This blog was originally started as a class project for my advanced online media class at Arizona State University. All eleven entries up to this point were written while I was sitting in and/or on the rooftop of an apartment building in the middle of Tempe.

I’ve moved from smack-dab in the middle of McCain country to the soon-to-be center of the Obama universe.

Starting with this entry, I will be writing from a spot which millions of people worldwide will want to be for a few days in August; less than a mile away from the site of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Growing up in Denver, I know the atmosphere of the city. I can tell that even on the first day of July, the political winds are already blowing. I can’t wait until August.

“Why in the world would he want to go back into politics, go back to Washington? He’s won an Oscar, a Pulitzer, he’s a rock star, he’s got it good right now. I don’t know why anyone would want to be thrown back into that scene.”

That is not an exact quote, but it’s close to what my professor Nancie Dodge said when describing her thoughts on Obama’s announcement that if elected, he would consider assigning former Vice President Al Gore to a high level Cabinet position as a “Global warming guru.”

I can’t seem to decide what I would do if I were Al Gore. On one hand, I agree with my professor that Washington is a brutal place to be, and that someone who seems to already have it all with his awards and work in his post-Washington days might not even want to go back to Washington.

On the other hand, if Gore decided to return to Washington on Obama’s offer, he would not be the vice president this time, and his duties wouldn’t include anything except being the “Global warming guru,” as Obama put it. When you’re trying to get funding and spread the word on such an important issue, there are few places better than a high-ranking position in the most powerful and influential government in the world.

However, there is some question out there that this might not even be a decision Gore would have to flirt with.

Jessica Fargen at the Boston Herald wrote today that some strategists, including Republican strategist Holly Robichaud, believe that the offer is just a strategic political move, and not actually a sincere offer. She believed that by making this announcement, Obama was creating distance between himself and Clinton in the close Democratic race.

Robichaud went on to state that she believes it helps out the Republicans. “It’s kind of a funny thing. We don’t like Al Gore. Once again it solidifies Obama’s image as the liberals liberal.” She believes that this move widens the gap between Obama and some of the more conservative Democrats.

Sincere or not, I think Gore is going to have a tough time deciding which road he is going to take.

It’s finally that time of the election season when politics seem extra ridiculous to me. There really isn’t too much progress being made in the nomination process – the next primary isn’t for another 33 days – so the news outlets are struggling to make stories and create controversy with every topic, going as low as to saying Obama is not patriotic because he doesn’t wear an American Flag lapel pin.

I agree with Dave Gergen, a Republican political analyst, who said, “I don’t think an election should be determined by if a man wears a pin or not,” while speaking on CNN last night. An election shouldn’t be decided on petty little things that in the big picture have no relevance to the actual issues that should be focused on.

It’s nice to see that the candidates themselves feel the same way, and that even they need, and take, breaks from politics every once in a while, even in the middle of a heated nomination process.

On the same show as Gergen, Anderson Cooper 360, a clip aired of Cooper spending a full day with Obama, from a rally in the morning in North Carolina, on a flight to West Virginia and a rally later that night. Cooper stated he was surprised to see Obama working so hard on the plane, as he sometimes takes the time on the flight to rest. When Cooper approached Obama to see what he was working on, he found out all of the hard work was going toward Obama picking his bracket for the NCAA tournament.

As I mentioned, it’s nice to see that the candidates need a break too, and also helps you realize that these aren’t just political machines who are running for president, they are actual people who do the same stuff as you or I would do.

It’s a pretty decent bracket overall. I think Obama is a little crazy for putting Kansas, a team that has been upset in the first or second round in the last two years, in the final four. I have the same title game as he does, except I have UCLA beating UNC in the final.

I picked a bad time to stop following the election race. For a week, over our spring break, I decided to take a break from what seemed to be a never-ending cycle of the same political stories from every media outlet. Of course, this happens to be the week when Obama’s pastor and his preachings come into controversy, and Obama responds with what I’ve heard described by many of my peers as “One of the Greatest Speeches of Our Generation.”

Many in the press are praising the speech as well. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune said, “If political campaigns were political movies, Barack Obama’s big speech deserves a big Oscar…. He bravely fought to save his presidential campaign by affirming principles over expediency as an argument for improving politics.”

Deborah Griffith, an Arizona Republic reader, wrote in to the paper to say, “I want to thank the senator for giving me hope yet again for this country.”

After watching the speech, and seeing the words and emotion Obama and his staff can put together in just a day’s time, my respect for Obama and his staff has just gotten greater.

