Overall Electoral Explanation

Well, here's the final electoral map (from barackobama.com). As you can see, the coastal areas both went Democrat as expected, but the shockers were New Mexico and Colorado who also went Democrat; as well as North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida, which have typically went to the Republican candidate, but I guess they decided it was time for a change. You can see that although there is a lot more red on the map, the states that are more densely populated (i.e. California and the entire NE region as well as Florida) with a higher electoral count went to Barack, which is the reason he won.
-Christina

My Election Reflections

I'm very satisfied with the election results, not only because my personal choice for candidate was elected, but because it would have been a historic night had either Senator won.
The electoral college and the popular vote were startlingly different majority-wise. In the electoral vote, Senator Obama won by a landslide with 364 against 163 for Senator McCain. The popular vote, on the other hand, only favors Obama in a 6-7% lead with 53% going to Obama and 46% going to McCain. Because of this I believe we should still make radical changes to the electoral college, regardless of whether my personal choice was elected because of it or not.
My electoral prediction map was so close! :( If only I could find it...anyway, some of the ones that were wrong include Montana (I projected it going blue, however it went red)and North Carolina (I projected it going red, instead it went blue). I was most excited about Florida, since it caused so much trouble in the 2000 election and was one of the key deciding factors in putting our current president (that's President George W. Bush, not president elect Barack Obama) in office, and it has gone red for the previous couple elections. So it was pretty exciting.
My (as well as Nick's) Gallup Poll research definitely helped in my predictions. All of our polls showed an overall lead (sometimes with an overwhelming margin) towards Obama, and I kept that in mind as I was predicting the electoral votes.
I'm so excited about this election. For the first time history is actually accessible to me; instead of something that I can read about or be taught I'm living this experience. I saw our first African-American president elected into the White House, and after so many hardships and struggles we have finally broken down those racial barriers. I think we can expect America to be turned around and put back onto the right track with Barack Obama as our chosen conductor.
-Christina

My Election Reflections

I am satisfied with the result of the 2008 election between Barack Obama and John McCain.The winner was Barack Obama. I am so excited he became the next president of the United States. He believes in change and I do too. I think over the next four years that he will make the best choice for our country. This was the first election that I followed thoroughly and enjoyed to watch the evolution of the race. After seeing the outcome of the race I believe that our country has a system that works and a lot of people trust in. If we had to change it I believe I would change how the electoral votes were distributed throughout each state. But besides that I think that the electoral college will find the person that is most fit for our country. The prediction of my electoral map was pretty close. But I had a few wrong with the toss-up states that I had to make a guess on. The biggest upset I had in my prediction was Montana. I really thought it would go to Obama. I also had a few good guesses on my map too. I was most excited about Ohio. As you probably know John McCain really wanted to win Ohio, but I just didn't think he would win. And I guessed correct. My gallup poll research deffinately did support the winner of the election.

-Nick

Barack Obama...44th president of the United States.

Well folks, after 22 months and some hundred million odd dollars (and who knows how many grams of caffeine coursing through my blood stream), the American people have spoken. Barack Obama has been elected our first African-American president. To actually watch this pivotal moment in history is slightly surreal. It started at 8 p.m., when Sen. Obama had a lead of 175 to 70 electoral votes. It continued to rise until Obama reached 284 (of the necessary 270 electoral votes to secure the White House) at around 11 p.m. It was a wave effect throughout the country. McCain's concession speech in Phoenix was very gracious; he congratulated Barack and recognized this moment in history as well as thanking all of his constituents and supporters for their votes and support throughout the campaign. Obama's acceptance speech was inspirational. He mentioned the civil rights movement and how we as a people had come so far, and all the times of change this country had faced. He also thanked all the people of his campaign, in his family, as well as our nation for supporting him. Yes we can America, and yes we did!
-Christina

John McCain's Website Review

-John McCain's website is very informative and educational to the people he wants to vote for him. I believe his website is straight to the point.
-On his website you can navigate to many different sites such as a poll link which lets you look at many different Gallup polls. There is also a link which allows you to write a letter to Mr. McCain.
-I believe that he is aiming his web page toward the younger generation of voters because he has many "click-ons" on his homepage that would interest the younger population rather than the elder population. Such as create your own banner.
-On the homepage there are tabs toward the top of the page which has different elements about the campaign such as issues, blog, about and home. When you click on one of them a drop menu appears then you click on a specific detail within that tab.
-If you want to join the movement there is a side bar that you click on with choices of make calls, get 5 voters or vote now. You also have to include your e-mail and zip code.
-I believe John McCain wants to portray himself as a great civic virtuist and a great president.

