Journal 2-8 Max Bardowell 1-13-08

Answer to Last Week’s Question: The Top Five Film Schools in the World (in no particular order):

University of California
University of Southern California
California Institute of Technology
New York University
American Film Institute

One major difference I noted between the two youtube debates this campaign season was the bitterness between the Republican candidates and the seemingly united front the Democrats have shown. While each candidate competes with each other individually, the democratic campaign collectively can be compared to an insurrection of sorts, with the party out of power “rebelling” against the party in power. There is a certain loyalty that comes with being a member of the party out of power. There is a unity of cause and spirit that allows them a distinct camaraderie, separating them from the republican candidates they oppose. They are a loose alliance of sorts. A band of competing individuals united under a common ideal. Thus, they can campaign against each other while still remaining focused in their ultimate goal; the deposition of the Republican Party’s control over the presidency. Each is loyal to their cause. It is a noble aspect of American politics

However, the republicans show a less honorable side of the political spectrum. They bicker and brawl, and attack the character of the men around them, not the ideologies they follow. They scramble for any scrap of a lead they can maintain, desperate to hold onto their party’s claim to the presidential office. Like the threatened monarchies of Victorian era, recoiling from the spread of democracy, the republicans squabble amongst themselves as they try to maintain power. To the public though, they only seem weak. Divided. Unsure. But, they are not to fault. If the democrats were the former office holders they would be behaving in the same manner. But they are not, and thus give the impression that they are the stronger party, resolved in their quest to assume power. That is why I will make a prediction today that it will be a democratic candidate that will win this election, for better or worse, and the republicans will not maintain power in the oval office. But who knows? In the end, you will decide.

Question: What is the most respected national campaign poll?