Reviewing the week before the election

Perhaps this is the first election that cannot be easily predicted. There are so many factors that come into play when trying to predict the election. If you are looking at the polls, you come out with one set of results. If you look at racial biases you get a completely different set of results, and again a different sets looking at campaign visits. Can anyone predict this election?

And that seemed to be the main concerned all throughout this week. It's crunch-time for both campaigns. With election day only 2 days away, there are many concerns for the McCain campaign as to whether or not it is still possible to win. For the Obama supporters, many wonder if racial bias is somehow shadowing in many of the polls. Both are major concerns that can only be put to rest on Election night.

This week there has been a lot of talk about this election. It is the first time in eight years that we will be electing a non-incumbent president. So the vote and election seems all that more important.

The top five discussed objects this week were: 1) 270 to win 2) McCain does not equal Bush 3) Nervous Democrats... Jinxed election? 4) Final Push before Tuesday 5) SNL Factor

McCain is not President Bush, but he does credit him

McCain has been distancing himself from the Bush Administration for weeks now. The Obama campaign has been framing every possible clip to associate McCain with President Bush and his administration. Looking President Bush's approval ratings, it's no wonder why McCain would want to distance himself. So why then, did McCain give President Bush credit? It was probably a last minute attempt to sway Pennsylvania. The Obama campaign would be proud for the way that the NY Times framed this article.

Accessed Sunday November 2 at Noon

Hopeful Republicans. Nervous Democrats.

So most of the polls in the past weeks have put Obama winning on Tuesday. Butjust like what happens when they think they are going to win, and then don't.... some Obama fans fear that the exact same thing will happen this Election Day. Call it superstition or just being cautious, many are looking at the past two elections and think that it could be too good to be true. One concern that these poll watchers have is the idea of race in the polls. Some people might say that they are voting for Obama, when in reality they will be voting for McCain and just didn't want to seem racist.

This article frames the idea of the election in terms of desperation. Desperation that if things don't go as planned, the exact opposite could happen. In a reverse psychology kind of way, it is encouraging voters, liberal and conservative alike. For Democrats, its a way to ensure a win; for Republicans, its a chance at hope. But for Independent voters, it just makes it all the more confusing in a make or break situation.

This week on the 'Times'

"I am not George Bush," McCain said to Obama at the last debate.

The Obama campaign seems to think differently, and it has been trying to associate McCain with President Bush in every way possible. The ideas and philosophies of the Republican party and President Bush that people have grown to fear have crept into Obama's rallies. One week left to go and he is speaking about the trickle down affect and how similar Bush and McCain really are. If Obama had such a lead, why is he resorting to negative rallying?

Another short article touched on Palin speaking out about her wardrobe. The article was framed so that appeared like this was the biggest thing bothering Palin, not the issues of the election, even though the article ended in her wanting to move on to the more important issues. Palin did state that the designer clothes that she has been wearing are all property of the Republican National Convention and she "[isn't taking them with her]."

Is it too late for McCain and Palin to pull ahead? One of the key things that everyone has been talking about when it comes to the election is the polls. For example, West Virigina, was originally a very strong McCain state with 11% over Obama in the polls. A recent poll came out placing Obama less than 6% behind McCain in WV (West Virginia Wesleyan College, Orion Media Poll). But according to the NY Times article, McCain stated that he "does not believe the polls" are showing him at a significant disadvantage. Is he trying to stay positive when he says that he is happy where his campaign is right now, or is he just relieved that he won't be president during this hard financial crisis.

Top stories that the New York Times has been covering this week are; 1. Obama's lead 2. Obama's sick grandmother 3. McCain's hopeful campaign 4. Palin's fashion 5. The Looming Economy

Accessed October 26, 2008 7:45 pm.

Hope for McCain?

After first traveling to Liberty University over fall break, and then getting distracted by my senior thesis that is due in less than a week, I have unintentionally forgotten about blogging.

It isn't hard to see in the "liberal" news media that the McCain/Palin campaign is losing. There have been many recent news articles and polls suggesting that the election is basically over regardless of Obama leaving the campaign trail to visit his grandmother today. But is there hope in sight? The NY Times released an article yesterday that compared McCain's position to the position of Vice President Gore one week before the 2000 election. As many will recall, that race ended a very close one.

Regardless of this comparison, they point out that as November 4th grows closer, it will become even harder for McCain to close the gap and pull ahead. Many of the McCain supporters have thrown in the towel and decided that for 2008, this election is over. But for those optimists (and I am one of them) what objects are being watched? It is the states, issues, polls, and turnouts.

