CSPAN VIDEO 3 11/20/2011

Various callers discuss their interpretation of the 2012 campaign advertisement released by the Cain campaign, which at one point depicts Cain’s campaign manager, Mark Block, smoking a cigarette.

CSPAN VIDEO 2 11/20/2011

Professor Julian Kantor, University Political Advertising Archive founder, explains the history of campaign advertisements. The advertisement clip shown, depicts Bill Benton’s 1950’s campaign ad for Senate, which is the earliest television ad within the archive.

CSPAN VIDEO 1 11/20/2011

Bill Adair is the editor of PolitiFact.com, which is a “fact checking” website designed in order to inform voters of the truthfulness of political statements. For example, he confronts some questionable claims that President Obama was sworn into office with his hand on the Qur’an and that he is a Muslim. Mr. Adair explains that the rumor is false and falls under the “Liar Liar Pants On Fire” category of the website rating. He also explains that each candidate has their own page, which exhibits all of the fact checks done on that specific candidate.

Email War

On Thursday, the Boston Globe reported that upon the end of Mitt Romney's tenure as Massachusetts State Governor, 11 high ranking gubernatorial officials had legally purchased their government issued hard drives before Romney left office. The purchased hard drives had contained a majority of the emails and correspondence written during the Romney Administration. According to the Globe report, Deval Patrick, the current Massachusetts State Governor, "has been bombarded with inquiries for records from the Romney era" but "has no electronic record of any Romney administration e-mails" (Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer).

Consequently, the Globe report provoked a response from the Romney campaign. Gov. Patrick, a long time Obama supporter, has been labelled by the Romney team as "an opposition research arm of the Obama re-election campaign." In direct response to the report, Romney's representatives have fired back by requesting copies of any emails sent between the Patrick Administration and Obama's top political aids. Furthermore, Romney campaign manager Matt Rhodes has accused the Patrick staff of supplying the Boston Globe "with copies of cancelled checks from 2006 documenting the lawful purchase of computer equipment by departing members of the Romney administration. This action was nothing more than a weak attempt to disparage practices that you know were in complete compliance with the law" (Serafin Gomez).

The Democratic National Committee responded with a request for all emails pertaining to the purchase of computer hard drives, including several embarrassing search keywords, such as "flip-flop" and "destroy records" (Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer). The chair of the DNC, Mrs. Wasserman Shultz,  commented, "Mitt Romney was planning to run for president towards the end of his administration, and the public has the right to know what kinds of communication were going on while he was beginning to plan that campaign. It is absolutely unconscionable, inexcusable that the records of those conversations or any conversations would have been wiped clean of servers"(Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer).

Romney's communications director, Gail Gitcho, rationalized the purchase of the hard drives by stating that Romney's staff probably did not want their records to be subject to the "oppositions dig, which is what we are seeing happening now." Gitcho summed up the accusations as a slanderous tactic utilized by an administration that will "say and do anything to hold onto their power" (Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer).  The Romney campaign has asserted that despite the loss of certain hard drives, Romney has archived 700 boxes of public documents–press releases, speeches, and the like (Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer).

Although Mitt Romney has not officially become the Republican candidate, his nomination is more likely than not. Therefore, the Obama administration has begun allocating resources in order to run against the former Massachusetts Governor. They have attempted to label Romney as a "flip-flopper" who lacks core values and will do anything necessary to win. Mrs. Wasserman Schutz commented in a CNN interview, "Mitt Romney has a very clear track record of trying to reinvent himself, start over, flip-flop on major–issues" (Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer).


Works Cited: Jessica Yellin and Senior Producer Ted Metzer. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/18/romney-vs-democrats-war-over-emails-escalates/?hpt=hp_bn3
Serafin Gomez.http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/11/17/romney-camp-ma-dem-gov-opposition-research-arm-obama-campaign-0

Cain's Calling

Herman Cain, the CEO of Godfather Pizza turned GOP presidential candidate, has been recognized as a worthy business consultant and the founder of a new flat tax plan entitled "9-9-9." As opposed to his running-mates, Cain's religious values have remained relatively irrelevant throughout his debates and speeches. More recently, Cain has described his participation in the race as a mandate from God.

Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor, has focused in on Cain's religious background, which began in Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, Georgia. In accordance with many southern religious perspectives, faith in God and hard work are inevitably linked, within the Cain family. Cain described his childhood financial status as extremely poor, or even "po" (Marrapodi). In order to support their family, Cain's mother labored as a maid and his father often worked three jobs simultaneously as a barber, a janitor at Pillsbury and a chauffeur for Coca-Cola executives. In Cain's recently published book, “This is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House,” he explains that his family acquired financial stability, allowing them to purchase a modest home.

After years of corporate climbing, Cain became the CEO of Godfather Pizza in Omaha and the head of the National Restaurant Association. Soon after, Cain revisited his childhood church in Atlanta and became a licensed associate minister at Antioch in 2002 (Marrapodi). Cain became a member of the group of pastors referred to as the Sons of Antioch. He stated in an interview with Christian Today, “Like most ministers, I felt called to preach the word of God and minister to the least, the last, and the lost, and minister to His people."

Despite Cain's failure in running for Senate, his spiritual journey soon led him to the presidential race. During a speech in November, Cain expressed to the Georgia Young Republicans that he had never intended to run for president until he witnessed President Obama's “arrogant disregard for the people," which disabled the economy. After a long period of repetitive prayer and contemplation, Cain described what he perceived to be his calling from God, “When I finally realized that this was God saying what I needed to do, I was like Moses. ‘You got the wrong man, Lord! Are you sure?’ Now, you're not supposed to doubt God. But I'm going, ‘I think maybe you're looking at somebody else'" (Marrapodi).

Although the majority of the GOP candidates have expressed their run at the presidency as a "calling," Cain's religious values are exposed in an unconventional light. Candidates have historically expressed their religious morality through their stance on issues such as abortion and same sex marriage. However, Cain's values are expressed through his strong economic policy. Benny Tate, senior pastor of Rock Springs Church in Milner, Georgia has accompanied Cain throughout his campaign expressed, “Herman sees the pressing issues of our day are economic. Herman believes that, ‘By the sweat of thy face thou shall eat bread" (Marapodi). This passage found in Genesis 3:19 embodies Cain's reliance on personal responsibility to solve the current economic crisis within the United States.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cain spoke out to the Occupy Wall Street movement, “Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks. “If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself!"

Works Cited: Eric Marrapod. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/19/the-gospel-according-to-herman-cain/?hpt=hp_c2.

CSPAN VIDEO 3 11/13/2011

During the Texas Patriots PAC debate, Herman Cain provides a historical anecdote concerning his experience with GodFather pizza’s healthcare plan and the history of Medicare in the United States. He also explains that long term government projections of budget costs on healthcare plans are often misleading. He expresses his support for the Ryan’s Plan and how Medicare and Medicaid and other health care institutes must be restructured.

CSPAN VIDEO 2 11/13/2011

During the Texas Patriots PAC debate, Newt Gingrich discusses his perspective on providing a premium support Medicare program. He discusses the healthcare issue and providing people with a healthcare plan that they desire rather than one that is forced upon them. He proposes his health care plan that he will implement if elected.