Just Vote Damn It!

When the election comes, there's the big issue of actual voting.
126 million people voted for president in 2004.
That's 64% of the eligible voting age citizens in America. 196,875,000
72% of eligible voters are actually registered. 141,750,000
So that means that 8% of registered voters did NOT vote in 2004- 55,125,000
Why didn't they vote? Well, they're either dead, dying, alone, hassled because they have some sort of discrepancy in their registration, or just plain cynical and lazy. I'd say that 80% of that 55
million falls into that last category- and that's just a guess.

What does 40 million votes get you (80% of 55M)?
Consider this (source- Wikipedia)

• Bush beat Kerry in 2004 by 3 million popular votes.
• Gore beat Bush in 2000 by less than 500,000 popular votes.
• Clinton beat Dole in 1996 by 8 million popular votes.
• Forget Ross Perot in 1992, Clinton beat Bush by 6 million votes.
• HW Bush beat Dukakis by 7 million votes in 1988.

Yes, I know that more people have voted in subsequent elections as our population has grown, but the point is that each of these elections could have swung the other way if enough people actually got off their registered voter duffs and pulled the lever. Isn't it a travesty that Bush actually won in 2000? Yes. But if even 500,000 more registered democrats would have gone out to cast their vote, then Gore would have been put in office. In fact the most recent election where it wouldn't have mattered was 1984 when Reagan beat Mondale by almost 18 million votes.

Will Obama get part of that cynical 40 million to actually vote this time? Will McCain? Apparently Obama has reignited political interest in the 18-25 demographic, but will they actually vote? If they do and they are all for Obama as is predicted, then it's a no brainer.

The Presidential Polls and the Fickle American

I'm no political pundit, but I have to laugh a little at the recent presidential candidate polls. As of today, McCain is suddenly the front-runner. Per the latest Reuters/Zogby poll, McCain now has a 7 point lead over Obama. This is quite a turn of events as the golden child is supposedly showing signs of weakness.

Now Obama is the "sexier" choice- hands down. I watched the Saddleback Church forum and although I'm not voting for him, I now see why Obama is so popular. But I'm still voting for McCain and he came off very well also during the same forum.

Obama has a huge youth movement behind him, along with most of our high profile members of society (Hollywood). He has "radical" yet basic ideals of how to bring our country back together again, and a history of actually doing that sort of thing. But while that might be great on a social front, I still don't believe that's enough for a president. McCain has him beat hands down on international issues as well as economic issues. But between you, me and the internet lamppost of a random blog, Obama will win regardless of this last poll.

But that's not even the point of this post. Each candidate has a huge fatal flaw that they need to rectify in order to become the clear front runner. Obama- has little credibility in the international/military front, and McCain is too old. So what does each one need to do to rectify that situation? Pick an appropriate veep.

The ideal choice for Obama is a slightly older gentleman with international clout and preferably a military background. And even if he doesn't pick someone with these credentials, he'll be ok.

The ideal choice for McCain is a younger and very dynamic black male or female. McCain is in more of a pickle. If he picks a white guy like Romney, then he'll most likely compound the image of the white male leadership of America- which is a bad thing considering his dynamic youthful minority opponent.

So while we all speculate on the meaning of the aforementioned poll, we all know that this will change- most likely after this weekend when supposedly both candidates will choose their candidates. I don't need to speculate- and I really can't. But we'll obviously see another swing or enforcement of current statistics.

An Apology for Honesty?

So here comes some of my political slant. Turns out that Jesse Jackson doesn't like the blackness of Barak Obama. In a recent story in the LA Times, it was noted that the Don Quioxte of black presidential candidates said "Barack, he's talking down to black people," and later "I want to cut his nuts off,".

Not a very strong endorsement for our probable next President of the United States, from arguably the figurehead of black advancement over the past 30 years. Now of course Jackson apologized and of course Obama accepted the apology, but was there really any other alternative for the two? So forget about the political rationale for the aftermath, let's focus on why Jackson said what he did.

Now I'm not a political guru by any means, so I have no idea what the history might be between the two, and oh yeah, his presidential aspirations were as mentioned above- sort of a joke. But I have tremendous respect for what Jackson stands for in principle and I believe that he truly speaks for the black American. And by the way, what in the world is an African American? And for that matter, the NAACP? Perhaps we should call Jackson a "colored person" since that organization still exists. I guess NAACP rolls off the tongue a lot better than the NAAAA, or NAABP. I say "black person" and I don't feel one bit racist. Now the Chinamen and Polaks, that's a different issue.

Oh yeah, I honestly look at reverend Jackson as one who really wants the advancement of black people- not your Colin Powell, Terrel Owens, Milton Bradley, Condoleezza Rice sorts of black people, but the black people who truly are in bad situations and are discriminated against and really do get off to a bad start or are the victims of the system. I'm sorry, but I still see flat out anti-black racism/discrimination regularly enough to agree that it's still an issue. I've seen it in the work environment, with people I work with, with family members, and to be completely honest with you, I've been guilty of it myself. Now what does that mean specifically? It can mean using ethnic slurs, imitating how people talk, prejudging, or simply making comments that just aren't the Christian way to talk about people. So the fact that he said that Obama talks down to black people actually rings true. I don't care whether Obama really will make a good president on various levels, but he is obviously sucking up to the black vote by talking down to "them".

Is that such a bad thing when you're trying to get elected to office? Is it lying? Overpromissing? Pandering? Don't get me started on that subject tonight- it's a reality of politics. But by Jackson's logic, McCain talks "down" to old people and veterans. Is Obama going to retire to Compton? Is McCain going to retire to Leisure World?

Barak Obama is apparently not the sort of black person that Jessie Jackson envisions as a champion for the black man's cause and I'm sure that has something to do with why he failed in the past. There was no way he'd get elected back then regardless of his style and Barak Obama would never have had a shot either, but he was just "too black" for America. Obama is black. He is intelligent. He is dynamic. He is articulate. If he gets elected, the black American will hopefully see an improvement in American attitudes, and who knows, perhaps some of his "crazy" planks will stick and truly improve the quality of life of "Jesse Jackson blacks" and others who are neglected in our great nation. It's a step in the right direction for improved social unity in our county, and Obama's "blackness" is a heck of a lot better than Bush/Clinton/Bush/Reagan/Carter/Ford, etc...