Barrack Obama:
Barack Hussein Obama was born on august 4, 196 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of barrack Obama sr. and Ann Dunham who were later divorced. His father was a foreign student who moved to Hawaii from Kenya. Obama’s mother died from ovarian cancer after moving to Indonesia with her new husband. Obama then stayed with his maternal grand parents in Hawaii. Obama moved to Los Angeles where he transferred colleges to Columbia University in New York where he got a major in political science. He later graduated from Harvard law school. He was then a community organizer where he helped raise lots of money. Obama is a junior United States senator in illinoise. As a democrat in the senate, Obama helped create legislatures for conventional weapons control, lobbying, electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and taking care of people who came back from war. He is currently the democratic nominee for the 2008 presidential election.

McCain:

John McCain was born on August 29, 1936 in Panama Canal Zone, Panama. They moved to northern Virginia where McCain joined the United States naval academy. He became a naval pilot and had two minor crashes. His father and grandfather were both four star U.S. navy Admirals. McCain’s whole family follow this as each of them took part in a position in the navy. McCain married Carol sheep who had two children they also had one of their own. He later got a divorce after repeated affairs Cindy Hensley who he later married.

McCain is a senior United States senator from Arizona. He became a prisoner of war in 1967 when his plane crashed in North Vietnamese and suffered two major injuries. McCain became congressmen and won elections to be a republican representative. As a senator, McCain address the issues such as war on terrorism and greenhouse gases. He is currently running as a republican in the 2008 presidntial election making this the secont time he has ran.

Sarah Palin:
Sarah Loise heath Palin was born on February 11, 1964 in Sandpoint Idaho. Palin is the governor of Alaska and is running with McCain as a republican vice president in the 2008 presidential election. She was the mayor and part of the council in Wasilla, Alaska until 2002. Palin’s mother was a school secretary and her father was a science teacher. As a child, Palin liked to hunt and run races. She also won pageants like the miss congeniality award. She ran for council so that she could make sure that the sales taxes went to the right areas. As mayor, Palin targeted the issues of high taxes, abortion, gun rights, and term limits.

After an unsuccessful election for lutinent governor, Palin was appointed to the Alaska oil and gas conservation commission. As governor of Alaska, Palin focused on issues such as resource development, public health, and workforce development. She also vetoed $286 million by 2008 and limited project spending. In 2006, Palin supported the bridge to nowhere project and urged it to finish but said she has no interest in the project in 2007 and took the funds away. In 2007, Palin gave $500 million towards the pipeline which brings natural gas from Alaska to the continental United States. In the 2008 presidential election, republican nominee john McCain chose Palin to run as his vice president making her the second woman in history to run on that ticket.

Joe Biden:
Joseph Robinette Biden was born on november 20, 1942 and raised in Scranton Pennsylvania before moving to Delaware. As part of the Roman Catholic Church, Biden married Neilia hunter and they had three kids. After the death of his wife and daughter, he married Tracy Jacobs and they had one daughter. He was one of the five youngest senators in US history at age 30. Biden was the chairman for the senate judiciary committee. He then became the chairmen for the foreign relations committee. He also served as a professor at Widener University. Biden concentrates on issues such as violence, drugs, investment, wildlife refuge, global warming, and education. Biden is in the National Guard and is set to deploy in October 2008. Biden is a senior United States senator from Delaware. He is the democratic vice president for barrack Obama who is the democratic nominee in the 2008 presidential election.

collages

Republican: This collage shows most of the conservative values and other qualities of the republicans. I put it into a way that there is a word for every picture and separated them a bit so that there is a blend of information. Some of the pictures have the words in them which make them easier to understand. If you can tell, I have added a couple pictures that show that they are for big business and trading which is in the category economy.

Democratic: This collage stresses environment, renewable energy, education, and crime control. As in the other one I made the pictures blend with the words but I kind of used more pictures this time because the issues were more visual and I wanted to stress that too. I also put fair tax, health care, and pulling or troops out of Iraq to make the collage as a whole express the parties change. The collage gives off a fresh feeling that makes you feel hopeful.

political cartoons

The democrats promote change that is not change at all. For example: Obama is standing up saying that we don’t have enough sense to take care of ourselves so his government will do it for us. This chows that even though they promote change, there is no change due to the fact that it is an old speech that he is saying. More proof that there is no change on the democrat side is where at the bottom it says the Clinton 3.0 acceptance speech and it has a roman pillar with change on it in the background. This further gives us proof that there is no change because the roman pillar represents old and that means old change. Also, the 3.0 acceptance speech is an old speech so the democrats are saying the same thing over again. This political cartoon basically says that that the democrats (both Clinton and Obama) don’t have the change that they promise and it will all just be a cycle.