So to sum it up, here is what has to happen. In addition to the states that considered to be "red," McCain must hold on to and win Indiana, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. This will put him at 260 of the 270 votes to win. Then through a combination of other smaller states such as: Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire and New Mexico, he could pull ahead. But it won't be an easy task to get all of those states in such a short period of time.

Another issue is the Biden factor, which many have predicted would show up during the race at some point or another. Recently he has made the remark that if Obama were to win the election, his presidency would be tested within the first month. I think one of the key factors here is that the Obama campaign has done nothing to rebut this critical remark. And with Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama, race once again rises to the forefront, which makes you wonder just how big of an issue race will be inside the ballot box on November 4th.

The final issue, the NY Times states that the Obama Campaign is not a bit worried about the turnout. But should they be? The McCain campaign has been studying just how hard it is for a first-time voter to go from registering to actually going to the polls on election day. This year, a great majority of voters say that they will vote for Obama. You can bet that the McCain/Palin ticket is hoping that it is just as hard for them as their studies predict, especially in areas where there are hours of long waiting just to vote.

Accessed October 24 at 3:30pm

Weekly Update

In the past couple of weeks, there have been many news articles to support the idea that McCain is decreasing in his popularity in the polls. This past week the articles have been focused on the second presidential debate, analysis of the debate, more updates on the economy, and the disheartening news about Sarah Palin's results of the "Troopergate scandal."

There was a lot of political talk. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go and work at Buckhannon's Republican Headquarters. Many of the people that I met at the headquarters seemed to be very close-minded on politics. I was a little disappointed that they seemed to be very close-minded and misquoted a lot of information. I didn't think to ask them what news source they had gotten their information from, but if I had to guess, it would be from word of mouth. On the same night at the Debate-Watch, people discussed the debate for a little bit afterwards, many people were talking about their predictions for who would win. Most thought that Barack Obama would win, probably as a result of information from more liberal news sources. Also, Shelley Moore Capito came to visit the school on Thursday evening in the Cat's Claw. At the tables before and after her presentation, friends started to talk about the political issues and the election.

The five top issues covered this week: 1)Debate 2)Economy 3)Trooper-gate 4)McCain's campaign 5)Obama's block by block approach

Trooper Gate.. Ill Fate?

Accessed October 10 at 9:30pm

The top story tonight on the New York Times was an update on Palin's scandal in firing the public safety commissioner. The title was, "Panel Finds Palin Abused Authority in Firing State Official." The article calls attention to the fact that one of the reasons that she fired the commissioner was because of a family grudge. Very briefly does it mention that there were other reasons as well.

If you don't know the basic story, read on. While Palin was governor, her sister was going through a divorce with Trooper Michael Wooten (the "trooper" of the "troopergate"). There was evidence that supported the idea that Gov. Palin pushed the commissioner to fire her brother-in-law. When the commissior refused, she fired him (Walter Monegan).

The view that the NY Times portrays is that Palin abuses power that is not rightfully hers. What would she do as the vice-president? The update included information about the extensive report that the panel released this evening. The article also suggests that Palin has been less than cooperative since her nomination to the cnadidacy. The 1,000+ page report has been debated by a few Republican Alaskan politicians stating that it was an attack against Palin, but after the decline of the appeal, we could see this report published very soon.

Fresh from the debate

The second presidential debate took place this evening at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennesee. The town-hall style debate seemed to work better for McCain, although there were good points and jabs towards the opponent made by both sides. The most talked about issue during this debate was the economy, followed by healthcare, and foreign policy towards the end.

There was a lot of underlying cynicism within the questions that were asked by the people. Many were upset by the economy and confused as to what would be done in the next administration. The town-hall meeting format made the debate more interesting, however I feel that it was poorly moderated and both candidates should have followed the rules and time-guidelines. As I watched the debate at the Debate Watch at West Virginia Wesleyan College, there were varying reactions to both candidates.

Key points that might arise in the analysis of the debate in the following days:
- Obama : "I am confident in the economy"
---- Isn't this the same as the "fundamentals of the economy are strong"?

- McCain: Nailing down Obama's policies is like nailing jello to a wall

- McCain: I'll answer the question
---- Yes, please, no one seemed to understand how to answer a question.

