Comments for Blogging the Presidential Election in N.J. Schools

Comment on About by Pat L.

Pat L. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:33:48 +0000

This seems really amazing. Not only is there a rich quality to the posts, but the volume and “voices” of the comments are compelling. I particularly like that you can use this to “unite” so many schools and students. I wonder what it would do to join something like this with a friend who might teach in another state.
In any event, thank you for sharing this.

Comment on Election Reflection – Final Post! by Sebastion-Flash

Sebastion-Flash — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:41:37 +0000

Although obama has made it clear that I will take time to improve america, calling it a “long road” in his victory speech, I think Obama has to show people that he is confident in leading the country, despite his lack of experience, in order to give American’s confidence. He also has to get a handle on the economy in the first 100 days of his term. This personal issue, and national issue, are of the biggest concern for the american public. He should try to prove himself ready to lead the country in these issues.

In the long term, I think he needs to gain the confidence of the country to have faith in politicians. He has already done a good job in this by having a grassroots campaign, allowing the everyday american to have an opportunity to get involved in politics, through contributing money, as well as new digitized forms of political participation. If he can continue to gain the confidence of the country, it will make for a much more trustworthy unified government that will bring both politicians and people together.

I think that History will clearly see Obama’s presidency as I meaningful moment for african americans. It is interesting to see how the press is already reacting to his election in this way. Although all media coverage before the election was on Obama, his speeches, character, and political record, as soon as the election was over, the Headlines brought the attention to the fact that the “First African American President” was elected. All though we cannot predict what will happen his term, I think that his breaking of the presidential racial barrier will be one of his biggest legacies, independent of his policies.

Comment on Election Reflection – Final Post! by westwing613

westwing613 — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:36:46 +0000

In his first 100 days, Obama will have a lot to accomplish and will have to meet the high standards that have been set for him. Obama has been compared to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose first 100 days in office were the most productive in the history of American politics. I think that in the first 100 days, Obama will have to put detailed plans of economic reform into action as soon as possible. Many expect Obama to do the same as Roosevelt; as Roosevelt was successful in giving relief to the unemployed, reforming business practices, and recovering the economy. Obama has a lot of hard work ahead of him. He will have to begin to grant some of the promises that were set forth during the campaign in order to further gain the trust of the people. In the first 100 days he will have to construct and begin to implement his plans and over the his first term, these plans will have to come to fruition and produce some or hopefully all of the expected results.
With regard to the 2008 presidential election, looking into the future, historians/political scientists write most prevalently about the racial and gender barriers that were broken, the tough economic situation that prevailed during this time, and a reflection of the Bush administration, its faults and how the next president will have to turn the country around.

Comment on Election Reflection – Final Post! by tommypickles

tommypickles — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:10:45 +0000

I think that the most important thing that Obama needs to accomplish both short and long-term is the current economic crisis. In the first 100 days, I think he should aim to provide some short-term relief to those who are in dire need of it. Over the first year and beyond, I think he needs to come up with long-term solutions to the current economic crisis. I do not think that we are in an economic state that we will automatically cycle out of; I think it is one that requires a lot of action from the federal government (similar to the Great Depression)

I also think he has to make some headway on his plan to remove troops from Iraq. While he does not need to completely end the War in Iraq by the end of the first year, I think that he should start the process. This was one of the main points that separated him from John McCain, his policy on Iraq, and I think that if he stands behind it people will gain more confidence in him. He needs to prove that everything he said is not an empty promise but that he tends to follow through on everything said during the campaign.

I also think that he needs to gain the confidence of the American people and that our nation can not be divided. During McCain’s speech after he lost, you could hear the crowd booing and it was clear that there was still a lot of animosity towards Obama. He needs the support of the American people if we want to get through the hard times both at home and abroad. I think he has to ensure the nation that he can handle being the President and is the most qualified person for the job.

I think that when political scientists and historians write about this election in the future, the will talk about how historic it was. Not only was Obama’s win historic because he is the first African-American to ever be elected President, but Sarah Palin was almost elected Vice President, and Hillary Clinton almost made it to the general election. I think this is a historic election not only because of Obama’s race, but what he represents as well. He stands for change, and is a young and different face than what we are used to seeing in the White House. I think historians will take note of this as well.

