|
Well, we’re almost down to a week before election day and i have a few things to talk about regarding why i’m voting for Mccain… (that’s right, i’m forgoing my apparent right to be ashamed of my political selection and declaring my allegiance)…
before i totally dig in though, i feel like i should mention how odd i feel this year talking about politics all the time… i’ve never been much of a politics guy, never joined the Young Republicans or anything like that… i’ve voted for as long as i’ve been eligible to, but it’s always been a minor part of my life… i’m not entirely certain why this year has been so different, but i’ve watched this race with much more interest than ever before and i think it may actually be taking a toll on me…
anyway, let’s get to the chase… off we go…
POLITICS: BUYING THE OFFICE
is it possible to buy your way into the Oval Office?… if Obama wins this election, that may be exactly what happened… Sure, he seems capable of inspiring and igniting his base (and, apparently Colin Powell), but anyone who’s dealt at all with advertising strategies knows that the key to any success is exposure… just like the mantra for successful real estate sales is “location, location, location,” you might say that the ad-mantra is “omnipresence, omnipresence, omnipresence”…
and Obama has managed to do just that… almost every time i’m watching TV, i fast-forward through at least four times as many Obama commercials as McCain commercials… Obama is all over the television, all over the web, even in your video games - if ever there were a reason not to upgrade to the latest video game consoles, here’s one… and he’s done this all by spending almost three times the amount that McCain has spent… quickly approaching $700 million… in fact, this is the first time in history that the two candidates have raised a combined total of a billion dollars…
To me, this offers a quick glimpse into the way the respective presidencies would go… but maybe that’s just me… i understand that McCain has limited his ability to raise funds by abiding to the campaign finance reform bill that he sponsored and that Obama pulled something of a rope-a-dope move, agreeing to do the same before backing out of that agreement at the last minute… but still, the mentality is there… spend, spend, spend…omnipresence, omnipresence, omnipresence…
So why does that work? simply put, more exposure means more familiarity… more familiarity means a higher likliehood of choosing that “product”… this is why McDonald’s does better than Burger King, why Coke sells better than Pepsi, but greater exposure doesn’t mean that the product is better… (obviously, since Pepsi is way better than Coke)… it just means that you’ve been influenced by this advertising principle…
in this ad-rich society, we may very well be prime for having a presidency purchased…
POLITICS: NEGATIVE ADS
and what of these ads? what do they say? is it actually true that McCain’s ads are more negative than Obama’s?
i don’t really understand where the line is drawn between “negative” and “positive” ads… it seems to me that if the ad is truthful, then it should be “positive,” but if it strays into lies or namecalling, then perhaps it would be a “negative” ad… however, it appears that the line is set differently… and it’s hard to really truthfully gauge the ratio of negative to positive ads since no one really sees all the ads that run, air, or are sent out…
if i were to cry media bias, this would be one case that i’d make… the constant coverage about McCain’s ads being “100% Negative” seems to be a negative campaign in and of itself… wonder who funds that?… and it also seems to me that the bulk of Obama ads start out with what i call “a Barack-handed compliment” in which Obama states something to the effect of, “John McCain should be better than this, but since he’s not, i’ll pretend to be”… it’s really the best of both worlds, because he takes a negative stab at his opponent while making himself seem like he’s above the mud-slinging that always exists on the campain trail…
in my own opinion, it just furthers my own distaste and distrust for Obama… he’s made up of everything a stereotypical politician is expected to be made up of…
POLITICS: TAXES
Now, some brass tax… i’m not claiming to be an economic expert, but there are a few things i just have to mention…
First, how on earth does 95% of the population make up the middle class? Obama claims that his tax cuts will benefit 95% of the country, implying that this group comprises the middle class… what is the middle class and how can they all benefit when 40% of the population doesn’t pay taxes as it is? and what of that top 5%? apparently they already pay almost 60% of all the tax dollars that are generated… should they really pay more?
Second, a question: if Obama really plans to significantly increase taxes for those who make more than $200k/year individually and $250k/year as a couple, then why on earth are they supporting him? some of Obama’s biggest supporters seem to be some rather wealthy folks - the same folks who will be hammered by Obama’s plan as advertised…
you may not disagree with the need for paying taxes, but would you voluntarily vote to increase your own tax burden? even if you could “handle paying a little more?”… i know and have known some folks who make that kind of money and believe me, they want to keep every cent that they can… and why not? hey, if you increase the bell on the tax curve much more, you can expect some favors to be called in at some point… that’s just how the world works..
Of course, skeptics might say that McCain’s already granting favors by cutting business taxes… but the simple math shows that his plan will allow more businesses to open up and operate in the US which causes more jobs, more revenue, and more happy people… i know i’m being a bit simplistic on this, but i’m running out of time here and it seems like it’s pretty obvious… the problem here is perception… it’s way easier to get behind a one-step plan that has immediate rewards than it is to get excited about a three or four step program that will take some time to generate rewards… it’s unfortunate, though, because generally, the quick rewards disappear more quickly than they originally arrived…
POLITICS: HEALTH CARE
Along the same lines of taxes, you have to very different plans regarding health care… Obama is trying to give away everything and the kitchen sink, choosing to let government and big businesses foot the bill for citizens and small businesses… so, let’s see… government funded health care and big business funded health care and you expect health care prices to go down? hardly…
this is the same government that let’s Obama buy a three million dollar overhead projector, albeit not the average sized overhead projector, but this is a government that’s notorious for overspending and any contractor or company that’s been fortunate to get work with the government knows this and takes advantage of this…
the same goes for big businesses… they get severely overcharged for things simply because there is the perception that they have enough money to absorb the cost… that type of thinking is the foundation of Obama’s plans… and it’s become typical of Americans at large… we all seem to believe that the world owes us a living… and anytime someone else is successful, we look at them and feel like it should have been us that made it big… we feel like we deserve the same benefits as others even if we don’t put in the same level of effort that it takes to achieve those rewards…
further, on top of a heavy tax increase for big businesses, forcing them to pay even more to provide health care for not only their employees, but also for small businesses, which Obama says will recieve a… what did he call it… some sort of a credit for health care since they may not be able to provide it on their own… It really creates an imbalanced society, one that is structured and poised for collapse…
GOTTA GO
okay, there’s plenty more that i’d like to get into and perhaps i will later… these topics include energy/Global Warming, ethics/character, and more… but hopefully this is a little bit to chew on for now and get the last week discussion rolling… please know that just because i disagree with the majority of Obama’s policies and plans, that it is not my intention of vilifying him in any respect… i’m just stating my own thoughts and opinions based on the logic that is at my disposal… i may even be wrong, but this is where i stand right now…
peace… love… bdg…
|