- Obama: Senator McCain mentions that for the past 30 years Congress hasn't done anything on environmental issues... but he's been there for 26 years.
---- I have to admit that this was a good jab towards McCain.

- McCain: hair plugs
----I mean, really?

- The Last Question: What don't you know and how would you learn it?
---- This could have potentially been a very good question but apparently, neither have anything to learn.

Let's call it a week

The news topics on New York Times this week seemed to revolve around the Palin and Biden Debate that took place this past Thursday. Although most of the articles touched on this debate, here's my take on the top five objects.

The vice presidential debate was the main object this week. Everything from the days that led up to it, to the analysis afterward, the news dictated that this was the debate to watch. Overall, I felt that the debate seemed very guarded from both sides. Both the Democrats and the Republicans were playing it safe but they were not afraid to throw some tough hits towards their opponents. I don't think that this will be an issue in the coming week(s).

The second presidential debate is big news at Wesleyan and at the New York Times. There are already those anticipating the debate. Wesleyan prepares for it through the Debate Watch, and there are already articles talking about the debate. My guess is that on Monday and Tuesday mornings, NY Times articles will be saying something like this: although McCain's ratings are going down, expect him to come back strong. They will be lowering expectations for Obama and raising expectations for McCain.

Among other issues that have been and will continue to be discussed will be the economy and other issues that might be debated on. Today another issue that was brought back to the front, that being the Iraq War and what would happen if each was elected. Another topic that will probably be discussed more is the potential nominations of a new member of the Supreme Court by the new president.

So as a recap: 1) Vice-Presidential Debate 2) Second Presidential Debate 3) Economy 4) Iraq War and 5) Supreme Court nominations

Palin/Biden debate Assessment

Accessed October 3 at 9:00pm

On the politics home page of the New York Times this evening, the three top stories were all about the vice-presidential debate last night. Their analysis of the debate was exactly as expected; according to them, Biden won the debate.

The language of the article frames the analysis in a way that is not completely partisan, but it portrays Biden as a sharp speaker even though he tends to be mistake-prone. Although Palin did not make any mistakes as remarkable as her interview with Katie Couric... it was still evident that she was avoiding direct answers to some questions. But she should be the least of the McCain's campaign's problems, according the New York Times. Obama has a five to six point lead in many of the toss-up states. The next debate is on this coming Tuesday. My hope is that McCain can start to turn it around after his warm-up last week.

Palin's great challenge

On Thursday Palin will face the biggest test of her vice-presidential candidacy with the vice-presidential debate, and I am scared. Through her interviews in the past weeks, it has become obvious that Palin does not do well under that type of pressure. She will absolutely have to perform well in this debate in order to still be considered a viable candidate.

This article does not forget to mention her helpless interview with Katie Couric and the Saturday Night Live parody that went along with it. Although I am terribly worried as a Republican, the New York Times could potentially be helping the Republican ticket, if not intentionally. Just as I stated before the first presidential debate, they were lowering expectations for Obama. Could it be that they are trying to criticize Palin, but at the same time unintentionally lowering her expectations? I think so, yes. At the same time, NY Times states that Palin has presented a "question mark" that she will have to entirely erase at the debate and that could prove a very lofty expectation. Not only that but she will have to present herself in a way that does not seem too over rehearsed or scripted.

This week's wrap-up

The news topics on the New York Times this week focused on this past Friday's debate. The Debate was at the University of Mississippi between McCain and Obama. The news revolved on everything surrounding the debate: who was or wasn't coming, what would be discussed (the designated foreign policy, or the economy), and who would win. Directly after the main debate, there was news titled "the debate" on who won the debate. I believe that the issue is going to shift in the next coming week to the next upcoming debate.

I haven't heard anyone talk about the debate, other than within my Election class. A few friends have mentioned it, but other than that, there was no discussion about it. This could reflect on the perception of importance of the debate. If people do not think that the debates are important, it could change the entire campaign strategies. However, I think that there will be more discussion on how well each candidate did rather than the anticipation of each debate. Overall the top issues being discussed by the NY Times this week were: 1)The Debate 2)McCain's presence at the debate 3)Economy 4)Bush's speech 5)Controversial Ads.

The Debate is on...

Debate or no debate? That was the question all week. The New York Times top story this morning was that Senator John McCain stated that he will participate in the first presidential debate tonight, instead of postponing it to participate in the negotiations of the $700 billion bailout plan. After a flurry of phone calls and rearranging schedules, both senators are expected to arrive at the University of Mississippi this afternoon. There is the continuation of constantly trying to lower viewer expectations. The reason for doing this is: when viewers watch, their satisfaction with that particular candidate can only raise, not disappoint.

