The US Presidential elections 2008 are historic in many ways – A black man had to beat a woman to claim the nomination of his party, the campaigns already spent more than a billion dollar to persuade voters, the final month of the election coincides with the collapse of the credit markets and the global economic system is threatened in its entirety.
Also, this election is increasingly fought out not on the TV screen or in newspaper editorials and op-eds, but on the Internet – which adds another historic element. German journalist Tobias Moorstedt has travelled the US to find out more about this development and the changes, challenges and criticisms digital campaigns evoke. He touches on all of these questions in his new book and in the following interview with tapmag (you can also read the interview in German on my private blog).
Liberal college-towns favorite filmmaker Michael Moore will make his newest movie “Slacker Uprising” available online for free. The documentary – it’s Michael Moore, what else would it be – follows him on a 62-city tour of the swing states during the 2004 Presidential election and showcases all the excitement and insanity a US Presidential election brings about.
The latest quirk on the internet, which touches upon a serious issue.
Since some might not consider a sewage plant the appropriate public service institution to be named after a former president of the United States, here comes another idea: The George W. Bush Library.
Its focus, of course, will be an educational one (which is why no books about sex are allowed). But what will you find there? See for yourself after the jump.
Here are the words which John McCain and Barack Obama used most frequently in their acceptance speeches they delivered at their party’s conventions. Draw your own conclusions (but be so nice and tell us about them in the comments).
John McCain
Barack Obama
The wordclouds were created with the help of wordle.net.
At eleven forty the crowd slowly becomes bored and people start to entertain themselves. They rythmically shout, “Yes, we can! Yes, we can!” An interpreter for the hearing-impaired is still on stage, who raptly joins in. She clenches her right fist to nod with it, brings it to her chest with her index finger out, then clenches both fists and stems them toward the ground – Yes, we can! Back and forth, the crowd and the little woman in a summer dress are firing each other up; all just to lure him, the Democratic Presidential Nominee, savior and general hopeful on to the stage. To no avail. Barack Obama sets his own timetable.
In the US, every little district has several public positions which are filled by electing candidates. So you want to be elected Judge, County Commissioner or Sheriff in your community? Drawing from my intimate knowledge of local elections from a recent internship at the Democratic Party Office in a county in Michigan, here is what you need to know to start canvassing.
Click here to find out who Barack Obama has chosen as his running mate, and here for some additional detail and background information. McCain is set to announce his running mate shortly, too.
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