Comment on the US Presidential Race

A recent poll found that Sen. John McCain has gained in polling numbers in three battle ground states, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio. While this may be troubling for you, you must look carefully at the poll.

The poll was conducted by contacting "likely voters". While in most cases, this means that the poll is more credible, I tend to disagree in this election year.

Sen. Barack Obama has shown the ability to motivate young and uninterested voters to attend their polling places in the Democratic Primary. It is absurd to expect these unlikely voters to sit at home in November. This poll, most likely, did not take into account these voters.

While I claim to be no expert. I think that the media needs to be more clear on what it is reporting to the American people. If Sen. McCain takes the lead in a few important states, this gives the media reason to make this race more exciting then if Sen. Obama himself is winning big in every state. The more the media can keep any race at 50-50, the more viewers and money they can generate.

This blog is not politically motivated, well I am trying not to be, but I am most disgusted with the media, as I normally am, in this presidential election. The media has given much more air time to Sen. Obama, and they have not pushed Sen. Obama to say yes to Sen. McCain's call for town hall forums on important topics.

I support Sen. Obama for president, however, more then that, I want a free, fair, and open discussion about the issues that face our country. I don't think either candidate has all the right answers, I never do, but by discussing these important issues, Americans can become more educated on the topics, and can make better decisions in November, which is the most important objective.

I want the media to ask Sen. Obama the tough questions because we have seen what the media can do when they fail to ask the tough questions when we look at the past eight years. While I, and few of my friends, were being labeled unpatriotic for not supporting the Iraq War, the media raked in huge profits as they showed the "shock and awe" of the power of the US military. Who was asking the tough questions when the war started? It wasn't the media. Now that it is popular to be against the war, many Americans want to pull our troops out immediately, creating a political vacuum which will ensure our failed objective of a stable, democratic, peaceful government in Iraq. This idea maybe popular, but the media needs to ask the candidates these questions and have them defend their positions. The best forum, I believe, for this discussion is through nationally televised town hall debates.

The main objective of this post is to remind people to look deeper then the front page of the paper or the headlines on CNN. Misleading headlines like, McCain pulls ahead in three battleground states might just get you. Look deeper, ask the tough questions, and expect more from your media and your candidates.