In 2004, 73 percent of the U.S. military voted for a presidential candidate. Officials believe it may be even higher this November 4th.
According to a CBS Poll, the War in Iraq is the second most important issue in this upcoming election. Right behind the economy, national security is the largest concern among registered voters. Typically, the military is not supposed to engage in partisan political activity. However, with this historic election upon us, soldiers have been speaking out.
SPC Geoff Snyder says his political endorsements have been inconsistent this year. Originally, Snyder supported Barack Obama. However, with a change of seasons came a change in interest. After his deployment to Iraq on September 20th, Snyder quickly became a supporter of John McCain.
“Initially, the change Barack Obama represents was refreshing. His timetable for withdrawing troops seemed like a blessing,” says Snyder. “However, after being in Iraq, I realized that our presence is needed here and removing ourselves can put Americans in danger of another terrorist attack.”
In addition to Senator Obama’s foreign policy, Snyder also questions his lack of military experience and its potential effect on those fighting overseas.
“John McCain’s extensive military history definitely shows that he is ready to be President. Being a POW tells the country that he is familiar with foreign affairs and will lead America in the right direction.”
Though the military is generally a more conservative group, soldiers like Sergeant Bradley Desire are voicing their support for the Democratic Party.
“After being on the front line, I realize that I just want to go home." says Desire. "Barack Obama is the only candidate that will make that dream a reality. If Obama gets enough support from the military, I truly believe he will be the next president in the White House.”
Soldier’s voicing their political endorsements brings a fresh face to politics. However, will the opinions of the armed forces influence voters? We will let the polls speak on November 4th.
http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4244798
11.09.2008
Election Night
On election night, my television was tuned to CNN. The anchor had a touch-screen digital map which immediately caught my eye. As the Electoral College was discussed, he would touch each state. (turning it either blue or red) The anchors goal was to illustrate the possible outcomes of each state and its effect on the election’s end result. For example, he theoretically made Obama win Ohio and Pennsylvania. Then, he showed the viewers, based on those wins, which states McCain had to win in order to secure the Presidency. As the results came into the network, I began to realize how hard it would be for McCain to actually win the election. The interactive map helped me fully understand the electoral vote and made watching the election more fun.
Directly underneath the anchor, at the bottom of the screen, CNN was rolling live information. The information displayed was often local senate and congressional results. I found this feature extremely distracting. Even though these results are extremely important in American politics, I was more concerned with the general election. At times, I found myself trying to keep up with the fast paced news at the bottom rather than the Presidency results.
I really enjoyed how the network had a countdown for each state’s poll closings. This feature increased my excitement and attentiveness to the television. (I noticed mostly every major news network had this countdown.) By 9:30 pm, CNN was already expecting Obama to win and began conducting interviews with anchors. I did not like that approach because it seemed like they were being unfair to the Republican Party. Even though it was virtually impossible for John McCain to win at that point, I still feel like they could have waited until the official announcement.
After Obama won, CNN had split screens in Arizona and Chicago. There were more than 1 million people in Chicago and the network did a great job capturing those moments. They showed images of Obama supporters celebrating and crying in joy. These images were extremely powerful and definitely illustrated the magnitude of this historical event. CNN also had live video from their anchor in Kenya.
CNN.com had mostly all the same information as the television broadcast. They had an electoral map which refreshed every 2 minutes. After the winner was announced, there was a virtual bar graph that broke down the shift in power from the Republicans to the Democrats. (in the Senate and House of Reps) I liked this feature because I was able to see the figures and understand the impact it would have on the government.
The website also had many polls and full discussion threads. There was an area where online users could leave comments. The comments were then projected into individual bubbles, as if all the people were communicating with each other. I spent a lot of time in this section of the website because it was entertaining to see what the conflicting web users were arguing about.
Overall, I enjoyed watching the election results on television more. I actually attended the party hosted by QU Democrats in Alumni Hall. They had CNN projected on a huge big screen. I was happy that there was a place on campus for students to come together and watch the results of this historic election. Even though I am a registered republican, I enjoyed discussing and learning from the democrats of QU. Overall, I am glad that I was able to participate and witness history being made.
Directly underneath the anchor, at the bottom of the screen, CNN was rolling live information. The information displayed was often local senate and congressional results. I found this feature extremely distracting. Even though these results are extremely important in American politics, I was more concerned with the general election. At times, I found myself trying to keep up with the fast paced news at the bottom rather than the Presidency results.
I really enjoyed how the network had a countdown for each state’s poll closings. This feature increased my excitement and attentiveness to the television. (I noticed mostly every major news network had this countdown.) By 9:30 pm, CNN was already expecting Obama to win and began conducting interviews with anchors. I did not like that approach because it seemed like they were being unfair to the Republican Party. Even though it was virtually impossible for John McCain to win at that point, I still feel like they could have waited until the official announcement.
After Obama won, CNN had split screens in Arizona and Chicago. There were more than 1 million people in Chicago and the network did a great job capturing those moments. They showed images of Obama supporters celebrating and crying in joy. These images were extremely powerful and definitely illustrated the magnitude of this historical event. CNN also had live video from their anchor in Kenya.
CNN.com had mostly all the same information as the television broadcast. They had an electoral map which refreshed every 2 minutes. After the winner was announced, there was a virtual bar graph that broke down the shift in power from the Republicans to the Democrats. (in the Senate and House of Reps) I liked this feature because I was able to see the figures and understand the impact it would have on the government.
The website also had many polls and full discussion threads. There was an area where online users could leave comments. The comments were then projected into individual bubbles, as if all the people were communicating with each other. I spent a lot of time in this section of the website because it was entertaining to see what the conflicting web users were arguing about.
Overall, I enjoyed watching the election results on television more. I actually attended the party hosted by QU Democrats in Alumni Hall. They had CNN projected on a huge big screen. I was happy that there was a place on campus for students to come together and watch the results of this historic election. Even though I am a registered republican, I enjoyed discussing and learning from the democrats of QU. Overall, I am glad that I was able to participate and witness history being made.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)