VP Sarah Palin takes John McCain’s fame. For example, Sarah Palin is holding up john McCain while he is saying wait a minute, I’m supposed to be standing out in front. This shows that she is supposed to be representing him so she holds him up but at the same time she is in the front and pretty much leading the campaign. Another example of her fame is where on the side it shows the crowds voice saying Sarah, Sarah, Sarah… This further shows that the crowds are rooting for her and not for McCain so she is the one that the public wants. This all shows that the public really will be voting for Sarah Palin and not John McCain.

Vice president Sarah Palin makes Obama worry that McCain might win the election. For example, Biden is holding a mirror in a dress and putting on make-up saying “this better work or I quit”. This shows that Obama wants Biden to be like Sarah Palin because she is doing better than him. Another example of worrying is where Obama is talking to Biden holding a makeup kit and saying look, Palin’s shoving you out of the spotlight; this is the only way we can get you back out front. This further shows that Obama needs to make Biden look better or the public will be in favor of McCain’s campaign. All of this goes to show that Palin is really helping McCain’s campaign and taking some attention off of Obama’s.

The people who invest into the banks are going into bankruptcy. For example, there is a fat guy with investment banks written on his shirt and has a bowtie and he is standing right next to a guy with investors written on his shirt and a gallows rope around his neck. The investor is saying I just um noticed we are wearing different neckties while the banks person is whistling. This shows that the investors are really in trouble and the banks do not wish to help them at but all instead they want to sit back and watch. Another example of this is on the right side of the cartoon where a very small guy is waiting to pull a lever that says bankrupt on it and he is saying now? This further shows that the banks are trying to get the investors to go bankrupt so that the banks can get rich. Through this I conclude that the banks are getting richer and richer and sitting back while more and more investors are getting bankrupt.

Due to our tax dollars going to the government, the bailout is going to affect the taxpayers more than it will affect the government. For example, there is a guy saying it pains me..... it pains me tremendously to do this and he is pointing a gun that has trillion $ bailout written on it at a person that has “taxpayer” on his shirt and he is saying not as much as it’s going to pain me. This shows that the government is complaining that it is hurting them to bailout the businesses but in all reality it is only going to hurt us as taxpayers. Another example of this is where the guy pointing the gun drops his case that says treasury secretary Paulsen on it and the taxpayer drops his grocery bag. This further shows that even though the treasury will put the money towards the bailout the money is coming from the taxpayers when we have to pay taxes on groceries and other things we buy which means we will have to pay for the bailout. From this cartoon, I can conclude that the government is not going to hurt much when they are taking money from the taxpaying citizens of America.

congress is tricking us by enhancing the bailout plan to get it passed. For example, there is a fat pig that has congress on his hirt saying trust me to a person he is holding up that has taxpayer on his shirt. This shows that the congress is trying to trick the taxpayers into trusting them because we did not go for the last bailout plan and they need us to accept this one. Another example of trickery is where the pig has a tie and piece of paper out of his pocket that says pork all over it and the person is holding a sign that says no bailout. This further shows that the congress is porking the bailout by adding components onto it that will sway the taxpayers to thinking that this will help us and that we should trust congress.in conclusion, since the bailout didn’t pass last time, the congress has to get the taxpayer’s trust by adding to the bailout so that we think that it is benifiting us.

candidates on technology

Based on what I have learned and discussed with my peers, I can make conclusions about the presidential candidates. Both candidates have different ways to solve situations and bring up different ideas. John McCain, for example, is not very technological but on the other hand Obama uses his laptop and three phones a lot. They also both want to increase the amount of education research that Americans put into technology.
John McCain stands where he wants to introduce markets around the globe. He also wants to introduce research globally. Barack Obama’s is a big time supporter of alternative energy which includes a lot of technology. He uses technology a lot and wants to hire a technology expert to overlook his projects.

the candidates mission statements

Barack Obama mission statement:
I will create use more alternative and renewable fuel
I will pull our country out of Iraq
I will better education for America
I will distribute fair taxes to the citizens
I will bring change to America

John McCain mission statement:
I will allow unborn children to live
I will strengthen America’s economy
I will increase the penalties of crime
I will keep our troops in Iraq
I will lead as a conservative

The Candidate's positions on the issues.

