US Presidential Elections

[fgl]

Obama beats McCain by five to one ... on social networking sites

http://sg.rd.yahoo.com/partners/afp/SIG=10n1rur92/*http://www.afp.com/
AFP - Tuesday, September 16 WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Democrat Barack Obama has a "tremendous advantage" over Republican John McCain in the race for the White House, at least in his number of friends on social networking sites, a report showed Monday.
Eearly September, Obama has more than a five-to-one lead over McCain in number of friends" on the two most popular US social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace, the report by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism said.
Obama, 47, had 1.7 million Facebook supporters and 510,000 MySpace friends, compared to 309,000 and 88,000 respectively on the two Internet sites for 72-year-old McCain, the report said.
This year's race for the White House is the first in which "campaigns and citizens have made extensive use of the Web for organizing, fund-raising, networking, and announcing news," the report said.
Pew analyst Amy Mitchell said the Obama campaign had tapped into the online mine of connecting with voters early on, and was far ahead of McCain's team in the game.
"The appeal to young people, getting himself known and talked about on social networking websites, activating support online and taking that activity offline by getting people to hold community events ... these aspects were very, very developed at the start of Obama's campaign," Mitchell, deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, told AFP.
"McCain is trying to close the gap now, but it's a little late in the game," she added.
On YouTube, the online video-sharing site, 11 times more people had tuned into the official Obama channel last month than the McCain equivalent.
Obama's official YouTube channel had more than four times as many videos and about five times as many subscribers, the report said.
"Obama far outpaces McCain on YouTube, no matter how you slice it," said Mitchell. "He's ahead in the videos posted by his campaign, which suggests differences in strategy and technique and where the energy and resources are being put."
Having such a massive online presence not only boosts morale and shows that a strategy -- probably of wooing young voters -- is working, but also gives a campaign "a more sizeable built-in audience of supporters for direct updates and appeals," Pew said.
Both campaigns' official sites are "advanced beyond anything seen in previous elections," the report said, highlighting key differences between the two candidates' official websites.
Obama's site was more user-friendly than McCain's and made it easier for supporters to take action to support the Democratic candidate.
McCain's campaign team was far more likely than Obama's to post press releases they had written in the news section of their candidate's website rather than citing reports written by the media.
"About 40 percent of the news posts on the McCain site were their own press releases versus just 12 percent on the Obama news page," Pew said.
And although "Change we can believe in" is the catch-phrase of the Obama campaign, the word "change" was not among the 20 most frequently used terms on the Democratic candidate's site.
It was on McCain's though, the report said.
On Obama's site, "change" appears at the top of every page as a quotation from Obama's stump speech, but not in the posted text, the report said.
On McCain's site, it appears six times: twice to call for change in the political culture in Washington, twice when referring to climate change, and twice to underscore McCain's support for "changing the course of Iraq War policy to include additional troops."

 

[betsybug]

Good ol' fgl!

Trouble is, while Obama may score well with the Facebook crowd, the elections may again turn on the votes of the wrinklies down in places like Florida (remember the 2000 cliffhanger?).

You might remember that in an earlier posting here on soft that I chose McCain over Obama (that was before Obama won the Democratic nomination race). I chose substance over rhetoric, although I normally would support the Democrats.

However lately, I am beginning to revise my opinion - I think McCain's choice of Palin is a serious error (or bad politics). Simply put, I cannot stand her political stand as well as obvious lack of experience. And I do think we should keep things as secular as possible, even in a America that tends to be too Puritan for its own good.

To pre-empt those of you who will say things like, "why waste time on elections in another country", "whether it's Democrats or Republicans, it's all the same", etc., etc., well, like it or not, whatever happens in the US affects the rest of the world like no other country. Those of you who need a lesson in this can simply open the newspapers, go online, or listen to/watch the news for the latest debacle from Wall Street (those too young can ask your Mumsy and Daddy-O about the status of their share investments, bank loans or insurance plans).

 

[dir]

The bulk of the midwestern and southern US states is where most people are either farmers or work blue collar jobs and spend their nights at the pub. These are the people who don't have facebook/myspace accounts and much less participate in online discussion, and they number in the millions. The sad reality is that most of them will vote McCain simply because he looks more like them.

