On the Border

With Obama spelling out his plans to use executive action on immigration, many critics on both sides of the aisle are making their voices heard. Two of the largest critics of the President's immigration policy are Michele Bachman and Steven King.

In a recent trip to look at the security of the borer,  Senator Bachman actually captured a video of a woman illegally crossing into the United States on her cell phone.

Senator King, presented an idea for securing the border in 2007 that is not only economical but also feasible.

With much opposition, it will be interesting how the executive action plays out with Republicans taking control of Congress at the beginning of next year.

Looking to the Future

With the midterm elections behind us, the leaders of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee are beginning to look ahead. Since the Republicans will soon be taking full control of Congress, the Democratic National Committee is looking for who is going to be their breakout leaders of the party. MSNBC has done a great job of compiling a list of key Democrat and Republican Senators.

Key Democrat Senators

Key Republican Senators 

These Senators are the ones to watch for the next two years, as these lists are not only people they see as being key players for each party, they also contain potential Presidential contenders for the 2016 election.

The First in a Long Line?

In a story that is being overlooked by the media, Senate Democrats are starting to express "regret over how Democrats handled their large majorities following the 2008 election in passing ObamaCare when they should have focused first on economic issues to address the recession." Chuck Schumer, the Senate's #3 Democrat, is one of the first to step into this spotlight.

According to an article by the National Journal,

While Schumer emphasized during a speech at the National Press Club that he supports the law and that its policies "are and will continue to be positive changes," he argued that the Democrats acted wrongly in using their new mandate after the 2008 election to focus on the issue rather than the economy at the height of a terrible recession.

“After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle-class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus, but unfortunately Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them,” Schumer said. “We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem—health care reform.”

With someone this high up in the Democrat Party stepping out of line, will he suffer the same consequences as Hagel, who "resigned" after disagreeing with the Presidents policy. Or is Chuck Schumer the first of a long line of Democrats looking to separate themselves from Obama as his term starts coming to an end?

What You See is What You Get

As people start looking towards the 2016 Presidential elections, one potential front runner is already trying to gain the support of todays younger generations. Rand Paul has been busy touring colleges in different states, getting to know the young people and hearing their concerns. In addition, Rand Paul has been accepting every interview he has been asked to do. With a pivotal Presidential election looming, Rand Paul is doing everything he can to start the momentum rolling in his direction.  As can be seen in the article by CNN, Rand Paul is not holding back in taking an unconventional media strategy. Through this strategy, Rand Paul is finding support in many places including "...support in Berkeley, of all places." 

As 2016 draws closer, what does the future hold?

Dumb and Reckless?

As I was scanning the Politics page of Fox News today I couldn't help but to read an article titled:

Reckless move: The NY Times publishes Darren Wilson’s address

I was pretty much in disbelief. A journalist publishing the address of Officer Wilson is plain careless and reckless behavior. Now that Officer Wilson's address is out there nor he or his wife are safe. This goes back to the idea that some journalist are so intent on getting their stories into the headlines for their own "15 seconds of fame" that they forget the integrity that they are supposed to have. 

No Trial

Tensions ran high Monday as the grand jury came back with "no true bill" or no indictment against Officer Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown. Pretty much as soon as the decision was read, the violence started. Although people pressed for nonviolent protest no matter the decision, even the President could not stop the violence.

As the President spoke, the split screen showed the violence erupt in Ferguson. In the following hours, protest broke out in many cities across the country. Although there are police officers killed all across the country, such as the officer killed Monday night in Akron, Ohio. Why does one shooting get more media attention than another? I found an article from the Akron Beacon Journal asking the same thing.

As I looked through FOX News today I found a second article that relates to Furgeson. This article shows "How a false media narrative made Ferguson worse."

Looks Like We Might be Heading into Overtime

As election day looms over us, I stumbled across an article on Politico that looks at the close races and spells out the four most likely scenarios that will play out tomorrow night.

