Sarah Palin Chooses Not To Disclose Her Presidential Bet

  By Admin | March 9, 2012 - 8:01 am | Presidential Elections, Republicans
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Former US vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin already chose who to root for in the on-going tussle for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party during a district convention in her home town of Wasilla, Alaska. However, the ex-governor refuses to name her presidential bet.

A field reporter for CNN caught Palin after she cast her ballot and asked her who gets her support. Palin declined to be specific and would rather keep her silence on the matter.

“I would not tell you who I voted for in this presidential preference poll,” Palin flatly told the reporter. The former running mate of John McCain during the 2008 US presidential election also expressed her interest to see the current presidential nominees go through the long process of selection.

“I do believe that competition makes all of our candidates better,” Palin said.

Palin’s husband Todd already announced that he is supporting Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign.

The interview also provided Palin a platform to hurl some comments against President Barack Obama and his administration. Palin has been a vocal critic of Obama and his policies, especially on the War on Terror campaign and the rising deficits of the government.

“I want to see the process continue, more debate about who it is who can bust through the Orwellian Obama rhetoric and pandering that we see in the incumbent.

“Remember, there are five men running for president, and I think Barack Obama is the worst choice, is the last choice. So the four in front of him, as they duke it out in the arena of ideas and solutions to propose, the more of that, the better,” Palin stated in an interview.

Although not explicitly, Palin slightly hinted of a possible presidential run in 2016. When pressed for a concrete statement about running in 2016, the former Alaska governor simply said “anything in this life, in this world is possible.”

She also added that she is seriously considering “whatever I can do to help our country to put things back on the right track.”

Her appearance on CNN caught many by surprise, since Palin is now a paid analyst for Fox News.

Palin started her political career as a councilor of the City of Wasilla in 1992. Four years later, the former Miss Alaska third runner-up caused a momentous upset by beating incumbent Wasilla City Mayor John Stein. In 1999, Palin ran for mayor and faced Stein again and won by a huge margin, 909 votes to 292.

After her second term as Mayor of Wasilla, Palin ran for lieutenant governor in 2002 but was defeated by Loren Leman in a five-nominee Republican primary.  In 2006, she successfully wrested the Republican gubernatorial nomination from incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski. She went on to defeat ex Democratic governor Tony Knowles by a margin of 48.3% to 40.9%. In the process, Palin became the first female-governor of Alaska.

Palin is well known to the world as the woman who ran for vice president in 2008. Since registering in 1982, Palin has remained a solid Republican.

The Flaws of the Two-Party System

  By Admin | February 18, 2012 - 5:16 am | Independent Candidates, U.S. Political System
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Perhaps one of the most unique features of how politics works in the United States is the two-party system. On one side there is the Republican Party. On the other end, there is the Democratic Party. While there are other political organizations that exist in the United States, only the two mentioned gets any real attention on a national scale, mainly because it has been that way for as long as any of us can remember.

For years, there have been organizations and independent individuals who have tried to break the two-party system to introduce their own brand of politics. Texan Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 and 1996 and received 19% and 8.5% of the total number of votes respectively. Perot is the only independent candidate to garner that many votes. Another independent candidate, Howard Phillips, also ran twice, both in 1992 and 1996. None of them succeeded.

As they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and even today many people believe that the two-party system has been working well for the United States. It is not hard to understand that most people tend to side with tradition, especially if concepts like familiarity and loyalty are part of the equation. There are more than 300 million Americans living right now and about 170 million are registered to vote. 72 million are registered as Democrats while the Republicans have 55 million. Around 42 million are registered as independent voters. Basically, it is a numbers game.

That said, a significant number of Americans are now emerging to question the effectiveness of the two-party system. Many say the system is polarizing not only the political makeup of the country, but the entire structure of how Americans should live their lives. It has become an “either or” and leaving no room for everything else.

Arianna Huffington debated in her column that the two-party system is only good in providing short-term solutions to big crises such as the increasing costs of health care, the dwindling quality of public school education, and the dilapidation of infrastructure. And because voters are primed and conditioned to choose either one, choices are not only narrowed, but potential alternatives that might stem outside the two-party system are not even considered anymore.

Huffington summed the two-party system as “a stale marriage that needs a third party to spice things up.”

It might take a while before the desired effects of anti-two-party system campaigns becomes concrete. But it is clear that breaking the system down is a better alternative. It is only a matter of time before most Americans will realize that.

Occupy Movement Still Going Strong

  By Admin | January 20, 2012 - 3:30 am | Uncategorized
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Despite reduced global news coverage of the movement, the Occupy Wall Street movement and it’s many subsidiaries are still in full swing.

In the past 24 hours, peaceful student protesters were reportedly fired upon with rubber bullets by the police.

This uncalled for brutality is nothing new:

… Unsurprisingly, internet commentators have been pointing out that while our president has always been quick to condemn police brutality in conflicts abroad, he has remained largely silent about what is now occurring here at home.

 

A New Economy Blueprint Promised

  By Admin | January 19, 2012 - 6:35 am | Uncategorized
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In his speech this coming Tuesday Obama has said he will outline the blueprint for a new economy- “built to last,” where “everyone gets a fair shot.”  Sounds like an indirect response to the mutterings of Wall St protesters and the unemployed! How does he propose to do it? With a huge slide in popularity since election and the majority of voters admitting disapproval of his financial track record, a ‘new blueprint’ sounds promising but hopelessly vague- like some of the election promises that were made and broken from the beginning of his term.

Unbalanced Union Support?

  By Admin | January 18, 2012 - 6:15 am | Uncategorized
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Always an outspoken “pro-union guy,” Obama has pushed through a new law requiring workplaces to convey union messages to their employees. Over 6 million businesses, many of them small, will be required to hang a poster advertising union right such as wearing union paraphernalia in the workplace, openly discussing wages and benefits with other employees, as well as striking and picketing.

Informing workers of their options may not be a bad thing, but forcing workplaces to be the ones to do it is another thing entirely. Insiders have drawn the link between this strong push on behalf of the unions and the millions of dollars they donated to Obama’s last election campaign.