presidential primaries

ok i decided to split up my long post into several separate posts by topic. so you can peruse and choose which you want to read. aren't i thoughtful.

so for several reasons that i've come up with, i'm apparently rather a fan of the presidential primaries this year. the main reason is that being in korea REALLY makes me crave american news. and i feed this craving with free daily podcasts from CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. I first started just watching them while i ran at the gym and since i quit the gym i've been watching them on bus rides and just on my computer. as a result, i've been bombarded with primary news since october when i really started watching everyday. so i guess in a way i didn't CHOOSE to be a primary nerd but it just kindof happened. anyway, i don't mind terribly. i feel knowledgeable for the first time ever about voting in a presidential election. normally (ok the ONE time i've voted previously) i just vote for the person i think is smartest.

here are some of my thoughts.
first, a NYTimes editorial on obama v. clinton by david brooks. he taught (i think still teaches?) a journalism class or something at duke. i always wanted to take it jus bc i thought it was so cool that he wrote for the times. but i never got around to it with the whole double major/certificate thing i never really had a free slot. anyways, i've started reading his columns in the past few months since i've been paying attention to the political stuff. he always wrote about political stuff so i never really had much of an interest before.

i like how he broke it down into voting as consumerism. and the ideals/ideas that each candidate is selling makes a lot of sense to me. he says "Hillary Clinton is a classic commodity provider. She caters to the less-educated, less-pretentious consumer." and "Barack Obama is an experience provider. He attracts the educated consumer." his metaphors are so neatly put together and explained. i can see why he makes sense in the pps dept at duke. i seriously loved pps 114 Political Analysis for Public Policy. maybe (ok definitely) i'm a huge nerd but i seriously ENJOYED that class. it made so much SENSE. and it was finally a break from theoretical and more practical applications of all the stuff we had been learning. ok enough of my nerd rambling. ok point is: his metaphors are lovely. AND what makes them even more lovely is they make so much SENSE. it doesn't feel forced at all but very natural. ok done. i love neat metaphors.

edit: another reference to the above metaphor about voter demographic trends in As Voting Pattern Emerges, So Does Need to Break It. between barack's “Starbucks Democrats” and Mrs. Clinton’s “Dunkin’ Donuts Democrats”

next big thing on my agenda: ok, i only watch AC360 on CNN but ummmm is anyone else AMAAAZED by those "magic screen" touch screen monitor thingies that john king and one of the black correspondents (maybe joe johns?) gets to play with? i saw it once and was like ok that's cool. they've been using it more and more often tho and i'm amazed by the capabilities of this screen. it like magically knows what you want it to do so of course i had to google it. here are some links:
NYTimes
washpost
NYPost
tvtech
another fan
more links from other fan
ok so that doesn't REALLY reflect on primary stuff, but look at how many other credible news sources and ppl are fascinated (ok maybe just talking about) these awesome screens!!! i want one. i don't know what i'll do with it, maybe diagram complicated cases once i'm in law school ... but ykno it'd be cool.

ok so i called this a primary post and have yet to talk about the candidates. here are a few comments on those/them.

republicans. the blue team. haha, i just double-checked on nytimes just in case and by republican i mean the RED team.
is john mccain the same guy as howard dean? are they the same person? i wasn't really paying attn the last time around, but i SWEAR they are the same person/body just different names? they've played a few clips of howard dean in comparison to huckabee's surge (in the beginning) and i'm just ... seriously, mccain and dean aren't the same person? i kinda wish he had a little more neck or hair but whatever. he's kinda old ... what if he dies in office??? also, he looks kinda froggy. p.s. who is that hot blond woman who is always in the background? is she his assistant? or does he have like a super young hot wifey?

i love huckabee. i probably won't vote for him. but doesn't he just look pleasant? and he's funny and down to earth. and i cited him a lot for my pps 114 coursework. my issue for the semester was how to fight childhood obesity and make it an issue the govt/public sector was/should be responsible for. so his losing a billion lbs once he found out he was going to die from diabetes and all the health anti-fat reform he did in oklahama?alabama?thesouth was something i drew on a lot. and i liked his interview on the colbert report from a while back. he was funny and likable. but then one of my friends told me he's socially much too conservative for the likes of me, so sorry huckabee.

giuliani. there was a good chance i would've voted for him before he disappeared off the face of the earth. the other night on "a daily show" this lady interviewee was saying how it makes no sense how the republican frontrunner just disappeared. she said something along the lines of, "he didn't have a scandal, his head didn't explode, it makes no sense." and i agree, i thought he was such a strong candidate going into this past fall and then he made such a poor showing at the polls. i can't wait to read the books they'll write about this random phenomena.

mitt romney. the more i see him (and especially after he dropped out) i swear he's really really handsome. he's a pretty good looking dude. he would've made a handsome president to watch on tv. but i think i remember him in too many sweaters for my liking rather than in suits. i have no idea, but as i conjure him up in my mind he's wearing a button up and tie and sweater instead of a suit blazer and that makes me not want to vote for him.

no idea who ron paul is except NH apparently loved him and he made a million dollars or a website or something.
are there any more?

democrats. the blue team for real.
hillary: i dunno why but she's my favorite. they talk about the female conxn and maybe that's it. or i feel compassionate like analysts say bc a bunch of men are always ganging up on her and the republicans think she's the devil. as november grows closer i'll take a more critical look at her policies and stuff. p.s. i'm pretty ok with how she dresses on the campaign trail. she does well for her shape. and also women have a harder time in suits in general. the lines and cuts are made for men's flat boxy bodies and she has been pretty classy in her jewelry choices, too.

barack: he looks like batley. from nickelodeon's eureka's castle. and that's NOT a racist comment. i just tell it like i see it. when i first started seeing him on tv i was all like dude he looks so familiar. and then i FINALLY hit it, he looks JUST like batley (does anyone else remember this show?). and his lips are always purple. that makes me not trust him. it always looks like he has frostbite. and he's too skinny, his neck is too skinny for his head and he has saggy cheeks. we can't send him to other countries as our executive chief guy. we look poor and underfed. p.s. living abroad in grade school doesn't count as international experience. i also don't get why i don't like him. given all the spin and brooks' article, this dude is right up my alley. college-educated young person looking for rhetoric and feelgoodiness.

i LOOOOOVE edwards. i'm so mad/sad he didn't do well and dropped out. he's a good looking guy and his drawl is so friendly and warm. in 1950something he would've been elected in a heartbeat. his sad story is he is too old hat for democrats. too normal, too white and male. and that's sad bc i heart his message for/against poverty. and he's just too generically good looking and typically "american" for this race. i feel so badly for him. i really really wanted him. i probably would've voted for him most of all the candidates who were in this primary ever.

if i ever run for anything, i'm gonna campaign under the pink party. the pink panty party. (maybe VS will sponsor me?)