Uncle Sam needs you to vote!

By Maggie Palin

Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City. Since then more than 950 protests have been held in more than 80 countries – including many in places where there are no financial centers.

Many have compared the Occupy movement to last year’s Tea Party movement, as both were formed to show one’s disapproval of the status quo. The Occupy movement began as a way for individuals to express their frustration at those in the financial sector who they believed helped the economy descend into a freefall over the past few years, while the Tea Party movement began as a reaction to the policies and legislation of the Democratic-led Congress and White House in Washington. But that is where the similarities end.

The Tea Party movement included rallies of various shapes and sizes, but they did not make up the core of the operation. When they did rally, the Tea Party members would usually coalesce for a few hours to make their point, usually on a day of significance, such as 9/12, outside of a legislative office. Instead, the focus of the Tea Party movement revolved around the good old ballot box. The Tea Party drafted candidates for Congress that eschewed their principles and worked hard to elect them to office, and which resulted in the Republican party flipping the House and nearly taking back the Senate last November. They were participating in the Democratic process much in the same way that the Athenians did over 2,000 years ago.

Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots, however, highlight the dirty side of peacefully assembling – literally! Participants are sleeping in city parks and sidewalks picketing and creating public havoc. By camping out the protestors are costing these already financially-strapped cities thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, in policing fees and clean up (that is, when the city is able to clean up from the protests). Many of them are recent college grads who have not had much luck in finding a job and find themselves laden in debt, and rather than spending their time churning out job applications – like the rest of us did – they are blaming others for their problems and doing little to try to fix them. And now that the Democratic party and major unions such as the AFL-CIO are fully supporting the movement has shifted from a wakeup call to Wall Street to a cry for Marxism with no end in sight.

I am not endorsing the principles of one movement over the other, and I am a strong supporter of the First Amendment and the right to peaceably assemble. But if I had to judge the movements on their overall tactics and effectiveness, I would wholeheartedly crown the Tea Party the victor. It pains me to give props to my former Governor (and more unfortunately, former Mayor) for things that do not involve Philadelphia sports teams, but Ed Rendell deserves them for his reaction to the Occupy Wall Street movement:

“Look, you’ve made your point, you don’t think by sitting here you’re going to bring about change in law just by sitting here. No legislative body is going to be blackmailed.

“I mean the guys in Philadelphia said they’re going to be here all winter. Well that’s silly. You’ve made your point, you’ve gotten about all the publicity you’re going to get. Now get on with your lives and if you really care about this stuff, organize at the ballot box.”

And so my final thoughts for the members of the Occupy movement: If you really want to make a difference, register to vote. And then, go to your local polling place on November 8th and cast your ballot. Then, keep returning to your polling place every November and vote until your point is made. That, my friends, is democracy in action, and that is America is the longest-standing democracy in the world today.

Youth Voters and the 2012 Presidential Election

By Maggie Palin

In my mind one of the most fascinating periods in modern campaign history is undoubtedly the spring and summer of 2007. The entire country was engrossed in following the candidates crisscross Iowa and New Hampshire. Congressional and party leaders were lining up in droves behind their chosen nominee, and you couldn’t go a few hours without hearing something new about the campaign trail. I even remember worrying that some uneducated voters would think that the election was that November, and not the one after.

Fast-forward four years to 2011 and you wouldn’t even think that the presidential campaign season has started if you didn’t live in Iowa, New Hampshire, or within the D.C. Beltway. Part of it has to do with the fact that the media isn’t engrossed in covering the campaign the way it was four years ago. Having the Democratic nominee already set probably also helps. Personally I believe that the populous has just become apathetic, especially towards the current crop of declared candidates. None of the key players are really that exciting. The candidate pool boasts several has-beens (former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich), Mormons whose religion just doesn’t seem to sit well with the evangelical base of the party (former Governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Jon Huntsman of Utah), and ultra-conservatives pining for the Tea Party vote (Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Texas Governor Rick Perry).

