graphic designr » debate http://graphicdesignr.net/blog Conversations about journalism, news and design Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:32:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Obama vs. McCain: What they said at their last debate http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/15/obama-vs-mccain-what-they-said-at-their-last-debate/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/15/obama-vs-mccain-what-they-said-at-their-last-debate/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:53:51 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=652 Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain met for their third and final debate on Wednesday night at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. CNN has the transcript; I took what was said by each candidate and, using Wordle, created word clouds. The clouds represent the 150 most frequently used words; the larger the word, the more often it was said.

Barack Obama

Obama said “going” 57 times (it has been his most dominant word at each debate), “think” 56 times, “now” and “make” 38 times each, and “senator” 36 times.

John McCain

McCain said “senator” 57 times (it was the most dominant word at the first debate, and came in second at the second debate), “Obama” 49 times, “America” 34 times, “need” 32 times and “going” 29 times.

There was a lot of talk about a plumber named Joe. McCain said “Joe” 21 times (it’s below “senator” in his word cloud) and “Joe’s” twice; he said “plumber” eight times and “Biden” (the other Joe) twice. Obama said “Joe” nine times; he said “plumber” three times, “Biden” twice and “Biden’s” once.

Take a look at clouds from the first and second debate. Vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin had one debate.

Since we’re talking about politics, take a look at newspaper endorsements across the country.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by and shared President Bingo. More political debate cards will be coming.

]]> http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/15/obama-vs-mccain-what-they-said-at-their-last-debate/feed/ 2 Obama vs. McCain: What they said at the 2nd debate http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/07/obama-vs-mccain-what-they-said-at-the-2nd-debate/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/07/obama-vs-mccain-what-they-said-at-the-2nd-debate/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:25:09 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=644 Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain were at it again — their second debate was at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. CNN has the transcript of the debate; I took who said what and, using Wordle, created word clouds. The clouds represent the 150 most frequently used words; the larger the words, the more often it was said. The format of this debate was different from the first, the tone was different, but the word clouds for each candidate are similar to the first debate.

Barack Obama

Obama said “going” 68 times, “got” 46 times, “senator” 44 times, “McCain” 38 times and “make” 37 times.

John McCain

McCain said “know” 53 times, “senator” 35 times; “Obama” and “people” 26 times each; “America” 25 times and “Americans” 20 times. The answer you really want to know: McCain said “my friends” 19 times and “my friend” three times.

The next (and last) debate is next Wednesday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and shared President Bingo today! I have a few words and phrases to change, and a few to take out, before the next debate. Suggestions are always welcome.

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