Obama may be a really excellent speaker, but the truth shall remain to be seen whether his vision of hope can actually be stomached by the rest of the american people.

 

[THOA]

Good ol' fgl!
However lately, I am beginning to revise my opinion - I think McCain's choice of Palin is a serious error (or bad politics). Simply put, I cannot stand her political stand as well as obvious lack of experience. And I do think we should keep things as secular as possible, even in a America that tends to be too Puritan for its own good.

Agreed. She gave a great first impression on her first address, but now more and more it becomes obvious that she is there as a puppet for a man rather than THE voice for the women, the latter being the initial impression that the Republicans are trying to give.

Neither party's has yet to put forward anything concrete in terms of the economy, maybe perhaps the lack of information that each has access to perhaps? Without real information, you can't have real solutions. I suspect that the current Bush administration has been withholding a lot of information to cover up some of the obscene decisions being made during his reign.

Some Republican supporters are countering the fact that the the root cause of the mortgage crisis stems back from Bill Clinton, saying he should have spent more time on tightening the rules of loans than having his roll in the haystack. But, hey, Americans voted him for the second time when they had a chance to get rid of him, so who is really to blame here?

Anyway, anyone watched Tina Fey's impression of Palin on SNL? Hilarious sia! :lol:

 

[KissMyAxe]

McCain's economic plan actually is bad and dumb. He plans on cutting taxes to stimulate economic growth. Already the Federal Government is in debt of some US$53 trillion dollars, and the US economy is in a bad shape with an average monthly trade deficit of about US$60 billion dollars. Not to mention the country is facing a financial crisis which might costs the government and private sector firms some trillion of dollars of losses in sub prime mortgages. If the tax cuts are approved, how on earth is the US government to have money to spend. As we know taxes is a form of income to the federal government.

 

[betsybug]

kma=

I read good a nd bad things about cutting (or raising) taxes, so I don't know how to judge that issue. But I do know that in this election, there's too much talk about:

1. who's strong and who's not going to blink first
2. who's side God is on
3. who's a celeb, and who could be a celeb
4. who is actually a regular guy (or hockey mom) "just like you"

On that last point, I would have thought that for a job like the President of the US ("the most powerful man on earth") it should be patently clear that the last thing we would need is a regular, average US Joe (or Jane) that's going to be having a finger on the nuclear button (or on the pulse of Wall Street). I would want someone with the proper training and experience (and who would know that Iran and Iraq are two separate countries) for the job of watching over the economy and political scene (and not just the US domestic one mind you).

All those thousands of Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and AIG employees and customers (in Singapore too) would want that.

 

[shinobi]

i think McCain will win it, because i think Obama is the better choice. americans make stupid decisions, and the conservative right-wing have far too much political influence

 

[Vaiyen]

Palin says the Iraq War is a mission from God!
wahahha don't you just love her.
Americans are just dumb, most of them. It's never abt the real issues.

 

[visa]

I really want Obama to win; but I'm prepared for the worst.

I expect Palin would become the first Female President of the USA, I doubt McCain would live through his 4 whole years of presidency. And while it would be nice as a milestone, I expect her to be completely useless.

By the way- Obama outnumbers McCain online, but that would be skewed by the fact that Asians and Europeans outnumber Americans online!

 

[visa]

I am a huge Obama supporter, though I do worry about a couple of policies. He said something in his nomination acceptance speech along the lines of protectionism, which I don't think is a good idea.

But the thing I like about Obama is that I believe we can trust him not to be overconfident, and to consult and listen to the experts. He chose Biden knowing that the man is more experienced than he is, and would be able to help him in matters he might not be so certain in.

On the contrary, I don't see how Palin is anything more than a short-term ploy to win over female voters. She's been in Alaska all her life. I feel that to be Vice President of a country, not only do you need to have seen alot of the country itself, but to also have good perspective about the world.

I like that Obama's dad is Kenyan. Alot of Americans don't know what it's like to NOT be American- and this is bad news for foreign policy. Sarah Palin in particular is going to look particularly awkward when meeting foreign leaders of other countries. Obama, on the other hand, will be able to relate to other countries better.