The main coverage of the article , however, turned into Senator Obama's talk on how he is "optimistic" at the way the Congressional negotiations are going for the bailout of financial institutions. He stated that there has been a lot of real progress that has been made in the recent hours, and it is important to remain calm and just move forward. The McCain statement this morning also stated that he was "optimistic" and stated that there was "significant progress" being made.



However, the NYTimes was quick to point out that this statement was also critical of Obama, portraying him as partisan and not as concerned as McCain. The direct quote:
"The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent durinig the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama's priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands...McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners."
The NY Times was spinning the issue to portray Senator John McCain as a player on the offense. Many times in politics, if a candidate is putting out ads and statements that are critical of his/her opponent it means that they are losing in the polls. The more that the NY Times portrays Obama as the victim in this case, the better chance he has at winning. However, the Obama campaign has to be very careful because if he doesn't do anything, it could look like he is a weak candidate or that he has something to hide.





*Picture was taken by Win McNamee/Getty Images and can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/us/politics/27debatecnd.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Three Days Left

Accessed 9:15pm on September 23

There are three days left until the first debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain and the battle is already heated. With the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s, economy is undoubtedly the top topic; however, this Friday's debate will talk about foreign policy, not the economy.

Not surprisingly, the topic being discussed was the upcoming debate. At first glance, the article was giving a lot of credit to McCain. The article noted him as very comfortable when talking about foreign policy. He is considered to be a great speaker and totally in his element when he speaks on this issue particularly. So this is good news for the conservatives, right? Wrong. This is a technique that is used during all presidential debate times. They are setting the expectations so high for McCain, that he can only fall below those expectations, causing his ratings to drop. All credit that was given to McCain is slyly being used against him. There is no doubt that there will be a similar article to this one somewhere in a conservative news source talking about Obama.

From the week of September 15

News topics on the New York Times this week has started to move away from Sarah Palin and towards the importance of the economy in this election. This is easy to understand after the major changes in the financial markets this week. I don't feel that I have read enough from the New York Times to make a decision as to whether I agree with their opinion of the economy and the election.

Teachers, parents, friends and grandparents are definitely talking about the main issues. In every single one of my classes last week, the professors brought up the economy and the effects on politics at least once. There have been a couple of my friends believe that the current economic crisis is the result of failed policies of the Bush Administration and that Barack Obama would be the best candidate if (and when) it comes to the economy. An explanation for the parallel between these friends and news sources is that they are probably getting their news from a source with a similiar agenda to the New York Times.

Overall the top five news issues for The New York Times during the week of September 15-20 were: 1) Economic failures (Merrill Lynch, AIG, etc.) 2) McCain's "fundamentals" 3)Upcoming debates 4)Palin (as always) and 5) Biden's Guns.

Obama: "confidence will rise"

Accessed September 19, 2008 at 8:20pm

No doubt that the biggest topic in the news is the economic crisis. So, it would make sense that the politicians are going to be making comments about it as well.

Senator Obama has been talking about the economy for quite some time now, but after talking to the Treasury Department and his financial advisors, he believes that the financial markets will stabilize soon. He is reportedly giving measured responses and no longer providing an economic plan. He suggested that although he and John McCain will argue for different economic plans, they should work together towards what the country needs. Although he avoided the partisan words during his address of the economy, he did not hestitate to attack McCain afterwards.

The brief article does not have a strong leaning one way or the other. However, the fact that they are reporting on Barack Obama's response to the economic crisis and government bailout suggests the liberal leaning.

What are the fundamentals?

Accessed at 11:30pm on Tuesday September 16

NY Times states that John McCain made a big mistake when he said that the fundamentals of the economy are very strong. At first glance, this statement is absolutely ridiculous, and the Democratic party ran with it. This comes only days (hours) after news about Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. The campaign had three choices: do nothing, attack the other side, or fix it. Fix it they did when only hours later he backpedaled. What are the fundamentals of the economy? For McCain, he meant that the fundamentals are the workers themselves. On Tuesday morning he stated that workers are paying a heavy price while the CEOs of big businesses are left with 'golden parachute' packages of millions of dollars. He did state that the economy was in big problems, and that the Republican party and those in Washington were to blame.

