John Edwards
scientificactivist | May 14, 2008This just in: John Edwards has officially endorsed Barack Obama for president. It's a little late (since Obama has had the nomination all but wrapped up for a couple of months now), and I'm not sure what kind of an impact this will have, but I still find this exciting.
Although I've been an Obama supporter for a while, John Edwards was still one of the most exciting candidates in the race this year (and that's saying a lot, considering how groundbreaking this presidential race has already become). I find him to be honest and genuine, particularly in his dedication to tackling poverty. He…
scientificactivist | January 30, 2008Today John Edwards officially dropped out of the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. However inevitable this was, it was still sad to see it finally happen. Edwards fought a clean, issues-driven campaign, but it wasn't enough to compete against the wild but justified excitement of the prospect of a formative Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton presidency. It's unfortunate to see Edwards leave, but I'm sure many more good things from him are still to come.
The obvious question--one that remains to be answered--is who will his supporters turn to now? The two overriding themes…
scientificactivist | January 27, 2008Last night, Barack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic Primary with 55% of the vote, doubling second place finisher Hillary Clinton's 27% share of the vote. John Edwards came in third with a disappointing 18% of the vote. Nobody should have expected Obama not to win South Carolina, but a victory of almost 30 points was not widely anticipated. He needed a big victory to gain some momentum going into Super Tuesday (February 5th), and he certainly got that last night.
While Clinton still seems to be the favorite candidate of the Establishment, the numbers tell a different story. Last…
scientificactivist | September 20, 2007While thousands march today in protest of modern day racial injustice, it's pretty difficult to not be aware of the Jena Six. Certainly all of the Democratic presidential candidates are.
Apparently, though, staying up to date on current events isn't a prerequisite for the Republicans.
Asked about the Jena Six case today on his way into a San Antonio fundraiser, [Fred] Thompson said, "I don't know anything about it."
Thompson's comments come as he and his Republican colleagues are taking increasing flack for ignoring minority voters, particularly for skipping out on forums aimed at black and…
scientificactivist | September 7, 2007The following is a transcript of the remarks I delivered to the Texas Aggie Democrats at Texas A&M University on September 5, 2007 (and I've added some links). I start out talking a little bit about the work I did in the organization when I was a student there, but I eventually get into the growing role that blogs are playing in Democratic Party politics.
I stood here almost exactly four years ago in front of a group not unlike yourselves. I was a junior at A&M, a newcomer to politics, still wet behind the ears, yet I was the new President of the Texas Aggie Democrats. It was the…
scientificactivist | August 12, 2007Last week, I attended a seminar at the Oxford Internet Institute presented by J. Ignacio Criado and entitled "Political Blogging in Campaign and Political Communication: Political Leadership 2.0?" (see my announcement and the event's abstract here). My impressions are mixed, particularly in relation to the relevance of the seminar and the methods and conclusions of the presenter. I'll touch on these methodological issues briefly, but the main point that I took home was this: campaign blogging is fundamentally different from everyday political blogging, and it doesn't truly fit into the…
scientificactivist | July 9, 2007Over at A Blog Around the Clock, Bora has posted an interview he conducted by email with Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on science and science-related issues. The fact that John Edwards participated is a good indication that the 2008 candidates (at least the Democratic ones) are taking scientists, bloggers, and even science bloggers seriously. Props to Edwards for playing ball, and a big "well done" to Bora for arranging this.
Bora asked Edwards eight questions on some of the more important and timely science-related issues facing America, including global warming, health…
scientificactivist | June 27, 2007The results of a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll were released today, and they by and large indicate that young adults today are more progressive (based on stances on individual issues and on personal identification) than their parents' generation. Although this liberalization has been a general tendency in America (and fits the stereotype of the idealistic liberal youth), some may have worried that the rise of the religious right over the last few decades was indicative of a reversal of this trend. That's not the case.
The pollsters interviewed 659 Americans (giving a margin of error of…
scientificactivist | March 11, 2007I've been openly skeptical of the shift to the right that we've seen lately by those vying for the Republican nomination for the presidency. Although my skepticism is targeted more at the inevitable swing to the center that their rhetoric will surely take after the primaries (despite the continued influence that the right wing voters courted now will continue to have if one of them is elected president), it's only fair to address the obvious question: should we be as skeptical of those on the Democratic side? Although we have not seen as stark a shift in the front runners on the Democratic…