All of this truly scares me. Not as a Republican, not as a political operative, but as a proud member of the millennial generation. I saw two-thirds of my peers vote for a president in 2008 that ran an elaborate PR campaign based around the words “hope” and “change” rather than discuss anything substantive on the trail. It also didn’t help that Barack Obama established himself as a true rock star by taking a break from campaigning in July 2008 to tour Europe, or by breaking tradition and accepting the Democratic nomination for President at Invesco at Mile High Stadium in front of a giant Parthenon-esque backdrop rather than at the convention site.

On the surface what’s not to like about Obama’s programs designed to help the millennial voter? One of the oft-overlooked parts of the comprehensive healthcare reform package of 2010 was that it provided Americans under the age of 26 the opportunity to stay on their parents’ or guardians’ healthcare plan regardless of their circumstance. Obama’s administration has also worked diligently to help take some of the burden off of college graduates by eliminating student loans for those who go into public service upon graduation. But all of these new programs have resulted in trillions of dollars added to the federal debt and a massive bloating of the federal budget that we just won’t be able to afford in years to come. And what my peers often forget when they lobby for things like universal healthcare and expanded welfare benefits is that we will be the ones paying for all of this when were in our middle age–and laden with college tuition for our children, mortgage payments, and the need to put aside money for our eventual retirement.

I kept telling myself that we could right this wrong, that we would retake Congress in 2010 (we almost got there) and hold onto both chambers while winning back the presidency in 2012. Yet the more I see the GOP field in action the more I wonder why we are giving Obama a second term. I can’t see the youth voter flocking around Santorum, or Bachmann, or Gingrich any more than they liked John McCain in 2008. We need a Republican who will help us find jobs and buy our first homes now but will do all this without mortgaging our future with high taxes and no social security funds. We need someone who respects our views on issues such as gay marriage and gun rights. I don’t know who this candidate is–or even if one exists–but unless the candidates start catering to their youngest voters Obama will certainly have no problem winning over this demographic next November, and in turn, retain his current residence.

Spinnit’ To Winnit’ – Australia Is Having An Election!

By: Nick Rodham Churchill

For those of you who don’t closely follow the news in Australia (so most of you) there is an Election on!  While there are many parties full of many “ideas,” the “big two” seem to be doing all they can to say as much as possible and yet seem to be saying nothing at all.  This year is a bit different for Oz – there is a woman at the top of the ticket.  While this is something that would stun, shock, and inspire Americans (or probably even Canadians) Australians claim it matters very little to them.  Still, when I get to my “Election spinning – I mean winning – themes in a second, you’ll see why I simultaneously don’t believe that’s the case.

There’s been the usual kissing babies (no, literally, the news has a “baby-kissing” counter and they’re keeping a running tally of which leader – Gillard or Abbott – kisses more babies) and moral-filled proclamations of the highest refuditude (did you see what I did there?  I made up a word.  It’s all the political rage now).  On paper these two leaders seem quite different.  Gillard is an un-married, childless red-head who has been at the heart of Labour’s left for 20 years.  Abbott is a devoutly Catholic, short, balding man who just competed in a major triathlon and says curse words on a regular basis.  He’s wildly entertaining.  So then, you’d think their policies would be quite different as well.  Well, they’ve been spun as such.  Labour is all about “Moving Australia Forward” while the Liberals are “Standing Up For Australia.”  See.  Quite different.  And on the issues, well…

Jobs:

Labour: We’ll create them.  We promise.

Liberal: We’ll reduce taxes.  That’ll create them.

Labour Laws:

Labour: We invented them.

Liberal: We won’t change them.

Green Energy:

Labour: Tax Carbon.

Liberal: That’s not the answer, but we’re not going to tell you what is.

Immigration:

Labour: You’re not racist for hating asylum seekers.  Lets secure our borders.

Liberal: We’re pretty-much racist.  Lets secure our borders.

