I think the youth vote this time around will be significantly weaker. Going to hurt Obama. Its just more of the same thing.
Didnt we hear that same speech 4 years ago? But instead of him bringing change to Washington, apparently we are the change.
Yeah. well, he has to give the same speech because he really didn't fix much. total pandering speech. people are sick of him.
Wouldn't Bin Laden answer that he's better off, though? According to his belief system, he's in Paradise surrounded by 72 virgins instead of a shithole concrete house in Abbottabad.
You said that Reagan inherited a worse situation than Obama did, I asked why, and you answered The only mention in that article about what Reagan inherited claims that he inherited a 1969-82 recession. That would put the blame on Nixon. Again blaming Nixon, it says that early in Reagan's term, This is the best you can do to back up your unprecedented assertion that Reagan inherited bigger economic problems than Obama did? We're not even considering the noneconomic problems, a couple of raging wars.
The economy has been fucked ever since we left the gold standard. Even a modest inflation rate means an ever increasing tax on the economy to the point where people need pay raises just to be able to maintain their previous standard of living. The middle class cannot help but diminish over time if anything less than 100% of everyone gets (at least) the required raises to keep up with inflation. Big govt. compounds this by needing more tax revenue to cover the cost of inflation priced entitlement programs. Three consecutive presidents - Nixon, Ford, and Carter - all struggled to deal with three key elements of the economy: inflation, interest rates, and unemployment. No matter what the first two (Nixon, Ford) did via govt. policy, they could not control all three. Carter's policies could not control any of the three, and in his own words described his economy as "days of malaise." By the time Reagan became president, we had double digit inflation (13.5%), double digit interest rates (20%), and unemployment approaching double digits (7.5%, up from 5.6% in 1979). These are the types of numbers you see in a 3rd world nation, not a 1st rate nation like the USA. To boot, the high interest rates led to numerous bank and S&L failures - to the tune of near $1B in FDIC bailout expenses. When I was a much younger man, making a $16,000 a year salary and starting a family, we saved up $2500 to use as down payment buy a $50,000 house. This was in 1982 or 1983. When we applied for our mortgage, the interest rate was 18.75%. In order to keep up with inflation, I'd have to get my employer to give me a 13.5% raise - something that was tough for my employer to do because they were faced with the severity of the bad economy as well (increasing energy prices, debt financing costs, etc.). And even if I did get that 13.5% raise, there were so many tax brackets back then that the 13.5% raise would have bumped me up a tax bracket or two and the increased taxes would make that 13.5% into something much less. There may not have been any raging "hot" wars, but there was a raging Cold War. The Russians had invaded Afghanistan and were occupying it (Carter boycotted the olympics in 1980 over it). The Iranians held americans hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran. So what did Reagan inherit? Recession - check. In fact, a worse recession than the one Obama inherited. Banking crisis - check. Rapidly rising unemployment rate - check. Rapidly rising inflation - check. Rapidly rising interest rates - check.
[video=youtube;EKux363Dg64]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKux363Dg64[/video] 462 likes / 4,327 dislikes
She was playing to the crowd, not the TV audience. She looks like an idiot (and I think she is), but sometimes what works in an arena doesn't work on television. It worked to get the crowd excited, then again, so did Howard Dean's scream.
I think she's easy to mock, but I'm going to take a pass because I think she went out to accomplish a specific task (one not aimed at the television audience) and did so. There is also a tradition--which I do not like--of mocking women who get shrill when they raise their voices. That's a physical issue, not an emotional one. Margaret Thatcher was mercillessly ridiculed for how high her voice used to get during spirited debates in the House of Commons.
That video is the top story on Drudge Report. The like/dislike ratings is more of a reflection of those viewers clicking the link and watching the video. http://drudgereport.com/
Easily the best moment of either convention: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-ga...s-the-pledge-of-allegiance-at-dnc-convention/
If he's lost Michael Tomasky, then he has real problems: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/07/obama-a-pedestrian-and-overconfident-speech.html
If that was her role, then maybe it was effective. But in these days where everything is put on youtube or internet media, you almost have to be aware of how it will come across on video. I think some can play a crowd and appear good on video . . . I keep going back to Palin because say what you want, she can deliver a speech. And the current godfather of speeches that can play to a crowd and video . . . William Jefferson Clinton
Why did the camera focus on somebody holding a "Ford" sign? Ford didn't go the GM route. Anyhow, that speech and Granholm's mannerisms are tailor-made for a SNL skit.
That was a great moment, although I'd say the best moments for both conventions were their closing gavels. Man I'm glad those things are over.
