John McCain

Election eve: the world holds its breath

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:36:04 +0100

Posted on Flickr by "The Sun and Doves".

The world's biggest show is kicking off. Never before has a US presidential election been so closely followed from all corners of the world. Our Observers from Beijing to Baghdad tell us what they'll be doing when we find out who will lead the world's superpower.

Send us your photos and videos of election night around the world.

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:

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.

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?

"Joe the Plumber" enters the debate

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:11:03 +0200

Yesterday's debate between Obama and McCain saw the birth of a new American hero. Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Toronto City, received praise from both candidates in the televised event. The local media spent the evening with "Joe the Plumber", who shared his views on what was said.

Joe Wurzelbacher was a nobody until Sunday, when he came across Barack Obama, who was passing through his Ohio town (see the video of their encounter here). His sensible questions to the democratic candidate, and his critical views of the responses which followed, have made him the embodiment of the middle class American, the guy who works hard for his money and doesn't like handing over a penny of it to the state.

A journalist from the local daily Toledo Blade spent the evening at Joe's home last night. She interviewed him just after the debate.

The final face-off: who swayed Joe the Plumber?

Julien — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:58:55 +0200

During their third and final debate, John McCain and Barack Obama tried to appeal to average Americans such as Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Ohio, who McCain frequently referred to as “Joe the plumber.” But this final face-off wasn’t convincing enough to change our Observers’ opinions.

"Whoever wins is assuming a thankless job"

Edgar Thornton, Director of a college department, Iowa (Republican)

The last debate is now over and I think we may be finally seeing the end of the longest campaign. Wow, here in Iowa they've campaigning for two years.

Can you believe that? I want to emphasize the length of this race. Both of them, and particularly Obama, have been campaigning for a job which, with the economy in this state, either may come to hate in a couple of years.

Whoever wins is assuming a thankless job, millions are going to dislike him and not trust him.

Millions will question his truthfulness and credibility to lead.

With the issue of possible ACORN vote-rigging, people on my side will question the validity of this election result for years.

Our country will be faced with mounting debt, which our children's children will have to deal with. I do not envy the winner and as a solid Midwestern, church-going Christian, I will committ myself to lots of prayers for the Democrats because it looks like we did not get him tonight and they are going to win.

They will need to pray because there is a lot of work to be done and I am still not convinced they and specifically their new leader are up to it.

Overall, both candidates looked flat and the discussion was boring. Sure, Obama gave explanations for his shortcomings and past associations with questionable people, but McCain never had the outside kick good enough to make a goal.

Pure defense was on display tonight, no political theatre. As I have said before about the world economy - socialism is now on the march and is here in America with our government's economic solutions.

After tonight it looks like we are going to get a socialist president too."

The pig that could cost Obama an arm and a leg

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:21:21 +0200

To be seen as implying that Sarah Palin was "a pig with lipstick on" certainly got Barack Obama a great deal of attention, but the standing ovation that he received at the time has now been replaced by a barrage of insults for being sexist.

The latest and possibly most shocking insult to fly across the donkey - elephant divide was made by Obama in Virginia on Tuesday. "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years," he said. Observers immediately drew a link with the "hockey mom" comment made by McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin, who said that the difference between a child-devoted mother and a pit-bull was lipstick. Obama was immediately criticised for the comment, which the Republicans say was sexist. But our Observer, blogger John Aravosis, reminds us that John McCain made the same comment about Hillary Clinton's health plans last year. And as the cat fight heats up, the two candidates are running at neck and neck in the polls.

UPDATE (11 September 2008 - 10am): McCain's campaign team responded to the speech by using footage of a CBS journalist complaining about sexism in the election. What they failed to mention was that anchor Katie Couric's remarks were not referencing Sarah Palin... but Hillary Clinton, back in early June. After complaints from CBS about the use of Couric's comment the clip was banned from YouTube on Wednesday. However, it's still available on McCain's website.

The mood at the GOP convention: Depressed? What depressed?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:43:11 +0200

Photo: AFP

With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on Louisiana and other US Gulf of Mexico states, the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minneapolis, opened with a truncated schedule with an opening address by US President George Bush being blown off course by the storm. But despite media reports of a somber mood at the convention, our Observer Tim Demuth says the mood at the Xcel Center is anything but gloomy.

McCain eyes up Hillary supporters

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:31:22 +0200

Image posted on Flickr by Kim Baker.

In an obvious attempt to fracture the Democrats during their Denver convention, McCain's latest campaign videos are pushing the boundaries of political correctness.

The Democrat rivalry which marked the 2008 primaries is coming in more than useful for the McCain campaign team. The latest clips insist on his political proximity to Clinton, again bringing up her attacks on Obama. One of the videos even presents us with Debra Bartoshevich, a supposed Hillary hardliner who claims she's decided to vote Republican for the first time in her life.

It does indeed seem that much of Clinton's gang has yet to be convinced by Obama. The latest poll published by the Wall Street Journal shows that 21% of people that voted for the New York senator now support McCain and 27% remain undecided.

Clinton was fast to react to the ads. On stage at the New York delegation for the convention, she attempted to unite the crowds by directly asking people to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket. McCain's videos however, remain the most watched clips on the web...