I agree that McCain cannot afford to stumble on this topic, but he did. The campaign did a very good job at saving the potential problem. In class tonight (Election 2008 with Dr. Rupp), we discussed the differences between conservatives, liberals, libertarians, and populists, among many other things. The fact that McCain is sticking up for the workers of America and stating that the big business and big government is the problem with the economy strikes a populist tone. This is a very smart idea. McCain is going to have to reach towards the populists in order to win the election.

Palin takes another hit from the NY Times

Accessed Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 6:40 pm.

Many of the main articles today were about Hurricane Ike, but not surprisingly there was yet another article below about Palin. Afraid that I might have been over analyzing the New York Times as being too liberal, I decided to print off the article, "In Office, Palin Hired Friends and Hit Critics," by Jo Becker, Peter S. Goodman, and Michael Powell. I highlighted the negative things said about her in blue and the positive things in pink. Needless to say, the article is a sea of blue.

Much of the source of negativity came from the harsh language. Pursuing a personal vendetta, striking, ordering, firing, and "her wrath" are just some of the words used to describe her and her policies. The authors present evidence that strongly questions her governing style. The main message was that her administration is littered with secrecy and overreaction to personal issues. After reading the entire article, I feel as if it was misrepresented. Almost all of the information came from interviews from people.

On specific issues, the McCain Palin campaign offered statements, but on more generalized assumptions, they did not. They did acknowledge that she has many supporters and instills deep emotions into her campaign. This article was written for liberal readers and therefore, they will see everything that they want to see. As a conservative reading the article, I was able to notice that some of the things that I thought positivive, would be considered negative by those Democrats. For example, "she appointed a pastor to the town planning board." That is just further evidence to her character. When the news about Ruedrich (running campaign business from the mayor's office) was found out about a columnist, she openly admited to doing wrong and released a press release to address the problem.

"Since taking office in 2007, Ms. Palin has spent 312 nights at her Wasilla home, some 600 miles to the north of the governor's mansion in Juneau. At first I wondered if she would move to Washington D.C. if she becomes vice-president, and will her family move with her? I had thought that it was 312/365, but when I read it again I realized that it said 2007 (more than a year ago). It is such sly writing as this that can get people confused on their facts.

What it takes to win

Accessed September 12, 2008 at 12:45 PM

Barack Obama is stepping it up by attacking his opponent on television ads. Is that dirty politics or just doing what it takes to win? Either way, it is safe to say that Obama was taken off guard with the Republican energy that stems from the choice of Sarah Palin. Although I consider this to be dirty politicking, the New York Times was not slow to state that it was in response to McCain's false and misleading "back to back attack" ads.

The buzz word for this election is change; and who can provide the most of it. Obama's attack plays off this word by stating that "things have changed in the last 26 years, but John McCain hasn't... after one president who was out of touch, we just can't afford more of the same." Because the choice of Palin has stirred up the class of working women, Obama's advertisements touch on the subject of pay equity for women. According the Obama campaign, McCain has "seized" the change issue from them, which led them having to resort to attacks. Even though the majority of the article is sympathetic towards the Democrats, it acknowledges disunity in what the Democrats think that the campaign should be doing.

At such a critical time in both campaigns, it is almost expected that both tickets are becoming aggressive. I believe that the election is going to come down to the working white, working women and independent voters. However, I see Obama's attacks as a desperate attempt to try and sway those voters back towards the center, and hopefully (before the election) back over to the left. But never failing to spin the article, New York Times assures readers that the Obama campaign is not struggling, only a little behind the symbol for change that Palin has provided. No worries though, Obama has met with Former President Bill Clinton for strategies. Which if that is the case, this election just got more interesting.

Is Sarah Palin Ready?

Accessed at 12:12 AM on September 12, 2008

In the article entitled, "In First Big Interview, Palin Says 'I'm Ready for the Job," the journalist from the NY Times gives his take on Palin's interview on Thursday with Charles Gibson from ABC interview. Although Palin was noted as saying that she was ready for the job without hesitation. Gibson is not known for giving an easy interview, but one of the reasons that the McCain campaign went with him is that he is known to be taken seriously. As her first interview with a major news organization, the NY Times seems to rip poor Sarah apart.

According to the NY Times, Palin was visibly nervous and stuck to her scripted answers. Under Gibson's pressure, she repeated a lot of phrases, but perhaps her biggest mistake was stumbling when asked if she agreed with the Bush Doctrine on "anticipatory self-defense." Through the "blizzard of words" that Palin provided Gibson with, he expressed exhasperation and pointed to her inconsistancies. Palin was presented as the overscripted, underprepared vice-presidential candidate.