Obama handled the situation with class and dignity, and addressed the subject of racism without any disdain, even toward his pastor. Although his pastor a prominent part of Obama’s religious background, should not be seen as a mirror of the views of Obama himself.

Obama’s supporters put out a good song.

Clinton’s supporters put out an awful horrible hilariously bad interesting song. There are no words to describe this.

As bad as it is, I did find myself humming the tune about 30 minutes after I listened to it. I’m ashamed.

There are also songs for Republican candidates McCain and Huckabee, but they aren’t nearly as professional, and don’t warrant being included with the Clinton and Obama masterpieces.

Wait… What?!

My whole life, all the political talk I’ve heard from my dad has been about how great the Republicans are. How their tax policies support our family, how their education, immigration and employment policies are better for our demographic. I’ve never known my dad to vote anything but Republican, no matter the candidate.

My whole life, all the political talk I’ve heard from my mom has been about how great the Democrats are. How their tax policies support our family, how their education, immigration and employment policies are better for out demographic. I’ve never known my mom to vote anything but Democrat, no matter the candidate.

One of my parents has been lying to me.

My parents don’t discuss politics with each other, and on the rare occasion that it gets brought up, I just tune it out, because they are on such opposite ends of the political spectrum that I feel like I’m about to watch the battle scene from Braveheart. Both sides lined up, staring each other down with their massive armies (of words in this case) behind them, just waiting for that one little misstep from the other side.

When I get political input from either of them, it’s always in secret, without the other one knowing. It’s nice to get input from both of them, but it’s very hard to get unbiased information. My mom has always been a little better at realizing that no matter what she tells me, in the end I will make my own decision, and she will actually sit there and discuss politics with me. My dad more or less preaches Republicanism to me.

The surprise of my life came last week while my dad was visiting Phoenix for the Super Bowl. I met up with him for dinner after I attended the Barack Obama rally on Jan. 30. I was ready to hear a rant about how neither Obama nor Clinton are the ones I need to be looking into. How I should look at McCain and Romney and various other Republicans. I was prepared, but it never happened.

“It’s time for a change,” he said. “I do not like Obama’s tax policy; it will hurt our family. But other than that, we need him. He reminds me of JFK, a president who was younger, hipper, and came into power during turmoil, and did a great job of calming the nation. Bush has ruined our economy, has killed our global policies, and the war… I am not even going to start with the war. Even your grandmother was fed up with Bush and was thinking about voting Democrat. The Republicans have lost their credibility.”

I’ve never met someone more conservative Republican than my grandmother. I think it’s possible that in the 2000 election, she supported Republicans more than George W. Bush himself did. If she was fed up with the Republicans, I can’t imagine a single person who is not.

In the car ride home, my dad told me he was going to vote for Obama.

I dropped him off at his hotel, he started to walk away from the car, then ran back frantically before I pulled away to make sure I heard the last thing he said.

“DO NOT tell your mother!”

Before the live-blogging begins, check out this time-lapse video of the process of building the stage for the Democratic debate. The video shows just the tip of the iceberg for preparations for an event like this. Not many people realize how much behind the scenes and pre-event work is done.

Bold: Moderator
Green: Barack Obama
Red: Hillary Clinton
Anything else: Me

Wolf Blitzer: “This is the hottest ticket in town!”
Obviously it’s a hot ticket and an important event. This isn’t the Super Bowl, though, Wolf.
Wolf: “The only rules tonight… There are no rules!”
The first rule about Democratic debates is you don’t talk about Democratic debates.
The second rule of Democratic debates is YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT DEMOCRATIC DEBATES!

Alright, time for the more serious stuff…

Opening Statement Highlights:
I want to note that I was friends with Hillary Clinton before we started this campaign; I will be friends with Hillary Clinton after this campaign is over. She has done — she’s run a — we’re running a competitive race, but it’s because we both love this country, and we believe deeply in the issues that are at stake. I believe we’re at a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war; our planet is in peril. Families all across the country are struggling with everything from back-breaking health care costs to trying to stay in their homes. And at this moment, the question is: How do we take the country in a new direction? How do we get past the divisions that have prevented us from solving these problems year after year after year? I don’t think the choice is between black and white or it’s about gender or religion. I don’t think it’s about young or old. I think what is at stake right now is whether we are looking backwards or we are looking forwards. I think it is the past versus the future.
Well, on January 20, 2009, the next president of the United States will be sworn in on the steps of the Capitol. I, as a Democrat, fervently hope you are looking at that next president. Either Barack or I will raise our hand and swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Both candidates spent a lot of the time acknowledging each other’s efforts in their respective campaigns, as well as the efforts of the other candidates who have dropped out, especially John Edwards efforts in his campaign. Both highlighted the economy, the war and health care. When you read the transcript, both opening statements were relatively the same. I noticed one HUGE difference, one that you can’t pick up in the written transcript: Hillary sounded like a robot. While Barack was delivering his statement, he seemed to interact with the people. He not only looked into the crowd, but looked around the entire crowd. He had much better enunciation, and seemed completely sincere with every word he spoke. Hillary sounded like she was being forced to speak. Her pauses were awkward, her looks into the crowd weren’t natural; she would stare to the left of the stage, then back to the right, then back to the same spot on the left. It was very awkward looking, and sounded harsh and forced.

