This is it. The last week: the time for “closing arguments” and thousands of ads swarming every network.Both candidates are rounding up the troops, although in different ways. McCain has chosen to attend rallies with his running mate Sarah Palin, while Obama has chosen to divide and conquer. And conquering he is, upholding his lead in national polls. In the states of Ohio and Florida, Obama is leading 50-44 percent and 49-45 percent respectively. Six percent of voters in both of these states remain unsure of who they are voting for.
Both candidates stopped in Pennsylvania today, which has been labeled as the “New Florida,” for the state has become a new “must win” state. Let’s just hope they don’t have the same ballot problems. McCain’s latest tactic is to hammer Obama on his tax policies, along with his new ad that plays the clip of Joe Biden saying there would be an international crisis if Obama is elected president. Obama has fought right back, with an ad displaying the rest of that quote, in which Biden says that they will find that he is strong enough.
Both tickets have drawn large crowds to rallies and have attempted to instill more messages of hope and success. Sarah Palin said to Pennsylvania voters, “Are you ready to carry this state to victory?” In an earlier rally in Norfolk, Virginia, Obama said, “There are better days ahead. If we’re willing to work for it.” Governor Palin and Senator Obama have presented voters with stark differences in their parties’ values, the candidates’ own values and the direction this nation is headed if each were to be elected. Early voting is being promoted in order to decrease congestion on November 4, but also to allow voters to assert their rights as soon as possible in order to help each campaigns.
One of Stephen Colbert’s guests tonight was the candidate for the Socialist Party USA-the real one, not Obama-named Brian Moore. Within the interview, Moore stated how Obama is indeed a capitalist and is not consistent with Socialist values. Ah! Thank you, Stephen Colbert, for having Brian Moore on your show to reassure the American people that Obama is not a Socialist! Just like he’s not Muslim, a domestic terrorist or any other heinous titles assigned to him. Also on tonight’s Colbert show was Sherman Alexia, author of The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, who supports Barack Obama.
But wait-many Americans are not aware of this. There are actually multiple other parties and candidates from those parties that have barely been publicized. These include: Bob Barr and Wayne A. Root of the Libertarian Party, Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez of the Independent Party, Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear of the Socialism and Liberation Party, Jeffrey “Jeff” Boss and Andrea Maria Psoras of the Vote Here Party, Chuck Baldwin and Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party, Roger Calero and Alyson Kennedy from the Socialist Works Party, Brian Moore and Stewart Alexander from the Socialist Party USA and Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente of the Green Party.
It sounds like a laundry list of random people that you’ve probably never heard of, which is both odd and typical of the American people. The lack of coverage of these candidates is a reflection of both the media, and how the political system in America has evolved. It was never meant to be a two-party alone system. We’re supposed to have democracy and we do. However, democracy is not in its purest form in our country.
The next six days hold even more intensity and political ads on television. It’s important to keep a level mind and consider what each of the candidates stand for (all the words of all the quotes).