Category Archives: Presidential Elections
Streaming live from Whitman College
We are currently streaming live from a Whitman College discussion panel. Check it out
West Coast voters
If the polls project a victory for Obama in Ohio, many analysts will call the election for Obama (given the expectation that historically blue West Coast states, notably California, Oregon, and Washington, will go to Obama). If the election is called shortly, before polls on the West Coast close, will this affect voter turnout in [...]
The science and war of the Presidential election
As we sit here and watch CNN live, there is before us a panel of pundits each taking their turn explaining both the science and the war of winning an election. As far as science is concerned, they tell us that each demographic and strata of society has certain desires and expectations about who the [...]
Obama doing well in Florida
It’s a near tie right now in Republican Duval County (Jacksonville) where McCain should dominate, with 80% of the vote in. And barely 20 percent of the votes have been counted so far from Miami/Dade County, where Obama is very strong. Obama also doing well in the eastern I-4 corridor — Osceola and Orange Counties, [...]
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Re-Coloring the Map
As current exit polls demonstrate, the 2008 Presidential Election is historical not only because Americans will elect either the first African American president or the first female vice-president, but because the electoral map also has the potential to be drastically re-colored. Historically red states, such as Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado, South Dakota, and [...]
A New Direction, Regardless of the Winner?
I don’t need to add to the commentary about the “historic moment” we find ourselves in tonight. Obviously, the outcome of this election could result in a significant change in policies in the White House. We are seeing in this election a review of laissez-fair politics regarding our financial institutions, and the hawkish foreign policy [...]
Remember the Voting Rights Act
Visitors to this site should keep in mind that the very large turnout of African American voters in this election, with people lining up for early voting in key southern states, should call to mind the continuing impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This landmark legislation, passed at the apex of the Civil [...]
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Democracy in America?
How has is come to be that choosing between two candidates, both of which fall very closely in line on large issuses, has come to be defined as an exercise in democratic will? Why do we receive our ballots or arrive at the voting stations completely unaware of the fact that their are more than [...]
Is there a new poll tax?
I’ve been struck by the amount of press given to the excessive waits and long lines plaguing polling places both in early voting and now on election day in the national coverage. While it’s encouraging to see such huge turnouts for the voting process, it’s perplexing that the most visible and arguably important action a [...]
History made