The world’s first poll of Apple iPhone users revealed an Obama-heavy bias as hundreds of people sought to make their opinion known via iVote Mobile, a free application developed by InfoMedia Inc. now available in the iTunes App Store for Apple iPhone and iTouch owners.
Asked “Who would you vote for in the US Presidental Election,” users were able to choose from Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr and Ralph Nadar.
With thousands of users downloading and using the iVote Mobile polling and social networking application on the first day of its release, Obama has a decisive lead over McCain.
Using the revolutionary location awareness system built into the iPhone, iVote Mobile is able to relate poll data and subsequent discussions to geographic location on a global, national, regional and local basis. When taking the entire world’s opinion into consideration, iVote users put Obama ahead by 42 points. And while Oklahoma users still have McCain with a slight majority, swing states such as Colorado and Florida remain very close.
“The iPhone has opened up new opportunities to engage public opinion and assimilate data faster than ever before.” says InfoMedia, Inc. CEO Joel Comm. “With iVote Mobile, we are now able to survey the world and receive feedback as quickly as we are able to post questions.” Comm continues, “iVote Mobile presents questions on a number of topics related to politics, current events, entertainment, sports and lifestyle, providing all users with an opportunity to share their opinion and interact with other users.”
iVote Mobile appeared on the iTunes App Store on August 20th and is quickly moving up the popularity charts in the social networking category. With a 41/2 star rating on iTunes, public opinion is very positive and the application has been well received.
Diane Mantouvalos of the Just Say No Deal coalition was on Hardball with Chris Matthews this evening. Ms. Mantouvalos covered the relevant points effortlessly gliding through the interview. She pointed to Obama’s inexperience as the primary reason many are holding back.
National Public Radio’s Bonnie Erbe nailed the question that Matthews posed as what Obama can do to secure that part of the Clinton base that is reluctant to vote for him. Her answer, “Not much.” It’s not policies, per se though that is a portion of it, it’s Senator Obama himself. Whether it be his inexperience or his character, Senator Obama leaves many heading for the exits.
It surprises me that media is surprised that over the past two and half months, and longer than that it you look at the exit polling from the primaries, that Clinton supporters remain so adamant in their dislike of Sentaor Obama. After all, they love him, why don’t we? Yet the polls of Clinton supporters have not shown any variation. Depending on the state anywhere between 20% and 40% plus of Clinton supporters keep on stating that they will not vote for Senator Obama, many of them noting that it wouldn’t even make a difference if Senator Clinton is Obama’s running mate. Just this week, a Wall Street Journal poll showed that nearly half of Clinton voters nationwide are not on board with Obama with a fifth opting to vote for Senator McCain. The media can talk this to death but perhaps they may yet one day soon believe their own polls or better yet take us at our word. I am not voting for Obama.
Yesterday, Senator Obama brought up the subject of Cindy McCain’s wealth and the number of homes that the McCains own (eight, though the homes are all owned either by Mrs. McCain, her trusts or corporations under her control). Before Obama had even finished speaking, the McCain campaign responded:
“Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people ‘cling’ to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?”
Sounds like someone was ready for this. Today, the McCain campaign unveiled a new ad highlighting Senator Obama’s relationship with convicted felon Antonin “Tony” Rezko. The ad is a 30 second spot and is running in key battleground states. More from ABC News.
A 527 group (a type of American tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code, 26 U.S.C. § 527 that advocate political causes independent of candidates), the American Issues Project has released a new ad attacking Senator Obama for his long-standing relationship with William Ayers, an unrepetant terrorist. This is how the American Issues Project describes itself:
The American Issues Project was founded to champion the conservative values that have made the United States of America a blessed nation: smaller government, a strong and ready national defense, lower taxes, and a government that encourages entrepreneurship and new job creation in America. We also know how critical it is for America to win the war against the radical Islamic extremists abroad so we do not have to fight them here on American soil.
Not too long ago, Ronald Reagan inspired a generation of Americans to renew their sense of patriotism and faith in America by supporting economic expansion and a strong national defense.
Today, we find those uniquely American values under attack and once again need to turn to strong, effective leadership to solve the many problems our nation faces.
The bottom line: the American Issues Project will always stand strong for the American ideals that make this country special and promote conservative values that have stood the test of time.
Their website offers more background on the Obama and William Ayers connection (pdf). What the Clinton campaign did not do, the McCain camp and the GOP-affiliated groups will do.
