John McCain

Obama vs. McCain in video games

Ed Mazza — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:16:01 +0100

By now, most people following the US election know that Democratic candidate Barack Obama purchased ads inside video games last month. But what if the election itself was taking place inside the world of gamers?

Comic Rich Kuras went into the World of Warcraft for the website Machinima to find out how the campaign is playing out in the imaginary realm of Azeroth:

As Kuras points out, Warcraft's 11 million players would make Azeroth larger than 42 states, population-wise. But so far, no candidate has been accused of pandering to trolls, orcs or elves.

Similarly, digital versions of Obama and Sarah Palin are being worked into the rough and tough game world of "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames." Check out what happens when the candidates really "go rogue:"

Oddly enough, the one candidate with actual combat experience - John McCain - appears to have been left out of this battle.

Voting for the glory of Satan?

Ed Mazza — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:51:53 +0100

So why do people vote? As one new tongue-in-cheek ad suggests, it could be for the glory of Satan. Or maybe to stop same-sex arrangements among hogs.

A nonpartisan ad aimed at getting voters in North Carolina to vote has become the latest viral hit of the presidential campaign.

According to the News and Observer, the ad was made by Scott Jacobson, who used to work for news satire show "The Daily Show," and Dave Willis, co-creator of the oddball cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."

The point of the ad is to make sure you vote, if only to cancel out your weird neighbors.

The candidates are also of course using ads to make their closing arguments as we head into the final weekend.

John McCain's Republican National Committee is now sending out this ad:

And Barack Obama wants to make sure voters are reminded of George W. Bush when they think of John McCain:

Dirty politics?

Julien — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:20:52 +0100

Election literature sent to a voter's house two weeks before the election. The "Obsession" DVD, and a brochure from the Virginia GOP linking Obama and former radical William Ayers. Photo posted on Flickr.

Linking McCain to a financial scandal in the 1980s, accusing Obama of lying and “palling around” with former radicals, distributing fliers in an attempt to suppress the vote in a key state – politics is a dirty game and this campaign is no different. As Election Day draws closer, the race is getting dirtier, with more mudslinging, smear campaigns and negative adverts. Read what our Observers have to say…

Obama vs McCain: kids take both sides

Ed Mazza — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:49:47 +0100

There's a new political video burning up the Internet, but it's very different from what you usually see this late in the election cycle. It doesn't contain an explosive new charge against a politician - in fact, it doesn't criticize or praise either candidate.

The video features the seventh-grade students of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta performing a song called "You Can Vote However You Like." The kids came up with the lyrics, and set them to the tune of T.I.'s "Whatever You Like."

Half the kids sing from John McCain's perspective, while half sing to the tune of Barack Obama. Here's how it looks:

The Ron Clark Academy teaches low-income middle school kids (grades 5-8), and has been up and running for just over a year. Ron Clark himself is a teacher and author famous for his work with inner-city kids in New York and Washington. He was the subject of a made-for-TV movie in 2006.

The buzz got the kids a spot on CNN:

Add up the different versions of this clip online, and some 500,000 people have seen these kids. So who are they? CNN also did an interview with them... followed by one more performance:

Inside the bag of dirty election tricks

Ed Mazza — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:27:55 +0100

The final week of a presidential campaign is usually the roughest, and this election is no exception. An apparent attempt to suppress the vote has been uncovered in Virginia - a traditionally safe Republican state where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama now holds a healthy lead.

A flier is being circulated in the Hampton Roads area telling supporters of Obama's Democratic party that they should vote on Nov. 5 - which is actually the day after the election.

State police are looking into the flier. It is a crime to communicate false information about election dates and times, but the tactic is not unprecedented.

According to reports, fliers are circulating in parts of Philadelphia with large African-American populations warning that anyone with outstanding tickets or warrants will be arrested when they show up to vote.

And Brad Friedman at the Brad Blog has collected examples of similar fliers that were distributed during the 2004 election in Wisconsin and the crucial state of Ohio.

The war in Iraq: what now?

Julien — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:33:58 +0100

The war in Iraq – a right way to wage the war on terror or an example of bad foreign policy? Five years on, US voters remain divided over the future course of the war in Iraq. Some feel the surge has worked and that troops should stay as long as necessary. Others want a timeline for a complete withdrawal. It’s a divide mirrored among our team of Observers.

Obama vs McCain on the dance floor

Ed Mazza — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:08:23 +0200

For all of you who think the political process is nothing but a song-and-dance routine, this one's for you.