Barrack Obama:
1- Abortion: Opposes the overturning of the Roe vs. Wade decision. He did not vote on prohibiting funds of abortion groups.
2- Education: He supports the no child left behind act and wants higher quality teachers for students and wants better childhood education.
3- Death Penalty: He wants to pay intensive attention on the criminal’s case in order to give him/her the death penalty.
4- Environment: He plans to create millions of green jobs and rely more on renewable and alternative energy therefore increasing America’s efficiency in energy.
5- Health care: He wants to reduce the cost of health care for everyone and make it more accessible.
6- Immigration: He wants to increase border security but also wants to give immigrants more of an opportunity. He thinks that illegal ones in this country should learn English and go back in the process of becoming legal.
7- Iraq War: He wants to finally end the war in Iraq an instead focus on al Qaeda and Afghanistan.
8- Economy: He wants to get the countries economy back on track starting from the middle class by creating fair tax cuts and providing more jobs.
9- Poverty: He wants to invest in small business rather than corporate and increase the minimum wage. He also wants to expand job opportunities and benefits for working parents so that lower class people can make it.
10-Stem Cell Research: He wants to use stem cell research more for medical purposes than experimental and opposes the use for human embryos.

John McCain:
1- Abortion: Voted against the funding of groups that perform abortion and believes that Roe vs. Wade is flawed. Pro life
2- Education: He believes that there should be equal education to everyone so that there is fair competition and excellence.
3- Death Penalty: He is for stronger penalties and the death penalty and spend more money on federal prisons.
4- Environment: He is for the use of alternative energy sources and introduced legislation though the use of advanced technologies and market to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses. 5- Health care: He wants to control the price of the U.S. health care to make it affordable and secure private health care for people retiring.
6- Immigration: He thinks that the border is not secure enough right now and believes that the government should have a stronger border.
7- Iraq War: He believes that once the Iraqi government is capable of taking care of itself and their military becomes strong enough we should take or troops out but until then we will continue safeguarding them.
8- Economy: He wants to get the American families back on track by providing plenty of jobs and also strengthening America’s economic prosperity for the long run.
9- Poverty: He believes that the middle and lower class needs more help and wants to give special tax cuts and other benefits to the unemployed.
10-Stem Cell Research: He supports the embryonic stem cell research but opposes creation of human embryos and cloning.

colorado polls

I have chosen Colorado to record the various polls in the 2008 presidential election because of its importance as a swing state and the fact that I used to live there. Because it is a swing state, it will be one of the states that both of the candidates will be looking at when it comes to the elections due to the fact that it is neither strong democrat nor republican. I also think that it is important because it hasn’t voted for the Democratic Party since 1992 and the polls are leaning more towards Obama. The other reason that I am choosing this state is because I used to live there and I know that there is a big military base there and I wanted to know how that would change the results. The polls of the candidates are presented in the following graphs. linear equation- y=.0002x+.4474 November4= 49%linear equation- y=.0002x+.4271 November 4= 47%Through these graphs that I made, I can see that Obama is very closely winning and in the polls and I have projected him winner through the linear regression. My projection is pretty accurate because it went in line with all of the other data. regression proves to work in most cases like this but if the data is scattered with not much of a pattern than it wouldn’t be very useful.

Interview

The 2008 presidential election has made many people change their views on who they vote for in what party. This revolves around key factors that the candidates stand for and both parties have changed their views over the years. To find out more about these issues I have interviewed Wendy Strafford who is a representing her community and is voting in the 2008 election. The interview is as followed.

Interview:
Q: What key values do you look at in a presidential candidate?
A: Integrity, voting record, are they bought out by special interests, and if they share my same values.

