Youth Politics

The title of this post is not just a Star Wars reference, but also a reference to a previous post about the Democratic National Convention. Am I comparing Republicans to the Empire? No. But it seemed fitting to use “strike back”, as that is exactly what they are doing.

George W. Bush gave his televised speech yesterday, and while he puts in a good word for McCain, I am completely disillusioned by him. I think he would have persuaded me a lot more by telling me not to vote for McCain, as I tend to disagree with the president on just about everything. The Republicans tended to woot whenever McCain’s name was uttered, and not so much at Bush himself. I suppose him having televised the speech made it easier to handle.

Thompson brings up interesting points that definitely need to be paid attention to. First of all, is Sarah Palin being irresponsible to her kids for taking up the Vice Presidency? No. Maybe other people (perhaps even yourself) cannot handle having four kids and then taking on a monstrous job, but that’s not to say that this woman cannot. We don’t know whether she can or not, and I’m not going to count her out on that basis at all. Also the media just continues to contradict itself as even Barack Obama has told everyone to lay off the whole pregnancy issue. Palin’s daughter is NOT governor Sarah Palin, so get over it. Leave family issues where they belong, in the family. No amount of teenage pregnancies is going to save the economy or reestablish our face amongst the international community.

Overall, I think the Republican party is excited about the vice presidential pick and I also think that the party is definitely tight-knit when it comes to choosing McCain. There is no question that the entire party is behind McCain, unlike the Democrats who may have a splinter group for Hillary Clinton still. Even Lieberman is backing McCain. Yes the Democrats are angry at him, but at least I know he’s willing to transcend party lines.

As is my custom, here’s CNN’s coverage of the Republican National Convention.

Yesterday began the Republican National Convention, albeit a short and uneventful one. Of course, hurricane Gustav has taken the spotlight and the GOP has asked delegates to make donations to the Red Cross to help in hurricane relief efforts.

First lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain spoke yesterday about how America needs to come together to help those in need, and I for one am glad that they are doing so. The comment about “taking off our Republican hats and putting on our American hats” troubles me, though. Is this to say that you are not wearing an American hat when you are wearing a Republican one? Can you not wear both at the same time? It’s oddly confusing…

In any case, it was a short convention day, and thus I have little to say about it. Besides yesterday was Labor Day and I took the well-needed time to rest. I cannot find anything on yesterday’s convention, as the coverage is saturated with unimportant Palin family issues and coverage on what will be done today at the convention.

You may read the original post here:

Pacer521 is a 13 year old blogger from Los Angeles California who actively contributes to Youth Politics. You may check out his other writings at the link cited directly below.

By Pacer521 from Culture Decoded
Today on Friday, August 29, 2008, the world knows the true meaning of political chaos.

Just the previous night, Barack Obama completed a historic speech for the record books to close a remarkable in itself Democratic National Convention, only to be greeted early this morning to a previous rumor made reality, the choosing of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin for John McCain’s Vice President. Throw that in with a newly-named Katrina #2 headed for American land — in the wake of the newly-hyped Republican National Convention — and you have a story: not to mention some busy bloggers.

So how does all this fit into place in the world of politics? Its really a two way outcome that comes down to what it has always — a floor brawl between the two political powerhouses — Obama and McCain. Obama — fresh off his brilliant speech in Denver, is short pressed to respond to Sarah Palin’s nomination – preferably for him in the form of a official press statement. McCain, on the other hand, is in a bittersweet position that in my opinion could be politically suicidal if mishandled.

Currently sitting on the momentum throne, Senator McCain has many options, but none as daunting as his long term decision with Sarah Palin. He knows that from a political standpoint that the next week is not just vital to his campaign, but it could make or break it. By choosing Palin as his running mate, he has made Obama look (in contrast) as familiar to America as Britney Spears, and that is something he needs to change very soon.

So what better time to do so than the convention? And now that the previous focus for the conservatives (trying to top the party-like atmosphere the democrats featured) is out of the question, McCain must use his media attention wisely in introducing Sarah Palin to the world — and more importantly — his future voters.

And then there’s Obama.

A recent powerhouse in the media, Obama’s “Messiah” stature in media reportings and stories has just been snatched away from him, replaced with news that he knows he can use for his advantage. CNN journalist Soledad O’Brien put up a good question by asking if the McCain camp has put “firepower in the democrat’s hands” with their veep pick, but that question actually divides into a strategic answer that is more complicated that one might think.

The line between weakness and political retaliation has been very slim this election, but it is one that Obama has mastered, as I wrote in another post about political ads. And now that Obama has been given the ball next to the hoop practically unguarded, he must choose to simply lay it in or attempt a demoralizing dunk. What I mean by this is that Obama has been given a situation that he can take advantage with, but if he goes to far with it — he could come out as weak rather than powerful. What he must do, what he will do, and what he can do are totally different approaches that will lead him in totally different directions.

What he should do (in my opinion) is take advantage of the fact that McCain, a hard hitter on the “ready to lead” diss for Obama, has chosen a less experienced, younger running mate. Questioning her political stance (i.e. her foreign policy weakness) is very risky and would be something he probably would like to use as ammunition for one of the many debates he will have with McCain and Palin.

Enter the storm.

Politics will soon take a turn to the scientific as tropical storm Gustav takes a turn for the bad, projected to make landfall near major city New Orleans, which we can’t forget was the victim of deadly hurricane Katrina. Gustav will probably win the conservative “best timing awards,” as it is expected to hit the city right when the Republican Convention opens up, concerning many convention executives, as it will drive the the president himself away from the convention, where he may make a political difference.

