Corinne Ramey
Super Bowl, Super Tuesday, and Super Endorsements
It's been an exciting week so far. Not only did the Giants win the Super Bowl in a spectacular upset, but today voters in 24 states will go to the polls and possibly determine the presidential nominees. In honor of these two, uh, "super" events, polls are comparing the relative "excitement level" of Sunday and Tuesday to see if Americans get more excited about football or politics, and even the constantly-campaigning presidential candidates took some time off to watch the Super Bowl.
It's Tuesday morning, and if you're one of the 10-15% of undecided Super Tuesday voters nationwide, you're just not sure who to vote for today. Perhaps you've thought about the issues -- if you're like most Americans, the economy, the war in Iraq, and health care are at the top of your list -- but still haven't decided. In that case, let me offer you an alternative -- and much less informed -- way to make that hard Super Tuesday choice: celebrity endorsements. Sure, there have been a lot of celebrities making endorsements for fairly ridiculous reasons. Sylvestor Stallone is endorsing McCain because "Reality is pretty brutal and pretty hard-edged like a rough action film, and you need somebody who's been in that to deal with it," and Hulk Hogan is voting for Obama because "he seems like the real deal," but there actually are some celebrities who mention, believe it or not, actual policy. So in honor of Super Tuesday, here are some the choices some of the more famous among us will make when they go to the ballot box (or electronic voting machine) this election.
Hulk Hogan may be rooting for Obama, but another veritable action hero, Chuck Norris, has put himself firmly behind Mike Huckabee. Norris likes that Huckabee is "an avid fisherman, hunter and a long-term member of the NRA," and is "not afraid to stand up for a Creator." However, he also manages to list a few policy concerns, noting some of Huckabee's acheivements as governor of Arkansas. Norris writes,
"As governor, Mike led the citizens of Arkansas through difficult conditions. He balanced the budget each year, enhanced technology in commerce, was tough on crime, used tobacco lawsuit monies to better health care, initiated a toll-free hotline to report tips on government corruption and 16 times had to endure the long nights of the soul before he gave permission for executions to proceed. He also initiated the ARKids First program, cutting the number of uninsured children in half."
To Norris' credit, while Huckabee's health care proposal isn't great, the use of tobacco-related money and the ARKids First program have some similarities to the SCHIP legislation, which would have provided health care for millions of uninsured children. However, despite the similarities, Huckabee called the SCHIP bill "problematic" and "just not a good solution." As for his "16 nights of the soul," Huckabee might have been more effective if, instead of prayer, he had used DNA testing much like that used to exonerate innocent convicts in Dallas, but at least the governor gave the issue some thought.
Not convinced that an action hero can tell you who to vote for? Maybe you can look to Craig from Craigslist for the answers. The founder of the famous classified ad website (which, incidentally, is the source of almost every piece of furniture in my apartment) has put his weight behind Obama, and publically endorsed the candidate everywhere from the Huffington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The self-described "nerd, not a wonk" has endorsed Obama not only because of his call for "change," but for his stance on the Iraq War and veterans' issues. Given that one in three Iraq War vets will face serious mental health issues and, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 195,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, Craig is right to consider veterans' issues a primary concern.
Barbra Streisand, on the other hand, has formally endorsed Clinton, noting not only Clinton's "powerful voice for change" but saying that, "She will prioritize issues of global climate change, universal health care and rebuilding a strong economy." In an editorial in yesterday's Times, Paul Krugman agreed with Streisand, arguing that Clinton's health care plan is likely to cover far more people than Obama's due to the inclusion of mandates. He writes, "Specifically, new estimates say that a plan resembling Mrs. Clinton’s would cover almost twice as many of those now uninsured as a plan resembling Mr. Obama’s — at only slightly higher cost." When it comes to environmental voting records, Obama and Clinton have similar records. One environmental watch group, the League of Conservation voters, gave Obama a 96 and Clinton a90. In any case, both candidates are miles above John McCain's Lifetime Conservation Score of 26.
Hip-hop icon Russell Simmons is having a harder time making up his mind. Simmons had previously endorsed Edwards -- the two attended a yoga class together -- but finds himself torn between Clinton and Obama. Simmons says that he's heard more specific proposals from Clinton on the environment, conflict resolution and poverty. However, the Def Jam/Phat Farm founder still says that his "heart" is with Obama, and can't decide between his "heart" and his "brain."
Perhaps you don't need the likes of Hulk Hogan and Chuck Norris to help you make up your mind, and you just want to find out where to vote? If you live in New York City, use the NYC Board of Elections Polling Place Locator to find out.
Will this Super Tuesday be as exciting a contest as Super Bowl Sunday? Will all of Obama's "if the Giants can do it we can too" comments come true? And does anyone actually care about celebrity endorsements? Only time will tell...