1. Republicans Win Out

Republicans turn out in a wave and wrap up the elections before bedtime. "With almost-certain pickups in Montana, West Virginia and South Dakota, the party can lock up the Senate with wins in six of the eight competitive states that don’t have runoffs: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire and North Carolina."

2. Kept Waiting for Alaska

Because of the massive rural populations in Alaska it could be days or weeks before all of their votes are in and counted. “In Alaska, in rural parts of the state, the reality is the ballots won’t be cast for four or five days...” 

3. Going for the Long Haul

With tight races in bot Lousiana and Georgia, if neither candidate reaches a majority then they would be forced to a runoff.  This runoff would mean, "Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy would continue battling until Dec. 6." This runoff is brought even closer to reality since parties are already preparing for overtime. 

Georgia is in the same boat. ...If neither Democrat Michelle Nunn nor Republican David Perdue gets to 50 percent plus one, they would keep campaigning into 2015, with a runoff slated for Jan. 6 — three days after the start of the 114th Congress."

4. Recount

"Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is running for a second term on Tuesday, even though he didn’t serve a full first term. Franken wasn’t sworn in until July 7, 2009 because of a protracted recount with then-GOP Sen. Norm Coleman. (Franken prevailed by 312 votes.)" Although Franken is projectyed to win, as is with any tight race, a recount is not out of the playbook.


Check out the full story

Voting for Attention

With election day looming near, issues keep emerging that are going to be on ballots across the country that do not have anything to do with any specific candidate. This November, ballots across the country are going to address issues from marijuana, alcohol, guns, bears, abortion, drug testing doctors, doctor malpractice, and minimum wage. While there are many tight races for the House of Representatives and the Senate, these issues also need voter turn out. Many times the issues at the local level are drowned out because of the political noise that comes with a major election year such as this.

Although these issues do not draw the media attention that the midterm elections do, these issues are what make the United States the way that it is. No one is mandating changes, the issues are put up for a vote and if citizens want it changed, this is their opportunity. Just remember, if you don't vote, you can complain. 

A Three Ring Circus Campaign

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about Texas Senate candidate, Wendy Davis, Crossing the Line in an attack ad she released about her opponent for the open Texas Senate seat, Greg Abbott. Since I wrote that article, Wendy Davis's campaign has continued down the path of being more of a three wring circus rather than a political campaign. I came across a headline today that reads:

Confirmed: Wendy Davis Literally Has THE Worst Twitter Campaign Of All Time

Whoever is running her Twitter Campaign account needs to find another line of work. As early voting has begun in the State of Texas, the Wendy Davis Campaign Twitter posted a tweet yesterday

The problem, the picture that the Wendy Davis Campaign used was stolen from the College Republican Federation of Virginia. The act did not go unnoticed: 

 

College RepublicansVerified account‏@CRNC

We are so proud of OUR College Republicans in Virginia @CRFV -- (even though @WendyDavisTexas tried to steal you)

 Washington, DC

Although the tweet was deleted not long after it started grabbing the attention of conservatives across the nation, the screenshots of the tweet have been verified that they did indeed come from the Wendy Davis Campaign. This is just another incident in a long line of circus acts that have been attempted in order to try and win the open Texas Senate Seat.

The Blame Game

In a desperate attempt to beat Republican candidates in the upcoming elections, "A liberal advocacy group is blaming Republicans for the Ebola crisis in a new ad that will first air on TV in Kentucky next weekend."  The ad is set to begin running in Kentucky next week with additional versions being created for Iowa and North Carolina.

With a potential spread of the ebola virus in the United States, the fact that there is a group using this crisis in an attempt for a political advantage is just sad. This is a time that the country should be coming together to show strength, not partisan division. 

Crossing the Line

As November 4th gets closer, political campaigns are kicking it up a notch in an attempt to propel their campaign into the lead. Out in Texas, the campaign of gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott

has come under fire from his opponent, Texas State Senator, Wendy Davis.

