MetaFilter posts tagged with election2008

I, for one, welcome our new lizard people overlords.

nathan_teske — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:02:38 -0800

Minnesota's recount of the Senate race between incumbent Norm Coleman (R) and challenger Al Franken (D) began yesterday. Some results are already being reported. One unintended consequence of the recount is the exposure of a shocking write-in challenger: Lizard People.

Hillary Clinton to accept Obama's offer of secretary of state job

defenestration — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:50:05 -0800

Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.

Palin & Africa Redux

lalochezia — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:42:03 -0800

A false expert and phony think tank fool bloggers and the mainstream news media. The status of Sarah Palin's pre-election knowledge of Africa's continenthood can now be placed from the Not-knowing back into the Unknown category.

"Just don’t call this blog entry a deconstruction."

defenestration — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:27:22 -0800

It was a dark and stormy campaign... A film theorist's thoughts on the narratives of Barack Obama and John McCain. This was published before the election, but I only just found it. Although the votes have been cast, and new narratives are forming, this is still certainly worth a look.

Hello, Governor Palin?

spiderwire — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:46:18 -0800

Governor Palin gets prank called. "Like we say in France, [we could go kill some baby seals]." Governor Palin is mildly amused.

Chicago Tribune Endorses First Democratic Nominee in 161-Year History

WCityMike — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:35:14 -0800

The Chicago Tribune has been a bastion of Republican endorsements, having consistently endorsed every single Republican presidential nominee since it was founded in 1847. One of its earliest managing editors, Joseph Medill, was a founder of the Republican Party. Today, it endorsed its first Democratic presidential candidate in its 161-year history. And it certainly did not do so halfheartedly. "On Nov. 4 we're going to elect a president to lead us through a perilous time and restore in us a common sense of national purpose. The strongest candidate to do that is Sen. Barack Obama. The Tribune is proud to endorse him today for president of the United States. [...] "On Dec. 6, 2006, this page encouraged Obama to join the presidential campaign. We wrote that he would celebrate our common values instead of exaggerate our differences. We said he would raise the tone of the campaign. We said his intellectual depth would sharpen the policy debate. In the ensuing 22 months he has done just that. [...] "We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready."

Elections are fun!

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:49:54 -0800

Welcome to The Sacramento County Republican Party. The official website has removed content calling for Obama to be waterboarded. But it still contains fake quotes supposedly from Obama's memoir. In this political climate, 33% of voters do not identify Obama as Christian, and 8% believe he is Muslim. Yet, the polls predict a landslide, hinted at by early voting. McCain needs something spectacular, and he may be regretting his decision to invoke Bill Ayers in tonight's debate; and perhaps other things.

Bringing Change You Can Believe In to Xbox 360

Ironmouth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:19:46 -0800

Obama Advertising in Video Games Obama campaigning in XBox 360's Burnout Paradise. Although Mark Warner did it first with his video appearance in Second Life, Senator Obama has gone one step further and is advertising on Xbox 360. Obama is campaigning on the Electronic Arts/Criterion Games Burnout Paradise, EA's improbably named spokesperson Holly Rockwood has confirmed. But does his advertising go counter to his message? Indeed, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency told Americans to "turn off the television set, and put the video games away,” in order to improve America's youth.

Town Meeting! Town Meeting!

shiu mai baby — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:10:25 -0800

Ah, the town-hall debate. Where Joe Sixpack and Jane Chardonnay can have their chance to ask a presidential candidate just about anything. Of course, such an open format can sometimes lead to uncomfortable moments for a candidate (although tonight might not have such fireworks). First proposed by then-Governor Clinton in the 1992 campaign, the town-hall format has since become a staple of the political season, and its observers witnessing some of the most memorable campaign moments. That second debate of the Clinton-Bush season featured an exasperated George Sr. checking his watch at one point, a throwaway action that was not well-received by the public. The 2000 Bush-Gore debate saw Dubyah trotting out his now-infamous “We need a uniter, not a divider” trope. On the surface, McCain would seem to have an edge this evening, having appeared at hundreds of town hall meetings on the trail. But given the recent economic meltdown and the conversational nature of the town-hall format, he’s going to have a tough time going negative against his opponent. More reading: “What to Watch for During Round 2.” If you’re in Tennessee, hoping to attend the debate at Belmont University, you’re probably out of luck; the audience will be made up of 150 self-proclaimed “undecided” voters, hand-selected by the Gallup Organization, and tickets have been unavailable for months. Is tonight’s debate likely to be a game-changer? Probably not. But we’ll be watching all the same.

The Great Schlep

tristeza — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:34:58 -0800

The Great Schlep. Sarah Silverman explains why you should get your fat Jewish ass on a plane to Florida to convince your grandparents to vote for Obama.

Terrorist fist bump!

Artw — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:05:02 -0800

Mock the Vote: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert interviewed.

Ron Paul rejects your entire mana-based monetary system!

casarkos — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:03:59 -0800

Magic: The Election . Part 2. Presented in the grand tradition of Katrina: The Gathering.

Palin, pancakes, and the straight talk express

madamjujujive — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:32:30 -0800

Have the wheels come off the straight talk express? At least one sleeping giant woke up today: the NYT finally gives Sarah Palin a thorough vetting and the results aren't pretty. The McCain campaign's aggressive - and many say dishonest - tactics in promoting Palin may have sparked the beginnings of a media backlash. Camp McCain's reaction: We don't care and intend to stay on offense. And about that offense, they will soon have some help: Group With Swift Boat Alumni Readies Ads Attacking Obama. How low will things go? At this week's Values Voters Summit, 'Obama Waffles' with racial stereotypes were all the rage.

