With just a few months left until the general election the talking heads are busy hypothesizing about minutia. Of course the truth is that both the McCain and Obama campaigns are largely on hiatus. They are fund raising and building networks while Americans enjoy the summer.
I think the media is doing their best to keep this race interesting. In fact, most people believe it will be a blowout. I think we’re talking Bush vs. Dukakis numbers for Obama in November. Bush won 80% of the electorate in 1988 and I think Obama may win more than that.
Here’s why I’m predicting a landslide. (Please note, I’m not “endorsing a candidate.” Truth is, I’m voting for GW Bush. He bought my vote again!)
- The pendulum is swinging. The more McCain tries to appeal to conservatives the more the swing voters realize he’s not their guy. Americans wants a more liberal president… McCain is pandering to the wrong people.
- Abortion means nothing in this cycle. Pro-life people, like myself, recognize that if Bush couldn’t move legislation on abortion no one can. Plus, both candidates are pro-choice so we are left to pick the less of two evils.
- Obama owns the green crowd. Green is the biggest marketing term of the year. McCain is big oil and Obama is big green.
- It’s an age thing. You’ve got a young candidate talking about change and an old candidate saying “stay the course.” Which message appeals to voters under 30? Have you seen the numbers from the primaries? People under 30 will vote in 2008.
- Obama has a recession proof message. The worse the economy looks the more he can say, “Do you want to keep doing what we’re doing? Then stay republican!“
- Obama owns the web. I’ve long said that the candidate who masters the web in 2008 will take the White House. Look at McCain’s website and then look at Obama’s.
- Obama owns the unions. Let’s face it. In states like Michigan, New York, and Ohio that matters.
- Young evangelicals are disavowing the politics of James Dobson. Check out this site, jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com. In fact, I said the same thing on March 17th, 2007. He’s not my guy, hasn’t been my guy for a long time. While Dobson isn’t endorsing McCain just yet, it’s not like Dobson is going to endorse Obama!
In 2000 and 2004, the media said that evangelicals like me elected George W. Bush as president. It’s my prediction that a massive shift will happen in 2008 as young evangelical voters decide they are ready to cease single issue voting. And the truth is, once you get to non-abortion issues that evangelicals care about… the pendulum will shift.
When they first started building on the corner of M-53 & 32 Mile Road I hoped that they would either open a Starbucks or Tim Hortons at that location. The latter was realized this week.
For those outside of the upper Midwest or eastern Canada, Tim Hortons is a donut and coffee chain co-founded by Toronto Maple Leaf hockey legend, Tim Horton. Tim died in a car accident in 1973, but the donut chain bearing his name lives on.
Let’s be honest. It’s a local thing. They don’t serve the best donuts in the world and their coffee isn’t the best. I personally prefer their sandwiches and soups more than the donuts. Nonetheless, Tim Hortons is a phenomenon as a franchise. Owned by the Wendy’s Corporation, it is slowly fanning out from Eastern Ontario and now into a bunch of places in the United States.
It’s a big deal to have them here in Romeo. I hope they do quite well. (So far, mediocre opening.) The Village has long been cold to franchise restaurants and I hope Tim Hortons opens the door to many other chains that would make the 32 MIle area a stopping point for visitors. Romeo is a very unique village which is struggling, like most of the area, is struggling financially. Yet if the village can figure out how to maintain the village feel while gaining some flagship retailers, it will secure Romeo’s place as a “cool city” once and for all.
I love Ira Glass and his show, This American Life. The love affair goes back to early marriage days when Kristen and I would play “right or left” in the car Saturday mornings. Back in 1998-1999 gas was less than a dollar per gallon and I was off every Saturday morning.
We’d get up early, head out for a nice breakfast, then get in the car and start driving. Any time we’d come to an intersection I’d ask Kristen… “Right or left?” Sometimes we’d end up way up in Wisconsin, sometimes in Central Illinois, sometimes in Michigan or Indiana, or sometimes we’d just explore suburbs of Chicago. Anything that interested us was an excuse to stop and smell the roses. Those adventures in our early marriage were some of the happiest days of our lives.
And Ira Glass was a part of those rides. We love listening to NPR and right around lunch This American Life would capture our attention as we explored. When we left Chicago in 2001 we kind of lost track of the show. Then about a year ago I found out that the show was the #1 podcast on iTunes and happily subscribed.
I love the pace of the stories. I love the segments. I love the way he tells stories. I love his voice. All of This American Life is why I happily label it one of my favorite things.
Click here to subscribe to the podcast.
This morning I opened my hotel room to discover today’s edition of USA Today. My first thought was, “I’ll put it on the pile next to the Monday edition” since I never opened it or ever read the headline.
It wasn’t very long ago that I loved the newspaper. Each morning I would head to the grocery store and pick up some juice and the Chicago Tribune. I’d sit in the break room and read the entire thing from cover to cover. But picking up the paper this morning I realized that its been several years since I had done that.
Here are a few reasons I think the age of the newspaper is rapidly ending:
- Newspapers are about yesterdays news in a world that demands up to the second news.
- Other than the “Letter to the editor” there is no way to respond to the news.
- A blogger has nearly the same credibility as his/her local newspaper, maybe much more if they live where the news is happening. (I can attest to that)
- People are suspicious of media sources as more and more people understand the spin that happens.
- Our attention spans are shorter. I remember in high school my english teacher I had “maybe” the first paragraph to win someone’s attention. Now, you better have a great headline and a picture or I’m scanning right by.
- It’s printed on paper. Why would I want a newspaper when I can read the news on my mobile phone? Heck, I want them to start pushing the nightly news to my phone so I won’t need a TV!
- Craigslist is killing the need or classifieds.
- Why do they even print the weather in the paper?
I’ve got a lot more reasons I think newspapers are headed to the land of dinosaurs. But here’s the thing. People like dinosaurs. There will always be room in our hearts for the nostalgia of the newspaper.
Question: Do you still get a local newspaper? If so, which one?