Comment on Election Reflection – Final Post! by pickleballa

pickleballa — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:24:53 +0000

I can honestly say i’m glad that the election is over. With Obamas victory he’s going to have alot of pressure on him. All eyes are looking at Obama as he enters the white house. People are looking for him to deliver on his constant promises of change. He also has alot on his plate regarding the economy and all of the other messes he has to clean up from Bush. Within his first 100 days in office obama needs to do something about the economy. I’m not sure how much he can actually do, but he should try to reassure the people some way. I think that the economic crisis is going to have a big impact on Obama’s policies and how he handles his early presidency. i think that all of his plans on healthcare and taxes cuts are going to put on the back burner until the economic crisis is sorted out. Many people are begining to get worried about the economy and people want to see Obama take action. Obama also has to gain the respect of many people during the early days of his presidency. Many people were strongly opposed to Obama, and he has to show these people that he knows what he is doing. Hopefully Obama can get the country out of this recession and go down in history as one of the better presidents.

Comment on Election Reflection – Final Post! by astoldbyginger09

astoldbyginger09 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:55:58 +0000

I think that it is great that Obama is starting early to tackle important issues such as finding alternative sources of energy and digging the country out of the recession it is in now. He understands that these things will take a long time so he’s starting to gather his task force now and get everything together before he is even sworn in to office. He plans to spend $150 billion on biofuels but that’s over the next ten years, making it a little more realistic.
He also is trying to establish himself as Bush’s opposite by potentially closing Guantanamo Bay. He is not taking any immediate action however on the closing, but he is starting off with a review of about 250 prisoners that are currently being held captive.
He knows that the current administration is not very popular and is desperately trying to win the hearts of many Americans by using their unhappieness with the Bush administration to getting on their good side.

Comment on Share your voting story – Election Day! by Jeff K.

Jeff K. — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:02:39 +0000

In response to Mohammed A I must say that I guess I wasn’t as specific when I said “complain.” First of all I really have zero respect for anyone who made up an excuse somewhat to the point of “Oh the line was too long” or “Oh I was working” as to the reason why they didn’t vote. Soldiers in IRAQ vote, so why do you get to be exempt (I’m just speaking in general). I understand as well that a huge portion of the country didn’t vote. But not voting in this election means you didn’t set a position for yourself in the American political culture. You didn’t choose A or B or C, you chose nothing. How can you complain about our president if you took no part in the election process? It’s not the fact that you voted for McCain or Obama. Voting for any of the other independent candidates would be enough in my opinion. Not voting, to me, just shows how much those American citizens really feel about the country. You’re not taking an active stance against or for anything. You can vote for the Green Party candidate or the All Day Breakfast party! Vote for a party of which will knowingly be crushed. Is this throwing away a vote? Well yes, but then again what about those people who TRULY agree with the views of third parties? They actually associate themselves with the third party and vote for them anyways, realizing completely that their vote will probably not alter the election (even though it has in several periods of American history). When I speak about this I’m not talking about a select minority of people, I am speaking in terms of the huge number of Americans who didn’t vote. This I believe is a major problem in the U.S. and why there are so many “Get out and vote!” campaigns going on in the country. Saying that the registration process is obnoxious isn’t a reasonable excuse either. And I never said that the popular vote determined an election, and that’s not what I meant when I said that I was annoyed at non-voters. Of course the popular vote doesn’t mean much against our Electoral system, but what does it tell you about the state of the nation? Seeing the lack of interest in voting is disturbing to me, and yes I realize that this applies to a very large portion of the country. The popular vote is a comparison to the electoral in that we get to see a representation of what our direct influence on the selection of the president would be. If you look at it respect of the numbers then yes, one vote may not count for much, but it’s when a large number of people get this view that it becomes a problem. And getting into what I mean about “complaining…” I don’t just mean talking to friends or family about issues going on or decisions the president makes, I mean, specifically, speaking OUT about them. I should have been more specific when I was talking about this. What’s wrong with throwing your vote in with a third party’s bin? The act of voting is, to me, a duty of the American citizen. For me, this is on the same level as jury duty or something similar. I’ve said it before, as well; people in America seem to think that others will do the work for them.

Comment on Election Reflection – Final Post! by peacethrusuperiorfirepower

peacethrusuperiorfirepower — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:09:59 +0000