*Update*
For live Super Tuesday coverage, check out Brave New Films and Young Turks online webcast of Super Tuesday election returns and commentary from 6 pm to 1 am EST. Guests include Sherrod Brown, Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, Eli Pariser, Arianna Huffington, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and many others.
Posted at 6:27 AM, Feb 05, 2008 in Election 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Comments
Hey, thanks for the kind words! and remember, I'm a computer nerd, not a policy wonk.
craig
craig@craigslist.org
Posted by: Craig Newmark | February 5, 2008 01:47 PM
Thanks, Craig! And you may not be a policy wonk, but I did enjoy reading your policy-related stuff on the Huffington Post!
Posted by: Corinne Ramey | February 5, 2008 01:54 PM
As a member of The Sons of the American Revolution, with a strong and proud military family, I feel Our government has been playing games with our veterans ever since the Oneida Indian Nation fought in the Revolutionary War. They were among our first American Solders and took up arms against the British to help our nation earn its independence after our Revolution. Our new government used land seized from the British to compensate our veterans and the Oneida veterans were stripped of much of their original territory, by having 10 million acres of land taken from them. Look how they have been treated by an ungrateful country.
Then the Civil War produced thousands of wandering veterans. Frequently addicted to opiates, they were known as tramps,Our first homeless vets, searching for jobs and, in many cases, literally still tending their wounds.
More than a decade after the end of World War I, the Bonus Army descended on Washington - demanding immediate payment on benefits that had been promised to them, but payable years later ,and were routed out of Washington DC by the U.S. Military,led by George Patton. In 1946,The to end all wars, the VA had beds for about 82,000 patients but the VA rolls swelled to 15 million in just a few months and the hospitals were virtually all swamped. There were 26,000 non service related cases also on the waiting list. The VA was building new hospitals but had money for only 12,000 more beds. They came too few too late. The Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952, called the Korean GI Bill, provided unemployment insurance, job placement, home loans and mustering-out benefits similar to those offered World War II veterans. The Korean GI Bill made several changes, however, in education benefits, reducing financial benefits generally and imposing new restrictions. The effect of the changes was that the benefit no longer completely covered the cost of the veteran’s education.
The most publicly and perhaps most painfully,That comes to mind was Vietnam Tens of thousands of war weary veterans, infamously rejected,crazy, or just forgotten by many of their own fellow citizens,elected officials,demonized by the media.
Presently our current service members have who have had repeated and extended deployments to war zones, have shown a rise in post-traumatic stress and other war-related wounds among troops,and 120 Suicides a week. While it is good to support your troops that are serving our interest it is better to demand accountability from those responsible for the lack of their care in these injuries. It is utterly disgusting that VA hospitals are turning away those most in need. Those in charge of VA hospitals need to take responsibility for their lack of actions. I believe the whole VA system needs an overhaul and very soon. More and more wounded troops coming home and they need both physical and mental health care.
Our troops deserve the best of all aspects of care! Wake up, America! We fail to take care of our own as we should and I think it's time that we start.
This will surprise nobody who has ever encountered the VA medical system. The entire operation is a horror show mostly run by lazy, self-important, arrogant and self-satisfied bureaucrats. This kind of treatment has been going on for years and years and years. VA hospitals are in hopeless situations. This type of treatment is the rule and not the exception for those who are closely associated with regular active duty military. It’s sad, but true.
If certain services cannot be provided for a veteran or current military patients then they are suppose to be referred to a civilian facility with no cost to the service member or veterans. Many of our own are going without and this shouldn't be a surprise for the VA system when it comes to treating any new service related conditions by ignoring it' In this situation, the Iraq veteran is in the same boat as the Vietnam veteran in the 1970's. At least now, they have a name for it,It's called PTSD, and like Agent Orange has been proven,So well depleted uranium be proven but the VA doesn't take it seriously tell a very large group of veterans die from their exposure.
It's terrible that our country is still ignoring the cries of our vets. It's no surprise what is happening with the Syracuse Veterans Hospital if similar acts are occurring around the country. I've have made many attempts in the last four years to talk with Mr. Cody, the head of the VA hospital in Syracuse NY, about these conditions He is self-important, arrogant, with a “don't call me I'll call you” attitude and there has been no dialog. I believe that Mr. Jim Cody should tender his resignation for the good of our veterans.Veterans Preference....Staff the VA with Veterans!
Dennis Thorp is a native of Frankfort and served as an U.S. Army medic during the Vietnam War. He is co-founder of Agent Orange Victims International.
Doctho@roadrunner
Posted by: Dennis | February 5, 2008 10:05 PM
Dennis, I agree that VA health care -- and the rest of the health care system, for that matter -- could certainly improve. Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this.
Posted by: Corinne Ramey | February 7, 2008 10:35 AM