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I agree with you Savannah on the clear liberal sway seen on the internet today, I believe this shows an interesting trend for the future of our politics. I also look forward to changing technology and seeing how politics will adapt to the new things that will come into our lives in the future.

I think you're spot on Savannah with your comment that the internet sways liberal because of the younger people. We had a speaker come into Urban this past week to talk about some campaigning strategies. In his company, they used targeted mailing to campaign but we got to a discussion about media. He made a good point that the people who are following Obama or Romney on twitter, fb etc. are likely affiliated with that party already. I have so much to do online and it's already distracting. So I know for me, I don't really seek out political "tweets" and what not so it doesn't really lure me in.

I as well am not really lured by political advertising on the internet, I may notice, but not to the extent where I would change my vote or consider a different candidate. I do agree though that the media had more of an impact in the 2008 election, but because it was such a different election from what America was use to.

This is an interesting point. When thinking of what Danielle brought up, that the internet is more a place where already-passionate liberals and conservatives express themselves (rather than a place where parties try to advertise their beliefs), I see that the question changes from "can the internet persuade an individual to like a certain party" to "what is the power of the internet in terms of political advantage". By this I mean that, if the internet does sway to the left, does this affect society? Who benefits from having a similar political view to that of the internet? Is the older generation who might be more conservative being left out in any way?

I think, that with the economy the way it is coupled with the lack of enthusiasm for either candidates, donators and contributors are not as inclined to give money to the campaigns of politicians. I also believe that donations will not (would not have) matter(ed) very much, especially relative to the money that the campaigns already amassed.

It seems very strange to me that someone would donate to both campaigns; if I couldn't decide I would donate to neither. In response to Danielle's question, it seems to me that money could still make a difference. Ads are a huge part of why people vote for who they do, and you need money to buy ads.

I definitely think it's a issue. I don't know if there is a good solution to it but it's definitely something to be considered.

Eli, what part of the article did you find subjective/biased? I thought it gave a relatively neutral overview of the messages from his convention speech.

I, too, found the article somewhat subjective in the tone of the writing. As far as the content goes, it was interesting how so much of the election campaigns are based on the people's ignorance or unawareness. For example, Romney referring to our current economy as the "Obama economy", even though it is not the direct result of Obama's economical beliefs/plans, is effective through its inaccuracy because many people listening to his speech are probably unaware of how the economy got to where it is today.

This article does a good job of pointing out the disappointment that many Americans are probably feelings towards the government, but I agree with Eli that the tone is very Liberal. This was especially apparent in phrases like this one: " the GOP convention showed how broadly Republican leaders and delegates loathe the president". I also liked the point that you can like someone personally and still disagree with them politically-this is an email that comes up a lot in Democratic speeches. It was also interesting to read about whether Romney is running as a business man or a governor.

This article helped me go more in depth into Romney's speech as it analyzed what he was trying to say. The article brought into focus how all of Romney's key points are directly against what Obama has done so far as well as what Obama plans to do in the future.

I'm wondering how effective knocking on people's doors in the hopes of persuading them towards a particular candidate can be. This strategy seems ineffective from how I imagine the conversation going, if a person even gets a door opened. Also, how I'm curious how many people in Ohio participate in the election?

Battling for voters' attention is extremely difficult, especially when the two candidates seem to be saying exactly opposite things. And, in a case like this, money can talk, and the Republicans are funded by a lot of wealthy groups. It seems so frustrating to me that money plays such a huge factor in how people vote, but it some cases, money can demonstrate popular opinion. The more donations a campaign receives, the more money people are willing to invest in that candidate.

I thought this article summarized pretty much how I felt about the debate. They both did a good job and were fairly evenly matched but in my opinion, Biden may have done just a tiny bit better. That being said the poll asking people who they thought won (taken of the people who watched the debate) confirmed my suspicion that many republican viewers thought Ryan did as well, if not better than Biden.

I thought Biden and Ryan's debate was completely different from the presidential debate. I know many democrats were disappointed in Obama's lack of critical response to Romney's points, arguing that he could have shot them all down easily and logically. Biden seemed to compensate for that completely, making Ryan seem like he didn't really know what he was talking about. What I thought was interesting about this debate, though, was that who won seems completely subjective based on personality equally if not more than policy. Many might thing Ryan won because Biden was laughing in a perhaps rude way the whole time, while many might think Biden won because he deserved to laugh at Ryan for saying things that didn't entirely make sense. I think this almost has more to do with personality preference than policy preference because in our debate chat room, where most of us were democrats, there were arguments both that the laughing was rude and that the laughing was called for, passionate, and helpful in Biden's claim. Overall, Biden's casualness was a great contrast to the formal, almost scripted attitude of Ryan. This is why the debate seems to be so varied in public response, and to me, why it depends on what the individual listener wants to hear to decide who really won the debate.

