Grassroots for Palin

It’s scary, but Palin still has a great deal of support from the conservative right. Her fans are learning from the successes of the Obama campaign by starting with the internet. Several websites exist promoting her for 2012.

This one has a continuing soundtrack of country music.

Here is a blog supporting her potential presidential run.

I could list many, many more. Cafepress is selling t-shirts and other merchandise for her fans.

However, I consider this the grand finale- check out this video “Hang in There.”

Her reputation is dealing with a spreading disease of viral videos from her beauty pageant swimsuit competition to an increasing number of cartoon videos and songs produced to her expense. Part of me does feel sorry for her because the public can’t just encourage her to crawl into hiding where she can lick her wounds. Of course another part feels as though she brings it on herself. She has not definitively said that she will run in 2012. Then again, definitive answers rarely come from her mouth about anything. If she chooses to run, her supporters will have been working for years to build up a base. They have learned from a powerful internet driven campaign.

How the internet created a hero

Has the internet accelerated the notion of hero worship? Obama and his platform of hope and change have ignited something in a great deal of the American population: the need for a leader to believe in, to look up to, almost to see as a king. Some think he’s going to change the world, and some think he’ll do it before he even gets in office. He started his campaign with a grassroots movement strongly supported by the internet. A conservative writer took on this topic:

Recently, members of mainstream entertainment industry also seem to have drank the Obama Kool-Aid. The “Yes We Can” video, which features the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am, Scarlett Johansson, and other celebrities chanting Obama’s New Hampshire primary speech, has popped up all over the internet. From the feigned emotion on these celebrities’ faces, one would think they were reading from the Bible or Shakespeare, not from a relatively well written but somewhat politically banal stump speech. Nonetheless, this nauseating video has now become the new symbol for Obama’s grassroots support.

The video the writer is referring to is below.

Personally, I don’t find it nauseating; I understand its method of inspiring and energizing a nation. McCain produced a lot of videos that created fear; videos like the one above were a welcome contradiction.

This second video on the other hand makes my point of hero worship more clearly.

The internet is the only medium that will support these kinds of videos. Mainstream media, even the liberal media, will simply not show something so blatant. CNN reports on America’s trend of aligning him to some other great leaders in history. He will be our Kennedy, our Roosevelt, our Lincoln, and our Clinton. Dangers exist in these constant comparisons. One is that incredibly high standards are already set for a man who has yet to take over the presidency, and another is that it puts an identity on him without letting him have his own. I hesitate to bring this to light; however, Lincoln and Kennedy were taken from us in their term and therefore practically deified. Few talk about the human characteristics of these men. I am not saying anything about Obama’s future, but I do think that America will see him become human and slightly imperfect at times. The internet reaches a huge mass of people in a short time, and if he starts to slip, even a little, the medium will carry the message far and wide.

The Young Voter’s Connectivity

Blogs, You Tube, Face book, and stories that immediately appear on news websites have all changed the way younger voters view the election and politics. In this election, voters under the age of 30 accounted for 66% of the democratic vote. The gap between the parties has widened as more and more young voters have leaned toward the left.

Young voters are more diverse racially and ethnically than older voters and more secular in their religious orientation. These characteristics, as well as the climate in which they have come of age politically, incline them not only toward Democratic Party affiliation but also toward greater support of activist government, greater opposition to the war in Iraq, less social conservatism, and a greater willingness to describe themselves as liberal politically.

Voters under 30 are more inclined to utilize the more technological and readily available resources. I personally view the CNN website far more than I watch the channel. The computer is something that younger people spend their entire day around. They typically work all day on a computer and then come home to their laptops or desktops. If not around a computer, we carry a Blackberry, Palm, or some other device that can immediately link a person to any news source. The constantly evolving technology and speed of information has brought the world of politics to the younger voter and made it more interesting and accessible. People under 30 are becoming more informed. Some stories find more popularity in the blogosphere than on network television. Those stories are fueled by the ongoing interest in the population who remain linked in. An example of one story that receives very little attention in the media outside of the internet is the lawsuit over Obama’s birth certificate. Blogs are keeping this story alive though in all likelihood it will lead nowhere. As a story, it does breed a great deal of opinions making people’s blogs more and more popular. The world of technological communication keeps itself alive in this way. As long as it remains the fastest and most accessible source, it will remain people’s main news source.

Twittering Away

So, in order to understand this new phenomenon, I have joined twitter. I just recently got into FaceBook, and this reminds me of the status update feature (Kasey is getting ready for work or making coffee or about to walk the dog.) I have grown accustomed to facebook, but I’m incredibly slow in updating my status. I suppose I don’t feel I need to alert all my friends that I’m watching bad TV or shopping online.

Check out this very helpful video that summarizes it.

