Good News!

After 30 years on the UD campus, the College Democrats have finally gained full funding from the University. This is huge! Until last week, the allotment of funds to partisan groups was half that of other groups in an attempt to keep the University from favoritism. However, in a joint effort with the College Republicans and College Libertarians over the past semester, we have finally proven our case. This is a huge step forward for UD, as it now recognizes the great potential for a more civic-minded student body. What does this mean for the future of the Dems? Better programming, more trips and programs, bigger name speakers, and free food! :) So look for some free pizza at this week's meeting among all our smiles of success!

Don't forget to buy a College Dems T-Shirt. There's no better time to sport your pride in the party! Come next fall and the Presidential election, everyone will have one!

Other news:
- On Tuesday April 29th at 8:30 in the Scrounge, a left-wing comedian named Lee Camp will be performing. Apparently he's appeared on Law and Order: SVU, so that makes me really want to go...
- We are planning a trip down to DC on May 10. We hope to possibly tour the Capitol and maybe go to the Spy Museum. If you are interested, come to our meetings to learn more or e-mail Liz at elcoyne@udel.edu and put something about College Dems in the subject!
- The Annual College Democrats/College Republicans debate is happening May 6th. Look forward to more details!

By the way, I crack up every time I see this video below. Maybe you will too:

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

It's certainly been awhile...

Obviously, this blog has been somewhat abandoned since spring break. Please accept our most sincere apologies, as we suspect the multitudes of readers out there have really been lost without it... Also, look forward to this Pennsylvania voter's reaction to last night's election in the days to come!

Tonight we are hosting a big event - a panel discussion called Confronting America's Health Care Crisis. The panel will include:

-Matt Denn, DE Insurance Commissioner
-Marianne Palley, UD Political Science Professor
-Kathy Jarvis, Physical Therapist

This is a great forum to learn how current health care policies will affect you, especially for you graduating seniors! The forum lasts from 6:30 until 8:00 pm in Purnell 115, and I'm told there will be home-made cookies! We are asking that everyone please bring a donation to benefit Kerri Jarvis, who is currently fighting against the chronic pain disease, RSD. To learn more about this disease, check out www.rsdhope.org.

Also - if you haven't bought your new College Dems t-shirt yet, bring $10 tonight and you can pick it up. While canvassing in PA last week, we had several people take pictures of them and ask how they could get one. So get one while they're hot!

3:00 AM Ringing Phone Wars

By Paul Ruiz,

I am getting so sick of 3 AM Ringing phone ads. It was creative to begin with, emphasized Hillary's "experience" at first, but now it's just so old.

There are two new ringing phone ads--one released from the Clinton campaign, and the response by the McCain campaign.

Just to portray humorously, lets put this sequentially:

Hillary Clinton's initial "Children" ad:



Barack Obama's response:



Hillary's Second Phone ad:



John McCain's response:



How many creepy old man voice overs are there?

Study Break with "Bobby"

Tomorrow night we'll have a Coffee and Bagels study break at our usual meeting time (6:30 pm) in 320 Gore Hall. In addition we will be watching the movie Bobby about the excitement and people around the presidential run of Sen. Robert Kennedy 1968. It's one of my favorite movies, so you should DEFINATELY come! Here's the trailer:




See you tomorrow night!

The Media Sucks

By Paul Ruiz

“New Race Problem”

That was the bold headline on a brightly lit television screen behind Anderson Cooper tonight on CNN. It was about Barack Obama’s recent comments to a reporter discussing his white grandmother’s reaction to African Americans in her time:

“The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn’t. But she’s a typical white person who — if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know — there’s a reaction that’s been bred into our experiences that don’t go away, and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that’s just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it. And what makes me optimistic is you see each generation feeling a little less like that.”

Here is my problem: does anyone really believe that Barack Obama is a racist? Because if you believe that, you’re simply ridiculous. It astounds me that people are incapable of looking at things in a broader context; how can we ignore that there still are racial biases in our society? And what harm does it do for a presidential candidate to not only be cognizant of those biases but raise the dialogue? Obama’s comments addressed his own grandmother’s attitudes, and though they were untactful, they were just. The fact that so many bloggers and talk show hosts can’t grapple with this reality suggests to me that they are either childish or possess ulterior motives to derail the Obama campaign.

But worse to me is the media coverage on the 24 hour news networks. CNN, MSNBC and Fox (<-to the LARGEST extent) have used the Rev. Wright story, and subsequent remarks by Senator Obama as fodder for either promoting a conservative agenda (in the case of Fox) or continuing controversy for the sake of politics (CNN, MSNBC).

This kind of baiting is wrong in an election where we should be discussing the issues. Networks want to discuss the horse race and we want to discuss the problems we face as a nation.

Had Sen. Obama explicitly said, ‘I am a racist’ then certainly the discussion should be about his personal moral character. But to run continuous loops of Rev. Wright’s sermons, gaffes, and “analysis” from otherwise biased persons does not serve journalistic integrity. The media is a self-fulfilling prophecy in this regard; they ask, ‘how will the media cover this story and what impact will it have on the campaign?’… well you tell me.

Honesty is dead; it’s all about reporting stories first, and obtaining the highest viewership. If you’re enlightened enough to realize this congratulations, you’re among the few who aren’t complacent to the dictates of the 24 hour news media nor their corporate masters.

Know that I’m not anti-media, I’m anti-constant punditry and horse-race coverage.

One final interesting note about the media and it's coverage of Obama, check out this video of Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, talking about FOX’s “Obama bashing” this morning:

I think I respect Chris Wallace... wow, this feels weird.