Campaign Promises and Presidential Realities

Cross-posted from Epic Journey.

On January 19, 2008, Senator Barack Obama issued this statement:

Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term "genocide" to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Yesterday was Armenian Remembrance Day. PolitiFact.com reports:

Obama did issue the statement on the 24th, in which he described the "heavy weight" of history and the "terrible events of 1915," adding "I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed."But he did not use the word "genocide." ... Obama's April 24th statement still doesn't meet the terms of his promise, and the Obameter stays at Promise Broken.

AP reports: "In breaking that promise Friday, the president did the same diplomatic tiptoeing he criticized the Bush administration for doing."

Mike Pence: Billy Graham Abets Tyrants

Here's a video of the exchange between Mike Pence (R-IN) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In it, Pence criticizes President Obama for shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, claiming that the greeting undermined support for U.S. values. As an example, Pence quoted Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident and human rights activist:

[W]e could never fully prepare ourselves for the disappointment that came from seeing the free world abandon its own values.

About whom was Sharansky speaking about?

"An example was the trip of the world-famous evangelical preacher, Billy Graham, to the Soviet Union in 1984," write Sharansky. During the trip, Graham was asked about religious freedom in the Soviet Union and he responded, "You have some problems with religion, the United States has some problems with religion." According to Sharansky, "Sitting in my prison cell . . . I was dumbfounded. How could Graham possibly place religious freedom in a free society like the United States on par with religious freedom in a fear society like the Soviet Union?"

There you have it, Billy Graham and Barack Obama are both the cats-paw of dictatorships.

Donkey Basketball

The NYT has a story today on donkey basketball. For those of you not familiar with this particular activity, it's, as you can imagine, a variant of basketball with the players mounted on donkeys. Animal rights groups are complaining that donkey basketball is cruel to the animals. This comment from PETA stuck out:

“Donkeys have no place in a gym,” said Kristie Phelps, a PETA spokeswoman. “They are very easily confused, and they have no idea what’s going on.”

Well, Ms. Phelps, meet Scraps.


2-Year-Old Donkey Called Up To Pro Donkey Basketball League

Research on the 2008 Election

(Cross-posted from Epic Journey)

A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project has some findings that cast light on politics in 2008 and beyond:

• Among the entire population the Internet is now equal to newspapers and roughly twice as important as radio as a source of election news and information.
• Voters are moving away from news sites with no point of view, and towards sites that match their own political viewpoints.
• Due to demographic differences, McCain voters were more likely than Obama voters to use the Internet. But online Obama supporters were generally more engaged in the online political process and were more likely to post original content, share content with others, sign up for updates , give money to a candidate online, set up news alerts and sign up online for campaign activities.
• Perhaps most relevant for those planning 2010 campaigns is the following: 83 percent of those age 18-24 have a social networking profile, and two-thirds of young profile owners took part in political activity on these sites in 2008.

In Epic Journey, we place a good deal of emphasis on the rules of the nomination process. In a recent paper at the annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association, Caitlyn Dwyer confirms the crucial role of the rules. Specifically, she finds that Obama won under proportional representation, Clinton would have been leading in delegates under a winner-take-all system. On the Republican side, conversely, Romney would have been leading in delegates if the Republican Party had used proportional representation.

Politics and Autism Awareness

Today, April 2, is World Autism Awareness Day.

The issue of autism recently touched our profession in a tragic way. Professor Gertrude Steuernagel of Kent State's Department of Political Science was one of the very few scholars studying public policy on autism. In early February, she died from injuries that she suffered in a beating in her home in late January. Her 18-year old son, who has low-functioning autism, is under arrest for the murder and has pleaded not guilty.

I never met Trudy, but for years we had a friendly e-mail correspondence stemming from our shared experience as the parents of autistic kids and our interest in autism policy.

It would compound the tragedy of Trudy's death if it led to the impression that autistic people are violent. Actually, the data show that serious crime is rare among people with such disorders.