Monday, November 03, 2008

selection '08: scenarios, upsets & civil/star wars

luntz: 'I cannot foresee' scenario where mccain wins
from raw replay: BBC’s Washington correspondent Rachel Harvey predicts how the two presidential candidates will be spending the final days of the campaign and Republican pollster Frank Luntz analyses the latest polls. Luntz said, “I cannot foresee a scenario that John McCain is elected the President of the United States.”


erica jong: obama loss will cause civil war & blood in the streets
from ny observer: It seems that the final days of the presidential campaign have made Erica Jong and her friends more than a little anxious. A few days ago, Jong, the author and self-described feminist, gave an interview to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the choicest bits of which were brought to my attention by the reliably sharp-eyed Christian Rocca, the U.S. correspondent of Il Foglio, who published excerpts on his Camillo blog. Basically, Jong says her fear that Obama might lose the election has developed into an "obsession. A paralyzing terror. An anxious fever that keeps you awake at night." She also says that her friends Jane Fonda and Naomi Wolf are extremely worried that Obama will be sabotaged by Republican dirty tricks, and that if an Obama loss indeed comes to pass, the result will be a second American Civil War.

kristol jokes mccain will upset obama
from raw replay: Jon Stewart talked with Bill Kristol about John McCain’s chances of winning the presidential election. This video is from Comedy Central’s Comedy Central, broadcast October 30, 2008.


cnn beams star wars technology for election night
from ny observer: Tuesday, at CNN's Election Center in New York, an Obama campaign strategist will be in the studio to comment on the incoming voting results. Only he'll be … (wait for it) in 3-D! As a hologram! Instead of the normal flat-screen version of talking heads, the Obama spokesperson's image will be projected from Chicago and into the New York studio - in a 360 view. CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer will essentially be talking to the strategist just like when Princess Leia sent Obi-Wan Kenobi a hologram message that he was her only hope. Only there will be talk about Ohio, rather than Alderaan. USA Today has the story and they say CNN also plans to conduct similar holographic interviews with McCain representatives in Phoenix. How will it work? CNN will be shooting with 44 cameras at each location simultaneously (so they can capture their subject at every angle). Twenty computers at the site, combined with the New York office's hardware, will process and project the image in the studio. The subjects will see Mr. Blitzer and other CNN-ers on TVs at the locations so they can communicate with them properly. CNN has been on top of their gadget game for the election. The New York Times had this story in April about their enormous, nifty touch-sensitive map that allowed CNN political reporter John King to zoom in on specific cities and towns to display election and polling results. They finally found a way to give the ol' numbers story some visual spunk.

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