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I think I need to learn more about unions and how exactly they work to gain a better understanding of this article. It's interesting how important a state's votes can be in an election. Talking about the importance of winning over Ohio really stood out to me and how big of a deal that is. It's good that Obama's campaign is able to recognize that they will not raise as much money at Romney and are working to catch up on votes with other means.

I'd like to point out here that, while Restore Our Future--the conservative super PAC supporting Romney--has an expenditure quadrupling that of Priorities USA--the super PAC supporting Obama--the influence of corporations and wealthy independent donors has played a major role on both sides in this election [http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/superpacs.php].

It's so frustrating to me that campaigns seem to be all about money. Shouldn't they be about the candidates ideas?

I agree that it is frustrating how much a campaign is dependent on money but when I think about it, money is what gives candidates the ability to share their ideas with the most people. Whether or not something just as a TV commercial is more about a candidates ideas or solely bashing another candidiate, the advertisement is reaching a population who may not ordinarily have much interest in the election. Money is what enables candidates to travel around the nation to give speeches ect. So although it is extremely frustrating, money does play a crucial role in even just spreading the candidates ideas.

It frustrates me too. It seems that all of the money spent campaigning could go to something much more useful in our government. But I agree with you Abby that for many people, commercials and any media are some of the only exposure that people have to the current election, which is why they are so crucial.

This article offers a more conservative view of Obama's promises, past and present. It argues that while Obama is making plans for other aspects of the country, what he really needs to be focusing on is the economy.

I found this article really interesting. The part that stood out to me was how both Obama and Romney are saying that the other is making promises without a plan. This article definitely gave a different viewpoint than what I am used to and highlighted Obama's failure to keep promises while talking about how Obama is fighting to defend his progress and what he plans to do in the future.

What is frustrating about this article is that it speaks about how Obama made all these promises, but never completely went through with all of them. It's hard to make changes when you are coming into presidency with a messed up system. I think it would be interesting to see what Romney would have done if he were to have gone into presidency four years ago. Would he like Obama made all these promises and follow through?

this article lists each of the factors that are going to decide the last 2 months of the election, including money, debates, and swing states, all of which I expected. However, one factor that I didn't think about is Johnson's influence in the overall election. He seems to be gaining votes from republicans more than democrats, which could harm Romney more than I would have thought.

It's interesting to me that which candidate people vote for seems to have nothing to do with ideas or plans for the country, just how much advertising there is. Are people really this easily influenced by advertising? Also, it's funny that they have mock debates, Obama going against John Kerry as Romney. And, Savannah, I was surprised about Gary Johnson, too. I've never heard of him before.

I'm really bothers me that "Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney have to build substantial room into their schedules for fund-raising, including more time than they would like traveling to places that are not competitive politically but are flush with wealthy donors, starting with New York and Los Angeles." I don't like how so much of the election is spent raising money rather than making more explicit platforms and addressing important issues.

After not being very successful in the first presidential debate, Obama says that his training for the upcoming one is "going great". The article highlights his plans to be more agressive as he gets his points across. It also mentions that the Romney campaign is not worried as they say he can change how he acts but he can't change his policies.

I agree that Obama's critique from the first debate had more to do with his energy than his policies, despite what Romney is saying. It is also important to think about not only Obama's own policies, but the way he can criticize those of Romney. I am interested in what Obama might say in response to some of Romney's policies, something he didn't seem to focus on last time.

As we've talked about in class, the debates are largely about tone/character and how each candidate seems to the audience. That said, I am still disappointed that Obama seemed aloof during the first debate because it's not like he didn't think people would not care if he didn't seem enthusiastic. While I do think Obama will step it up a notch, he can't erase what happened. And while people can have off days, the Presidential Debate is a terrible off day to have.