Anyone who has been following the Texas Governors Race is very familiar with Wendy Davis. Davis is the State Senator who drew national attention after filibustering 13 hours to stop the passage of the countries strictest abortion regulations.

This past week, Davis released an attack ad aimed at her gubernatorial competition, Greg Abbott.

As a result, the news media has been saturated with surprise and outrage. Headlines have consisted of titles such as 

Watch the ‘Disgusting’ Wendy Davis Ad That’s Being Condemned as a ‘Historic Low’

Even MSNBC Won't Support Controversial Wendy Davis Wheelchair Ad

‘Tone deafness personified': Wendy Davis campaign begins soft backpedal on wheelchair ad

This ad brings about the question of whether political attack ads are beneficial to a candidates campaign or do they turn voters away because of their content?

Climate Change?

With midterm elections starting to reach the point of "fight or flight", there are some races that are coming to the point of ridiculousness. An example of this can be seen in the Colorado Senate Race. This week MSNBC released an article titled:

GOP Senate candidate won’t answer on climate change

Apparently, the race is tight enough that the left is scratching and fighting to gain an edge. Their issue of choice, Global Warming... With everything that is going on in the Country, they choose GLOBAL WARMING... To make it even better, the author references other articles, written by himself. Im sorry, I understand that climate change may be an issue but when it comes to elections, there are much bigger issues that a Senator must deal with.

I guess when it comes to winning an election, the left is throwing a drag net out and attempting to catch any issue it can to keep control of the Senate after this November.

Stalin, The Nazis And A Serial Killer

Whenever I am reading news articles, I always expect there to be some sort of biased spin on the story. Very few times have a read a story and been utterly shocked at how biased it was. An article I read today is probably at the top at that list. The article is titled,

Stalin, The Nazis And A Serial Killer: The Villains Right-Wing Media Compared To Eric Holder

That title is enough to make just about anyone stop what they're doing to read it. Once I started, it became very apparent at the spin to the left. 

Upon further reading, you come across multiple titles, including:

Al Qaeda and Joseph Stalin 

According to the article, former Congressman Allen West "...claimed Holder was a "bigger threat to our Republic" than terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri" in a fundraising email. They then have a link to a separate news outlet collaborating their story. At the end though is another link that shows a video of former Congressman West explaining what he said although the article down plays it. 

The article then goes on to say that Rush Limbaugh "...called Holder a "Stalinist" for announcing that the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages in Utah." Again though when you actually look at what Limbaugh said, it can be seen that it was taken out of context. 

LIMBAUGH: Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States says that the federal government will recognize same-sex marriage in Utah for the purpose of federal benefits despite the Utah governor's directive not to, pending the Supreme Court's review of the state's ban. So the states, when you've got people like Holder and Obama in office, it doesn't matter what governors do, it doesn't matter what the people of the state want. What Holder and Obama want is what's going to happen. Holder does not have this kind of power or authority but he does if nobody's going to stop him or challenge him.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: You have the Attorney General engaging in executive actions, executive orders. Just as if Obama were to do it. Stalinists, folks.

It is truly amazing that the list goes on and on and on.  While the resignation of Holder in the middle of mid-term election season is a big deal, this article is directly aimed at Conservative news pundits, not those actually running for office. I guess if you are having trouble discrediting those running for office, the next best thing to do is to discredit those who are supporting them.

New Campaign Strategy

I was bouncing around different news media websites and I stumbled across a Conservative news outlet called Red State. On their main page, an article caught my attention, "Of course the Attorney General opening will be a campaign point", is what the headline read. At first, I thought that this was going to be another one sided topic that was spun to the extreme right. After reading the article, I can say that I was throughly impressed.