The article was written as a way to disqualify Palin as a suitable candidate and associate her with some of the less popular decisions the Bush Administration has made. I however, feel that as her first interview as the potential vice president of the United States, it is understandable that she would be nervous. Although I would have liked to see the actual interview, I'm 99% sure that NY Times is staying true to character and spinning this story to the left.

Politics and Motherhood

Accessed Monday, September 8 at 7:00 am

When Senator McCain chose Governor Palin as his running mate he added the subject of gender to the election. In the past, there has always been the issue of a woman being too emotional or with too many responsibilities to become a president. This article entitled, "Fusing Politics and Motherhood in a New Way," clearly puts that theory to rest where Palin is concerned. She was afraid when she discovered she was pregnant that the people of Alaska would think that she would take too much time off. After traveling ten hours home and then giving birth to Trig Paxton Van Palin one month early, she returned to work only three days later. Where many women in politics try to seperate their children and work, Palin embraces the two together.

The article overall places the emphasis on Palin's humanity versus other women in politics (say, Hilary Clinton maybe?) She even has a baby crib in her Anchorage office. Critics of the Republican ticket could use all of this to to swing it to the left if needed, stating the age old phrase that women are too emotional to be considered on the presidential ticket. But when it comes down to it, this article seems to be more for Republicans than Democrats.

Battleground Election

Accessed Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 11:00 pm.

As we all have gathered by now, this election is going to be a close one. With only eight weeks to go until the election, political strategists have been guessing about all the possible winning combinations for both sides. This article entitled, "Rival Tickets are Redrawing Battlegrounds," talks about possible battleground states for the 2008 election, which seems to be almost every state. The Republican choice of Palin has had some effect in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, but for the Obama campaign, they aren't worried that Palin could potentially bring in women and independent voters.

Although this article seemed to be impartial for the most part, there were several small instances that the New York Times spun it to the left. Other than generally putting more faith in Barak Obama, the wording that is chosen sways the reader to favor the left while understanding the right. For example: McCain has appeal while Obama has broad appeal. And while McCain had a "slow start" on the campaign, Obama isn't forgetting about voters in the strong Republican states.

Palin's religous views

Accessed Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 11:15 p.m.

This article talks about Palin's religious affiliation and how it had affected her life and her political decisions. She was raised in an Assembly of God church. After taking the office of Alaskin Governor, she turned to the pastor of the church for guidance on leading the state. The pastor thought very highly of Palin and her biblical knowledge. She has since started to attend Wassilla Bible Church. The pastor of WBC, Larry Kroon, was quoted as saying that she was a "back bencher rather than a leading light." She has also been quoted as saying that her work as the governor would be hampered "if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

To some people this article might confirm Palin as a strong candidate for the vice-presidency. But I feel that overall the NY Times tries to sway voters to think that her religious values and beliefs will affect the way she leads the nation. For many, the literal translation of the Bible is understood as anti-homosexual, anti-abortion, and anti-corruption, and this may make many Democrats nervous. When Kroon was quoted about Palin being a back-bencher, this was probably staged to make her seem as if she was using her religion for publicity instead of trying to stay out of the limelight and putting more focus on God.

NY Times

The New York Times is one of the largest metropolitan newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1851, and since then, it has won over 88 Pulitzer Prizes. It is considered by many to be a mostly moderate paper with a little leaning to the left. For the most part, it is a balanced newspaper, but not conservative in the least. Its motto is "All the news that's fit to print." The New York Times is owned by The New York Times Company. The NYT Co. also owns the International Tribune, The Boston Globe, and About.com, all sources that have liberal leanings.

How were both presidential candidates seen one year ago?

According to a poll that was done at the end of July 2007 (Gallop News Service), the public thought that when it came to the economy and healthcare, Barack Obama seemed to be the best person for the job. When it came to terrorism and the war in Iraq, John McCain was the best person. I find it very surprising that Senator John McCain has made it onto the Republican ticket for president. One year ago, there were reports that McCain was stumbling through his campaign, with large numbers of employees being fired and fundraising taking a dip. Also many of the gallop polls put Barack Obama towards the top, and John McCain towards the bottom. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/28639/Gallup-Ranks-2008-Candidates-According-Feeling-Thermometer.aspx)