Since the beginning of my time in the modern political arena, there's not a political cycle that goes by that I hear a conservative friend of mine say the media, in general, is exaggeratedly slanted to the left. They site the research that shows that Obama had way more positive news stories than McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election, as if Sarah Palin had nothing to do with it. They also site that out of the major news outlets, in television, only one news station has a noticeable bias to the right. Although I do agree that these arguments have some merit, I do not believe the "liberal media" is trying to brainwash America into becoming a far left socialist country.
Why... the first concern for me with this argument is that my conservative friends constantly talk only about the news media on television. They look at how FOX News has to go up against the mean and highly manipulative MSNBC and CNN. Yet, they fail to discuss the popular and numerous conservative radio talk shows that do not get as much scrutiny when they get the information wrong. Here in Milwaukee, there was not a time when listening to Newsradio 620 or WISN 1330 that I heard the conservative talk show host take a news article or report and conservatively spin it to the point where angry liberal callers get cut short and the conservative callers seem like the smartest political analysts since sliced bread was invented. Driving in my car, it was very difficult for me to find one liberal radio talk show host that could spin the issues like the conservative talk show hosts could.
This phony argument goes deeper than just the conservative radio and the liberal television stations. Lets take a look at the NBC, the company that is more widely known as being owned by General Electric. NBC also has the liberally slanted news channel MSNBC. While at this point, these points strikes up to big arguments for this news organization to be slanted to the left. NBC also has the news state in Wisconsin with the call name TMJ4. Wait, isn't TMJ4 connected with WTMJ Newsradio 620... the conservative talk radio. This is a great example where media companies are not a liberal army, but rather another company that is profit motivated that finds the best way to diversify their consumers. The same example can be applied to ABC which is connected to WISN 12 News and WISN 1330 radio in Wisconsin. One could even look at Rupert Murdoch's Empire (Owner of FOX News) where he supports one side of an argument in one country and is against it in another country with a different news name (he owns multiple international news organizations).
So there you have it, my reason why the liberal media argument has little merit.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
My Experience at the Barrett Camp Election Night
Besides my election party I had with Sam Dunlop who ran for State Assembly, I never went to a big election night party such as the one I went to for Tom Barrett Tuesday Evening. I did not go because I was an avid Barrett supporter. However, I felt the need to experience something that was quite historic considering Walker was the first American Governor in history to survive a recall election. I also want to send a personal thank you to my friend Caitlin for accompanying me last night! I do not think I would have had the guts to go by myself!
As a political analyst, I have always tried to stay as non-biased as possible. However, I found it difficult to fully understand what was happening with the election. Between being shocked to meet Jesse Jackson and trying to utilize my smart phone in a crowded room, I started getting my information on the hardcore supporters being overly optimistic about Barrett and discrediting the projections coming out of the news media. An example of this was when people in the crowd saying that Milwaukee and Racine had still more people waiting to vote when the polls closed at 8PM.
As a person going along for the campaign ride, I was able to meet some awesome people, some angry and some just plain cool. I randomly walked up to a bunch of teachers with solidarity t-shirts and we had a small discussion on education and the issues relating to accountability. I also met some differently dressed firefighters who were part of the biker brigade. They personally knew Mahlon Mitchell and were also part of the Firefighters Union. I had a great conversation with them about the decline of the working class and why they felt it was important to keep fighting.
Most importantly, I was able to rethink about how politics is not a game... people's livelihoods are at stake when any policy is put into action. When Barrett lost, I felt bad to see that there were people in that room were hoping for someone to listen to them and fight for their struggles that seem impossible to overcome. Although I predicted Barrett would lose, one should not discredit the passion of the people I met in that room tonight. I also have to praise Governor Walker on his speech last night where he made it clear of wanting to work together. As of now, it appears as if he truly understands that he could have done things better when communicating his policies.
