dceditor's Audio

Election Unspun Nov 5 - President Barack Obama

dceditor — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:46:15 -0800

Barack Obama, President-Elect, the 44th President of the United States – the first African American President. An historic moment sure to be felt around the world…. An emotional moment for supporters through out the country, Obama pledged something different. Obama, a community organizer, Harvard Law School Graduate, Constitutional law professor, IL states senate, US Senate, and now President-Elect. His landslide victory encompassed traditionally blue states hard fought, like Pennsylvania, and conservative red states which include Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada and swing states of Florida and Ohio. In the most expensive campaign in US history, Obama opted out of public financing, giving him a massive monetary advantage to compliment his superb grassroots organizing efforts

Election Unspun Oct 31 - Ballot Initititives - How Will Americans Vote?

dceditor — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:17:31 -0700

It's not just a new President that will be picked by voters next Tuesday, many around the country will be voting on ballot initiatives as well. Currently, there are 153 measures on ballots across the US, 61 of these are citizen petitions and they cover a wide range of topics - ending affirmative action, banning abortion, constitutional bans on same sex marriage to name a few. Election Unspun producer Karen Miller spoke with Kristina Wilfore, the Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.

FEATURE

Election Unspun Oct 30 - Democratic Wins in the House Could Equal a More Progressive Caucus

dceditor — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:24:25 -0700

FEATURE

As the Senate could see a greater shift in favor of the Democrats, Democrats in the House of Representatives could also increase their majority. House Republicans have had to spread their resources around to seats where 30 members have retired, in addition to30 incumbents trying to hold on to their seats during this time that seems to not favor Republicans. Joining us to talk about this John Nichols, writer for The Nation.

INTERIVEW

As many as 15 - 20 Republican seats in the South could turn Democrat next Tuesday. Joining us to talk about Southern House races is Martin Weinberg, blogger for the website Progessive Electorate. Weinberg talks about the political tilt of the Southern Democratic candidates.

Election Unspun Oct 29 - The Magical Number Of 60 In The Elections

dceditor — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:44:12 -0700

Voters in states will fill thirty five Senate seats. Currently, the Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate, 49 Republicans, 49 Democrats, and 2 Independents that align with the Democratic Party. Political analysts think that number could become much greater. The states likely to pick up Democrats include Colorado, New Mexico, Alaska, and Virginia. Democrats could also pick up seats in New Hampshire, Oregon, Minnesota, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and possibly even Kentucky. That's a possible 11 additional Democratic Senators; which will easily give Democrats that magical number of 60.

Joining us to talk about the Senate races is Bob Creamer, Author of Stand Up Straight: How Progressive Can Win.

INTERVIEW 2

Election Unspun Oct 28 - Vote Switching At Voting Machines

dceditor — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:12:43 -0700

LEDE: As early voting is under way, Voters around the country have complained of 'vote switching', where the machine logs different candidate from the voters' choice.

In Nashville Tennessee, Patricia Earnhardt, attempted to early vote. On her electronic touch screen voting machine, she tried to vote for Barack Obama - but her vote didn't register. Earnhardt requested the help of a poll worker, who tried to high light the Obama button but nothing happened. Finally, the machine chose selected Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney, whose name was located 5 rows below Obama's. A poll worker helped her start the process over and her vote finally registered Barack Obama.

Election Unspun Oct 27 - Colorado's Little Black Election Box

dceditor — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:04:59 -0700

Both candidates are campaigning heavily in Colorado, a state that has voted Democratic for President only once since 1960. The state voted Democrat in 1992 when Ross Perot split many Republicans' vote. But voters dissatisfied with the Republican party could turn Colorado blue. But as Blake Wesely reports from Denver, thousands of eligible voters are being blocked from the roles because they failed to check a small box on their voter registration form.

Election Unspun Oct 24 - 3rd Party Debate

dceditor — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:28:12 -0700

Just over a week until election day, third Party candidates participated in their first debate this campaign season. Not all showed, a spokesperson for Representative Bob Barr, Libertarian Party candidate, said Barr had a scheduling conflict, saying he just got the invitation Tuesday. … also said the independent party did not request input from the Barr campaign on how or when the debate would be conducted.

Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney declined to participate. McKinney put out this message on You Tube.

Election Unspun Oct 23 - Racial Politics In North Carolina

dceditor — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:44:08 -0700

LEDE: As we continue to look at one battleground state, North Carolina, history reveals it's a state with a tense racial history.

For instance, the Greensboro Country Club, a plantation-styled building surrounded by luxurious homes on manicured green lawns, did not admit people of color until the late 90's.

Election Unspun Oct 22 - The Fight for North Carolina Rages On

dceditor — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:45:02 -0700

LEDE: North Carolina is a battle ground state. In recent weeks, the race has tightened, causing Republican John McCain to defend what has been solidly Republican for 32 years. Not since Jimmy Carter's 1976 win has North Carolina voted for a Democrat for President.

George Bush won North Carolina in 2000 and 2004 with 56 percent of the vote.

CUT: Democrats have dominated continuously locally. When people say go blue, they mean at the national level."

But Chris Lizak, National Chair of Progressive Democrats of North Carolina.

CUT: "We have a democratic governor, we control the General Assembly. It's just at the national level that defines us as a red state."

Oct 21 - Early Voting For The Presidential Election, Progressives in North Carolina

dceditor — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:02:45 -0700

Early voting has begun across the nation. One of those places is in North Carolina. Election Unspun has traveled to there to get a sense of the political mood. In the first four days of early voting, 270,000 people turned out. If the pace continues, the state is well on pace to break the previous early voting record from 4 years ago where 1 million people cast their vote before Election Day.

At an early voting site in Durham people streamed in Monday morning. A church van shuttled the elderly to the voting place. This overwhelmingly Democratic and African American district appeared to support Barack Obama.