(Written for KALW radio request to speak about the youth perspective on the elections.)
I’m a hot commodity in these presidential elections. And if you’re under 30, you are too. It doesn’t matter that you’ve never picked up a newspaper and I’m a journalism student. We’re practically the same person.
That is, according to the media [...]
Monthly Archives: March 2008
“Do I Know You?” Characterizing the Youth Vote
March 18, 2008
The other youth revolution
March 18, 2008
So I’m told there’s a “youth revolution” happening this election. Its leaders can be found scrawling witty one-liners in chalk on steps and sidewalks of campuses nationwide, holding posterboard and chanting inspirational phrases, and, of course, glued to MTV’s Rock the Vote and Saturday Night Live in their dorm rooms. Apparently, I’m supposed [...]
The beneficiary of spectacular attacks in Iraq
March 17, 2008
Despite the Republican presidential candidate’s assertions, in the event of a terrorist threat of attack, the only beneficiary among the three remaining candidates is John McCain alone.
On Friday, McCain said that “Al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against me.” This is a [...]
The race card
March 12, 2008
First, it was Peggy Noonan. Now, it’s Geraldine Ferraro. What is it with white women using the race card to demean Barack Obama’s candidacy?
Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket with Walter Mondale — the first and only woman to ever hold a VP bid — said this to a Torrance, [...]
Dems Need Florida
March 12, 2008
While Sen. Obama was increasing his lead in the delegate race Tuesday night in Mississippi, Democrats were digging trenches over what to do with Florida.
A headline on the New York Times website read: “Democrats in Florida Are Near Plan for New Vote.”
According to the article, Florida Democrats were outlining plans to give the state a [...]
The election on blog in Farsi
March 10, 2008
The enthusiasm about the 2008 presidential election does not end at the U.S. borders.Because of the Internet and satellite dishes, millions of people outside the country follow the tight marathon that might take the United States in a new direction in November.
Since I’ve started blogging on presidential elections in the United States on my Farsi [...]
Education and the youth vote
March 9, 2008
It’s a question my parents, grandparents and teachers have been asking me for years. Why don’t young people vote?
And then the Iowa caucuses arrived. Record turnout of young people delivered the state to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and suddenly, the question from my elders changed.
“Why Obama?” they asked. Is it his age? Is it [...]
Talking Politics with Grandma
March 9, 2008
Sometime between the banter about Georgia weather and a riveting discussion on the redeeming qualities of lettuce, it hit me. My grandmother and I were talking politics.
And not just the “our country is in a mess” rhetoric. We were analyzing candidates as this 80-year-old Southern woman articulately explained NAFTA to me. She even knew the [...]
McCain Uses the Fear Factor in Earning His Votes
March 3, 2008
During the past few months, Senator McCain has been the only presidential candidate to defend the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, in response to fear that Iran will destabilize Iraq after their departure. But the truth is that despite all the accusations by U.S. officials of Iran’s involvement in insurgency in Iraq, there has [...]
The Next Power Block
March 2, 2008
Forget 2008 and courting the Latino vote. When elections came around again in two years, the knock out vote will come from the country’s growing number of….Indians.
Asian Indians, as the census refers to this ethnic group, are steadily increasing, not only in number but in prestige, financial power and political involvement. Take for example one [...]
