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By Mark D, August 16, 2011 8:18 pm

I voted for Obama in the last election. Not because I was a brain washed liberal who only watches MSNBC. As I’ve said before, I don’t think MSNBC leans FAR enough to the left, so there’s no reason for me to watch it. If you seriously went out and voted for Jon McCain, you might have been a tad insane. McCain was so out of touch, he didn’t even know how to react to the sinking economy until his poll numbers started sinking. Adding Sarah Palin to the ticket in order to get Democrats who would have voted for Hillary to vote for McCain was insane too. Palin is the exact opposite of Clinton in every way, from the beauty queen aspect to being dim witted and on the opposite of nearly every important issue.

I was always worried though, as Obama seemed to become something to everyone. He was always seemed bigger then he actually was. When you go back it seemed like no one took the time to read his positions on his website, which always seemed a bit more middle of the road then people were making it out to be. I am a little disappointed that Obama hasn’t gotten more done, but he has had to face a Republican party which is completely unwilling to negotiate at all. They seem to be after power for powers sake, and holding Obama back from doing anything while blaming him for everything seems to be their road to the white house.

But the other day during a campaign stop in Iowa, Obama got in an argument with a Tea Party member. Of course the Tea Party member felt he was being ignored and bounced up and down shouting at Obama the following:

Rhodes shouted out that the president’s calls for more civility in politics had little chance of coming to pass after “your vice president is calling people like me, a Tea Party member, a ‘terrorist.’”

Yes, the guy complaining about civility didn’t wait to be picked out of the crowd among people asking questions, in case you were curious. Obama showed some of the wit which makes him so great on the campaign trail.

“In fairness, since I have been called a socialist who wasn’t born in this country, who is destroying America and taking away its freedoms because I passed a health care bill, I am all for lowering the rhetoric.”

The amazing thing is that Bush would have never (okay, I say never, but feel free to point out if I’m wrong) brought up anything that was said about him. From his AWOL National Guard stint, to the Cocaine addiction and the other rhetoric he might have heard on the trail, he never self-referenced it. It makes you wonder how close to home some of those hit. In comparison Obama is willing to bring it up because he knows people claim it, yet realizes that some people are just insane. I hope he calls out a lot more of these Tea Party Douchebags while out and about.

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By Mark D, February 10, 2011 9:41 am

Google Trends can give you a pretty good idea when someone is being searched and what for. Now it is somewhat early for the 2012 Presidential election, but I think google trends does a pretty good job of showing why Palin probably won’t be elected President. Quite simply I’ll be surprised if she somehow wins the Republican nomination. She is hardly searched that much even in heavy Republican states. In some states her searches dip down to almost nothing.

Like Ann Coulter (remember her?) before her, people are only interested in Palin when she says or does something crazy. Day to day she just does not attract national attention, or even enough attention in single states to be considered a realistic candidate.

First up two examples (All the charts are based on the last twelve months) comparing Palin to her former running mate McCain:

McCain gets a fifth of the searches that Palin does, but that is mostly due to Palin’s “Stupidity Spikes” She begins the year on a spike from her acceptance by the Tea Party, fades in and out during the primary season, spikes following the Republican victory (an incoming tide rises all ships) and spikes again for the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. The Flag for B for example is a spike due to Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston getting engaged, as Palin was obviously helped somewhat by her reality show and her daughter being on dancing with the stars.

Now no one would consider McCain a candidate for 2012, so maybe it’s not a good comparison. But what about Palin as compared to Glenn Beck?

Beck and Palin spend the year going nose to nose, but no one would consider Beck a possible future candidate for President. Surprisingly the C Flag is for Glenn Beck’s rally, which while giving Beck a large spike failed to make much of a dent over the B Flag which once again is Bristol Palin’s engagement. D and E Flags are post election searches for Palin, while the F Flag is once again for the Giffords shooting.

So now how does Palin compare with Obama? Nationwide not well at all:

Overall people are three times more likely to be searching for Obama then Palin, with Obama having a much steadier pattern. His three major spikes are A Flag which is the signing of the Health Care Bill, E Flag which is the election (which outspikes Palin’s post election spike) and the F Flag for his speech on the Giffords shooting.

Now you might say “Well how does Palin do state by state” since the election is won via state and not popular vote. Really it’s not that much better. Alaska is the only place that she runs head to head with Obama via searches:

Alaska

Of course one might mention that not all Palin press coming out of Alaska is positive considering the corruption trials going on currently. But what about possible Swing States like Florida and Pennsylvania?

Florida

Pennsylvania

Well what about Republican Strongholds like Alabama and Texas?

Alabama

Texas

In Alabama she Flatlines during the spring, and in both Alabama and Texas her news stories are almost non-existent. She actually probably fairs better in liberal states over the long term due to her daughter being on Dancing With The Stars. Let’s take a look at California:

California

It’s quite evident that people don’t take Sarah Palin seriously. People don’t think “What is Sarah Palin’s opinion on …?” and go searching for it. Instead she says something or does something insane and people go looking for her. I haven’t even gotten into the news reference volume which tends to be almost non-existent. People don’t write about her and don’t talk about her unless she’s fumbled the ball badly somewhere. In the end she probably doesn’t want to be President anyway, it pays better to keep going on speaking tours, releasing books and working for Fox. If she was President she would have to be held responsible for once.