Topic: Politics
As another election approaches, a politicized debate is raging about voter fraud and voter suppression, in which neither side can agree on the nature of the problem. Susan Q. Stranahan reports that the real question remains unanswered: Are the systemic problems of the last two presidential elections likely to recur when the presumptive nominees, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, square off in November?
Rick Falkvinge is a Swedish politician who recently founded a new party. Its values include freedom, upholding laws, and rights to privacy. These may sound like safe and just laws - things that are constant and don't need defending; so what's jeopardizing them? According to Falkvinge, that would be copyrights and patents.
While the female vote has always been important in modern elections, the 2008 Presidential candidates have found women to be an electoral hot commodity. Given that polls find many to be both independent and undecided, both sides must find ways to sway them. Charles Lane, PRX Election Curator, presents some speech examples from John McCain and Barack Obama, as well as Susan Kottler's review of the 2008 Presidential Bake-Off Cookies.
In this second installment covering the Center for Public Integrity's report on campaign spending, Sara Fritz, a veteran journalist who helped pioneer the campaign finance beat, discusses Section 527 groups and other independent organizations, who spend millions of dollars on advertisements and other election activities.
On the last day of the Presidential primaries, John McCain spoke to a group of supporters in New Orleans. The speech was widely criticized in the media as illustrating how unfamiliar McCain seemed to be with delivering prepared remarks, even after being a Representative and Senator for 26 years. Charles Lane, '08 Conversations Host and PRX.org Curator, presents a fascinating comparison between McCain's awkward comments and Barack Obama's more natural manner of speaking.
During past few years we have witnessed a drastic reduction in competition for network services in the US. David Isenberg, author of the essay "The Rise of the Stupid Network", a paper that shook the telecom world in 1997 and continues to have an impact today, puts the blame squarely on decisions made in Washington DC. This short but pointed talk discusses how this trend is likely to stifle future innovation if it isn't stopped, and what can be done about it.
Today, running for the nation's highest office has become so costly that by the time the November election rolls around total presidential campaign spending will, in all likelihood, easily exceed $1 billion for the first time in history. Jules Witcover is featured in this first part of a series from the Center for Public Integrity. He answers questions for anyone who's wondered why politicians are allowed to raise and spend money without revealing where their funds are coming from or where they are going.
Months went by after John Edwards dropped his bid for president. Clinton wooed, Obama wooed. And still the populist kept quiet. For all the anticipation, when Edwards finally endorsed Obama last week in Michigan, he omitted the key phrase: "I endorse". Only later does Edwards state matter-of-factly that Obama will be the next president. In the end, the Obama campaign never issued a press release using the words endorse nor have all of Edwards' super delegates moved towards Obama.
Reconstruction of the electric grid in Iraq is seen as the most important project in that country. Over $60 billion have been pledged, but even three years after the end of the war, there is still a long ways to go. IEEE Spectrum executive editor Glenn Zorpette discusses the progress and challenges, both technological and political, facing the reconstruction effort there.
The loneliest Republican has to be Ron Paul. He has at least a million adoring fans, out fund-raised both McCain and Romney and holds Ronald Reagan up like a chalice. Yet he still can't get any love from the Republican party. In April, his supporters came out in droves to the Nevada state caucus. Brian Bahouth of Nevada Public Radio recorded the event, along with an interview the the Congressman.
