Next president will face uphill battle
Nov. 2, 2008With early voters turning out in droves and national anticipation at an all-time high, the most consequential election in at least 30 years (or possibly ever) is a day away.
With early voters turning out in droves and national anticipation at an all-time high, the most consequential election in at least 30 years (or possibly ever) is a day away.
In the last 200,000 years, man has evolved from a common hominid to that of a god among all animals. We have accomplished what the dinosaurs could not in more than 165 million years. We have conquered all other animals, save those at the most isolated depths of the ocean. We have been to space, to our moon and are planning a trip to Mars, yet people live in fear of truth.
The next time you see my beautiful mug gracing the Alligator, we will have a new president. No recount. No Supreme Court. Only our 44th president.
All right folks, this week Phil on the Hill returns to its old lineup format. And in honor of the rain-shortened World Series Game 5, we will discuss exactly 3 1/2 topics in order to help you finish your bus ride or class or wherever you decide to give me a few moments of your time.
As I left the UF-Georgia game last season, two thoughts ran through my head.
"How much emotion is too much?"
When I first registered to vote in 1999, I registered as a Republican. I did so to vote in the 2000 Republican Presidential primary for Sen. John McCain, when he ran against then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
Every four years as presidential candidates approach the finish line, the election hiccups. It could be a dramatic global event; it could be the final rabbit in a candidate's hat (or the final skeleton in his closet). Whatever form it takes, a presidential campaign must always anticipate that last-minute X-factor, the dreaded "October Surprise." For the candidate in the lead, it represents one last perilous curve ball. For the candidate running behind, it represents opportunity.
Facebook is a double-edged sword when it comes to friend-requesting family members. You can keep in touch with parts of your family you've long forgotten, or you can friend them to remember why you stopped talking to them in the first place.
The week every college football fan has waited for has finally arrived.
In what pundits are calling a year with "strong Democratic tailwinds" (think economic woes, unpopular president, etc.), Sen. John McCain has managed to hold the presidential contest between him and Sen. Barack Obama very close. According to Real Clear Politics, an organization that averages a week's worth of poll results from multiple sources, McCain was in a dead heat with Obama in national and battleground state polls.
The growing chants of "start the buses" resonate every time you pick up The New York Times, tune in to MSNBC or check out the latest poll numbers. Much like Clemson's football season, the McCain-Palin campaign is for all intents and purposes a lost cause.
I am a Christian. I am also what some might call a liberal, firmly committed to the Democratic Party.
Pardon me, as I steal a line from one of my favorite rappers, but "Will the real Gators please stand up?"
I am taking the final economics course for my major. I learned curves, graphs, labor and capital, and I have come to a truth about economics. It is incapable of quantifying human factors, such as fear, trust, greed and hope.
In the 2004 comedy "Mean Girls," main character Cady put into words what everyone had been thinking for years: "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it."