Sarah Palin as McCain's running-mate

HaloMan — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:52:01 -0800

Fox, the BBC and CNN have all revealed that Republican US presidential candidate John McCain has picked Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate on his 72nd birthday on the eve of the start of Republican National Convention. Despite being wildly popular in Alaska, Palin has recently been involved in an investigation over whether she dismissed a public safety commissioner because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law.

Obama nominated by acclimation after all

FlyingMonkey — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:14:17 -0800

In Historic Vote, Obama Officially Claims Democratic Nomination (Washington Post) With a theatrical flourish, the roll call vote was rushed to allow Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to suspend the vote and "in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory," declare Obama the nominee by aclaimation. "Let's declare with one voice that Barack Obama is our candidate," Clinton said to thunderous applause.

The Kid Is Not My [Daughter].

Slap Factory — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:31:49 -0800

John Edwards admits affair with campaign staffer. John Edwards did not father a love-child by Rielle Hunter, a 42 year-old campaign videographer. That was Andrew Young, a married Edwards campaign staffer. Edwards has not taken a paternity test, but he says that the timing of his own affair with Ms. Hunter rules out the possibility that he is the father. There had been reports about the affair for some time, but Edwards dismissed them as "tabloid trash." With a few exceptions (including the tabloids), the media basically laid off the story.

Doesn't everyone exaggerate the size of Lake Ontario?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:40:26 -0800

Humorist and candidate for the US Senate for Minnesota Al Franken draws a map of the United States from memory.

The story of the Democratic primaries so far, boiled down to seven minutes.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:10:22 -0800

The Democratic Primary Season in 7 Minutes.

Also, make sure to bring a number two pencil

Rhaomi — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:26:22 -0800

Something is rotten in the state of ~~Denmark~~ California. The California-based Courage Campaign is making noises about voter disenfranchisement in the Los Angeles area. For the 776,774 ~~independent~~ "Decline To State" voters in the primary there, casting a ballot for a Democratic nominee is a bit more difficult than you'd think would be necessary (the Republican primary is (un?)fortunately closed to independents). These "DTS" voters must request a Democratic Party ballot (as opposed to a generic nonpartisan one without a section for the Presidency), and then (somewhat redundantly) fill a bubble at the top of that ballot reiterating their intent to participate in the Democratic primary. Sounds simple enough. But the average voter has been confounded by less than simple procedures before. In spite of the potential for confusion, the local board of registrars has made the brilliant decision to have the scanning machines invalidate all ballots that do not have that extra bubble filled in -- without informing the voter of the mistake. Furthermore, poll workers will not be required to inform DTS voters of their right to a Democratic ticket unless asked, a policy which State Senator Dean Florez said "violates the spirit of the law" in a stern letter (scroll down to read) to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. While the issue at first glance seems purely local, the effects of any disenfranchisement will have great influence on Tuesday's results. It is common knowledge that independents are drawn to Barack Obama's campaign, and with them locked out of supporting John McCain in the state's closed GOP primary, he was counting on their turnout to help top Hillary Clinton's erstwhile formidable lead. With the ballot issue threatening that support, the campaign was quick to explain the problem. And for good reason -- the three quarters of a million DTS voters in Los Angeles amount to three-fourths of the votes cast in the all the Democratic primaries to date. Their influence can easily sway California, which itself will sway the media narrative coming out of Super Tuesday. For its part, the aforementioned Courage Campaign is hard at work spreading awareness with websites, (minor) celebrity radio ads, and cheesy YouTube skits. Here's hoping their efforts pay off, and that we can finally get through an election -- even one as crucial as SupercalifragalisticexpialaTuesday -- without an intractable struggle for recounts and justice.

Make your own attack ad

CunningLinguist — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:46:38 -0800

Make your own attack ad. The Democratic party is uploading all its "tracker" videos of the top Republican candidates out on the campaign trail, for use by anyone for anything. "The party hopes that thousands of eyes might find something the mainstream media has missed, or that a new way of juxtaposing the video with something else will be revealing about the candidates," says the NYT. Gimmick or political sea change?

Shifting Demographics of Electorate

gandledorf — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:42:48 -0800

With President Bush hoping to make Hillary the democratic nominee so the Republicans will be ensured a victory, recent Republican decisions in the face of a huge demographic shift may be suggesting an electorate which leans further left in some traditional Republican strongholds. Are Bush's actions a last ditch attempt in the face of long term shift in the Democrats' favor?

The internet: taking the personality out of politics

nthdegx — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:21:57 -0800

Don't know which candidate to support in the 2008 election? Let a web script match a candidate to your views!

Edwards on Edwards

hermitosis — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:40:58 -0800

Elizabeth Edwards: the Salon interview. An earnest, candid conversation with one of the most interesting figures in the 2008 candidate cadre.

Good Thing He Didn't Become John McTubgirl

brownpau — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:53:09 -0800

McPwnd. Person in charge of John McCain's MySpace presence decides to use Mike Davidson's MySpace/CSS hack, but fails to credit Mike, and directly hotlinks his images. Result: "Today I announce that I have reversed my position and come out in full support of gay marriage ... particularly between passionate females." Oops. Remember, folks: hotlinks are bad.

Bill Richardson forms exploratory committee, nobody cares

russilwvong — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 14:01:23 -0800

Matthew Yglesias: Bill Richardson--former ambassador to the UN, former Energy Secretary, and current governor of New Mexico--is "clearly more qualified for the White House than anyone else in the race," so why isn't anyone paying attention to his candidacy? Includes link to a recent speech by Richardson on foreign policy at CSIS.