I want to be elected
Election fever has kicked up a few notches here. The TV is full of ads for every conceivable elected position, the post is full of fliers and pamphlets for the candidates and the evening news is full of claims and counter claims.
The presidential debates are over, with the consensus seeming to be that neither candidate delivered a killer blow. What did strike me during those debates was that lying seems to be a legitimate tactic. At various times it seemed that John McCain was just making things up and when challenged he would smile that smug look of his and then just make the claim again 10 minutes later. Obama was at least a bit more subtle about it, but he did it on a couple of occasions.
The election is just over a week away, and things are looking close. Obama seems to have a healthy lead in the opinion polls, but the polls here are not a great indication of the voter’s intentions. There is also the question of racism and how important it will be when someone is in the quiet of the booth. After all no-one will know how an individual voted. And finally there is the quirk of the US electoral system to judge. In 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote, but failed to carry the Electoral College vote. The projections I have seen have both candidates very close on Electoral College votes and the election being decided by a few key states.
The strangest thing of all though is that the election gets “called” by TV Networks. There is a rush to try and be the 1st one to call each state, and often the states are called even before the polls have closed, or immediately after. The votes have not even been counted and one of the networks will call the vote for one or the other of the candidates. In 2000 the networks called Florida for Gore and then had to change that call as the votes were counted. This year with such a close race it will be interesting to see what happens.
The presidential debates are over, with the consensus seeming to be that neither candidate delivered a killer blow. What did strike me during those debates was that lying seems to be a legitimate tactic. At various times it seemed that John McCain was just making things up and when challenged he would smile that smug look of his and then just make the claim again 10 minutes later. Obama was at least a bit more subtle about it, but he did it on a couple of occasions.
The election is just over a week away, and things are looking close. Obama seems to have a healthy lead in the opinion polls, but the polls here are not a great indication of the voter’s intentions. There is also the question of racism and how important it will be when someone is in the quiet of the booth. After all no-one will know how an individual voted. And finally there is the quirk of the US electoral system to judge. In 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote, but failed to carry the Electoral College vote. The projections I have seen have both candidates very close on Electoral College votes and the election being decided by a few key states.
The strangest thing of all though is that the election gets “called” by TV Networks. There is a rush to try and be the 1st one to call each state, and often the states are called even before the polls have closed, or immediately after. The votes have not even been counted and one of the networks will call the vote for one or the other of the candidates. In 2000 the networks called Florida for Gore and then had to change that call as the votes were counted. This year with such a close race it will be interesting to see what happens.
posted by Nick at 11:21 AM
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