Outfits:

Labour: “Gillard was out today in a lovely polka-dot ensemble complete with red chiffon top.  The pearls were back, as were the high heels.”

Liberal: <Cue Silence>

So then, what’s the difference?  Well, one of them is a lady and she’s wearing pretty clothes.  Oh, and her partner is a former hair stylist who does a mean blow dry at 4:30am.  And that is how you win an Election!

Photo Courtesy Of: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/kristinas-stinky-government-wont-make-julia-on-the-nose-20100719-10gxt.html?rand=1279507516610

Same Story, Different Storyteller

By: Nick Rodham Churchill

For those of you who don’t [shockingly] follow Australian politics, arguably the biggest political kung fu in years took place one week ago today.  Kevin Rudd, the once most popular Prime Minister (PM) in Australian history was ousted by his Deputy, the brilliant and masterful Julia Gillard.  It was a brilliant execution (the whole thing unfolded in less than 12 hours) and the first of it’s kind; Kevin Rudd was still a first-term Prime Minister and ousted not by the Opposition, but by HIS OWN PARTY.

The reasons given were simple.  K-Rudd, has he was called, had been straying off course.  It was a government that had “lost its way.”  True, the evidence was there.  in 6 months K-Rudd had tanked in the polls faster than almost any PM in history.  A general election loss was at stake against the Liberals, which would have meant a horrific change of course.  A few recent decisions really hadn’t gone over well with the public, and K-Rudd was pretty terrible when it came to dealing with the media.

Okay, so Special K is out, big J Gill is in.  First, history is made.  First female Prime Minister.  Woohoo!  Next, major policy changes, right?  Not so much.  Immediately we heard there would be changes to the mining tax, the most controversial leftover from Mr. Rudd.  Oops, not so fast.  The government is just “swinging open its doors” to negotiation.  Certainly we’d refocus other key issues.  Instead, it’s all about “consultations” and “new approaches,” but not a whole lot of change in terms of real policy (most of which J Gill was central in creating with Captain K).

Regardless, the press and the country seem to be eating up every last word, believing wholeheartedly that this is a “new direction” for the party, the government, and the country.  So then, what changed?  The spin.  The packaging.  The perception of reality is what changed.  All it took was a new face and a thesaurus and BOOM, a “brand new day.”  You do have to take your hat off to Madame Prime Minister though.  In one foul swoop she cut off the past, reinvent the present, spin the futre, and creat a whole new headache for the opposition.  Well done Julia.  Well done.

Photo Courtesy of: http://images.theage.com.au/2009/01/02/338501/gillard-420×0.jpg

And we’re back!

By Tal-Anna Szlenski

We’re back, and with changes as to how we’re going to run this blog in the future. 

As some might have noticed, the last post on this blog was submitted almost a month ago. This lack of posts was not because we didn’t have anything to say. I mean, it was UK election time! Of course we had something to say. And a lot of it.

Yet it posed a problem. You see, within this fine group of people contributing to the blog, many found themselves in a bit of a dilemma. Most, if not all, of us are – quite unsurprisingly –  established, or seeking to be, in the realms of politics, journalism and communication. We had to admit that blog posts of a controversial nature under personal names could compromise any professional reputation, with the click of a Google search.

Hence, our solution to this problem, and the way the blog will be run in the future looks like this:

The list of contributors to the blog shall remain with our names. Yet we have all chosen a internet moniker which we will use consistently with our posts. With this system we hope to retain accountability, as well as a mild degree of anonymity.  

This resolution of ours  is perhaps not perfect nor fool-proof, but it serves our purpose in this conoundrum so typical for the so-called internet age.

With this new meassure many more posts should be emerging, and we look forward to explore how our solution takes form in practice. Of course we are interested in hearing any other suggestions, or thoughts on what you guys reckon about this? Please do share.

As such, consider this the last ‘named’ post on the blog.

Happy friday!