Important Update
Fox News decline to run this ad. Apparently the ad may be illegal. From the Huffington Post:
“This negative campaign ad is clearly express advocacy, and under a federal law passed in 2003, the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act (known colloquially as McCain-Feingold), it cannot legally be paid for with corporate money, including those of a non-profit,” said Laura MacCleery, deputy director of the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “The ad indisputably concerns an election, takes a position on the character and fitness for office of a candidate, and raises no legislative issue. Even this highly skeptical Supreme Court would turn up its noses at the foul odor emitted by this clear abuse of federal election law.”
It’s a must see really, just for the punch line. The McCain campaign released a new ad entitled The One II, a sequel to the highly popular and highly effective ad The One that the McCain campaign put out to mock Obama’s celebrity status after Obama’s campaign rally to 200,000 foreigners in Berlin. This ad is a 90 second spot. And unlike many sequels, this one is better than the original. It’s hiliarious, the best campaign ad ever in my view.
One place where Senator Obama is not faring too poorly is in Pennsylvania, a state where he fared poorly in the primaries. The new Rasmussen Reports poll out today in Pennsylvania has both Obama and John McCain losing ground with the undecided vote increasing to 15%. Still Obama has maintained a five point lead for a second month in row. He now leads by 45% to 40%.
Barack Obama leads John McCain by five percentage points in Pennsylvania for the second month in a row. Both candidates have lost some support from a month ago, with the Democrat now favored by 45% while his Republican opponent earns the vote from 40%.
When “leaners” are included, Obama’s lead is down to just three points, 48% to 45%. A month ago, Obama led by six when leaners were included.
The data in Pennsylvania reflects patterns seen elsewhere in recent polling. McCain has more support from Republicans than Obama does from Democrats, and McCain also wins more crossover votes from the other party. The two candidates are even among unaffiliated voters.
Obama wins among younger voters and those who don’t attend church while McCain has a solid lead among senior citizens and regular churchgoers.
McCain is viewed favorably by 58% of voters in Pennsylvania, Obama by 55%. For both men, that’s a three-point decline over the past month.
Pennsylvania offers a rich trove of 21 Electoral Votes. John Kerry won the Keystone state in 2004 by a 51% to 48% margin over President Bush. In 2000, Al Gore carried the state by four percentage points. The state is critical to the success of both candidates but probably more critical to Senator Obama’s chances. It is unlikely that Obama can win the White House without carrying Pennsylvania.
An African Perspective on the Legacy of Colonialism
Via Big Think, Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweolo offers his perspective on the legacy of colonialism on Africa.
South Africa’s GDP Rebounds
South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product has accelerated to 4.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008 from 2.1 percent in the first quarter. More from Afrol News.
Zimbabwe’s Parliament to Convene
President Robert Mugabe plans to open parliament next week for the first time since members were elected four months ago, but the opposition said Thursday such a step would undermine power-sharing talks. Reports from the International Herald Tribune and from All Africa.
Zimbabwe’s Monopoly Money
The Legacy of Zambia’s Dr. Levy Mwanawasa
Zambia’s President Dr. Levy Mwanawasa who died in Paris earlier this week was an unusual figure in African politics. His leadership of Zambia surprised neutral and opposition parties alike. Perhaps Mwanawasa’s most important contribution to Zambia and the region will prove to be his revival of the “sleeping giant” — agriculture. After years of droughts and poor agricultural policies under the previous administration, Mwanawasa refocused the country on agriculture and productivity has been steadily increasing. Still, Zambia remains very poor with a 50 percent unemployment rate, and 86 percent of the population living below the poverty line, according to U.N. estimates. More on the legacy of Dr. Mwanawasa from the Inter Press Service News Agency.
Mauritanian Leader Promises Quick Elections
The leader of Mauritania’s military junta has assured his commitment to organise “free and transparent elections as soon as possible.” In his first radio and television broadcast on Sunday, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said, “I commit myself before you and before God the almighty that I will organise free and transparent elections as soon as possible.” The report from Afrol News.
There’s no doubt that this past month has been a poor one, at least in terms of his standings in the polls, for Senator Obama. And yet he remains in a statistical dead heat in the national tracking numbers. True, Obama did fall behind for the first time in the Real Clear Politics Electoral College scenario (no toss ups) but in at least 17 states the margin between Obama and McCain is less than five points. Nothing in politics is static and this race still has a long way to go.
