I have now officially voted and I did in fact vote for Barack Obama. I Feel like I tended to agree with him more frequently on the issues and although I don’t think John McCain was incompetent by any stretch of the imagination I just didn’t like his way of thinking and the future plans he had for the nation. I am glad that I had the opportunity to do this project and learn more about the candidates so that I wasn’t just voting blindly and I think that the research I did is valuable and practical information that will currently affect me in everyday life. The Election Day is coming up soon and I am so excited to see who will win. I think this election is particularly special because way it will be a first for our nation, it will either be the first women vice president or the first black president and I think both are a step in the right direction.

I think the debates had a lot of their own up and down sides. I think that McCain could have said “my friends” a lot less, and I think Obama could have worried less about John McCain’s attack ads. But still they were very educational and definitely affected my voting decision, I heard some things a liked and a lot of things I didn’t like but I guess that’s politics. I heard a lot of talk about the war and I strongly agreed with Obama and I think we should take military force out of Iraq, so I was glad to hear Obama talk about that. Also I heard both candidates address the current state of the economy, which is good they both established that it was a problem that needed to be fixed and I heard a lot of “this is America and we can do it!” kind of talk. But I failed to gather any candidate’s actual plan to restore our economic state. There was small talk about taxes, but I wanted an actual thought out system that could go in affect and I feel like I didn’t really get that.

In August of 2008 Obama said “Drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution.” I also really agree with this way of thinking. We can’t just drill forever and we can’t stay so dependent on gas, we should try to incorporate alternate fuel into our lives and we need our government to invest in this so that it’s an actual possibility and not just science fiction. If we seriously commit to finding an alternative fuel not only will it make us a more independently stable nation, but it could hopefully open up new doors for public transportation and cheaper prices for private transportation.

Obama also said “We must fight to rid our communities of meth” In February of 2008. I completely agree. I’m glad he figured that one out.

Obama also said that homosexuality is no more immoral then heterosexuality. I think this quote is true on many different levels, first that the only justification that people have come up with for homosexuality to be immoral religion deems it unnatural. Second this thinking has led to many complications in gay rights. I think that a gay couple that has decided to spend their lives together should have all the same rights as a married couple; I know that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman and blah blah blah. But, I’m not even talking about a religious marriage, because most religions disagree with a homosexual lifestyle. Which is fine, they can all agree to disagree and get over it, but I think that they should have equal rights as a married couple (such as being able to visit each other in the hospital). This is because rights and religion have NOTHING to do with each other at all. The rights are determined by the state and the state and church should be separate. So personally I feel that the state’s priorities should be equal rights first and religion never, because it would only complicate things. As for the whole homosexuality being unnatural which makes it immoral thing, that makes no sense to me at all. If you think about it in a philosophical sense, what is natural? And how does that determine the morality of a being or situation? Is Taco Bell natural? I wouldn’t think so but American’s seem to be fine with that. Are debit cards, lawnmowers, band aids, and skydiving really natural? I feel like these things aren’t natural at all. So I’m not saying that homosexuality may be natural, but I am saying that unnatural isn’t a bad thing at all, and it definitely has nothing to do with morals.

Obama said “put the confederate flag in a museum, not the state house” In April of 2007. I really like this quote a lot in comparison to John McCain’s quote. I feel like the confederate flag is a piece of history that should be remembered, but not in practical use. I feel surprised that states would even still won’t this flag up; I hope that everyone is aware that the south lost. Also that we are a much better country because the north won, so why fight to display a flag of the rightfully losing side in the civil war?

In January of 2000 John McCain said that the confederate flag was a symbol of “heritage.” I think he was trying to make everyone happy by not specifying if it was a good or bad thing just saying that it does in fact symbolize something but still he’s making it seem like a good thing. I am so sick of people supporting the confederate flag, as if America is still separated north from south. It’s thinking like this that leads to ignorance of thinking that we’re sovereign and independent, were all dependent on each other and were all American. So there is no need for the confederate flag anymore, and I personally think we should just make a world flag for all the countries and fly it because people categorize and separate themselves to much. I feel like we need to unify and lose all the labels and categories. I also feel like that was the original Idea for America, a place for unity and the confederate flag doesn’t fit into that picture. Also the reason the south separated from the north is because of slavery and the confederate flag is just a giant reminder of that disgraceful “heritage.”

In December of 2007 John McCain said that a loss of economic strength leads to a loss of military strength. This leaves me wondering why were still in Iraq with the current state of our economy. It seems like if our military would be in a very weak state if it was dependent on our economy and I don’t think we can afford to stay at war. I’ve heard about the ridiculous spending going towards the war and I still don’t fully understand why and how we are still there. I have also heard the republican’s argument that if we pull out of Iraq now it would be admitting defeat. And I think that this idea is kind of immature, because when you think logically about the benefits of pulling out of Iraq (the obvious ones being innocent lives saved, reunited families, and money that could be spent on restoring our nation) it makes me think that the only way to call anything “victorious” is to get out of Iraq now.

