Election 2008

There is no lack of documentation on John McCain’s anger management problems. The Media has done its share to report on just a few of those incidents but its true implications have never been entertained. What does this character flaw mean and what are some examples of McCain loosing his cool?

Psychologists claim that, “anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability.” The Washington Post wrote an article about 10 years ago on McCain and his temper tantrum. So here is a list of McCain behaving non-Presidential like by stating:

1) "F- - - you!" @ Senator John Cornyn [New York Post]
2)  “A - - hole” @ Senator Pete Domenici [Newsweek]
3) “F- - -ing Jerk” @ Senator Charles Grassley [Newsweek]
4) Yelled and Humiliated Young Volunteert [The Arizona Republic]
5) Told Senator Kennedy to “Shut-up” [Boston Globe]
6)  “Sh- - Head” @ fellow Senator [NewsMax]
7)  “F - - - you” @  Republican Senator [NewsMax]
8) “C- - -” @ Cindy McCain [Raw Story]
9) Got Mad at Foreign Diplomat [The New York Times]
10)  Screamed and Acosted Senator Richard Shelby [Boston Globe]

Olberman does a great job of reviewing this issue in the YouTube video to the right. This begs the question of whether this type of behavior is appropriate for a President. It is fellow Republican Senators that do not agree with McCain’s approach. In fact that is why most of them did not support him during his bid in 2000. Those actions speak loudly. People that know him well and interact with him on a daily basis are turned off by his behavior. Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican claims, “His temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." McCain has even admitted that as an “angry 2-year-old, he would hold his breath until he lost consciousness.”

We dealt for 8 years with an incompetent President . . . can we really afford an someone that can not control their emotions? If the qualifications for U.S. President are someone that can not control their temper and is a geriatric . . . then all of sudden folks across America that live in retirement homes have become front runners for the GOP.

The rumors that continue to develop about Obama’s character never fail to amaze me. That is until I realized that countless of people actually entertained some of those claims and took it as fact even when Obama took the steps to dismiss any false claims about his background. Steve Benen sheds some commentary on a Washington Post article regarding this subject. Jon Stewart added some comic relief by coining a new term: Barcknophobia – The irrational fear of hope.

The Washington Post article states, “On the television in his living room, Jim Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor’s house, at his son’s auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate’s background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Benen adds, “Peterman sounds sincere, and inclined to vote Democratic, but conflicted. A friend told him that Obama refuses to wear an American-flag pin. Another friend told him that Obama is a radical Muslim. Peterman’s friends, in other words, are lying to him, but he doesn’t realize it.”

Leroy Pollard, who lives in Peterman’s neighborhood,  claims, “I understand [Obama’s] from Africa, and that the first thing he’s going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He’s got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there’s the Muslim thing. He’s just not presidential material, if you ask me.”

Obama has taken steps to counter any false rumors by setting up  “Fight the Smears” website so that people can inform themselves. As I claimed earlier, How Lies Become the Truth, the best way to counter the rumors is not to repeat them but instead inform voters of the actual facts.

Benen’s over argument is that these individuals may just be willfully ignorant. I concur but does it help that there is someone out there that is fueling the fire? Should I be surprised? As a cynic, I can state no but as an idealist I am saddened. Ideally, America should be comprised of some of the most intelligent people in the world but sadly that is not a fact. The truth is that open-minded, progressive thinking; intelligent individuals comprise a small minority of our population. It doesn’t matter if someone has an “education” if that individual cannot think for himself or herself and ignore talking points. As long as there is a television that broadcasts pointless hours of brain candy to Americans, our political discourse will be undermined. A combination of apathy and willful ignorance is detrimental to democracy and that is why we are in the current economic and political state. Stupid people do deserve a Stupid President.

Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt wrote an interesting piece in The New York Times on how our brain lies to us. They introduce the topic by stating that 18% of Americans believe the sun revolves around the earth. Thus, it should not be surprising that 1 in 10 Americans believe Obama is a Muslim when in fact he is Christian.
They go on to explain how those lies become statements that render themselves “true” for some reason.

Wang and Aamodt claim, “A false statement from a noncredible source that is at first not believed can gain credibility during the months it takes to reprocess memories from short-term hippocampal storage to longer-term cortical storage. As the source is forgotten, the message and its implications gain strength.”

