, what does Obama’s lead over McCain mean at this point in time? Is it a sign that most Americans are ready for change or are these numbers merely a temporary lead for Obama? Let me know what you think!

Thomas Friedman, best known as the author of the international best selling book The World Is Flat, wrote an interesting column in the New York Times today on President Bush’s energy policy.

Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”

I have heard that the oil prices can’t solely be blamed on President Bush, as many people may like to think. Supply and demand does have a big influence on its price, which is difficult for our President to control. However this article shows more insight on the devastating lack of leadership from our President.

For those watching the Presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain, you may have been just as confused as I have been when poll numbers as recently as a week ago had the two candidates at a virtual tie. My instincts told me that Obama should have a solid lead over McCain. All the evidence seemed to point to that conclusion. An overwhelming majority of American’s are unhappy with the policies of the current Bush Administration, which isn’t a good thing for the Republican Party and John McCain’s chances at winning the election in November.

More specifically, most American’s do not approve of the war in Iraq, which McCain wishes to continue. High oil prices and a recessing economy don’t bear well for McCain either. McCain has admitted he is not that strong when it comes to managing the economy. Also, many people blame those problems on the current administration, and many of McCain’s policies are closely linked to that of the Bush Administration. Finally, McCain has his own problems inside the Republican Party. He is viewed by many as being too close to the middle, which weakens his support by the Republican base. With all of this going against John McCain, one would think Obama who is to bring ‘change’ should have a sizable lead, which wasn’t the case.

According to a new poll by Newsweek, Obama has finally got the bounce he has been looking for. The poll shows Obama opening up a substantial 15-point lead over McCain (51 to 36) heading into November. Now that the Democratic Primary’s are over and Hillary Clinton has endorsed Obama it is evident that support is growing for Obama and the party is uniting.

The poll also shows a party identification lead for Democrats, with 55% of voters calling themselves Democrats while only 36% of voters consider themselves Republicans. This result does not come as a surprise to me as many people are unhappy with the current Bush Administration, which has greatly diminished the reputation of the party.

We all know its a long way to November and things can easily change. Previous Presidential candidates have had substantial leads in early polling but did not go on to win the election. However if you look at the current situation and how well Obama is running his campaign, it seems hard for me to believe that McCain can turn things around in time to win the election in November.

In writing my first blog about politics, I really wasn’t sure where I should begin. Politics sometimes can be a touchy subject matter and I wasn’t sure if I should just dive right in and take a stance on something I believe in, or start with something a bit lighter.

While thinking about that for awhile, a different point of view struck me. Not everyone may be into politics, and younger people do seem to be the most detached. Since this site is geared towards helping young people, it seemed appropriate to set issues aside and start from the beginning asking the simple question, why do politics really matter?

Before I try and tackle that question I think its best to try and define what politics actually is. While reading this essay about What is Politics, I decided I probably couldn’t define it any better, so just go to the site and read this brilliantly written article on what politics really is.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, why do politics matter to us? Politics guide and influence our society, ranging from many of these important topics and issues, but not limited to:

• Defining laws through our legal system
• Providing protection through military defense
• Influencing our economy
• Guiding our foreign affairs
• Providing Environmental security

All of these have a direct impact on the way we live our lives. Becoming knowledgeable and involved in politics, in my opinion, is the natural way to improve our society and our lives. Feel free to leave comments as to why politics matter to you.