 

[roninriot]

Sadly I think McCain has moved ahead in the voter's polls.
Mostly Mid-western Americans I think will vote for him.

I really want Obama to win!

 

[visa]

about 40% of americans are sworn republicans,
about 30% of americans are sworn democrats.

it is up to the remaining 30% of people- moderate america, to make the choice. it's quite clear that obama has made a big impact on them, but will it be enough to overcome the republican majority to begin with?

a huge amount of americans don't even vote, but I dare say we will see more voters than ever because of obama's marketing and campaigning.

 

[THOA]

Honestly, I am not exactly a fan of Obama. Not that I am against him; he just fails to impress me as a candidate.

No doubt about the charisma and promises of change is, well... promising. But recently, his campaigning has gone downhill as he puts on a more defensive and blame-storming stance rather than a problem solving approach.

And with Biden much too far back in the spotlight, and Obama not making the effort to push his credibility forward, the persona he is giving is a rather selfish one. "Smart" move on his part to take Clinton completely out of the picture as well... :roll:

However, I outright reject the McCain/Palin camp. Their campaigning has been too much based on stretching, twisting and turning truths. And I simply cannot accept that in leadership of people.

Him picking Palin only to discover that she believes that dinosaurs are on this earth 4 thousand years ago, and that she doesn't know what the Bush doctrine is, shows how much he knows (or even care) about his running mate. They are now actively trying to hide further embarassment by filtering and pushing away the press from interviewing Palin.

McCain's proposal for a commission to study the economic crisis may seem like a practical and independent solution, but I have high doubts that it would be anything but independent. Eventually the system will be stepping in to determine whether some issues should be kept under wraps or not.

He doesn't use the computer, so he is minimal touch base with the trends of the youth of today, and he doesn't seem to want to learn.

And heaven knows how long he wants to drag the war in Iraq till: "I would much rather lose a campaign than a war". Think the situation in Iraq is under control? think again.

So IF I have a chance to vote, I will vote for McCain... so that RATM will have every reason to form back. Hurhurhur... :mrgreen:

 

[fgl]

based on what I saw in McCain's acceptance (of nomination) speech - he has a very slick & polished IMAGE ..and damm good PR team ..... harping on his war records and a "lets fight" together stance...

I think Obama has made more sense of the issues whenever I've seen him on TV.

I'm for Obama!

 

[visa]

I think Obama is far more likely than McCain to treat other people respectfully, admit when he's wrong and ask for advice.

That's a winner in my book.

 

[Gr3y]

 

[THOA]

^Lol.

But old people will be voting for old idealogies that are more frequently outdated rather than relevant. Familiarity breeds false assurance sometimes.

 

[roninriot]

Obama wants to stop the war in Iraq
McCain wants the war to continue

Put any American in the battlefield, smack in the middle of the chaos their White House created and the lives their politicians have destroyed, all because Bush wanted a fat retirement bonus from the oil money he's making.

THEN let them decide who they should be voting for.

 

[growlingsoulpup]

Regarding the issue of restoring what Senator Clinton terms as "fiscal sanity" back to Washington, they key issue of note is still Iraq. It is now singularly the worst drain on the country's resources as well as the most damaging factor on their economy.

The Iraq situation is a very sensitive one, and the partisan nature of the elections means that the sort of compromise and delicate understanding required to fix the situation won't be clear until we have a definite name in the White House. While I'm no fan of McCain's policy to effectively police Iraq forever, one also has to be pragmatic enough to realize that it is a nation on the verge of civil war. Irresponsible withdrawal could very well spark off even worse circumstances than now.

What is needed is for the US to take a multi-lateral approach together with the UN to establish clear benchmarks and goals with regards to the establishment of a democratic government. This should be worked into a scheduled gradual withdrawal of troops from Iraq within the next year. Only in this manner will any sort of stability be achieved in Iraq.

 

[visa]

it is very important to get iraq's neighbours involved in helping it back to its feet, and I believe Obama is more likely to do this successfully than McCain.