John McCain is pro life, which means he is anti – abortion. I don’t agree with his stance on abortion and it’s not that I like abortions I think that if you are pregnant you should definitely try to have that baby, but I respect the individual’s right to choose. This is because there are always circumstances and exceptions in which (although it was a last resort) abortion was completely necessary. So I feel that I agree more with Senator Obama who said in one of his debates that he doesn’t support abortion but he supports the right to choose.

Obama said that he would take action to prevent global warming within the first 100 days of being in office. I think this is a great idea and besides the whole global warming thing I personally feel like we should be more aware and respectful of our environment. This is an attractive political stance that will just further secure my vote for Obama. I think that the environment is something that has been overlooked in the past and it’s time that we make a conscious and direct decision to protect and preserve it. I would be very interested in reading more about Obama’s plan to protect the environment because it’s easy for presidential candidates to deliver a solid pep talk, but harder for them to tell the people how they plan to make their ideas happen. I hope that Obama has a good plan to protect our environment but I do know that he has made it a top priority.

I have watched the third and final presidential debate and I must say that I was very disappointed. I think that the questions in the second debate were the best but the questions for the first and final debate didn’t provoke any issues, just personal attacks. Tonight the candidates went back and forth as they talked about each other’s “negative advertising” and mud-slinging antics. To be completely honest I could care less about any of this, it’s pathetic that these two men running for the most important job in the country can’t talk about what they will do and how they will do it, just who said what and why they weren’t fair. I am also sick of hearing about their pasts, like how John McCain voted with President Bush on a lot of issues or what Obama voted for. I want to hear about the future and the present, I want to know what they intend on changing to make this country a better place to live and I feel like I haven’t been getting a lot of answers, just a whole lot of bantering and sugar coated overly optimistic pep talks. I’m sick of it.

I think everyone can agree that the two presidential candidates have two very different stances on the Iraq war. John McCain believes that we should stay in Iraq because this if we pull out now it would be admitting defeat and this is America were we are never defeated. Obama on the other hand, wants to set up a time table to get troops out of Iraq as soon as he’s in office. My question is this, we started this war looking for W.M.D. ’s and we didn’t nor have we ever found them, then we changed it to bringing democracy to the people in Iraq, which is cool. But, if this is a war to bring democracy, how is pulling out military force defeat? Also, at what cost will we pay to just to we won in Iraq? Our economy is down the drain so how about we win the financial wars going on in our own country before we spend all of our money in Iraq? Or better yet let’s ask the soldiers if they would like to come home now or just wait until someone’s interpretation of the word “win” is satisfied.

As of right now Obama is winning in the polls and has taken the lead of this election. This although is no guarantee that he will win because I’ve learned through past experiences that politics is unpredictable and I remember the presidential candidate Al Gore had a lead in the polls at some point but still lost his election. I would like to see Obama win simply because I tend to agree with his politics more often then I agree with John McCain. I think the polls are helpful so that we have a ruff idea of what American citizens are thinking but in the long run it doesn’t really matter what the polls say, anyone could win this election.

After watching the second presidnetial debate I think I like obama even more. The problems I have with John McCain are this, He had no answers to how? only answers to what? He would say things like "America is a great country and we will get out of this poor economic state" or "we will not admit defeat in Iraq" and so on. I remember he was asked what his priorities were on health care, energy, and entitlements and he said "we can work on all three at the same time." which sounds great but that's the problem, he sounded like he was avoiding the question and just spitting out these sugar coated answers. Obama said energy, then health care, then entitlements, and I respected his honesty. Plus, I agreed with those priorities. McCain showed no leadership, he had no plan or coarses of action he just kept saying everything will be better and awesome if you vote for me, which really doesnt mean anything to me as a voter because he won't tell me how that will happen. I also still like Obama's plan on foriegn policy better than John McCain's approach and Obama said he wanted to try to double the peace core and to get our country involved with helping other countries and volunteering to help out in our individual communities. I think this shows that Obama has a peaceful agenda in which we pull troops out of Iraq and start expanding the Peace Core, also he wants to get American's more involved and preaching that every one can do their part to make this country a better place. After watching the debate I feel like Obama would be a much better president and I feel pretty confident that my vote will go to him.

20 questions

What efforts will be made to protect the environment more efficiently?

What is your stance on drilling for oil in Alaska?

What ideas do you have to find an alternative and more efficient fuel source?

How do you plan to protect the diversity of marine life in American waters?

With many shark and whale species on or close to the endangered species list how will laws be enforced to protect these animals?