Repetition of a half-truth becomes the truth after a while because one forgets the original reason and context of the information learned. Think of commercials and their jingles or slogans . . . after a while their claims seem credible.

Obama recently set up a website to counteract any rumors that may surface during his presidential bid. Wang and Aamodt warn that “by repeating a false rumor, they may inadvertently make it stronger.” A better approach they claim is to counter the rumor by dispelling the information at hand with a claim that emphasizes the truth. So, for example if Obama is labeled a Muslim, he should claim that he is a Christian. In other words, Obama and any other candidates facing similar dilemmas must take a proactive approach in the matter but should not repeat the false information at the same time. It becomes tricky in the world of politics when candidates have a limited time frame to fight off any attacks. A rumor during the final stretch of the race may be detrimental to Obama if his campaign does not prepare itself.

This is a great short read on how the brain processes information and can end up lying to itself over time. Candidates and publicist may want to look into this topic a bit more in order to better market and represent themselves or clients.

The one thing I feel that political analyst and the media fail to measure correctly is the Hispanic vote. Many view this unique group through the traditional political looking glass and miscalculate their campaign approach.

In order to understand this though, one must have background knowledge of the Hispanic caucus. The label Hispanic is a label applied to people from Latin American countries. There in lies the problem. A group as massive and diverse as the Hispanic sector cannot be viewed this way. Other groups can afford this political approach such as the African-American or Christians. Think of it this way. Imagine categorizing all Religious groups under one umbrella and then applying a strategy that does not fit each group properly. You have a problem don’t you. Although the sub-groups may share inherit basic values there are distinct ones that may undermine their support for each other.

Hispanics are the same. This diverse group is categorized under this umbrella that dictates a cookie cutter strategy to all. The end result is failure. The agenda of Mexicans is not necessarily the ones that Cubans may have in mind. Folks from El Salvador may be opposed to legislation that Cubans may favor. The list can go on but one understands the concept.

Orlando Sanchez, a prominent Cuban-American politician, in the Houston area failed in his bid as Houston Mayor twice. In a city where Hispanics are the majority how did it fail to elect a Hispanic mayor? Easy . . . he was running in heavily dominated Mexican voter bloc. His first mistake was to run as a Republican and the last one was to run as a Cuban. The Mexican voting bloc understood that although Sanchez was Hispanic and that was the only characteristic they shared in common. Mexicans are traditionally Democrats and Sanchez did not represent them in any way so they negated his bid for mayor, twice.

What is the most effective approach to the Hispanic vote then? I tend to recommend a dynamic approach to the ever-changing social-political realm. A savvy candidate understands this illusion and approaches it as broad as the group is. Establishing a broad policy that is moderate is the best approach. This policy should also not be targeted to any niche group. Remember even though we are all Hispanic . . . we do not all share the same interests.

Sometimes it is hard to explain to friends why anyone would vote for a Republican. Then there comes a video with a witty message and post-production that is impeccable.  Of course I will not be voting for any Republicans this November, but at least it makes a bit more sense now.

This video relies on hyperboles and extremes that would make anyone cry. Perhaps a website claiming, "Why I'm Voting Democrat" would suffice. The stakes are high and there is no reason why you should not be registered and ready to vote this November. Pass this video along to friends and family and spread the word! 

A quick search in Wikipedia has this to say about the Psychology of Torture and its effects:

Other psychological consequences include cognitive impairment, reduced capacity to learn, memory disorders, sexual dysfunction, social withdrawal, inability to maintain long-term relationships, or even mere intimacy, phobias, ideas of reference and superstitions, delusions, hallucinations, psychotic microepisodes, and flat affect.

I have reason to believe McCain shows signs of post-traumatic disorder. I have included this video as well to illustrate my point. You see, I always thought that McCain deliberately lied and made up facts or events. Now, I have reason to believe that it is just an effect that he is suffering from the 5 years of imprisonment and torture during the Vietnam War. McCain's hair turned white due to the trauma he endured. His capacity to learn has been reduce for example earlier this week he claimed Putin was the President of Germany.

He also has many superstitions like lucky shoes, a compass, feather, and flattened penny. This should not come as a surprise. John McCain is known to have a temper and being impatient. His phobias may extend themselves to foreign policy and his approach to the War on Terror but in particular Iran. The question now is . . . can America afford to have a man with these personal problems to lead our nation. Is this the America we want?