This news, if timed right, can take away from the election, and not only for the Republicans. The delay of the convention will give the Democrats time to get to their senses and stitch together an effective ad towards McCain regarding anything from his convention to his running mate.

And as politics continues, one might wonder how and why anyone could keep up with the recent chaos, rumors, press stunts, announcements, ads, and conventions. The truth is — you can’t.

Today I want to introduce to you all a young 13 year old freelance writer and blogger from Los Angeles, California. His blog, Culture Decoded, is popping up all over the web. It has been featured twice in the Boston Globe, many blogs and online magazines. As this site is dedicated to youth politics, that means all youths have a say in the political process, and I want to show that here on this blog. Please note that he is a guest writer, as I did not write this entry. You can check out his website at culturedecoded.wordpress.com and if you want to read the original post (complete with video links and pics) you can read it here.

I highly encourage other youths to speak up as well, and if you have any writings you’d like to share, please drop me an email at crowtche@juniorpolitics.com and I’ll be glad to feature you. So without further ado…

By pacer521 from Culture Decoded
Presidential races have had a history of being dirty and under the rug, and political cheap shots were never hard to find. But this year, in an already breakthrough election, candidates have thrown out more ads recently than ever before. Political standoffs between two parties or campaigns have usually resulted (or been the result) of an attack ad, complicating already very political situations by letting the general public have an unusually high say on the outcome. Thus, TV spots have turned into political weapons — with endings both beneficent and disastrous to their authors.

Most recently, these political ads taken huge strides in the form of attacks back and forth from the two remaining candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. Although Obama has just recently started sending out “attack” ads, mostly as responses to McCain’s harsh accusations. The first real sign of this was McCain’s “Celebrity” ad, which was the result of a non lethal (in the sense of attacks) but heated standoff between the two senators.

The ad, sent out by a seemingly fearless McCain squad, compared Obama to the star-struck Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, and was responded to in a surprising fashion — by Hilton herself. The response was brilliantly played out to both send a message to McCain, and — as another topic — improve Hilton’s public status. It worked, flooding out McCain’s original ad and setting the stage for Obama’s more political response, which delivered a more serious but at the same time up-beat message.

This was really the start of McCain’s continuous but mild public downpour, in which his previous political gaffes have come back to haunt him, including his Iraq-Pakistan border nightmare as well as his foreign policy mistake in Jordan, pictured, which occurred during a press conference.Obama, though, has never capitalized on these public weaknesses. Taking a position many politicians in his would have quickly decided against, the senator will only fight once attacked. This way, not only has he kept a very clean slate, he has had time to asses the attacks aimed at him, quickly differ what he can say, and then release a public spot with many more directions and points to make than McCain. This, however, has never been referred to as “weak.” Obama’s team has carefully picked apart attacks (some of this is public) and assessed where they can attack and how they can cover up their softer political spots.

A great example of this was Obama’s second major attack ad towards McCain, named “Fix the Economy“. The ad was placed a few days after the “celebrity” fiasco, and is applauded by myself as well as many political experts for its seemingly perfect timing.

The spot aired during the dubbed “aftermath” of the war-like celebrity dispute, where the public was waiting for more moves from the two campaigns. Obama immediately recognized the situation and sent out what I like to call his “smoke grenade.” Geared towards a topic not mentioned around that time due to the previous Iraq-centered debates, Obama took footage of McCain claiming the American economy was in good shape and threw it against clips of American’s disagreeing with him intently. The ad was politically and factually sound down to the finest details, even including the states the Americans lived in, which were battleground swing-states for Obama and McCain (Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky etc.) that are currently up for grounds in a political perspective.

I call the ad a “smoke grenade” because it both did tremendous damage and put a cloud of smoke in-between the conservatives and the general public. The points made in the ad sent the McCain party wheeling for a response, and the eerie gap of time made an effective bad aftertaste towards the republicans publicly. What I mean by this is since political attacks were plentiful up to that point for weeks, the world had prepared itself for a McCain attack. But in a sense, it never came. So who can we credit this to? In my opinion, it has really been the work of Obama’s campaign working together, headed by the smart PR decisions of Jim Messina, the Chief of Staff.

So as McCain keeps pumping out attack ads (here is the newest and the response), Obama will keep bouncing them back in the same way he always does — sifting through the ad and hitting hard on the facts. And that’s why Obama is not only winning in the PR department as well as the television side — he’s dominating.

It looks like McCain has made up his mind, and has chosen Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. This was a great tactical move on McCain’s part, as he did exactly the opposite of what the Democratic party had to do.

He has picked a relatively young female as his candidate not to strengthen the Republican base, but to entice the independent voters and women who really want to see a woman in the White House. She is exactly what the Republicans needed to combat the Democrats call for change by also showing that the Republicans can bring change into the White House. This is, I think, a good thing.

However, will this strategy work? McCain is now playing into Obama’s hand. Can Obama show himself as the champion of change or will McCain steal his thunder? I have yet to see many opinions on the Republican side as to whether or not choosing Palin will end up being the game winner for McCain, although it has been said that vice-presidential picks do not play a heavy role in who gets nominated. We are talking about the first woman as a vice president though, so I’m not sure we can use historical data to continue to say that.

Here is MSNBC’s take on the story. I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks about this, as I think McCain made a good call on this one.