Research I have been doing has pointed me towards the modern presidency's tendency to campaign while in office for the next term. Even after getting elected for a second term presidents will campaign to get their policy through Congress.

The trend for the past two presidencies has been attributed to the fact that Bill Clinton never obtained more than 50 percent of the popular vote and thus had to campaign after being inaugurated in order to be relevant to legislators. George W. Bush has had the same problem because he actually lost the popular vote.

Permanent campaign involves polling to get a "temperature" for potential policy, monitoring the media and presenting the president in the best light. This allows the president to shift his position to better suit the public's opinions. Bill Clinton was labeled the first truly permanent campaigner to be president but the trend goes back to Richard Nixon.

Though a permanent campaigns not enough to win re-election it does help. George H.W. Bush ignored the new model of presidential functional and suffered a loss by waiting too late to campaign. The victory the media had touted as certain in 1992 election, after the Gulf War, fell apart.

The issue is whether the continuous campaigning hampers the ability of president to govern. This difficult question can be answered both ways, but no matter what the permanent campaign is here to stay.
# posted by Luis @ 8:35 PM ::

Ever since major internet service providers decided almost a decade ago that charging a flat rate for unlimited use each month, the internet has remained almost virtually free. But this is all about to change. This has ramifications that affect the entire online world in both positive and negative ways.

In a recent post in my blog Media Tomorrow, I discussed the new Web currencies that are popping up around the Internet. These Web currencies will enable content online to be sold for pennies. Something that hasn't been able to be done due to credit card companies charging a transaction charge for each individual purchase.

This idea is great for online newspapers and magazines, where they will now be able to sell their articles to readers for a few cents. But, will people be willing to pay the price to read and view the content? In a world where they are so used to seeing this stuff for free, they might not.

In this day and age, where Wal-Mart is king, people want a bargain. They want value for their money. If you try to sell them something that they are used to getting for free, they aren't going to buy it. What the industry needs to do to offset this problem is to offer something that goes beyond what is currently offered.

This is especially true in the music industry. A recent New York Times article talks about the state of the recording industry and their fight to stop illegal downloads. If the recording industry wants to start earning revenue again, they need to understand that selling the product that they've been selling for years won't work anymore. It's time they started offering additional value that people aren't used to getting for free online.

Super Audio Compact Disc (SA-CD) and Digital Versatile Disc - Audio (DVD-A) are steps in the right direction. These are new music formats that offer better sound than the compact disc we are used to as well as multi-channel surround sound. Listening to these discs make listening to music a new experience.

This is the kind of new experience the Internet must create in order to become a place where people are willing to pay a little extra for content. It's all about value, and the Internet must create more value in order to protect it's value to the world, or else it fails.
# posted by Daniel @ 10:47 PM ::

As the search for missing a missing University of North Dakota student lingers on, the details surrounding her disappearance are cloudy. Dru Sjodin, 22, disappeared November 22 after leaving her job at Victoria's Secret at a Grand Forks shopping mall.

Police have charged Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., 50, in Sjodin's kidnapping. Rodriguez is a sex offender who was released from prison in May after serving 23 years for attempted murder.

The Grand Forks Herald reported that blood found on a knife in Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s car matched that of Sjodin's DNA. A judge has sealed the evidence in the case and little is known about Rodriguez's cooperation in finding Sjodin.

People around the nation are outraged that Rodriguez was released despite being a level 3 sex offender, the highest level for sexual offenders in Minnesota, where he lives. A blog post on Pipeline asks an important question many Americans are wondering: what is the system doing to prevent these offenders from offending? The Center for Sex Offender Management offers statistics and alarming facts about sex offender recidivism.

Sadly, as each day passes, officials in Sjodin's case say that it is unlikely the student is still alive. ABCNews.com reported that a shoe identified by Sjodin's roommate was found - yet another bleak clue for Sjodin's family.
# posted by Deborah @ 2:53 PM ::

In Tuesday's edition of the Independent Florida Alligator, guest columnist Dale Griffin griped about the public outcry against Christmas trees with good reason.

Christmas trees are offensive?

According to the Indiana Daily Student, students were offended by a globally-themed Christmas tree in the IUPUI law school that made them feel "excluded" and persuaded officials to remove the tree.

"Excluded? How does a tree make anyone feel excluded?" said Griffin. "Were evil elves next to the tree asking if they believed the kid in the manger was God’s son? Was Santa mocking Arab women in headscarves, insisting, those who don’t like Christmas are going to hell?"

Maybe I'm weird, but plants have never made me feel included or excluded.

There was a sign hanging in the Reitz Union for weeks wishing students a happy Ramadan. I'm not Muslim, yet I did not feel excluded or offended or really anything for that matter. A symbol of a religious group to which I do not belong, does not evoke any sort of feeling in me, because I do not belong to that religion.