Hillary Clinton conceded to Obama today but not failing to do it with style. She thanked her supporters and committed to making sure that Obama would be the next President of the United States of America.

A call for unity was established as this competitive Primary season ended. Clinton supporters were asked to support Obama in his bid for President. Clinton claimed, "I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee and I intend to deliver on that promise."

Her message included the historic success of she and Obama had over the past 6 months. It will no longer seem impossible for a female or minority candidate to seek the White House. Clinton states, "I was proud to be a woman but I was running because I thought I’d be the best president. But, but, but I am a woman and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces every last one of us.”

Her speech was positive and took the right step in the right direction for Democrats to unite. The next logical step in this unification process would be for Obama to include Clinton on the ticket. I only make this assertion because I would not be surprised if some Clinton supporters deflect from the Democratic Party. Instead of unifying it, they divide it into two segments which make create the first real third party. This seems unlikely but one must be willing to entertain any scenario in the political realm. Who would have thought a minority or even a female candidate had a chance of having an actual shot at being our next President just five years ago?

The convention has been going strong for about an hour and 30 minutes now and I am setting up. The day is filled with meetings, caucuses and of course the general session at the end of the day. I will be snapping pictures and looking out for any relevant information to report on.

What can I say about the convention . . . this is mayhem! I have never seen so many people dedicated or at least appear dedicated enough that they took a day off from work to travel to the state's capital in order to partake in a two day event for the Texas Democratic Primary. Even though Obama seems to be the shoe in, that does not stop Hillary's delegates to voice their opinion in the last step of the tri-level primary process. Other than the actual caucuses and meetings targeted to specific individuals within the Democratic Party there is an entire floor dedicated to selling Liberal paraphernalia. You can buy anything from t-shirts with witty slogans to Obama jewelry. The big hit in the room was a life size Obama and Clinton poster model.

Founder and CEO of Election Mall Ravi Sing claims that, "the models are the actual height" and people often ask him if they can take pictures with the candidates. He chuckles and adds that he began showcasing the candidates in "the California Primary" and has not stopped since. He plans on going to Denver. "Candidates send in their images to be included," claims Singh who works from the nation's capital. Interested individuals may purchase the carboard models for about $50 a piece. Signh adds, "There are plans to expand the amount of cardboard models," and that he does expect to retire either candidate anytime soon.

In other news, Rick Noriega held a news conference hitting home with the message that Republicans are out of touch with the general public when it comes to the housing crisis, failing dollar and rising gas prices. Party officals believe that about 15,000 individuals from around the state are expected to pledge their votes this weekend. Traffic near the Austin Convention center on Red River and Cesar Chavez seemed to have higher levels of traffic then usual. I have uploaded pictures of the convention which you can check out here and do not forget to check back for more.

It is officially over for the former first lady and current New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Her attempt to become the first female president in the United States has come to end. In an email to supporters she states, "On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy."

This should come as no surprise as the Democratic primaries have ended and she was behind in the delegate count. Feeling pressure from fellow Democrats she has bowed out to let Obama to assume the role of presumtive nominee. Clinton claims, "My differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans." This should serve as a reminder to Clinton supporters and delegates that McCain is the enemy and he comes no where close to sharing the ideals and beliefs of the Clinton Campaign.

Clinton fought a hard battle and for the first time in a long time, there were to qualified candidates that our country deserves to be lead by. She notes, "I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise. "

I agree. I supported Clinton in the March Primary in Texas. I will endorse Obama and do all that I can to see that he is the next President of the United States. Hillary Clinton, thank you for your public service and dedication/determination to become the Democratic nominee. The United States would have restored its greatness under your leadership . . . Obama shall restore it but history will not forget the historic primary that both candidates participated.

I have traveled to Austin this weekend for the 2008 Texas Democratic Party Convention. I will be part of the Press team that will relay the ongoing event surrounding the convention via my blog. I will be assisted by Jeff Crews from Houston who made this opportunity possible. Expect some entertaining posts and lots of pictures. The event does not officially kick off until Friday but there will be a blogger get together today at Cedar Street. Let the good times roll!