VOIGHT: My concerns for America

From the star of National Treasure 1 & 2, Transformers, 24, and also the father of Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight has some pretty good thought on Obama.

From the Washington Times

We, as parents, are well aware of the importance of our teachers who teach and program our children. We also know how important it is for our children to play with good-thinking children growing up.

Sen. Barack Obama has grown up with the teaching of very angry, militant white and black people: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Rev. Michael Pfleger. We cannot say we are not affected by teachers who are militant and angry. We know too well that we become like them, and Mr. Obama will run this country in their mindset.

The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America.

The Democrats have targeted young people, knowing how easy it is to bring forth whatever is needed to program their minds. I know this process well. I was caught up in the hysteria during the Vietnam era, which was brought about through Marxist propaganda underlying the so-called peace movement. The radicals of that era were successful in giving the communists power to bring forth the killing fields and slaughter 2.5 million people in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Did they stop the war, or did they bring the war to those innocent people? In the end, they turned their backs on all the horror and suffering they helped create and walked away.

Those same leaders who were in the streets in the '60s are very powerful today in their work to bring down the Iraq war and to attack our president, and they have found their way into our schools. William Ayers is a good example of that.

Thank God, today, we have a strong generation of young soldiers who know exactly who they are and what they must do to protect our freedom and our democracy. And we have the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus, who has brought hope and stability to Iraq and prevented the terrorists from establishing a base in that country. Our soldiers are lifting us to an example of patriotism at a time when we've almost forgotten who we are and what is at stake.

If Mr. Obama had his way, he would have pulled our troops from Iraq years ago and initiated an unprecedented bloodbath, turning over that country to the barbarianism of our enemies. With what he has openly stated about his plans for our military, and his lack of understanding about the true nature of our enemies, there's not a cell in my body that can accept the idea that Mr. Obama can keep us safe from the terrorists around the world, and from Iran, which is making great strides toward getting the atomic bomb. And while a misleading portrait of Mr. Obama is being perpetrated by a media controlled by the Democrats, the Obama camp has sent out people to attack the greatness of Sen. John McCain, whose suffering and courage in a Hanoi prison camp is an American legend.

Gen. Wesley Clark, who himself has shame upon him, having been relieved of his command, has done their bidding and become a lying fool in his need to demean a fellow soldier and a true hero.

This is a perilous time, and more than ever, the world needs a united and strong America. If, God forbid, we live to see Mr. Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way.

Jon Voight is an Academy Award-winning actor who is well-known for his humanitarian work.

Campaigning

I find that I have a tendency to write really long posts, if and when I actually post. This obviously takes a lot of time, and thus I tend to push blogging way down on the priority list. This is obviously not a good thing, as I feel I have a responsibility to keep certain folks updated. If you are not one of those folks, that’s okay, you can still read my posts.

In any event, I plan on updating more, but with shorter entries.

But to start it off, I’ll bring you up to speed.

First I’d like to say that my multi-month vacationing marathon around Eastern Europe and Australia has been interesting and enjoyable. The weather has been consistently nice, and the food is fantastic. The natives, however, are just as stuck up as ever against us Yanks. Regardless, that hasn’t stopped me from perfecting my surfing pro-skills and diving the Reef just about every day.

Oh wait; this is a blog post, not an addition to my summer wish list (which I've been meaning to start). Sorry.

Some folks still have no idea that I’m in still in WA, but in fact I’m working in Vancouver and will be until at least December.

I am the campaign manager of a senate re-election race, as well as the executive assistant to the CEO of a marketing firm. My day is split in two, focusing on the business in the mornings, and working on the campaign in the afternoon. Thankfully my boss is the same for both jobs, but it still can be confusing when trying to keep track of two very fast paced schedules.

Probably the most diverse of the two jobs would be campaigning. I run the Senator’s schedule, coordinate endorsement and fundraising meetings, take all the campaign phone calls that come in, recruit volunteers, and file the contributions that come in with the Public Disclosure Commission every week (they keep track of all funds received and spent in every race for public office in the state).

I work with a WSU grad, Jami, who is our communications director. She does our press releases, updates our website and Facebook page, and coordinates our events with our volunteers.

“Doorbelling” makes up a large part of campaign work. Studies have shown (don’t ask me when or where) that physically handing information to someone and giving them a quick pitch, as opposed to strictly sending them mail pieces, cements the name of the candidate in their mind and acts a follow up to your other name recognition efforts (road signs, parades, etc.). All this is done with the hope that the ever forgetful voter will recall his sentient of good feeling or trust towards the candidate that he has perhaps gained when it comes time to check the box near his name.

I have plenty of stories of what happens on some peoples doorsteps, but for starters let me just say that the average voter, yes we’re talking register voters here, is horrendously under-informed (A.K.A Ignorant).

Most of the folk I talk to know only who they are voting for in the Presidential race. Other than that they don’t seem to care, at all. This apathy drives me out of my mind because they have no idea how much more state politics affects their everyday lives as opposed to national politics. :end of rant:

Another thing I've learned is that a lot of voters like to vote for the winner. It seems that if the voter percives a candidate as being likely to win, they will join what is called the "bandwagon" effect.

Well, thats all for now. Check back for more frequent (albeit random) updates from the life of a campaign manager. If you dare.