Written by Nick

Barack Obama Website Review

After reviewing Senator Obama's website, I believe it is very informative and hands on, as well as neat and understandable. After entering barackobama.com, the screen shows Obama seated in the grass, presumably in front of his home, with his wife Michelle and his children Malia and Sasha sitting next to him. Underneath this picture is a sign-up to "join the movement" or volunteer to help. I believe the picture was included to portray Obama as a family first, down-to-earth person who can relate to the middle class. Once you actually get to the website, there are tabs across the top that include Home Page, Learn, Media, Action, People, States, Blog, and Store.
On the Home Page, there are things such as an Obama-Biden interactive tax cut calculator, that processes data about yourself (such as annual income, marital status, and number of dependents) and shows the tax cut you would receive under Obama vs. McCain.
If you move your cursor over Issues, you would see a list of things the next president faces, such as the economy and the war in Iraq. If you were to click on one of these, you would see a blue box at the top of the screen that gives you the basic platform on the chosen issue. If you would like to see Obama's stance in more detail, you could scroll down and read it to it's full extent. I think that briefly stating the platform is a good way to give reader's the information they want without the hassle of searching through long chunks of text.
Under the Media tab, you can see political advertisements and bios of Barack, Michelle and Joe Biden, scroll through pictures from the campaign trail, and download screen savers, buddy icons, and posters. You can also purchase (and I'm not making this up) ringtones to your cellphone that have things like a hip hop group rapping "Go! Go! Go! Obama, Obama, Ohh!" and "This is Barack Obama. It's time to change America. Answer the call!". There is also an Obama album that is available for purchase and includes artists such as Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, John Legend, and Jill Scott. (Regardless of your
Under Action, there is a place for you to sign up to volunteer for campaigning as well as a place for you to donate to the Obama campaign.
There is also the tab labeled People. This is like McCain's website's Coalition tab, where people who fall into different minorities can come together in an online format to persuade other's of that minority to support their candidate of choice. Some of these groups include Seniors, Environmentalists, Americans with Disabilities, People of Faith, and even Republicans. All of the groups post events and opinions on a forum, and some have sub-groups that fall into a wider minority.
States is a category where you can click on your state and see current events and participate in something called Drive for Change, a program where citizens of a decided state campaign in swing states or states that are leaning Democrat (our nearest one is New Hampshire).
The Blog tab is where you can post opinions about Barack and Joe Biden, as well as watch clips from speeches on the trail.
And last but not least, the Store. Here is where you can buy Obama paraphernalia (such as T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hats, buttons, stickers, and the like). And for all my fashionistas out there, there is a section of the store called Runway for Change. This features items like an Obama T-Shirt that says "Dude, Where's the Hope?" by Juicy Couture, a Vera Wang "Vote Obama 08" T, celebrity designed T-Shirts that include Pharrel Williams, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Tory Burch as their artists, and tank tops designed by Alexander Wang, Zac Posen, and Nanette Lepore. Oh, and the bags. Designers such as Diane von Furstenburg, Isaac Mizrahi, and Marc Jacobs (!) have all designed amazingly cute tote bags for Obama. To all my McCain supporters--I'm truly sorry for your loss.
On a more serious note, I believe that Obama is reaching out to the middle class with his emphasis on tax cuts (like the tax calculator) and interested in young people. There were interactive applications and technical downloads like ringtones. Overall, I found Obama's website to be very classy and interesting (and I'm loving that Marc Jacobs bag).
-Christina

Favorability of Candidates- Gallup Poll

The overall Gallup poll was one that I was interested in because it shows what everyone thinks (not just a particular category). This Gallup poll went from June 9 to November 2. People gathered information from all types of people from the United States. They were different ages and different races. I believe this Gallup poll was important because it shows what the whole country thinks. In the beginning of the poll Barack was winning and kept the lead for most of the poll. There was a tie when the percentage of people who said they were voting for John McCain and Barack Obama were at 45%. This occured during the week of August 18th-24th. Then the only time John McCain had the lead was in September between the 8th and the 14th. So I wonder if what the polls show will really occur on election day.

-Chistina