The race for the White House and Hurricane Gustav

McCain chose to not go to the Republican National Convention after the first news about Gustav possibly hitting the Gulf Coast came out. The convention was used as a platform to ask for support for the relief effort. McCain's wife and the first lady both appealed to people watching the convention to help support the victims of the hurricane. McCain went to a disaster relief center in Ohio to help pack supplies to be sent to the Gulf Coast. Republicans were criticizing Obama for continuing to campaign while the storm was approaching. However Obama wasn't oblivious to the storm, he via text and email urged his supporters to donate to the relief for the storm, and scaled back his speeches to return to Chicago and monitor Gustav and then decide what to do for the rest of the week. Obama also asked for people to pray for the victims of the storm. Both candidates are at least showing more thought for the people in the Gulf Coast than Bush showed 3 years ago.

This is one of the biggest tests the candidates are going to face over the next few months, so far they're both doing well, but there's a lot to be seen in the days to follow after this storm, and the rest of the storms to follow. Hurricane Hanna and Tropical Storm Ike are on the horizon, and they both pose a threat to this country.

The response to this storm was much better than it was to Katrina. Preparations were made way before the storm, and the evacuations of over 2 million people seem to have gone very smoothly. While no one will forget what happened during and after Katrina, it's nice to know that we've learned from the mistakes that we made then. Over 1,600 people died during Katrina, it appears that this time around the fatality rates will be substantially lower. And thankfully this time it looks as though New Orleans dodged a bullet.

It looks like we might be having another very active storm year, which brings up global warming once more to the front of the political atmosphere (pardon the pun). From what I know on global warming, it does exist, whether it's something that threatens us in the very near future has yet to be seen. The last 2 hurricane seasons were supposed to be very active, but they were rather dormant compared to 2005. It could be that this is just a cycle, but global warming might be effecting the temperature enough to where when an active season comes up it causes it to be even more than just "active", but like I say I'm not very sure on the topic.

I would like to ask for any of you reading this to donate to the Red Cross or any other organization currently helping hurricane victims (as I have done), during this time of need. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this storm, and to the families that have lost their loved ones.

Why John Mccain is the better choice for national defense

John Mccain has first person experience in the field of national defense. He is alumni of the United States Naval Academy, and he has served as a Naval Aviator. Obama has never served in any branch of the military. John Mccain supports finishing the job in Iraq before we leave. Obama wants to cut and run. I have something for those of you that oppose the war to think about. Whether you approve of war or not, you must realize that angry terrorists won't allow the war to end now. If we pull out of Iraq, the terrorists will probably follow our troops home, and the war will continue on US grounds. We must not allow that to happen. We must finish the job in Iraq. I applaude those of you that approve of the war or disapprove of the war but understand that the job must be finished before we pull out. These are just two reasons why John Mccain is better prepared to take control, there's many more. I encourage everyone to read more at http://www.johnmccain.com, http://www.gop.com, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain. God bless the USA!

November election: analysis

McCain is trailing Obama in opinion polls (see http://www.rasmussenreports.com/), but I think that this is the typical result of the enthusiasm for the nomination. However I don't know if Obama would be a successful candidate or not in November. In order to win he will need to hold all the States Mr. Kerry won in 2004 and actually win some more States. Take a look to my analysis.

The most swinging States that Obama could win are, in my opinion, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. I actually don't think that he can win Florida, Ohio and Colorado, all three States were McCain will be a strong canidate, and if he wins the three remaining States, McCain will win the general election with 269 e.v. over the 268 e.v. of Obama.

Moreover McCain could easily retain those three States mentioned and win a few more States Mr. Bush did not win in 2004 among Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In these States Bush was close to victory and McCain will be a strong candidate. If he retains all the States Bush won in 2004 and wins some more States, he will win by a landslide.

It seems to me that Obama is the strongest Democratic candidate in Southern and Mountain states (states that McCain will definitely win, although with a smaller margin than Mr. Bush in 2004), while McCain is the strongest Republican candidate in the North-East, in industrial states (like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan), in the Mid-West and in California.

It will be a close race, but it seems to me that Obama is actually gaining strenght where he doesn't need it, while being weaker in swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and so on.
It is too early to make forecasts, but I definitely think that it will be a close race in much more states than in 2004 and that, in that kind of race, McCain is a strong candidate. Obama has much to loose if the red-blue scheme disappears in November. The 50-states strategy will help Mr. McCain, not Obama, who needs not to loose any of the states which Mr. Kerry won in 2004.

(Images: McCain: top, Obama: below)

The creation of this blog and McCain's VP

This blog was partly inspired by the political debates I have seen among Wikipedia editors, and also the small debate that took place on my talk page a few days ago on who McCain's vice presidential choice will be. Now I am asking readers: who do you think McCain's choice will be, and who is your favorite?