A new video on the Web takes the US presidential candidates and puts them into the heart of a dance-off. Watch what happens when Barack Obama and John McCain engage in a different kind of battle:

Earlier this morning, the video had around 20,000 views. As this is being written in the afternoon on the US East Coast, it's approaching 400,000 views over at Break.com, and approaching 100,000 more over at MiniMovie, where it appears to have originated.

What makes this video so great is how well the heads match the bodies and the movements. Usually, these spoof videos are a little on the cartoony side, and JibJab has used this over the years with great success.

Here's their spin on the relationship between McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin - with the pair inserted into a "High School Musical" video:

Don't worry - they took a bipartisan approach. Here's the same video, with Obama and his one-time Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, playing the lead roles:

For those keeping track, the "High School Musical" film opens in US theaters this week.

Ready for higher taxes?

Julien — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:07:23 +0200

Higher taxes or more tax cuts and who should bear the burden of this necessary evil? The one thing Barack Obama and John McCain differ widely on is tax policy. Obama wants more tax cuts for working families while McCain favours "pro-growth and competitive" taxes. We asked our Observers if they're willing to pay higher taxes?

Protest group tries to "arrest" Karl Rove

Ed Mazza — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:31:33 +0200

One of the favorite targets of the left in recent years has been Karl Rove, mastermind of the George W. Bush election machine. While his role in helping Bush to the White House earned him nicknames like "The Brain" and "The Architect" among supporters, on the other side of the aisle, some of his nicknames aren't printable.

This week, the liberal women's protest group Code Pink repeatedly disrupted an event he was attending. The biggest moment came when a Code Pink member approached him on stage - and tried to arrest him:

As you can see, Rove would not make eye contact with the woman, and when she brought her hand to his, he slapped it away as she was taken off the stage by security.

The organization identified the woman as Janine Boneparth, and said she was trying to perform a citizen's arrest on Rove for ''treason.'' Five Code Pink members were removed from the hall, but the group says none of them were charged.

Rove has been trying to remake himself as an observer/analyst for the campaign of John McCain, and one no longer tied to the White House, at least not directly. Ironically, he and some of his opponents seem to have two things in common: he thinks Obama is winning by landslide margins and doesn't seem to like Sarah Palin much, at least as a candidate.

Right now, Rove is giving Obama 313 electoral votes based on his analysis of current polls. That's far more than the 270 needed to win the presidency. What's more, he gives Obama a slim lead in every state he considers a toss-up right - 54 more electoral votes.

Rove also apparently worked behind the scenes against Sarah Palin as McCain made his choice for the vice presidency. He believed McCain's former rival, Mitt Romney, would have been a better pick, according to reports.

Rove has been an especially favorite target of Code Pink. While the group has disrupted many functions, they've gone after Rove repeatedly. Here they are shouting at him as he enters a CNN building earlier this year:

And here they are just last week, protesting outside an event where Rove was a guest:

So what's next for the anti-war group? Whatever it is, it will probably be disruptive... and probably also be on TV soon.

Going to Extremes for McCain & Obama

Ed Mazza — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:06:07 +0200

As we get closer to Election Day, both Republicans and Democrats are accusing the other side of going too far. And some of the worst behavior has been not from the candidates or their campaigns, but their supporters.

This week, a group of liberal protesters tried to disrupt Sarah Palin's motorcade in Grand Junction, Colorado, and had to be dragged out of the street by police. It was captured by local TV and rebroadcast on CNN:

And in Fairfield, Ohio, a man hung Barack Obama in effigy as part of a Halloween display. He wouldn't appear on camera, but told a local reporter that the U.S. is a white Christian nation, and only white Christians should be in power:

John McCain said during the final debate that such incidents represent the behavior of only the fringe on both sides, and that fringe will do inappropriate things. And at one of his rallies in Woodbridge, Virginia over the weekend, McCain's supporters took on that fringe directly.

A man who would not give his name was shouting accusations about Obama and the Muslim religion. He called Obama "a socialist with Islamic background." As he explained his views, a number of McCain supporters, including some Muslims, confronted him, a scene that was captured by Davin Hutchins of the American News Project:

But not everyone is siding with the crowd on this one. Over at the conservative Hot Air Web site, there's a robust debate going on in the comments section.

"Pretty much played straight down the middle. No quibbles," writes a user named LimeyGeek. "He is a socialist, and he does have an Islamic background. It's possible to derive an array of inferences from those two simple facts, some rational, some not so."

But others worry that this fringe element is hurting McCain's chances.

"They only serve to undermine the campaign, and they're annoyingly wrong to boot," writes MadisonConservative. "They're cretins who latched onto a mass email and never let go despite the fact that it was disproven."