What role do you what the United States to play in the United Nations?

What is the ultimate goal that you have for the United States?

How can we make an effort for a more unified global peace and how can our country lead the way and set the example?

What position do you take on war and how do you plan to prevent them from happening?

How would you try to help the people of Darfur and the Congo?

How will we try to keep peace in the states?

How do you plan to you plan to get the united states out of debt?

How can we open up new job opportunities?

How can we increase the value of the American dollar?

What is your tax plan?

Can more extreme environmental laws be put in place to protect coral reefs?

What is your plan of action to reduce the effects of global warming?

How can we try to stabilize global warming so it doesn’t continue to get worse?

How do you plan to protect American wildlife and nature?

How can we make things like health care, and college more affordable?

I thought the democratic convention was really interesting. It started with Senator Barrack Obama walking out on the stage to a Cold play song (nice touch) and the crowd was roaring. Within the first 10 minutes of the speech he was giving wonderful credit to Hillary Clinton for being a fantastic running mate and a great overall person. He said that Clinton is an inspiration to women everywhere; he gave tribute to President Bill Clinton for the wonderful changes and progress he made while in office. After his introductory and tributes he cut straight to the point. Obama talked a lot about the American promise; he said we were a nation at war, in economic turmoil, and that the American promise has been threatened. So what is this American promise? He said later on in his speech that the American promise is the ability and potential for every American citizen to make their own lives what they choose them to be and to always have the option of success. He also called out his running mate John McCain and said that 90% of McCain votes have been in agreement with President Bush, and Obama doesn’t want to take a 10% chance on change. Change is the theme in Obama’s campaign and although I am very found of Obama I can’t help but wonder is he asking for change just for the sake of change. But he in fact explains very thoroughly the crimes and indecencies of the government for the past eight years and how it would be a pessimistic 4 years to come if McCain wins the election. Obama seems to want Economic Stability above all else at the moment although there are many other pressing issues. I really enjoyed the speech and I hope to learn more about both candidates so that I am confident that my vote will be for the best. I would love to say that I indeed made a small, but very necessary push for the good of America.

I watched most of the Republican convention and I thought it was interesting. I thought Fred Thompson had to many strange southern saying and it had a cheezy catch phrase feel to it that made me uncomfortable. like when Thompson was talking about the Vice President and said "she's the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly feild rest a moose." whatever that means. I thought Rudy Giuliani's speech might have been a little over the top as well (but then again over the top is kind the idea in political speeches). Although I Actually really like mayor Giuliani i thought he tried to make his speech to funny he was cracking jokes and laughing like it was his stand up rutien. He even called out Obama for "working as a community organizer" and made fun of that. Even later in the Vice President's (Sarah Palin) she said something about Obama baing a community organizer. i don't understand what the problem is with being a community organizer and why they are making fun of people trying to make a difference in there communities.

when thinking and writing, many diffrences are so obviously exposed. not just any thinking or writing, but explority thinking and writing. now both of these share the common trait of exploring, but contrary to popular beleif writing and thinking are very different. The book points out that this exploring process is not like the exploring of Christopher Columbus or NASA, in fact i am to understand that there is no physical exploring being done at all! now at first I shared the same overwhelming sense of confusion and frustration that you are probably feeling now. if no one is moving, then how can there be exploring! needless to say, i was stumped. Then slowly but surely like pieces of an exploratory puzzle, things started to come together. Exploratory thinking can help a person prepare to write, it can help one organize one's thoughts about one's exploratory writing. it can also help you discover new ideas and thoughts (because your thinking) about what it is exactly you wish to write about. Now that i think about it, Christopher Columbus should have tried this! it would have been way cheaper and less people would have died. exploratory writing on the other hand is very different from exploratory thinking. in exploratory writing you've begun to put your exploratory thoughts on paper. you have embarked on a more professional level of exploring in which your thoughts can be read and reviewed. in exploratory writing your working out a way to organize all your thoughts and to make it appealing and relative to an audience. Edward Albee said "I write to find out what I'm talking about" and i bet he had to exploratory think for hours to come up with that.

After watching the presidential debate I feel that I agree with Obama on the majority of the issues and have a high respect for the positions hhe takes on the nations current issues. The issue in the debate that jumped out at me the most however was foreign policy. Obama said he would love the opportunity to sit down with leaders all over the world such as russia, north korea, and Cuba to see if they could compromise and communicate. Obama said that the idea of America completely ignoring countries they don't like as a form of punishment just isn't as effective as communication. John McCain on the other hand absoultely disagreed, he said that to sit down with those leaders would be "dangerous" and it would legitamize their behavior. In my opinion I think that John McCain could not be more wrong, theres nothing "dangerous" about talking. Communication and compromising is the key to global peace which I think would be an Ideal world to live in.