In May 16, 1961,
Park Chung-hee ended the Second Republic of South Korea by military coup. On December 18, 2012, his daughter,
Park Geun-hye, became South Korea's president by democratic election under the
Saenuri party against human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in, of the
DUP.
[more inside]
posted by curuinor
on Dec 19, 2012 -
33 comments
The poor in America: In need of help Some 15% of Americans (around 46.2m people) live below the poverty line, as Ms Hamilton does. You have to go back to the early 1960s—before Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programmes—to find a significantly higher rate. Many more, like Ms Dunham, have incomes above the poverty line but nevertheless cannot meet their families’ basic monthly needs, and there are signs that their number is growing.
Once upon a time the fates of these people weighed heavily on American politicians. Ronald Reagan boasted about helping the poor by freeing them from having to pay federal income tax. Jack Kemp, Bob Dole’s running-mate in 1996, sought to spearhead a “new war on poverty.” George W. Bush called “deep, persistent poverty…unworthy of our nation’s promise”.
No longer. Budgets are tight and the safety net is expensive. Mitt Romney famously said he was not “concerned about the very poor” because they have a safety net to take care of them. Mr Obama’s second-term plan mentioned poverty once, and on the trail he spoke gingerly of “those aspiring to the middle class”. “Poor” is a four-letter word.
posted by infini
on Nov 8, 2012 -
23 comments
Last year, The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU's Law School released a
report (
pdf) detailing new, more restrictive state laws that affect voting rights and are likely to impact the outcome of the 2012 elections. The restrictions "fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities." On August 3rd, 2012,
they updated their analysis with a
pdf of passed and pending State government legislation. Their conclusion: after a century in which the United States "expanded the franchise and knocked down myriad barriers to full electoral participation... that momentum [has] abruptly shifted."
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Aug 17, 2012 -
47 comments
How Obama Did It: an in-depth look behind the scenes of the campaign, assembled by a special team of reporters who were granted year-long access on the condition that none of their findings appear until after Election Day.
posted by thbt
on Nov 5, 2008 -
254 comments
The evolution of the US presidential campaign ad, 1952 to 1996...
1952: Eisenhower-Nixon (
We Like Ike,
The Man from Abilene)
vs Stevenson-Sparkman (
I Love the Gov [apologies for the intro],
Ike... Bob..., Vote Stevenson/The Music Man, (
Remember the Farmer, Back to the Days of '31).
Bonus: Newsreels dealing with the campaigns.
1956: Eisenhower-Nixon (
Eisenhower Answers America: The Cost of Living [excerpt],
Corruption (california spot))
vs Stevenson-Kefauver (
How's that again, General?,
The Man from Libertyville [same annoying intro], Ad-lee, Ad-lie).
Bonus: Election Day newsreel, including a santa Claus arriving in a flying saucer;
Eisenhower, Suez, and hungary in 1956.
[more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet
on Aug 22, 2008 -
46 comments
"We have the chance to accomplish two other things: to provide a model for what a truly sincere, forthright, and courageous Presidential candidate might look like, and to demonstrate how desperate America’s voters are to see one."
Jesus in 2008!
posted by not_on_display
on Feb 11, 2008 -
21 comments
Glassbooth connects you to the presidential candidate that represents your beliefs the best. Too busy/lazy/etc. to research the candidates on your own? Let web 2.0 tell you who to vote for.
posted by allkindsoftime
on Nov 2, 2007 -
83 comments
The National Journal opened its
Political Stock Exchange site this week, creating a free, play-money version of the various political market sites. New users get $10,000 in virtual money to bid on real-life options, including all Senate races, the first round of primaries, potential VP selections, and the margin of Bush's approval rating by the end of the year.
posted by XQUZYPHYR
on Sep 20, 2007 -
17 comments
Hillary Clinton as Lisa Simpson!? Not sure if I put my finger on it, but that's my impression reading some excerpts from letters Hillary Clinton wrote to a high school friend whilst in college. I've been entertaining Barack Obama as Lincoln --
an impression he's
actively cultivated (so,
another Simpsons tie-in :) -- and I welcome
uncanned glimpses into candidates' formative years to get a better idea of their 'character' (as if they're running on character and 'bio') so it was great to read her reminisce on her childhood: "I'd play out in the patch of sunlight that broke the density of the elms in front of our house and pretend there were
heavenly movie cameras watching my every move."
posted by kliuless
on Jul 29, 2007 -
42 comments
Network Hosting Attorney Scandal E-Mails Also Hosted Ohio's 2004 Election Results --
...more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website -- which gave the world the presidential election results -- was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's firing of eight federal prosecutors. ...
posted by amberglow
on Apr 23, 2007 -
66 comments
Draft Gore. He has participated in a lampoon of his
defeat, has at least one web
forum devoted to what might have been and may yet be, has his own
web site, his own
Wiki page, is an
Academy Award winner, is encouraged to run by at least one major
newspaper
, and has numerous web sites devoted to encouraging him to
run.
His competion?
Jeb Bush, (if there is any justice in this world, please let it be the Jeb miester),
Rudy Giuliani, and
John McCain.
I predict a landslide of unprecedented proportions.
Metafilter
before .
posted by altman
on Mar 6, 2007 -
88 comments
How Bush Did It "A team of
Newsweek reporters unveils the untold fears, secret battles and private emotions behind a historic election." An in-depth series of behind-the-scenes articles.
[via Salon 's War Room, which also says Bush's bulge was a bulletproof vest.]
posted by kirkaracha
on Nov 4, 2004 -
55 comments
Bush's National Guard File Missing Records Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush (news - web sites)'s Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts.
For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills.
No such records have been made public...
posted by Postroad
on Sep 5, 2004 -
17 comments
John McCain is open to running with Kerry. Is a Kerry and McCain a ticket combination that keeps President Bush up at night? McCain could help Kerry and the Democrats bring in a sizeable chunk of the important
"Nascar Dad" vote that is key to this election.
Expect big overtures from the Bush team towards McCain including the possibility of a
Bush and McCain ticket. McCain's decision may rest on any lingering resentment over the 2000 Republican presidentialcampaign, particularly the dirty tricks the Bush campaign pulled in
South Carolina. Stay tuned.
posted by thedailygrowl
on Mar 10, 2004 -
35 comments