Q: How much does what is happening in the economy influence the way you vote?
A: It has a huge impact due to the fact that we make our income off of building and I need the next president to focus on helping out the middle and lower classes that are losing their jobs.

Q: Do you think there is a difference in the way you are voting this year from the way you would vote 12 years ago? Explain.
A: Yes, I would have voted party line and did what my parents did and now I am older vote much more independently for the better of our own children.

Q: If you were a small business owner, what factors would you want for your business from a leader?
A: Tax incentives, to avoid sending jobs to other countries, job security, a have fair taxes.

Q: In the elections, what would your definition of “change” be?
A: No more special interest and start looking out for the people that put them in office.


This person is obviously not happy with the current economy is looking for some one that will help relieve our country from the bottom up. As a representative of the community, her answers tell me that people want conservative values with help to the lower classes.

Science in the political process:
In the political process, science is a very important factor. It brings up lots of issues that the candidates must state their opinion on and will affect us when that particular person gets into office because they will be making decisions on what to do with these issues and changes how we must live with them. Three of these important issues are nuclear power, offshore drilling, and greenhouse gasses. Nuclear power is made by extracting energy from the atomic nucleus through nuclear fission which is done by splitting the nucleus to get amounts of energy from free neutrons and making kinetic energy and radiation. Today, more than 15%of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear energy and it is used in 31 countries with United States as the #1 user of this resource. Coal and gas is projected to be over 4 ½ times the price of nuclear energy by the year 2013 and nuclear energy does not release the radiation caused by burning fissile fuels but instead releases free neutrons. Offshore drilling is where you extract oil off the coast of a landmass by using a platform that is often hard to get out in the ocean. This job requires a lot of money and is potentially hazardous to the ocean. There are often many oil spills that occur while transporting the oil by pipe or ship to shore. It is also hard to separate the sand and water from the oil once it is extracted. Greenhouse gases keep the earth’s temperature level at a balance. If there are too little gasses, the temperature would get cold but if there are too many, it would be too hot. Carbon dioxide is a gas that can add to the temperature and today there are many industries that are letting off high levels of carbon dioxide therefore increasing the temperature. Many scientists believe that the rising temperatures will melt the polar ice caps and drastically raise the sea-levels.

The candidates for the 2008 presidential election, Barrack Obama and John McCain, have chosen where they stand on these issues which helps the American voters decide who they want to be running our country. Obama’s opinions on nuclear power, offshore drilling, and greenhouse gasses are as followed.
Nuclear power: he wants to find safer ways to use and store nuclear power and wants to explore this as part of the energy mix.
Offshore drilling: he was at first against the idea of continuing it but later made a statement saying that he is not sure that it will bring down the gas prices but is a good scientific factor that will help us make oil decisions in the future.
Greenhouse gasses: he pushes for the U.S. to be the #1 country in trying to keep the greenhouse gasses down to lower the temperatures. He would introduce a global warming partnership and set a low carbon fuel standard. He would also have top scientists bring up climate friendly technologies to other countries. He would also reward farmers who plant trees that can take in the carbon dioxide from the air.

McCain’s opinions on the same issues are as followed.
Nuclear power: he plans on eventually having 100 nuclear plants and at least 45 by 2030 and believes that politics is holding back this energy. Wants to provide safe storage and give the host states interest so that they could have benefits. \
Offshore drilling: he motivates the states that permit the offshore drilling and wishes to remove restrictions. However, McCain said that he does not wish to remove restrictions in the 2000 election.
Greenhouse gasses: wants to tremendously reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses and find alternate resources including nuclear energy. Introduces the climate stewardship and innovation act.

In my opinion, nuclear power is a very good energy source and should be used more often. It is a lot more affordable and contributes little to the rising temperatures. I do think however that it is very hazardous and dangerous. I think that they should lift restrictions on offshore drilling because it will lower tensions between us and our current oil suppliers and lower the gas prices. I think that we should also find better ways of transporting the oil so that it is less harmful to the ocean. I do not think that greenhouse gasses are necessarily a problem because I believe that we are going in a cycle and that the temperatures always fluctuate. I do believe however that we should reduce the amount of strong chemicals like methane because they are polluting the air a lot. People may often overlook how big of a role that science plays in politics but most of the issues actually deal with science such as these three.