Dirty Politics

    I have been listening to the local radio stations as of late and paying attention to the types of ads that have been aired for each candidate as far as the presidential election, governor, mayor, etc. I couldn't help but notice that depending on the radio station (hip-hop/r&b, sports, top 40, rock, etc.) the issues are presented depending on the type of audience that usually listens to the station. Now this is obvious and and nothing surprising. The thing that kind of bothers me is, that these ads are clearly making claims in order to make this a racial campaign. On three separate ads for Richard Moore strongly attack Bev Perdue. In all three ads there are older black folks meeting casually in a barber shop and in a diner. In one ad the characters are saying that they want vote for Perdue because she sells confederate paraphernalia in a few of the stores that she owns. In another ad they say they won't vote for her because she wouldn't back a bill that would help boost the FBI investigate cracking down on the KKK. The other add is an add that loosely says that Richard Moore is a REAL democrat because he cares about black people's issues and helped in the past when the black churches were burned down in the community. I feel like it's okay to get certain audiences interested in a candidate by trying to appeal to their wants and needs but I feel like it's inappropriate and low to try to make it seem like an audience should vote for a candidate because of their race and promise that the candidate can tend to that races needs. We as the american people don't just care about a candidate caters to our races, we're smarter than that and realize that it takes more to run this nation and it's an insult for these ads to overlook that. 

Jermiah Wrong

When Pastor Jermiah Wright was accused of making racist remarks, upon hearing the sound byte, I never felt that what he was saying was necessarily wrong or racist. I felt, and many others who can relate, that what he was saying was something that was simply felt by much of the minorities in America. What he said wouldn't have really had any significance to the majority population if it wasn't for this campaign and the fact that their are many people who would like to see Sen. Obama fail. I also felt like there was nothing wrong with Jermiah Wright simply going on air and defending himself. Many felt that his speeches and interviews were great. However, the problem surfaces when Pastor Wright ends up making one too many appearances and all of a sudden getting trapped i n the media circus. I feel like it was another set up for the media to exploit Wright and then connect him to Sen. Obama to stir up enough trouble to the point where Obama has to speak on the issue and cause more media. it's a vicious cycle. It sucks because the candidates aren't getting the chance to speak about the issues because they are too busy defend themselves on outside issues. From all of the things that I have heard about Pastor Wright and hearing the man speak himself, I respect him, but I feel like he, and whoever is advising him have made a wrong turn by deciding to get involved with the media. It has been a trap from the beginning and if they'd realize that what ever Pastor Wright does effects Obama and everything that he as been working for through out this campaign, then they would've never got involved with the media to this point. It was okay to make a few appearances to clear the air, but now it is too much and it can possibly be detrimental to Obama's success. It sucks but it was necessary for Obama to recently distance himself from Pastor Wright.

The "Race" continues...

Well it seems as if Obama is leading and if you grabs Ohio and Texas it's pretty much game over for Clinton. Clinton has to grab those two states in order to even still be in the competition. It's funny because the whole race issue still continues in the media. I read an article in CNN where they talked about how Clinton was "supposed" to win her last couple of states because of the large "latino" population. Really, what the hell?! So automatically women and Latinos are "supposed" to vote for Clinton, blacks are "supposed" to vote for Obama and all other whites with money are "supposed" to vote for McCain? To be honest, it's great to see how voters are for the most part breaking out of their boxes that the media is placing them in and shaking up the election. If the voter's voted the way the media suggest, things would be different as far as the results go at this point. Also, I feel that people are growing tired of Clinton and McCain's attacks on Obamba's "promises". In actuality, they are making promises too and they are focusing more on attacking Obama than proving their platforms to the American people.

Let's refocus...

Earlier today I was on the verge of checking my email on yahoo.com and I couldn't help but notice the head line on the webpage that says, "Clinton's edge slips with whites, women". We touched on this quite a bit in Comm. 470 class, but I just find it so interesting how much race and sex are played on by the media during this election due to the presence of a woman and a black man. Now I've seen in some instances in the past, where the media and politicians talk about the "black" vote in elections, very rarely have I seen instances where they talk about the "woman" vote. I understand that it is inevitable to think about things related to gender and race because this type of diversity is new to the election. However; I feel like in many other instances, the media places too much emphasis on what Clinton and Obama are rather than who they are. And due to the fact that we all get caught up in the media, this type of thing affects our thoughts and views on the candidates and their followers which is just the type of propaganda we don't need in this new era. Why don't we just let these Candidate's be recognized for what they can do for the entire US population including their unique perspectives based upon their backgrounds rather than judge them solely on how they reflect upon the populations that they are supposed to be "representing".