In the future, I could definitely see Mahlon Mitchell coming up through the Democratic ranks. It almost seemed like he was better when he was not reading from his notes. He did a great job to re-energize the party whom just heard Barrett give his concession speech. Now that all this is over, we can stop this election nonsense for a while... oh wait... Republican Primaries for U.S. Senate is coming up...
As a political analyst, I have always tried to stay as non-biased as possible. However, I found it difficult to fully understand what was happening with the election. Between being shocked to meet Jesse Jackson and trying to utilize my smart phone in a crowded room, I started getting my information on the hardcore supporters being overly optimistic about Barrett and discrediting the projections coming out of the news media. An example of this was when people in the crowd saying that Milwaukee and Racine had still more people waiting to vote when the polls closed at 8PM.
As a person going along for the campaign ride, I was able to meet some awesome people, some angry and some just plain cool. I randomly walked up to a bunch of teachers with solidarity t-shirts and we had a small discussion on education and the issues relating to accountability. I also met some differently dressed firefighters who were part of the biker brigade. They personally knew Mahlon Mitchell and were also part of the Firefighters Union. I had a great conversation with them about the decline of the working class and why they felt it was important to keep fighting.
Most importantly, I was able to rethink about how politics is not a game... people's livelihoods are at stake when any policy is put into action. When Barrett lost, I felt bad to see that there were people in that room were hoping for someone to listen to them and fight for their struggles that seem impossible to overcome. Although I predicted Barrett would lose, one should not discredit the passion of the people I met in that room tonight. I also have to praise Governor Walker on his speech last night where he made it clear of wanting to work together. As of now, it appears as if he truly understands that he could have done things better when communicating his policies.
In the future, I could definitely see Mahlon Mitchell coming up through the Democratic ranks. It almost seemed like he was better when he was not reading from his notes. He did a great job to re-energize the party whom just heard Barrett give his concession speech. Now that all this is over, we can stop this election nonsense for a while... oh wait... Republican Primaries for U.S. Senate is coming up...
Lampe's Analysis and Predictions on the Recall Election (VOTE TODAY)!
It is finally here. The recall election that will determine the fate of Governor Walker. Throughout the course of the recall campaign, I expressed concern of the shady conversations Walker had with donors and avid supports, while also expressing weak political campaigning from Tom Barrett. I do have to note that Barrett came out strong the week before the vote today bringing President Clinton for a surprise last minute visit and confidently and harshly calling out Walker about his policies and actions during the last debate at the Marquette University Law School.
Wisconsin also noticed that polls have given Walker a slight edge. Some polls showed him up as many as 8 points, while others should him around 4 points up. In my prediction, I believe Walker will win by three points. That is, if likely voters only vote today. The other side of my prediction is that Barrett could win by 1 point. After calling some of my sources throughout the state, registration lines have been busy to vote for the first time in their wards. We wont know if these new registered voters were leaning more Republican or Democrat. One could reason that, when Walker won, Democrats were not energized during the 2010 election that gave Walker the slight edge last go around. This time, Democrats/Liberals are angerly energized from the hard line Republican Policies.
So there you have it... although I think Walker has an advantage, I believe the polls might be slightly off due to the possibility of unlikely voters voting this going around (hence my analyzed margin of error).
Walker wins by 3%
or
Barrett wins by 1%
Wisconsin also noticed that polls have given Walker a slight edge. Some polls showed him up as many as 8 points, while others should him around 4 points up. In my prediction, I believe Walker will win by three points. That is, if likely voters only vote today. The other side of my prediction is that Barrett could win by 1 point. After calling some of my sources throughout the state, registration lines have been busy to vote for the first time in their wards. We wont know if these new registered voters were leaning more Republican or Democrat. One could reason that, when Walker won, Democrats were not energized during the 2010 election that gave Walker the slight edge last go around. This time, Democrats/Liberals are angerly energized from the hard line Republican Policies.
So there you have it... although I think Walker has an advantage, I believe the polls might be slightly off due to the possibility of unlikely voters voting this going around (hence my analyzed margin of error).
Walker wins by 3%
or
Barrett wins by 1%
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)