So when do you actually vote?


>>I think Canada is just as influenced by the media as those in the U.S. are. Your views on Edwards alone show that. The 'other half' of this country lives right near him and he never bothers to do a thing for them and never has. He did almost nothing for North Carolina while he was a Senator here. All talk and no play.
>
>Yes, we are influenced by the media here too. But only party members have a say in party leadership, and that is done in a convention with no prior delegate voting and lasting 3 days. And general elections last 30 days (give or take a few) so it is not a 6 month bombardment.
>
>I'm not sure how my views on Edwards betrays the influence of the media on me. Is it that I am contrary to the prevailing media (there) push?
>
>>
>>Here is how much North Carolinians think of Edwards:
>>
>>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/11/edwards-slips-to-third-in_n_81113.html
>
>Statistically he's in a tie. With the attention he gets from the media, that's quite astounding to me.
>
>>
>>The problem is not that Edwards is so bad, he really is no different than any of the others. He may have high ideals and great ideas but he never accomplished much here. Is he the best of the bunch or just a great stump speaker? He and Obama are similar in that both are aiming high with very little experience and time spent in the pits. The lack of experience for both concerns me but then that is also time not spent currying favors and getting enmeshed in the system. Clinton on the other hand is a great manipulator and may accomplish alot but what she will try to accomplish is impossible to foresee because her position on many issues has changed so much. She has a great disdain for those 'below her' and doesn't hesitate to show it and that concerns me.
>
>I certainly agree that Edwards and Obama have little in the way of experience. I do think Edwards has a small edge over Obama in that regard, but that both could do with more.
>However, "experience" in this case would have to include 'working the system' and it is the system that is in question here. It would be very hard for either to do much for Joe Average working within the system. Bread for THE PEOPLE while corporations enjoy filet mignon.
>Senator Clinton knows how to work the system, which to me is a major negative attribute portending of just more of the same for the future. Hardly "change" except in name and in party affiliation.
>
>How will the U.S. ever know if John Edwards (or Obama for that matter) can deliver some meaningful change if they continue to opt for the same old same old?
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>>I contend that the media's influence is far far greater than you assess. To the point that most of you cannot even recognize it, it being so engrained in the culture.