What is the most important policy distinction between Barack and Clinton. What is the most important policy difference between you and your opponent?
Barack and Hillary both acknowledged each other’s standing on issues as relatively the same as their own, with minor differences. Obama stated that “About 95 percent of our plans are similar.” The main differences in their policies focused on health care. Both agreed that a national health care system of some sort was necessary, but the main difference was that Hillary claimed Obama’s policy would force everyone to pay for health care, even if they never needed it themselves. However, it was not really in an instigating sense; it was a decent point that created no real controversy in the debate.

I like how the candidates are playing nice so far, actually acting as if they are on the same side in the political spectrum. I understand that to run a successful campaign, you need to show that you are better than your opponent, and at this stage in the process, your opponent is still one of your own people. I don’t understand why, at this stage, there are already smear-campaigns running when the opponent is still on your side! Hillary’s first line “The differences between Barack and I pale in comparison to the differences that we have with Republicans, and I want to say that first and foremost, because it’s really a stark difference,” really caught my attention, and made me feel, for the first time in this political season, that even though Obama and Clinton are against each other, in the big picture, they are teammates against the Republicans.

***A sad realization occurred to me when my tape abruptly ended in the middle of the debate: I do not know how to use a VCR* anymore. Years of DVD and DVR use have hindered my ability to change the tape speed setting from SP to LP, or even go crazy and get six hours of recording on the EP setting.

*To prove how obsolete the VCR has become in my book, it should be noted that when I originally posted this, I refered to the machine as a VHS tape player, because I could not recall the correct name. Awful.

I went to the Barack Obama rally at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum yesterday afternoon. I had never really been to a political rally before. The only real encounters I’ve had with politics were from four years ago when the third presidential debate was held at ASU. And being a younger, less mature experienced individual, I spent most of the time taking pictures of funny signs or trying to get on national television by turning my light on and off in the background of a live CNN broadcast.

I didn’t go to the rally to see Obama, and while I was there, I didn’t really listen to much of the speech, or spend much time watching him. The reason I went was because my photography professor thought it would be a great opportunity to take pictures, so he cancelled the official class, and told us to go to the rally instead. For an event like that, a good picture is harder to find, because he has rallies every day. A picture of Obama on a platform with a mic is not very significant. Anyone can get that shot. So I went to the rally for a picture, not for the politics, and therefore spent most of the time listening to and watching the people in the crowd, which in the end I think was actually better than going for the politics.

I was amazed by the support that was shown by the crowd. Obviously there is going to be support for a candidate at a planned rally, but the electricity and energy inside that building was amazing, and Obama’s stature and presence at that arena was unbelievable. There wasn’t a single moment where any disconnect from Obama to the people was shown.

More important, I was truly impressed with the diversity of the crowd. I’ve been reading articles (more) about how the Republicans are going to win again, for the sole reason that the Democrats are running a woman and a black man, and the people of America aren’t ready for that kind of change yet.

I saw the complete opposite of that at this rally. People of all colors, all ages, both genders were all there together, showing equal support for both Obama and, more important, each other. I witnessed 70-year-old black men cheering with and hugging 20 year-old white girls. Older black women and younger white men sharing stories of other rallies they have attended for Obama. Every combination of race and age were interacting with each other like it’s no big deal. And they are 100% correct, it is not a big deal. It is not any deal at all. This is not 1960. This is 2008. The mass media have made too big of a deal about race, and from what I saw, luckily, the people are ignoring it.

So while I didn’t absorb a single point that Obama personally may have made at his rally, by watching and listening to the people who were there to support him, I gained a much better knowledge of the campaign that Obama is trying to run, the people who support his cause, and the fact that it is 2008, and we (Americans) are finally, FINALLY in the presence of the true possibility that it is the man behind the skin, not the color of it.