Arts of Democracy; week 6 Quarter 2 blog.

I decided to read Barack Obama's speech. I believe his main messages were; standing united, bringing democrats and republicans together, as America should be, making health care affordable for all Americans, making college affordable and able to be attended by anyone, paying teachers etc what the deserve, putting an end to the war, and to tax breaks.
The messages he was sending were definitely positive ones. He talked of hope and change for the better in America, and he was not offensive towards any of the other candidates as much as others have been towards him. He was very respectful, and feels that we should unite America, not divide it even more.
The speech made me feel like there was hope for America. Lately I've basically felt that we don't have a lot of hope what with global warming, the health care and education systems and so forth. After reading Barack Obama's speech, I really felt like those things will be changed, and that it is definitely possible, and even though mistakes will be made, he will rise to the challenge and change these things for the greater good. I especially loved the line; “You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.”
Before I began reading his speech, I was a little bit closer to voting for Hillary Clinton, rather than Obama. But now, I realized that I really love what Obama has to say on a number of huge issues in America today, and I think I may just have to do some more research so that I can figure out who I will vote for. Right now, it's a pretty tough guess.
Barack Obama's speech that I read was about the same as what I thought it would be like. He has a lot of the same viewpoints on issues that are the same as my viewpoints, and like I said previously; I am now not sure whether to vote for him or Hillary Clinton in the upcoming elections, whereas initially, I was almost set on voting for Clinton.

Arts of Democracy; week 7 Quarter 2 blog.

Left in the primaries for this year are;
On the republican side: On the democratic side:
Ron Paul Hilary Clinton
Mike Huckabee Barack Obama
Mitt Romney
John McCain
Qualifications and positions of each candidate:
Hilary Clinton: Senator from New York. Her husband, Bill Clinton was president before, she knows a lot about how government works. She opposes the Iraq war and believes in same sex marriages, and in my opinion, she has some great ideas about what to do on the issue of immigration. She serves on the health, education, labor, and pensions committee, the environment and public works committee, and the special committee on aging.
Barack Obama: Senator from Illinois. He has done a lot of public service by being be a community organizer, he is s civil rights attorney. He serves on the health, education, labor, and pensions committee which oversees our nations health care, schools, employment, and retirement programs. He opposes the war in Iraq, believes in same sex marriage
Ron Paul: Representative from Texas. He believes that when it comes to same sex marriage, it should be up to each individual state whether or not to allow it. When it comes to the Iraq war, he says that if he should become president, he will end it, and bring home troops immediately. He is considered the nation's leading spokesman for liberty, sound money, free market economics, and constitutional government.
Mike Huckabee: Until 2007, served as the 44th governor of Arkansas. He wishes to improve the nation's infrastructure, education system, environmental policy, and failing health care system. He opposes same sex marriage, and he believes that we should take time to bring troops home.
Mitt Romney: Former governor of Massachusetts. Helps businesses grow through dynamism and innovation. Took over the Olympics in the salt lake organizing committee. He greatly opposes gay marriage, and when it comes to the war in Iraq, he continues to support the war, and believes we should continue to try and stabilize Iraq.
John McCain: He is a politician and military officer. He has a lot of servitude in the military, and is a big supporter. He also proposes that we withdraw the troops slowly, and with dignity, so as not to disrupt American security. He opposes same sex marriage.

Arts of Democracy; week 5 Quarter 2 blog.

This week I learned a lot about the presidential elections. I tried to go to the Barack Obama speech, but it was fulll before I could get in which sucked. I was also very confused about the whole primaries thing, and how they worked. So me and my mom did a little research and found out a lot about what the primaries are. We are still a little confused, but heres what I got so far:

They are basically when each state votes for their favorite candidate, and that serves as a reference for the state representatives. They then have to elect a candidate based on the party of the states choice.

AOD quarter 2, week 4 blog

This week for AOD, I decided to watch the democratic debate on youtube, since I missed it on tv. I fond it interesting that Obama and Clinton kept attacking each other. Initially, I had thought they liked each other. Hilary had a lot of facts on Barack, she was talking about how he was on the side of the republicans. When really, Obama was saying that he didn't support the republicans.


John Edwards really didn't talk too much, it seemed to me like more of a debate with Hilary and Barack.