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cody s

Barack Obama can fight political gridlock by following the example of Abraham Lincoln a... - 1 views

www.slate.com/...ng_the_example_of_abraham.html

barack obama obama bipartisanship grudlock

shared by cody s on 11 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • cody s on 11 Nov 12
     
    This article speaks to a theme that we've seen before in this group - the idea that Obama's second term could be one of bipartisanship and efficiency. There are a bunch of factors that contribute to this theory, and this article speaks to one in particular - the idea that if the GOP fractures after this loss (which seems easily possible) Obama can align himself with some of the less obstructionist members of the GOP to have a productive term. The article argues that Abe Lincoln and FDR did the same thing in their days. It's a good read.
  • mabel taylor on 11 Nov 12
     
    This is a really interesting article and I agree that this is a consistent subject area in our discussions - the idea that Obama could possibly move past the hindrances of his first term, dealing with severe partisanship and maybe also beginning to tackle the areas he ignored to avoid controversy (like the environment) is pretty exciting.
mabel taylor

New York Times Endorsements Through the Ages - 5 views

www.nytimes.com/...tial-endorsement-timeline.html

shared by mabel taylor on 29 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • mabel taylor on 29 Oct 12
     
    We have spent a lot of time on this group talking about the bias of particular news-sources, particularly the New York Times. It is interesting to look at more straight-forward endorsements that the paper makes and go back through history to see who else the paper has supported, seeing the first endorsement of Lincoln to their current one for Obama is particularly astounding, considering how often Obama references Lincoln in his speeches. Though most papers try to maintain some bipartisanship, when they do make their political allegiances clear they send a powerful message. I wonder how much influence their endorsements make, especially if they are already a left-leaning or heavily conservative paper and their readership is similarly aligned. But with a paper as widespread and respected as the New York Times, I am sure it has some influence on undecided voters.
  • ...3 more comments...
  • Jonah Schacter on 30 Oct 12
     
    In the greater scheme of things I do not really know how much impact a newspaper will have by endorsing a candidate, even if it is the New York Times. With the NYTimes most people probably read knowing what kind of content they will be taking in. I just don't think that the vast majority people are going vote for someone because of a newspaper endorsement. Why would a news organization endorse a candidate when the purpose of a news organization is to report the news and give an unbiased report. Sadly that is not true and most news is slanted one way or the other.
  • John West on 04 Nov 12
     
    First of all, this is awesome. I'd like to see one that lines up all of the major outlets that typically make endorsements next to one another. Looking at the row of boxes at the top of graphic is particularly compelling to me: it is a really clear demonstration of "political allegiances" by the New York Times (voting for the Democrat candidate for the past ~50 years), which I suppose shows a consistency in the political thought of the news source over time. It's nice to see them vote for the candidate who they agree with, not for the one who is likely to win as they might be tempted to (they endorsed Mondale, for instance, in the year he lost in 49 states). Seeing all of their endorsements lined up is a pretty clear reminder of the partisan bias that the New York Times represents, like Jonah said. As far as the question of influence goes, I imagine the NYTimes endorsement carrying more weight than most: like you said, Mabel, they have a massive readership, and one that widely (and I believe incorrectly) treats the paper like the unbiased, end-all, definitive source of news.
  • cody s on 08 Nov 12
     
    This is an interesting demonstration of media bias. I feel like when an endorsement matters is when a news source breaks with its traditional bias, such as the Economist's endorsement of Obama this time around. I know that that endorsement really affected my opinion, largely because it came from right-leaning magazine. I feel like by being on a 60+ year streak of endorsing Democrats, the NYtimes kind of invalidates its endorsement. It's kind of a bummer to me that a newspaper that I have a lot of respect for seems always to endorse along party lines.
  • Anna Schutte on 09 Nov 12
     
    I wonder as I look through the changing parties in the endorsements how much it indicates changes in the Democratic and Republican parties and how much it reflects editorial changes. Early on the paper endorsed many Republicans and haven't for many years recently. It was particularly interesting to see how many times they endorsed candidates running against FDR. I would have imagined that the editors of today's paper would have endorsed him during each election.
  • Eli Melrod on 11 Nov 12
     
    Cody, I don't think it has much to do with "endorsing along party line" as it has to do with the fact that the editors for the NY times tend to be liberal. I don't think they are just like "oh, we'll support the Democrat." I'm sure it has more to do with the policies and beliefs of the candidates and those beliefs and policies that align with the NY Times tend to be Democratic candidates. I also don't mean to be foolish here, but it seems like liberal policies have worked for the most part. Whenever we here about another era in America, it always harkens back to times with bigger government, higher taxes.
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