An issue as large as having the Attorney General resign right before a pivotal midterm election makes you think what the ulterior motives are to the decision. The author of the article, Joe Cunningham, does a great job at writing the article from a neutral perspective, analyzing the intent and next steps for both sides. While the article does close out with a bit of a spin to the right, 

"If this was a move that was meant to be used in the actual campaign season, it is possibly the dumbest yet. But, at this point, Democrats’ only option might be to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. “Obstructing GOP wants the country to be without a Justice leader!” would be uninspiring and, frankly, absurd given we haven’t had one in six years"

it was significantly minor in comparison to the non-biased majority of the article. 

Bridgegate?

Bridgegate? I thought this issue had already run it course through the scrutiny of the media, but I guess not. This issue still has no standing the Chris Christie was behind it and seems to only still be around because of the "word on the street" that he is considering a Presidential bid in 2016. I wonder, if Christie announced that he was not going to be running for President, how quickly would this "scandal" disappear? It has become monotonous at how long this has been going on. What is the reason the left will not let go? Are they intimidated  at the thought of Chris Christie taking a shot at the Presidency?

People are Packages?

As I was scrolling through my twitter feed, killing time, I could help but notice a headline that read "Republican Congressional Candidate: Government Should Track Immigrants Like FedEx Tracks Packages."  Seeing this, I couldn't help but click on it to see what this outlandish claim was about. As I read the article, it became clear that the title took the text out of context. Barbara Comstock, a Virginia Republican congressional candidate, in a debate with Democratic challenger John Foust, said “I think immigration should be done by legislation, not executive action. I think first and foremost, we need to stop playing politics with this and secure the borders... Fedex can track packages coming in here all the time; we can track people who are coming into the country. And we can do that right.” Although this comparison doesn't really seem to make sense, the headline is definitely a biased attention grabber that shows how the media can attempt to sway voters opinions in an election to replace a retiring Congressman.

Utilizing the Campaign Megaphone

Massachusetts is in a heated race for their Senate seat that is up for grabs this November. Previously written off by many of his Republican colleagues, Scott Brown is on the hunt for the seat currently occupied by Democrat incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. While Scott has seen a surge in support over the past weeks, he is gaining support from a source that is supposedly "Fair and Balanced." 

In recent months, Fox News has repeatedly helped Scott Brown promote campaign proposals related to border security, ISIS, Obamacare, and veterans affairs. For example:

• On July 28, Brown released an ad attacking President Obama and Sen. Shaheen over border security. He appeared on Fox Business the next day to promote the ad.
• On August 29, Brown announced he was calling on Congress to pass legislation against Americans who join ISIS. He appeared on Fox News that day to announce the effort.
• Brown has been holding events called "Obamacare Isn't Working." He has called repealing the health care law the "number one" issue for voters. The events involve businesses and individuals criticizing Obamacare as purportedly hurting the state. At the same time, Fox has hosted him to discuss the law, and aired a one-hour special in August featuring business and individual criticism of the law in New Hampshire. The Brown campaign has since incorporated the special into their campaign events.   
• In May, Brown called for then-Veterans Affairs secretary Eric Shinseki to resign and alleged Shaheen isn't supporting veterans. Brown appeared on Fox News at the same time to discuss his efforts.    

Media Matters

This is a prime example of how a candidate can utilize resources to help with their campaign. It is statistically proven that the incumbent holds a strong advantage when going for reelection so as can be seen, utilizing resources is a great way to build a following.

Herman Cain Said it Best

PAY ATTENTION! Herman Cain makes a valid point on his radio show segment called "News Nugget". Just two months out from the mid-term elections, over one third of voters are unaware of who holds the majority in the House of Representatives or the Senate. What will it take for American voters to wake up?

This blog is going to look at the media and the influence that they have in politics. With the upcoming midterm elections in November, it is a perfect time to look at how the media takes events and spins them one way or the other. Used as a tool by politicians seeking re-election or first time election, this will be a perfect time to analyze the way that the media is used in politics.