Last week, a group of 15 leading leaders of the Democratic Party led by Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio and Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee voiced concern that Obama’s message of ‘hope’ and ‘change’ wasn’t resonating with the voters and urged Senator Obama to get more specific with policy proposals and to give short quick concrete thoughts on how he would make life better for Americans. This article from the New York Times suggests that Obama is doing just that. He’s shifting his message to address everyday concerns:
Senator Barack Obama has sharpened his stump speech, delivering a more populist message that further highlights his differences with Senator John McCain, particularly on the economy.
Since he returned from vacation in Hawaii last week, Mr. Obama has intensified his focus on the economic pressures facing everyday Americans and portrayed Mr. McCain as an active participant in the policies of the last eight years, saying they have left more people behind.
Instead of focusing on the promise of sweeping change that propelled him to the nomination, Mr. Obama this week has been echoing Bill Clinton’s 1992 promise to “fight for you every single day.” The tightened message is part of a continuing effort since the primaries to bring his oratory down to a more human scale.
It also coincides with Mr. Obama’s slip in public opinion polls, with some, including the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, putting him and Mr. McCain neck and neck.
“I’m not saying every job is going to come back to Martinsville just because I’m elected president; I’m not saying that suddenly all the schools are going to be fixed,” Mr. Obama said at an event earlier Wednesday with 350 people at Patrick Henry Community College, about 60 miles southwest of here.
“But what I can do is, I can say, I’m going to wake up every day thinking about you and thinking about how to make your life a little bit better,” he said. “And if you can trust me to do that — and I’m organizing a bunch of smart people like Mark Warner to come up with innovative ideas — that’ll give you a little bit of a fighting chance that’ll make your life a little bit better.”
The United States and Poland sign a deal that will station a missile defence shield in Poland ostensibly to protect Europe from an Iranian attack. While the negotiations have been on-going for quite some time now, the deal gathered impetus in the wake of the Russian invasion of Georgia this past month. Russia is none too pleased believing that the missile defence system is aimed at them. One Russian general went as far as saying that Poland now faced a nuclear attack.
Here’s some background on the Russian response from Al Jazeera:
Russia has vowed to respond to the signing of a US-Poland missile defence deal and “not only by diplomatic protests”.
Moscow warned on Wednesday that the pact to station 10 US interceptor missiles just 180km from Russia’s westernmost frontier would fuel a new arms race in Europe.
“Such actions create mistrust and spur an arms race on the continent and beyond its borders,” a Russian foreign ministry statement on Wednesday said.
The response came despite an assurance from Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, that Russia had nothing to fear from the missile pact.
She also denied the possibility of a new Cold War.
“Missile defence of course is aimed at no one. It is in our defence that we do this,” said Rice, adding later: “It is not aimed in any way at Russia.”
The US plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the neighbouring Czech Republic between 2011 and 2013.
One of the problems with Brussels is that bureaucrats rule the roost and attempt to regulate life beyond its recognition. The tiny Åland Islands (pop. 26,000) are now caught in a dispute with Brussels over a tradition in the islands called snus, a pouch of chewing tobacco.
The Åland Islands are located in the Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden. The Åland Islands are an autonomous region within Finland but ethnically the islanders are Swedes and speak Swedish. The chewing of snus is a Swedish tradition and Sweden received a waiver from health regulations over the practice when Sweden was admitted to the European Union. Finland did not receive such a waiver and the bureaucrats in Brussels are attempting to enforce pan-European regulations in the Åland Islands that are Finnish yet not Finnish as the islands are autonomous as well as ethnically Swedish with Swedish customs. More from Brussels Journal.
It is issues like this one that lead to pan-Europe proposals being voted down across Europe. The EU bullies, aka bureaucrats, have been picking on the Åland Islands for quite some time. It’s time for this nonsense to stop. I say this as a liberal because I agree with my conservative friends that this is liberalism run amok. Government is legislating us to death over silliness destroying age-old traditions and ways of life. Not everyone wants to live in London or San Francisco.
This past week the city government of San Francisco passed a law preventing drug chains from selling tobacco arguing that pharmacies should not be in the business of selling cancerogenic products. I hope Walgreens and Rite Aid sue the city. (Disclosure: I own shares of Walgreens) but the city fails to understand that these chains are really two businesses, a front-end and a pharmacy. Walgreens describes its front-end as a “Seven-Eleven on steriods” which is what it is. In San Francisco, Walgreens is both a convenience store and a pharmacy. The city does not have the right to tell Walgreens that it cannot sell cigarettes. Liberalism run amok and frankly you’re giving liberalism a bad name.