There are a couple of things that I feel President-elect Obama must do in order to be respected by the country at large. First, he can’t open up talks with terrorist organizations. I remember hearing a long time ago, back in the primaries that Obama would be willing to open up talks with Hamas or Hezbollah or something. This is NOT okay. They are not a state, they do not represent a group of people. They are just nuts. Remember how the policy of appeasement is unpopular with the American people and the American Government? It’s because it was tried in the 40’s, and then Hitler took over all of Western Europe. Hitler was a crazy jerk (to say the least), and terrorist organizations are just like Hitler: they kill civilians, and are so selfassured that they do whatever they please. When it comes to “terrorist states,” I’m not so hard line. Bush has been very strict and has not budged on nations that are clearly our enemies, such as Iran, N. Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, etc. The one area I feel that Obama would be better at than McCain is dealing with foreign countries, because McCain is a bit hot-headed and less likely to work well with other nations. I just hope that other nations don’t view Obama as weak, because Gorbachev thought Kennedy was weak, and as a result we almost had WWIII because of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Second, Obama cannot socialize the US. Whether its universal healthcare, or just other socialist ideas that will hurt our country, like bad job security measures, its just a bad idea. I hope Obama doesn’t view his sturdy win as a calling to change from the American way to a more liberal way. The US is powerful for a reason, and that reason is dedication to capitalism. I just hope that he remembers this.
In spite of my true belief in John McCain, I understand that he lost, and will accept Obama as my President. (I just want to mention this DOES make me better than all those people who stopped saluting the flag when Bush became President.) As I have been jokingly saying for a week, I endorse Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.

Comment on Share your voting story – Election Day! by peacethrusuperiorfirepower

peacethrusuperiorfirepower — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:31:04 +0000

I was 18 in time for the election by a few days, and I did vote. I went to my old elementary school down the street at around 3:30pm, and there were maybe 5 people there who were voting. It was nice because I had to wait about 1 minute. If anyone cares, I voted for John McCain, Dick Zimmer, Linda Stender, and the three Republicans running for Union County seats. Every. Single. Person. Lost. I think this is funny, because although I voted heavily Republican, and they were at a disadvantage because of Obama’s reputation, the one Democrat I voted for lost. Not only is that funny, but when you think about it, I am a true rebel, a noncomformist. I disagreed with the majority at my local, state, and national level. That is my real election story.
I would like to take this time to gripe about all the people I voted for losing, so if you wish to skip this, please do. 1 We don’t need more Democrats in the Senate. Once the Democrats control 60 seats, than the free world will go up in flames. That, or they will just push an ultra liberal agenda through Congress (supposing that Obama can control the Congress), which in my opinion is just as bad. 2 Leonard Lance is a jerk. He ran the “Linda Stender is a spender, and a double pension padder too” commercial, and I will never, never, never vote for him. Never. Plus I can’t take him seriously, and I bet the other Congresspeople won’t either. 3 The Democrats control 9 out of the 9 seats in Union County on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. 9/9 = 100%, or in other words, they have a monopoly over county government. As every non-Communist hopefully knows, monopolies, and lack of competition cause less than desirable effects. I blame the fact that Union County is a cesspool on the lack of political competition in Union County. 4 Finally, I have the least problem with Barack Obama being elected as President. I know people are most polarized about this election, but I honestly think he will do an okay job, given he doesn’t turn America into a socialist state. He’s a smart guy, and he is already respected by other countries, and most important of all, he isn’t like John Kerry.

Comment on Are you obsessed with the election? – post #8 by peacethrusuperiorfirepower

peacethrusuperiorfirepower — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:12:03 +0000

I am thankful that I am not one of the people in the video. The only time I looked at polls of individual states was the for election map blog two blog posts ago. I was mildly interested because Obama was winning by a lot and was making some states swing states, some of which had never been before. However, that is the only time I have checked the polls since the last Presidential election. I have not checked the polls since that blog post either. Since I do not have a blackberry I can’t check the status of the election on my phone easily, and it was never worth it. Because I am not one of these crazy, election-obsessed people, I do not expect to be in withdrawl from the lack of election drama. If I wanted drama, people backstabbing eachother, and unnecessary insults I could just watch Gossip Girl (basically, “no thanks”). A reason why I may not have cared was because I felt that both candidates were potentially good leaders, and capable of improving the country. Don’t worry, I had a favorite candidate, but watching CNN would not improve his chances of winning.
As for all the people who were obsessed, I wonder if they need to attend a meeting of election-aholics anonymous? I have reason to suspect that if anyone was as truly crazy as the people in the CNN video made themselves out to be, they are most likely literally going through withdrawl. It’s possible to become addicted to things other than substances; gambling is an example. I don’t think this election mania has much to do with this specific election. Yes, both candidates are impressive, but as they said in the video, there seemed to be a trend of increased obsession because of easy access to the latest polls. The election wasn’t that close, and hasn’t been since August, so what’s the big deal? It seems to me much more likely that these nutters, who probably avoid work to check on the election, have chemical imbalances in their brains that are present in actual addicts. And sorry if this offends anyone