According to our other good friend, Wikipedia, twitter has significant uses for certain news industries and colleges. BBC is using it to disseminate breaking news. This is extraordinarily powerful when people have the application on their phone. People can get news no matter where they are. Also, colleges are using it as a way to get information out to everyone. Think how different the Virginia Tech. incident would have been if they had used this application. I was in undergrad when the 9/11 incident happened. I caught the beginning of it on the news as I was leaving for class. Class was not canceled, so I (and everyone else with a 9:30 class) had no idea what had transpired in the last hour until I reached a TV around 11:00. Technology is bringing everything current to people’s fingertips, and twitter is most definitely not the only application that provides this- and probably not even close to the most reliable one. However, I have an instinct that the primary and most popular use for twitter is a way to stay connected to friends from everywhere.

CBS had a segment about the explosive popularity of twitter and it’s use in elections. The correspondent came to the ultimate conclusion toward the end that there is such a thing as too much knowledge of what people are doing.

I’ve been on twitter for less than 20 minutes, and I’m already not doing so well. It can’t find any of my contacts from email because of multiple errors, and it has told me that it’s over capacity, twice. “Too many tweets,” it says. So, as it stands now, I prefer facebook. How many websites should I have to search to find out what someone is doing only to discover that it’s not that interesting. Don’t get me wrong- I think technology that connects people and makes the world seem smaller and more… sharable is great. However, what I have a difficult time getting on board with are systems that make it easier and easier to isolate oneself from neighbors, friends, or colleagues. I wonder if twitter is bringing us down that road. Perhaps I would feel differently if I had some friends on it….

They Still Love Her

Slowly and gradually Palin has been sliding toward the back burner in some of the major media outlets as the more newsworthy topic has become Obama’s picks or rather his anticipated picks for cabinet.  However, some sources still love her and write about her present and future.  The Washington Times for example still cannot get enough of her star power:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska | Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate astonishing for most Hollywood stars, let alone a first-term governor.

Oprah Winfrey wants her. So do David Letterman and Jay Leno

Who doesn’t want her?  Rush Limbaugh has her all over his website.  The conservative movement is still clinging to her because of her potential to inject life into their dying party.  It’s a shame that they feel this rests on her shoulders.

All’s Fair

Fox News has reported on Obama’s pick to head the FCC transition team- a radical leftist who is a proponent of the Fairness Doctrine.  Funny how the term radical gets thrown around with ease by Fox News.  In any case, below are come clips regarding the feared Fairness Doctrine, which essentially means censorship to them.

Rushing to the Point

I’ll start with Rush Limbaugh because his show, both TV and radio, was always on in the house when I was growing up. While my parents may have thought that his political view would have influenced mine, it has not, and thus, I still have some strong feelings about him. They’re disappointed… but I digress. I find it interesting that he has such a following and audience but no journalism skills. People who listen to him think him to be an arm of the media, but in actuality, he is a college drop out. He’s not a reporter for Fox News, and he’s not a particularly good writer. He is entertaining- to some. His opinion and viewpoint should be granted the same credit as any celebrity with an endorsement and small speech to make. However, I want to focus on one specific topic and how it is handled by Limbaugh, Fox News, and CNN (for comparison sake).

CNN commentator, Steve Clemmons, spoke on the rumored or potential appointment of Clinton to Secretary of State. Clinton has a stronger reputation in foreign policy and was thought of favorably by Israel:

Interestingly, when Obama and Clinton were battling each other in a neck and neck race, Israeli public opinion polls showed huge support for Clinton, followed by John McCain, with Obama in a distant third. Why? Because many Israelis, rightly or wrongly, thought Clinton would be coercive with Iran and would hug Israel closely at the expense of other Middle East Arab interests — and Obama would not.

Clemmons also points out the other two glaringly obvious points about Clinton’s potential appointment: he would be keeping his enemy close and taking her out of the running for 2012.

Fox News makes these points and adds an additional mark against Obama’s possible choice. They state that appointing Clinton negates his mantra of coming change:

Admittedly, there is a need for proven producers to manage the new administration. Obama’s inexperience was overshadowed in the final months of the campaign by the even weaker credentials of Gov. Sarah Palin. Her shortcomings, though, do not lessen his. So, it is reasonable to look at seasoned Democrats to fill significant posts. Still, there must be a few out there who did not serve in the Clinton White House and who could provide just a soupcon of the change that voters signed up for.

Ultimately the Fox writer says the Obama could create havoc by giving his opponent so much power in the cabinet. And, he also theorizes that his doing so could demonstrate payback to Clinton supporters who ultimately helped him win the election.