On top of it all, a Christmas tree isn't even a religious symbol. There are plenty of Americans who do not hold Christian beliefs that celebrate Christmas.

The point here is this: don't complain about religious intolerance or exclusion, unless it actually exists. If you are tortured to death in prison simply because of your religion, as happens in Uzbekistan, then you are being religiously persecuted. If you do not have the right to vote because of your skin color, as happened in South African during Apartheid, then you are being excluded.

If you don't like a Christmas tree at your University, then you are way too uptight. Just turn your head as you walk by, I promise the tree won't attack you for your religious beliefs.
# posted by Matt @ 1:57 PM ::

While flipping TV stations, you'll undoubtedly come across the latest scandal in Hollywood or Michael Jackson's face plastered on FOX News or CNN. It's no secret that America is intrigued by the lives of the rich and famous, but has the obsession gone too far?

Taking a quick glance over leading news Web sites such as CNN.com, ABCNews.com or FOX News, it's obvious that the media pays close attention to celebrity affairs. Rocker Ozzy Osbourne's all-terrain vehicle accident topped CNN.com's headlines on Monday.

Daniel B. Wood makes an excellent example of the media hoopla surrounding the Michael Jackson molestation case in an article in The Christian Science Monitor. His article points out that traditional news media may be on the verge of resembling tabloid "journalism."

Movie superstar and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also made big news today. Schwarzenegger is being sued by Rhonda Miller, a stunt woman who worked with the actor, for libel. Miller made allegations on Oct. 7, the day before California's gubernatorial elections, that Schwarzenegger groped her in the past.

FOX News, which prides itself on being "fair and balanced", made infamous rapper Eminem's bout with the U.S. Secret Service it's eye-candy for news surfers on the Web. The Secret Service is looking into Eminem's questionable lyrics such as, "I'd rather see the president dead," as is standard procedure when any such publicized statement about the president is made.

It's hard to decipher the real news from the hype when the mainstream media feeds into tabloid stories and celebrity scandals. When the need to boost TV ratings and newspaper readership leads to non-stop coverage of the same old celebrity sob stories, it's a frustrating time to be a journalist. It would be nice to get back to the news that matters instead of worrying about how much money the Hilton sisters have or who Pamela Anderson has decided to shack up with next.
# posted by Deborah @ 11:37 PM ::

The release of the Bowl Championship Series standings on Sunday further validated what many college football fans and sports writers have been saying all along. The BCS system is designed to earn money for conferences and athletic programs, not to fairly decide a National Champion.

This week, the University of Southern California Trojans (11-1) are ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches' polls. Despite that ranking, they will not be included in the National Championship game at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 4.

Instead, the University of Oklahoma Sooners (12-1) and Louisiana State University Tigers (12-1), who are ranked Nos. 3 and 2 respectively, will face off for the BCS national title. This is because of the bizarre nature of the computer polls that are used as an element of the BCS. All factors included, the BCS ranks Oklahoma and LSU as the top two teams.

While legitimate arguments can be made for all three teams, the point is that one deserving team would have been left out, under any circumstances.

While this seems to be just the debacle most college football fans have been waiting for, the controversy may actually help the BCS. What should be a perfect example of a need to change the system will wind up generating even more money than past bowl games.

This is because USC can still win a share of the national title by beating Michigan (10-2) in the Rose Bowl. The winner of the Oklahoma-LSU game will win the other half, basically making both games equally important and profitable. Many more people will watch the Rose Bowl now that it has national implications, while the Sugar Bowl will get the same ratings it already would have.

So, while the system is not fan-friendly, it does draw a lot of attention and money. For all of us who want to see a playoff system in the future, our best bet is to not watch these games on TV or buy tickets to go see them.

Yeah, right.
# posted by Ryan @ 3:35 PM ::

The National Rifle Association has announced it intends to purchase a television or a radio station. This is a measure to circumvent election laws. Current law prohibits special interest groups from airing political ads on month before a primary and two months before a general election. Media organizations have obtained exemptions, which is why the NRA has applied for the classification to the Federal Elections Commission.

The reasoning is that the media must cover election news throughout the election process. Ads that are run as public service announcements are also excluded from the rules.

If laws are implemented that can by bypassed through loopholes and technicalities then there is no point to the legislation. If a powerful interest group such as the NRA succeeds in buying a radio or television station the messages sent out over the air waves will be uncontested by other interest groups with differing views.

The NRA's stance on campaign finance reform claims that the right to purchase these TV stations and the right to advertise politically are protected by the first amendment.

If the FEC denies the NRA their claim they have said they will contest it in court the way they are contesting the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. (You need Adobe) One can only hope that the laws intended to balance the message the voter receive will not be compromised by the action of the NRA.

# posted by Luis @ 5:19 PM ::