And the winner is?

Election day is right around the corner and although it might seem as though Senator Obama has the upper hand, Senator McCain is rallying support from crucial swing states such as North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The election is still days away but a significant number of people have already cast their ballots in Iowa, North Carolina, New Mexico and Ohio according to data analyzed by the New York Times and has shown that a far larger amount of Democrats then Republicans have been hitting the polls. This information does not reveal who will ultimately win the election with just one-third of voters expected to hit the polls before election day but it does give the indication that people are ready for change.

The results from the 2004 elections of early voting are suprisingly different from this year's. In the past, early voting has traditionally favored Republicans; Bush won Flordia, Colorado, and Nevada in early voting in 2004, but because of younger voters as well as African Africans and Hispanics, the Democratic Party is pulling in the early votes. The dates from early voting differ in every state, therefore, it cannot be determined just how much of an impact early voting will have on the election. The surge of early voters favoring the Democratic Party already shows people embracing a new beginning.

Even though early voting is not a decisive look into who will be the next President of the United States it is a start. Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew center said, "If one candidate has the momentum at an early stage before Election Day, it's going to favor that candidate," he went on to say, "If there's a last minute surge because of some event to the trailing candidate, well, the train has left for an awful lot of people these days."

With data showing an increase in early voting in recent election years, "In 2004, 22 percent of voters cast an early presidential ballot; in 2000, 16 percent voted early; 2008 24 percent expected to vote before Election Day," the Republican Party seems quite calm with the fact the data shows more voters are casting their ballots for Senator Obama. Caleb Hunter, executive director of the Iowa Republican Party said, "A bit of it is culture, our voters like to go to the polls on Election Day. Thats part of their citizenship, filling out the registration, standing in the line, so we focus a lot of our efforts and time and energy on that program."

But it seems that the Republican Party is not as calm as they wish to look. In recent Pennsylvania polls Senator Obama has a double-digit lead, which does not seem out of the ordinary since Pennsylvania has always been a Blue State but Senator McCain has now made three stops to the state on Tuesday, making it his mission to turn voters in his favor. On his first visit to the state, McCain shouted, "We need to win Pennsylvania on Nov. 4, and with your help-with your help-we're going to win!" Even though the state has voted Democratic for the past three years, Republican strategists believe that Senator McCain is appealing to the state's "pro-gun working class voters in the western coal country and to independents and moderates in the swing counties around Philadelphia."

This may be the reason why Philadelphia is "now one of the only major cities in the country where Mr. McCain's advertising campaign is anywhere near as voluminous as that of Mr. Obama's." Senator McCain has reduced his advertising campaigns in states such as Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

Senator Obama also has reason to be concerned about his stance in the election due to rising concerns about what each of the candidates will do on the issues of Iran building nuclear weapons, the crash in the stock market and post-Iraq. Each of the candidates have portrayed themsleves in a certain light on how they would ideally handle these situations, for example McCain's "campaign portrays him as an experienced warrior who knows how to win wars," while Obama's campaign portrays him as "a cerebral advocate of patient diplomacy, the antidote to the unilateral excesses of the Bush years, who knows howt o build partnerships without surrendering American interests."

But these portrayls will ultimately change through the course of the next four years whomever the candidate may be. These issues that will affect the country are problems that both candidates have been preparing for throughout these long moths of campaigning but the country is nervous and skeptical about which of the candidates will solve the problems that the Bush Administration has created.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/us/politics/23policy.html?ref=politics
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/politics/22pennsylvania.html?ref=politics
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/politics/22early.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

Crisis diverged; back to politics

With the Senate strongly backing the $700 billion economic bail out plan on Wednesday people are very hopeful for the House accepting the bill by Friday, that would "end the legislative uncertainty that has rocked the markets." Both candidates, with a little push from the two senate leaders, strongly supported the bill even though it was not popular with Americans.

Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada said, "supporting this legislation is the only way to make the best of a crisis and return out country to a path of economic stability, prosperity and growth. Although both candidates, Senator John McCain and Senator Obama did vote for the bill their was a clear sense of apprehension between both parties. Senator McCain did not comment on the legislation but Senator Obama did remark on the issue saying, "While that decline was devastating, the consequences of the credit crisis that caused it will be even worse if we do not act now."

In addition to the corrections that were made to the bill one of the more admirable and popular was a temporary increase in the amount of bank deposits covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It required insurers to treat mental health conditions as those of general health problems, this change was very supported throughout both parties.

As the senators gathered to vote on the economic bailout plan the two presidential candidates had a brief and uncomfortable encounter sparking rumors that there are ill feelings among the two candidates. As Senator Obama made his way to shake Senator McCain's hand, it was obvious that the tensions between the candidates were high, especially on the Republican side. Senator Obama made the effort to be courteous towards McCain but was greeted very nonchalantly by Senator McCain.

During this time both parties need to address one another in a respectful way to show no arrogance or ill feelings towards one another. The country is in turmoil and although the bail out plan seems to be a step forward there are still tough times ahead and the American people need to trust in these two presidential candidates to make smart and good decisions for the American people, showing ill feelings will only drive the country farther apart.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/business/02bailout.html?hp
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/not-so-secret-handshake/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/business/02crisis.html?hp

Economy takes first priority in Politics

As we all have heard, seen and experienced the economy is not what to used to be. Some of the most prestigous of companies have fallen and some even believe that this economic recession could be another depression in the United States. Presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Barrack Obama now have to come together and show their support in a bail out plan for the economy. The $700 billion dollar plan to get the economy back on track has many Americans as well as politicians worried about the outcome not only on the economic front but also on the future of the country.

On Wednesday, Senator Obama spoke about the bailout plan and the concerns of many Americans across the country, "I know many Americans share those concerns, but it is clear that this is what we must do right now to prevent a crisis from turning into a catastrophe." Democrats and Republics have come together under this issue and put differences behind them. Both candidates have issued political commercials that do not disclaim the other but speak on the issues that are arising with the economy and the ways that they plan to deal with the problems that will arise in the future.

When Senator Obama spoke about the plan he rarely spoke about Wall Street, instead saying that the plan was a necessary step to help the American economy from crumbling. The last bill that was issued on Monday did not pass mainly because many Americans were nervous about the plan and also about the money that they could lose. Senator Obama addressed these concerns of the people, he said, "If this is managed correctly, we will hopefully get most or all of our money back- we might even turn a profit on the government's investment-every penny of which will go directly back to you, the investor." The words of Senator Obama might not have persuaded all of the skeptics to vote for the bill but his words showed sincere concern that in my eyes made the American people more inclined to trust the bill.

But the crisis is still very real, especially for small business owners. Chad Moutray chief economist of the Small Business Administration said, "small businesses are sitting in their hands, either they can't get the capital or they don't want the capital. They read what is happening, and frankly they are scared." In America, small businesses in America account for half of the nation's output, with these companies too scared to invest or even have large companies not willing to give them loans is going to cause major problems throughout the countries business frontier.

The nation is scared of what is coming. There is no easy way out of this crisis or the government would have already taken it. The people have read and have seen through the stock market what kind of condition the country is in, small and large businesses alike are nervous to spend more money than they have to in fear that they might not get their money back. People across the country have to be secure in their investments as well as in the economy before they start to invest more into, the bailout plan might not be the best solution and may have some holes in but as Senator Obama said, this is a plan to "safeguard the American economy."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/obama-sells-bailout-plan-to-skeptics/?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/business/smallbusiness/02sbiz.html?_r=1&hp&oref=login
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/business/02markets.html?ref=business