Culture Sources

Culutre is defined as "ideas an behaviors that are learned and transmitted; nongenectic means of adaptation". We can learn culture from a variety of sources that usually occurs through unconscious observation. These sources include your parents, friends, school, movies, and magazines. ``

Arggh!

I have been without power for almost 2 days now and it is becoming annoying.

The latest Rassmusen poll shows a dead heat still in the presidential race.

On an exciting note: The John Kerry campaign called me on my way home from work today and asked me to help drive Kerry's staff in motorcade when he comes to town (can't say when). I'm very excited as I will finally get to meet the other half of the team since I met John Edwards a couple weeks ago.

I just received word that my campaign office will be shut down after the election so I will probably be moving to Clean Water Action and begin fundrasing for them after the election.

Ethos, Pathos and Logos

Ethos - based on the character or reputation of the speaker

An example of an Ethos web site: Http://www.johnkerry.com
The website relies on the author (John Kerry) to make an appeal to the audience. Endorsements are also listed to give the author a favorable reputation.

Logos - Appeal is based on logic or reason

An example of a Logos web site: Http://www.nasa.com
The website relies on facts to appeal to its audience.

Pathos - Appeal is based on emotion

An example of a Pathos web site: http://www.peta.com
The Peta website relies on images and stories to appeal to human emotion. The appeal then enduces action and therefore the pathos approach becomes successful.

25 Signatures = $25,000

I was wathcing some Tim Russert interview reruns a couple weeks back and he had Michael Moore on as a guest. Russert asked Moore how he became involoved in politics and so began my favorite Michael Moore story to date. Moore said that he always had the attitude that something needed to be done and if nobody was going to do it he would do it himself. He went on to say that him and the prinicpal often butted heads and he did not like the man. When Michael graduated from high school he called the supervisor of elections to find out what he could do to get involved. The supervisor told him he could register to vote or run for office. Michael asked, "How do you run for office". The supervisor responded, "You need 25 signatures". So Michael asked a few of his pot-head friends to sign and he ended up winning a seat on the school board. Nine months into the job Michael convinced the rest of the school board to fire the principal.

Senate Races

know the second thing on all of our minds besides the Presidential race..(ok..on my mind)...are the Senate Races.
The more I analyze the situation I think the Dems have a good shot at winning back the Senate in November. Here is my thinking:

There are 34 seats up for reelection. It is widely considered that only 15 of the races are worth watching. Eight of these seats are Dems and 7 of them are Rep. The Dems need to win 9 of these races to win a majority.

Pollsters are saying we might lose S.C. and Georgia and I agree withthem.
However, I believe that we will easily take Illinois and most likely Colorado from the Rep. (By the way there is something going on in Colo. - it is becoming a much bluer state and I think Kerry will carry Colo too).

The race really comes down to two races in my mind, South Dakota and Alaska. Tom Daschle is having a tough time in S.D. but I think he will pull off another reelection. Kshows Knowles (D) from Alaska is currently up 1 point over the incumbent Murkowski (R). If we can hold South Dakota and pick up Alaska it would give us 9 of those 15 contested states, therefore giving the Dems the majority in the Senate. It will be a tough fight..but I will definatley be paying the most attention to these two states on election night.

Oh Crap!

If you didn't know by now I am a bit of a political junkie. Yes, it is true I really campaign 60 hours a week and wait by the computer for new polls to be released.

Anyway, I had an awful though this afternoon:
If you were to look at a map of the electoral college and which states Gore won and which Bush won in 2000 it does not look good for this November.
George Bush will likely take Wisconsin and possibly Pennsylvania from the Democratic column
Ot the other hand, John Kerry will likely take Colorado, New Hampshire and a damn good shot at taking Florida from the Republican column.

If this were to play out accordingly, due to the new census this would give each candidate 269 electoral votes. Making each one short from the necessary 270 electoral votes needed. This is a nightmare case...The Constitution states that if this were to happen (It has happened once before: Thomas Jefferson/ Aaron Burr) it is the House who decides a winner. The Republicans do have a majority of the 435 seats, however, that is not how it is decided. All of the reps from a state have to meet and decide which candidate to give their states vote to. The candidate who wins the most states wins the presidency! Well, despite the fact that the John Kerry may win the popular vote and tie in the electoral college there are more "red or republican" states on the map and therefore the ultimate nightmare would occur: 4 more years of George Bush elected by someone other than the people*

*The Supreme Court was the ultimate decider in the contested 2000 presidential election

Dear Moby,

After browsing through Moby's online journal I just wanted to clear something up for him. Moby and I often agree on politics as we are both fairly liberal. However, I noticed in one of Moby's recent posts he acknowledged the assault weapons ban that had expired. This was a stupid thing that happened this week that is just another reason why this administration should have their bags packed and ready to leave come January. Moby however, misrepresented the ban by saying 'that criminals could now get their hands on AK-47's etc.'. Well, unfortunately they have been able to ever since the ban went into effect. You see when Diane Feinstein sponsored the bill she didn't realize that gun manufactures would just change the names of common assault rifles therefore making them legal as long as they didn't carry certain accessories such as a grenade launcher or a flash suppressor. The law still should be renewed and strengthened but just wanted to let Moby know the facts.

*On a side note I have never understood why anyone would want to own an assault rifle. My roommate who would have one if it were for my protest says it is for hunting and protection. Why do you need an AK-47's to protect your home? Furthermore, do you really need one to shoot at deer?

Welcome

Welcome to Pundit Points. My name is Kyle Taylor and I am a freshman at the University of South Florida. I am majoring in Political Science and work full-time campaigning for an affiliate of the AFL-CIO (Labor Group). I also volunteer about 15 hours a week for the John Kerry campaign. The Tampa Bay area usually has an event for Kerry daily and I am either attending or organizing it. I have lived in Florida for about 5 years and have lived in several states before that including California, Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio. I still live in Colorado during the summer where I work as an office manager for the largest tennis instructional company in the state. I live off campus in an apartment with three other roommates. One of them is Republican, one Libertarian, and one Socialist so the debates can get very heated.