[ Posted Friday, January 4th, 2008 – 17:15 UTC ]
Well, it looks like I owe some young folks an apology. To the youth of Iowa: Sorry!
I've been predicting for a while now that counting on "new voters" is a mistake for the campaigns, because they just never actually show up on election day. Whoops! Democrats in Iowa turned out to the caucuses in droves -- almost doubling the previous attendance records. And an enormous amount of them were young people and other first-timers, who mostly voted for Obama.
Read Complete Article »
[ Posted Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 – 17:18 UTC ]
By the shores of Gitchee Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from "Song of Hiawatha"
[There's just no other way to start out an article about Lake Superior State University than with the immortal words of Longfellow, describing Lake Superior herself.]
Read Complete Article »
[ Posted Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 – 12:48 UTC ]
Tomorrow's Iowa caucuses are certainly reaping a bumper crop of blather in the news. Pundits everywhere are weighing in on every aspect of both the Democratic and Republican race to the nomination. But I've noticed something -- in all the verbiage spewed about what is or is not going to happen tomorrow, there are very few willing to actually call the results of the race. Language is hedged, scenarios are spun out as "what if" speculation, but not a whole lot of people are willing to stand up and say "this is how I think it'll turn out."
Which is a shame. If political writers (both professional and amateur) aren't willing to run the risk of being wrong (and looking foolish), then what are they in the prognostication business for anyway? After all, every two-bit local news sportscaster is willing to tell you his picks for the outcome of each week's football games, why shouldn't our national political press be just as willing to do the same?
Read Complete Article »
[ Posted Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 – 15:01 UTC ]