In my opinion, Biden won, but it certainly wasn't a runaway like it was for Romney. I agree with you all that they were pretty evenly matched, and that a lot of who won is based on who you already like. I don't think that this debate will have a significant impact on the election.

I believe that Biden won for his ability to: connect to the viewers, shoot down all of Ryan's ideas, and emphasize all of the good things that have happened under his and Obama's office. Like Sabrina said, however, Biden did not blow away the competition like Romney did to Obama, but he did seem to do better than Ryan. Also, like Sabrina said, this debate won't mean much to the voters even though they did raise some policy issues.

Personally, this debate did mean something to me as a voter. It did not make me want to change my position or anything, but it did boost my confidence in my already-made choices. I am wondering if this has become more of the reasoning behind these debates, or if they are still created to make people decide on who they are voting for?

This article is very interesting because it shows you something you don't normally see and now that it has been revealed to you, you'll see it every time Romney or Obama give a speech. Now that I will look for these in speeches, I will hopefully be able to associate each different hand motion with a certain topic or idea given. This article will help me and those who read it to understand both candidate's speeches.

I loved this article Abby! I agree with James in that I will now be paying attention to these gestures. I found it interesting that Romney is thought to have a harder time seeming "personable" and "relatable" yet from what I saw, his gestures seem warmer than those of Obama. The article also mentioned this when they suggested Romney's gestures were "free-flowing". I wonder if Obama or Romney have any idea that they repeatedly make these motions, or if it's totally subconscious.

Wow this was super interesting, I as well noticed their gestures while the candidates debated. The gestures that stood out to me the most was the pointer because both of the candidates used this motion. Although they both use this gesture it means different for each. Obama's was more control and firm. To me it made him seem strong and confidant because it made him seem as if he was in control. Romney's movement was more relaxed which made me comfortable as well because he seemed calm and relaxed.

I do think it will have an effect on voters but in two different ways. I think for a lot of people they will opt out of voting because they have more immediate things on their minds. Or others, I think that in hard times people are grateful for bigger governments and it could potentially convince voters to vote for Obama rather than Romney.

I don't think that Hurricane Sandy will have a significant effect on voters in the states that were hit. Sure there will be some people who simply can't get to voting machines or voting machines won't be working in their area but these people won't have a significant effect on the outcome of the election. It seems that the states hit by this hurricane have really stepped up in figuring out new ways for the people living in their states to vote. For example I read that a state, I believe it to be New Jersey, created an email ballet to make it convient for those people who can't reach a working polling machine to vote.

James, I guess my question was more based on the politics of the natural disaster, like FEMA aid or Christie's response.

I want to go off of Abby's point in that I also think people feel safer with larger governments in times of natural disasters. But I don't necessarily think people will change their votes after Hurricane Sandy. I also think it's important to remember that (at least I think/hope) any President would take a step back during these disasters and stop campaigning to focus on the people in need. But sure, Governor Christie's praise for Obama is a nice reminder that at the end of the day, both republicans and democrats have similar values.

Romney is a prime example of his religion shooting his logic in the face. He needs to start getting more libertarian or just accept that he needs to leave religion out of politics. If every child deserves a mother and a father, why do we allow single parents to adopt or single mothers to raise their children? I'm sure that you know more same-sex families up in Haight-Ashbury than I do down here in a conservative Atlanta neighborhood, and gay rights just seems so unquestionable, but it sickens me that I have friends that question gay rights, because 'it is against the bible'. For instance, I hosted a summer camp for young girls this summer and some parents were turned off by the fact that I invited a girl with two moms, even though the girl was super sweet and well-behaved. We even had a girl leave our school after coming out in 8th grade because of bullying and depression because of how intrinsically tied religion has become in this issue. I think that this is absolutely ridiculous and that gay marriage rights are completely constitutional. While it may be against the bible and Joseph Smith, it isn't against the constitution and people need to recognize that. In 40 years, they are going to look like white supremacists standing outside of voting booths and I hate that. This is one thing that I absolutely can't stand about the republican party.

To the republican party I wonder if Romney's religion is an issue or not? To me most republicans tend to be christian and Romney is not. I know that much of conservatives values are based on the christian religion. I mean I am not expert on christian or morman religion, but I assume that there are definitely differences. I also agree that Romney's opening quote on the site contradicts himself. HE NEEDS TO BE MORE CLEAR!

The quote on the top does seem contradictory and confuses me on what Romney actually believes. I'm with you Sabrina that his "every child deserves a father and mother" does not indicate if a child's home will be healthy and this isn't often realistic with divorce and what not. Sort of a side-note but I heard that the Common App used to have "mother" and "father" rather than "parent 1" and "parent 2" for the information section but it has changed in the past 5 years I think. For me, I don't understand why marriage can be controlled by the government in general.