When last we talked on this topic I had narrowed my choice to 4 candidates. In full disclosure, I do have some preconceived notions and leanings that I haven't discussed yet, but I most likely will as time goes on. I decided that I needed some more definitive information. To see how the rest of the country might make these decisions I am *gasp* reading the news. One election related story a day from my google homepage top stories. These change over the course of the day, but I don't have infinite time, so these are what I got when I happened to glance.
Monday: Obama rocks past Clinton in New Hampshire
This is a story about a "running poll" leading up to the famed New Hampshire primary. The central focus is that Obama has pulled ahead in this poll. He has pulled ahead of Clinton by 10 points, not knowing much about politics that seems to me like the difference between an A paper and a B paper (both still passing). Read a little further, however and the poll has an error of 3.4 points in either direction. Now any person with an understanding of elementary school mathematics can infer that this error margin means the actual difference between the two candidates can be as large at 16.8 points (Now were talking A student to C student) or as small as 3.2 points. In my world that the difference between an A and an A+. At my university and A+ is a grade which cannot be granted on an undergraduate transcript, making the two almost equivelent. That is a much grayer area as far as polls go in my mind. My quest has not been furthered at all, as I know nothing more about the candidates themselves, just a fairly vague, pseudo-quantitative measure of their predicted performance in 1 out of 50 states.
Tuesday: Tuesday's "top story" click was nearly identical to Monday's. I'm serious the article was almost word for word talking about the same poll and the now 13 point difference between Obama and Hillary. It did mention that Clinton is a former first lady, a fact that only those living under a rock wouldn't know, but not information on candidate views at all!. Since this has done nothing to help me make a good decision, I may try a second click later in the day. I did manage a second click, which surprisingly took me to MTV. Why the election is about you. As opposed to my previous attempts this information had actual quotes from an actual candidate. Does anyone else find it scary that my most informative article so far is from MTV?
I had originally decided to post all 5 weekdays at once, but it might become a very long post, so here you go. I'll be back later in the week. :)
You should check out the Explore Candidates section of GlassBooth.org. You can get a basic understanding of the candidates positions on various issues. That said it's important to read passed the title of the section.
ReplyDeleteFor example, under Obama's Foreign Policy section it says he support the Patriot Act. I happen to see that a negative, but if you read further down the page you'll see his the nuances of his position on the Patriot Act. He has been pushing legislation to reform the Patriot Act and restore some of the Civil liberties it erodes. In doing so he voted FOR the latest version (even though it's not that good) because it was an improvement on the original Patriot Act.
So if you only look on the surface, with a candidate like Obama you are likely to miss the qualities he brings as a candidate.
Note my unbelievable restraint on not making a "Rudy 911 Guliani has no depth and is a scare mongering lunatic" comment at this point.
Sorry I couldn't resist.
Anyway, I'm a big fan of using a time tested interviewing technique when interviewing a candidate. Look at how they behaved in the past. Regardless of what they say, it's a great indicator of what they will do in the future.
I've been looking at these candidates for over a year and was impressed with Obama long before they were talking about him getting into the presidency. The thing that got me interested was his podcast. He took time out each week (even when he was in the Illinois Senate) to describe the issues being debated, his position and how he came to that position. Transparency... Transparency... Transparency...
But I could go on and on, and it's late.
Keep up the great work researching candidates. Its great to see people taking an interest!
If you're looking for some more in depth resources let me know.