Obama and McCain; Whats the Difference?

to my esteemed ATS Colleagues,

I have seen (it seems like) millions of threads about John McCain is bad because of this, or Barack Obama is bad because of this. Or you should vote for one guy, because the other is just evil.

While I understand these perspectives, I must put a simple question forward to all of my fellow ATSer's.

Do you Really Understand Politics?

I mean no disrespect; this topic is meant to be a positive post in what seems to be a very negative forum. But I really feel ATSer's are falling for the propaganda of the political machine. That said, Lets break down what I like to call "Basic Politics"

There are two differing tactics in politics; both play hand in hand in getting a candidate elected on a national level.

tactic 1: Highlight your issues, and Utilize your viewpoints as a draw to voters.

this is simple. Take your candidates political views, explain why these views are the best for America. Brief explanations of how the candidate will address this issue once and for all. It builds up momentum, and positive energy (I.e. all the Yes We Can! chanting at Barack Obama Rallies)

tactic 2: Attack your opponent from Every angle, their history, their business dealings, the black sheep of their family etc.

This has to be tied in after effective media coverage of your candidate. Once your candidates name is out there, you have to attack the other candidate; in the hopes that you can steal some of their votes. Basically, this tactic is what ensures most election wins. People are drawn to negativity. The same as people are drawn to watch two people injure each other with their fists, we also like to see two people injure each other with words.

Understanding this we can take the next step in politics.

The Majority determines ALL.

No matter what your candidates personal opinion on the issue, you must base their public perspective on what the majority of people believe. If not, you risk your candidate failing to the extent of being a joke in the political realm. This cannot occur as any future political runs for your candidate can be thrown out the window. Basically, you have to tell the people what they want to hear (read Lie) to win

Now, we have two tactics for spreading your message; and one tactic for determining your message.

As you can see, we are beginning to play a game. It is more a game of checkers then chess; Though the complexities of a rule-less game lead to many possibilities, and many intriguing outcomes.

just to further my point, Look at how politicians advertise. LUR, or Lowest Unit Rate, is a form of reserving advertising space. It is a bidding war between candidates for that time slot. Instead of reserving the slot at a slightly higher cost, the candidates are forced to bid back and forth; leading to more profit for these T.V. Advertisers. Those stations that make the most advertising money off of your candidate run the most 'News' coverage on your candidate.

The Media literally sells "news" coverage to the highest bidder.

As you can see, Politics is nothing but a big game.

Unless you personally know the candidate, you cannot determine whether or not they will be a good President. The only time one can truly determine whether or not a candidate will be a good president is after the candidate has taken office, and literally proven themselves under 'live-fire'. The responsibilities that come with this office are too extensive to base judgment on presumptive views.

You can form your opinions on the information you find, as any good citizen would; but you should not try to sway others with your OPINIONS!
This only hurts the Democratic process, and it plays right into their game of 'I'm better than that Moron is!'

In closing, I understand discussion of the issues, and even heated debates over these issues; but we really need to take a look at how we are acting in these political threads. It would shine a little more light on the ugly face of politics for us all.

Thanks for Reading; Though I have my Opinions, I just ask that every one of you that can go out and vote for who you feel is best. But leave the 2nd Tactic to the politicians. In the end we all have to live with the choice a majority of us will make!

Namaste,

Coven

reply to post by coven


I wish more people continuously thought that way...

Myself included.

It really is easy to get caught up in the "He's right, She's right" kind of political swaying, yet as you so eloquently stated, it really is all just our opinions..

Excellent...

Semper

No difference.

Obama = Would bomb Iran back to the stone age in heartbeat, if Ehud Olmert barked the orders to do so. Wants massive expansion of the State. Wants to expand welfare, and expansion of universal health care. Loves the Fed, and sees nothing wrong with inflating the money supply, to bail-out his buddies. Wants amnesty for illegals. Believes in spreading democracy to the rest of the world whether the rest of the world want it or not.

McCain = Would bomb Iran yesterday back to the stone age, if Olmert or any of his necon buddies barked the orders to do so. Also wants massive expansion of the State. Wants to expand welfare for the corporate elite, and expansion of universal health care. Loves the Fed, and sees nothing wrong with inflating the money supply, to bail-out his buddies. Wants amnesty for illegals. Believes in spreading democracy to the rest of the world whether the rest of the world wants it or not.

I equally despise them, both are neocons.

Being a Canadian, I cannot vote in your election but if I had to choose, I would choose McCain. If I had to narrow it down to one reason it would be his energy policy.

John McCain Will Put His Administration On Track To Construct 45 New Nuclear Power Plants By 2030 With The Ultimate Goal Of Eventually Constructing 100 New Plants. Nuclear power is a proven, zero-emission source of energy, and it is time we recommit to advancing our use of nuclear power. Currently, nuclear power produces 20% of our power, but the U.S. has not started construction on a new nuclear power plant in over 30 years. China, India and Russia have goals of building a combined total of over 100 new plants and we should be able to do the same. It is also critical that the U.S. be able to build the components for these plants and reactors within our country so that we are not dependent on foreign suppliers with long wait times to move forward with our nuclear plans.

Source

And also he is for drilling more oil. Your country is the only country in the world that is not driling off your coasts. China is drilling off your coast because it seems the democrats seem to think that using your resources within country is somehow backwards thinking.

In my opinion, democrats should rename their party to be a little more honest about who they are. At least in Canada the liberals call themselves the liberal party.

reply to post by semperfortis


I agree.

I have had a bad habit of blowing up in the past trying to defend my opinion on other topics in this thread. It sounds cheesy, but I have focused on maintaining a zen state of mind, as well as a positive frame of mind, recently; and I have had some very enlightening thoughts and creative processes.

I felt I should share this flow with ATS because I am highly passionate about politics, and the changes that can come through politics. I call myself a democrat but at the same time I'm more of a moderate. Either way being involved in politics, I really do wish people would start learning about politics, and forming their own original opinions in their decision process. No matter who you vote for the key is to get out and vote for who you believe in.

Thanks for the comment semper; you know I truly respect you!

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Gateway,

In a sense I agree with what you are saying. However, I do fear you have bought into another form of propaganda. as I said above...

Unless you personally know the candidate, you cannot determine whether or not they will be a good President. The only time one can truly determine whether or not a candidate will be a good president is after the candidate has taken office, and literally proven themselves under 'live-fire'. The responsibilities that come with this office are too extensive to base judgment on presumptive views.

now, we can assume that Obama and McCain are both crap options, and do nothing. OR we can sit back for thirty minutes a day 3 times a weeks and thoroughly research all of the candidates. We may not like what we see, but It is better to be proactive, choosing in your opinion "the lesser of two evils", as opposed to choosing inactivity, and complaining over the results as a recourse. Please don't take offense. But do you have a candidate you like?

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Cool Hand Luke,

Thanks for you Input!

I agree our energy policies are all discombobulated, BUT we need to be focused on Alternative Energy; Not finding more sources for Oil. If we can cut our dependence on Oil by 30% we can reduce the cost drastically. This can easily be done by using Alternative Fuels; some of which are readily available now. But I digress, you have every right to your opinion, and It is cool to know our neighbors to the north do care about our politics. Now if only I could somehow get my fellow countrymen as interested in our political process.




Thanks all,

Coven

This is why anyone who has half a brain votes third party.

Nader 08

reply to post by coven


Very simply - MONEY