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Review Just say I dont to Bride Wars
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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Meltdown 101 The importance of same-store sales
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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Broadcasts to mobile devices to start in 22 cities
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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New TV trends Internet movies, 3-D, power saving
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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UN halts Gaza aid, truce resolution deal approved
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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UN Security Council calls for Gaza cease-fire
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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UN Security Council calls for immediate Gaza truce
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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UN calls for immediate cease-fire in Gaza
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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Pope Benedict jokes about hoarse voice
Southern Ledger - January 9, 2009
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PALIN PICK CHANGES THE POLITICAL DYNAMIC.
September 3, 2008 -
September 10, 2008
Two straight weeks of intensive political coverage focused on the staged politics of party conventions give way to a sixty day sprint to Election Day. Republicans and Democrats have each had their time in the spotlight but when the smoke clears the race will likely be back to a dead heat. So, if the numbers are back to where they were two weeks ago has anything happened that can have an impact on this race? The answer is “yes”: Sarah Palin.
Senator John McCain’s selection of Palin as his Vice Presidential nominee set of a media frenzy as the surprise pick left reporters scrambling for details. We have seldom seen the type of vicious, slanderous and slimy attacks that were directed at Palin and her family in the few days that followed the announcement that McCain had named her as his VP choice. Even the most partisan Democrats have acknowledged that the smear campaign went too far.
The intense interest in the little-known Governor of Alaska produced 37 million viewers for her speech Wednesday night. Barack Obama generated about a million more for his spectacle at Invesco Field last Thursday. Obama’s VP nominee, Senator Joe Biden, attracted 24 million viewers by comparison. Americans tuned in and saw one of the best convention speeches ever. Even a faulty teleprompter didn’t faze her! Polls suggest that voters now compare her favorably with Obama himself…who LEADS the Democrat’s ticket.
But Palin’s impact on the race goes beyond a one night stand. She has the potential to help McCain with three important demographic groups that may hold the key to victory in 2008: white, male blue-collar Reagan Democrats; women, and the conservative Republican base.
Much has been made of the fact that the selection of Palin is a direct plea for the disaffected women voters who saw Hillary Clinton’s race for the White House as at least as important, from a historical standpoint, as Barack Obama’s emergence as the first black nominee. The “women’s vote” is not a fungible commodity that simply moves as a bloc from one female candidate to another.
Palin’s appeal to those female voters is based upon more than gender alone. Her life story reveals a real understanding of the same challenges and opportunities that many women have faced and continue to face in their own lives. The women voters who remain up for grabs in this election tend to come from small towns and communities rather than gated communities with million dollar mansions. Those who did attend college probably went to a state school like the University of Idaho rather than Harvard. When Palin talks about the problems that women face today it is not a matter of rhetorical flourish. It is reality.
Palin also has great appeal to the husbands, brothers and fathers of those same women. Those are the blue collar Reagan Democrats that Republicans have failed to win in recent elections. The backlash toward the attacks on Palin is resonating with these guys. The fact that Palin’s husband Todd is a blue collar worker himself and a “man’s man” doesn’t hurt. Obama was already in trouble with this demographic, and it could swing key states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Minnesota in the McCain-Palin direction.
Finally, Palin has energized the conservative Republican base beyond McCain’s wildest expectations. Conservatives who were reluctantly willing to hold their noses and cast a vote for McCain are now chomping at the bit to campaign for the ticket. McCain’s poll numbers have long been suppressed by the lack of support from the Republican base. His post-convention bounce will give him critical momentum in the final sixty days, something Joe Biden and all the talk of “unity” did not accomplish for the Democrats.
The bottom line? The race for the White House is a complete toss-up and Palin is likely to be the difference-maker.
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THE FIRST AMENDMENT UNDER FIRE FROM THE LEFT. -
August 27, 2008 -
September 3, 2008
The Left has regularly decried the so-called abuses of American’s civil liberties during the Bush Administration era. For example, the ACLU has claimed that the Patriot Act "expands terrorism laws to include 'domestic terrorism' which could subject political organizations to surveillance, wiretapping, harassment, and criminal action for political advocacy." The ACLU has also asserted that the library habits of Americans could also be subject to review and government surveillance, something that... |
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OBAMA SEES HIS SUPPORT SLIP DRAMATICALLY. -
August 19, 2008 -
August 26, 2008
Political campaigns are a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The ten weeks remaining before Election Day are truly a “lifetime” where unexpected events (did anybody really forsee a Russian invasion of Georgia?) can suddenly turn the tide for either Barack Obama or John McCain. But Democrats who foresaw 2008 as a smooth ride to regaining the White House and expanding their margins in the House and Senate suddenly find themselves feeling like they are traveling down a country dirt road in a tru... |
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WHERE ARE ALL THE LIBERAL ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS? -
August 14, 2008 -
August 21, 2008
A week after Russian tanks, infantry and bombers began their devastating assault on neighboring Georgia the international community is still talking about how to respond. Actions speak louder than words, and Russia’s actions are proving much more deadly than the timid words of “peace” conveyed by diplomats.
The United Nations has dithered and delayed while the civilian death toll mounts, proving international organization to be as useless as it is inept. By the time the U.N. finally get... |
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AL GORE HITS THE WATER! -
August 5, 2008 -
August 12, 2008
Former Vice President Al Gore, the self-proclaimed global guru of green, has made a lot of money from the hysteria he has created about the so-called “crisis” of global warming. He has profited from best selling books that tout the looming climatic catastrophe, including “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Earth In the Balance.” He won an Academy Award for a movie about his slideshow presentation that focuses on his “sky is falling” message about a world on the brink of environmental disaster thanks to... |
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CONGRESS NEEDS TO STEP UP FOR MILITARY VOTERS NOW! -
July 31, 2008 -
August 6, 2008
When Election Day arrives in November hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will be serving far from home on the “Frontlines of Freedom.” Many of those serving our nation in uniform will have gone through the complicated process of registering to vote from overseas, navigated the confusing and time consuming twists and turns necessary to obtain an absentee ballot, and then gone the extra mile to mail that ballot back to their home state. Unfortunately, the time process f... |
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