Now, that brings me back to Rush. I can understand Fox putting a negative spin on Obama offering a position of power to his democratic rival. Fox is going to look at nearly everything Obama does through a different lens. And, they will be quick to point out that he is back peddling on his promise of change. However, Limbaugh went several steps further and made it about gender. He like Fox and even CNN made the point that her being in the position takes her out of the running for 2012. I cannot begrudge Obama on that one. But Limbaugh puts it in such a way as if he is further supporting the glass ceiling. Despite the fact that one has nothing to do with the other, he compared it to Obama sending his wife and kids backstage before finishing his acceptance speech. Taking Clinton out of the running for 2012 is akin to him putting the woman in her place. Limbaugh was the only one to make it about gender. He also asserted that she would not pass the intense questionnaire and essentially was not qualified. Palin, of course, was overwhelmingly qualified.

One last thing about Limbaugh, his “media” website is rather exclusive. One cannot access archives or many articles of interest without becoming a Rush 24/7 member. Not even Fox News requires a viewer’s email to read their news.  His website looks more like joining a club as opposed to subscribing to the news.

She’s Still Here

Keith Olbermann put it so well.  I love this video below about Palin’s numerous “exclusive” interviews with the media, her wavering commitment to the presidency or the unpredictability of life, and her continuing love for Hilary.

The Untold Story

The post on the Trinity Bloggers website made me look at the topic of race relations after the election through a slightly different lens.  I’ve only been living in this New England, blue state for about five years, but I already feel pleasantly removed from the pervasive line of thought in the south.  However, I must admit before I continue much further that I was impressed and a bit proud that Florida went for Obama in this election.  Florida is a peculiar state.  It’s so large, and the center, more rural, portion of the state thinks a great deal differently than the more densely populated and more affluent coastal areas.  That being said, the though briefly crossed my mind about the hatred some white people may express after the election.  Because my world is so different now, the thought was only brief.  I had mostly positive feelings about the race relations of the whole country.

The anger over the result of the election is of course not sequestered to the Bible belt.  One story cites specific examples in Georgia but emphasizes that there is anger across the country “from California to Maine.” As if we traveled back in time, people are burning crosses, committing vandalism, and even being violent toward each other.  Some have completely lost their faith in America’s likelihood to keep the racial barrier around the white house.  Some think the country is absolutely doomed under Obama’s leadership.  Even some people in Europe have made callous remarks and expressed negativity over Obama’s election.

Another interesting aspect of this overall topic is that stories about it are difficult to locate.  Other than the mainstream story I linked above, everything else I found to support this issue of anger was on less than legitimate sources.  I don’t think the lack of information about the issue is due to the racism being isolated and unremarkable.  I think, in part, the media doesn’t want to report on it because it may feed the fire that hasn’t gotten out of control and also because it would affect the overall outlook on the historical election.  People need to feel positive now for a lot of reasons, and stories like this put worry into the heart of many people, like me.

Lame Duck Media

What’s Obama doing, how is he going about, what’s already wrong with it, and what will he possibly do wrong once in office?

Those are the stories of interest to the media lately.  First of all, whom is he appointing to certain positions?  A CNN page shows the key cabinet position and the list of people being considered for them. Clinton, of course, is supposedly on the “short list” for Secretary of State, along with John Kerry and Susan Rice.  Rice appears for consideration for several positions.  Even Caroline Kennedy is listed as a possibility for appointment to the UN.  I have some doubts as to how valid this kind of news is.  Clinton of course was in the news substantially when Obama was about to pick a VP.  Biden was on his list as well.  However, who’s to say that these people are really the ones he is considering.  In this case, the media is creating a story before there is a story.  This process has two results.  Say Clinton is picked for Secretary of the State.  If so, the public will feel special as if they were in the know before he made his choice.  If not, the public will feel surprised, not with the media but with Obama.  Much like they did when Clinton was not picked as his running mate.  Certain people were rooting for a decision that no one was 100% sure he was considering.

Another story gaining popularity is his process for filling posts, specifically the application. According to news sources, the application is a seven-page, 63 item questionnaire that “leaves no stone unturned.”  Obama is, as the media tells it, being careful not to bring anyone into his inner circle who has baggage, unpleasant connections, family issues, or any semblance of a past really.  The what’s-already-wrong-it issue is the other story cropping up regarding the number of women he is “considering” for these key positions. Women’s groups are concerned. Because early teams released by Obama tend to be male-dominated, he is now asking NOW to send suggestions for qualified female candidates.

The last item the media is bringing up is the hypothetical pondering what-could-go-wrong issue.  In a now common comparison to Kennedy, a story has hatched about potential mistakes Obama could make in such a troubled economy for a country that is fighting two wars.  Because the media has no firm idea of such a mistake for a new president, they have talked of Kennedy’s Cuba invasion when first in office.  Then, just for added dramatic effect, they talked of mistakes from other leaders who have come before Obama.  The main issue I am having with a lot of these stories is that they are making news of events that haven yet occurred.  The big history-making event has been announced in every possible format.  Now, I feel as though there is a lame-duck time for the media as well as the presidency.  What do they have to report on until the Inauguration?