graphic designr » politics 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 As-it-happens Election Day timeline http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/11/04/as-it-happens-election-day-timeline/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/11/04/as-it-happens-election-day-timeline/#comments Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:34:06 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=657 Election Day coverage from the first ballots cast in New Hampshire until the end. The timeline will be updated throughout the day and night. (Good luck to everyone working Election Day.)



Before the polls close, head over to Presidential Bingo for new bingo cards!

]]> http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/11/04/as-it-happens-election-day-timeline/feed/ 1 Newspaper endorsements compared http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/26/newspaper-endorsements-compared/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/26/newspaper-endorsements-compared/#comments Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:23:45 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=655 Editor & Publisher has been a list of presidential endorsements. I’ve mapped them, looking for geographic trends. For the papers that have endorsed either Barack Obama or John McCain, I have also mapped their 2004 and 2000 endorsements. It’s interesting to see the colors change — or if they do. E&P recently reported that Republicans usually win the endorsement race. So far this year, Obama is leading by a wide margin.

blue = Democrat     red = Republican     white = Not available or no endorsement (2000 and 2004)

2008

2004

2000

The maps will be updated as more endorsements are announced.

]]> http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/26/newspaper-endorsements-compared/feed/ 3 Politics are fun! http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/22/politics-are-fun/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/22/politics-are-fun/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:39:10 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=656 Folks have created some fun election-related Web sites:

  • Fold US Candidate: All of your favorite political characters as finger puppets
  • Palin as President: Click around, see what you can find. Something new is added every day until the election.
  • Yes We Carve: Carve a Barack o’ lantern, win an iPod. (The Associated Press has pumpkin stencils for both parties, and nonpartisan options.)
  • Help Josh Decide: He can’t make up his mind; you can help.
  • Yes We Can Hold Babies: Politicians love babies!
  • President Bingo: Bingo cards to make debates and speeches fun.
  • A series of “your new bicycle” sites: Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle, Michelle Obama is Your New Bicycle, Joe Biden is Your New Bicycle, Sarah Palin is Your New Bicycle, Ron Paul is Your New Bicycle, Ralph Nader is Your New Bicycle, George Bush Stole Your New Bicycle, Barack Obama Stole Your New Bicycle and Sarah Palin is Your New Bicycle’s Flat Tire
  • A variety of Twitter memes, like When Obama Wins, John McCain Knows, It’s Not Over Until and Little Known Fact. (Watch Election Twitter for more.)

    • Also on Twitter are @fakejohnmccain, @fakesarahpalin and @fakejoebiden. Washingtonian recently interviewed the people behind these accounts. (@fakebarackobama hasn’t been updated since July.)

    If you know of other fun political sites, or other newspapers that will be Twittering from a niche account, let me know.

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/22/politics-are-fun/feed/ 4     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     Mapping newspaper endorsements http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/15/mapping-newspaper-endorsements/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/15/mapping-newspaper-endorsements/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:14:29 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=650


    Three weeks to Election Day, and several newspapers are announcing who they are endorsing. Editor & Publisher has a running list. Lists are nice, but I wanted to see if there were geographic trends. This map will be updated as more papers endorse either Democrat Barack Obama (blue markers) or Republican John McCain (red markers).

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/15/mapping-newspaper-endorsements/feed/ 8     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.

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/07/obama-vs-mccain-what-they-said-at-the-2nd-debate/feed/ 1     Tonight we’re playing President Bingo! http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/07/tonight-were-playing-president-bingo/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/07/tonight-were-playing-president-bingo/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:20:38 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=643 I’m behind on posts.

    I will soon have September’s numbers for newspapers that use Twitters — data collected, mostly crunched, just needs some finishing touches. I’m also a little behind on updating layoffs and buyouts. (My bid to get newspapers to stop laying off people is not working.)

    But in the meantime, just in time for tonight’s presidential debate, I have a new site: Presidential Bingo. Enjoy!

    (And I’ll get caught up on those other posts very soon, I promise.)

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/07/tonight-were-playing-president-bingo/feed/ 3     Biden vs. Palin: What they said at the debate http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/02/biden-vs-palin-what-they-said-at-the-debate/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/02/biden-vs-palin-what-they-said-at-the-debate/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:30:12 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=639 Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin debated at Washington University on Thursday night. CNN has the transcript of the debate. From the transcript, I separated what Biden said vs. what Palin said and, using Wordle, created word clouds. The clouds represent the 150 most frequently used words; the larger the word, the more often it was used.

    Joe Biden


    Biden said “John” 72 times, “McCain” 52 times and “going” 39 times.

    Sarah Palin


    Palin said “also” 48 times, “going” 42 times and “John” 34 times.

    Update: A few people have asked about “maverick.” Biden said “maverick” nine times; Palin said “maverick” four times and “mavericks” twice.

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/02/biden-vs-palin-what-they-said-at-the-debate/feed/ 2     ‘What newspapers do you read?’ Candidate can’t answer http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/09/30/what-newspapers-do-you-read-candidate-cant-answer/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/09/30/what-newspapers-do-you-read-candidate-cant-answer/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:58:37 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=638

    Can vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin not think of a newspaper or magazine that she reads? Does she only read them online? I’m not sure, and Palin isn’t saying. Palin does have a journalism degree from the University of Idaho, though, and did work as a sports reporter for KTUU in Anchorage.

    Palin and Joe Biden will meet for a debate Thursday night at Washington University in St. Louis. Big coverage plans are in the works at stltoday.com, and I’ll post word clouds (like I did for Barack Obama and John McCain after their first debate) as soon as the transcript is available.

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/09/30/what-newspapers-do-you-read-candidate-cant-answer/feed/ 1     Obama vs. McCain debate: What they said http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/09/26/obama-vs-mccain-debate-what-they-said/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/09/26/obama-vs-mccain-debate-what-they-said/#comments Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:01:14 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=633 Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain debated at the University of Mississippi on Friday night. CNN has the transcript of the debate. From the transcript, I separated what Obama said vs. what McCain said and, using Wordle, created word clouds. The clouds represent the 150 most frequently used words; the larger the word, the more often it was used.

    Barack Obama:


    John McCain:

    ]]>     http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/09/26/obama-vs-mccain-debate-what-they-said/feed/ 2