Friday Blog Question: McCain vs. Obama

Now that it’s over, it would be silly not to mention the biggest news story this week: Amare Stoudemire made 49 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists to beat the Pacers 113-103 last night. The second biggest news story, however, was the outcome of the 2008 Presidential election. What are your opinions? What do you think the candidates did right in their campaign? Or wrong? Are you happy with the outcome?

Politics. What a brave blog topic. Being a Canadian living in the US, I do not have the right to vote. However, as a Canadian and on behalf of my Canadian family and friends, we are thrilled with Obama’s win.  He is an intelligent, well-spoken and engaging leader. It will be a tough road ahead given the state of the nation but I am hopeful and excited knowing Obama will be leading the charge. Judy Merrick

I found the entire campaign season (as Rachel Zoe would say) to be "bananas", right and wrong aside. The highest voter turnout since '68! 40 years later, an election got people moving - that alone is intriquing. Plus, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Harper's Bazaar does a story covering the White House makeover per new first lady, Michelle. Amare Sch-mari. The Phoenix Suns broke my heart and lost my vote years ago. (..good luck though!) Amanda Wolfe

I think Obama did a magnificent job with utilizing the internet and specifically social media to engage his supporters. Hopefully that type of “grass roots meets high tech” philosophy will continue in his administration. William Smith

I know very little about politics, but it seems to me what Obama did right was not being a member of the party affiliated with the Bush administration and using the word “change” as often as possible. What McCain did wrong was belong to that party associated with the Bush administration and was old. Brian Alig

Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe should win the Marketer of The Year award. His campaign was brilliantly run and will be a new model for how campaigns are run in the future. Paul J. Peterson

The best man won.  Pretty simple there. Obama’s campaign absolutely nailed the Internet.  They had the best web site and the best social tools, and as a result were able to motivate and mobilize huge numbers of volunteers and contributors.  As for what Obama’s campaign did wrong, given the outcome, I’d say it’s a moot point.  Based on chaos theory, if he had to do it again, I’d tell him not to change a single thing, lest fate be tempted. I have difficulty thinking of specific things the McCain campaign did “right,” although being the Republican nominee certainly means doing many things well, especially given how far from behind his campaign came to win the nomination.  The number of things he did wrong is quite large, but I’d say his biggest gaffe was “suspending” his campaign to “return to Washington” to deal with the economic crisis.  That was silly and ultimately fruitless.  Had he actually accomplished something he may have lessened the edge the failing economy gave Obama, but we all know how that turned out.  Being a Republican who voted with W. 90% of the time didn’t help, either, but that’s not really a failing of his campaign. I think it’s pretty clear at this point that had the John McCain of eight years ago been the John McCain who appeared on the ballot on Tuesday, the outcome might have been very different. I’m happy with the people’s pick for President, but given the number of poor judgments made by voters during this election (see Prop 8 and 102), for me it’s a draw.  My man won, but that same electorate told me to go sit at the back of the bus. Joseph Jaramillo

I’m reserving judgment on the outcome, but I’m leaning toward liking it.  Palin’s selection didn’t help McCain in my opinion, but his affiliation with Bush was even more detrimental.  I do like the speech McCain gave on Tuesday night.  We have a new president.  We should want to be proud of him, and we should rally around him. I heard some good radio commentary last night on people’s expectations of how much change Obama can really bring now that he’s been elected.  An analogy was made about how our current situation is like an oil tanker – it’s got a massive amount of weight and momentum and we need to turn on the reverse engines now for our destination 10 nauts away.  There are no quick fixes and it will take time. As for Amare, he can’t be stopped.  The only issue is that he can’t stop anybody either.  He’s either overly aggressive or doing his best matador impression on the defensive end.  Very rarely does he plant his feet square, shuffle and keep his arms up.  He’s an entertainer, but why is it so difficult to understand that a solid defensive stance and rebound is better than a block (which goes right back to the opposing team half the time)? Chris Sietsema

Does anyone else think it is strange how much Palin is still in the media two days after the race?  They love to hate on her.  Not very many mentions of McCain or even Biden, but Palin’s face is everywhere. Heather Austin

Following the election can turn into a full-time job, particularly due to the media's undying efforts to provide up-to-the-minute coverage 24/7. Therefore, I'm glad they are over. Rosa Milan

I’m thrilled Senator Obama won.  It’s time for a change – not just politically and economically speaking, but morally and philosophically as well.  He will be a strong leader who will watch out first and foremost for all Americans.  We sent a loud and clear message to the rest of the world that we came to our senses in electing a young, vibrant and inspirational leader. At the same time I’m disappointed in Senator McCain, who I’ve admired for many years.  He really is a Maverick and has the best interests of the American people at heart, but seemed to abandon the very same principles he stood for once he was nominated.  A terrible shame and a complete tragedy that he denied what made him the fighter that he was. Ruben Munoz

Heres a little somethin’-a-somethin’ for you. Happy Friday and have a good weekend. I’m happy with the outcome and I’m interested to see what happens over the next 4 years. More importantly, I’m just happy its over. By the end of it, I would have voted for anyone who promised to stop calling me every night and sending me flyers every day. Is there a law about how long candidates can leave their signage splattered all over town before they get fined? If there isnt’, there should be. Ashley Duncan

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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