Posts by Marc Bousquet
November 7, 2008, 10:40 AM ET
Boots on the Ground
cross-posted from howtheuniversityworks.com
We now know that a first-term U.S. Senator overcame two of the most successful political machines in recent history — the Clinton network and the Republican 72-hour get-out-the-vote operation — with his expertise as a community organizer.
In some ways he was wet behind those trademark ears in the matter of presidential campaigns — at one point asking advisers if he could plan to spend weekends at home with his young daughters. But as an organizer, he knew what he was doing.
The numbers are astonishing. In battleground states, uncountable, unplanned-for busloads of volunteers showed up to knock on doors for weeks before polls opened. On election day alone: one million doors in Ohio, almost two million in Pennsylvania, where there were 500 staging locations for canvassers. In one Virginia county of 72,000 voters, two thousand volunteers...
Read MoreNovember 1, 2008, 01:00 PM ET
Facebook The Vote!
cross-posted from howtheuniversityworks.com
At 12:01 a.m. on election day, thousands of younger voters and activists will simultaneously reset their Facebook pages to display a get-out-the-vote message—using a new application that allows users to “donate” their status lines to a third party.
The application allows users to specify whether they want to get out the vote for a particular candidate or on a non-partisan basis. With a single click, users can solicit all of their friends to donate their status lines as well.
When I started writing this post, the number of users “donating” their status lines to the message was 45,304. By the time I posted, the number had risen to 47,108.
Given the historic level of interest in this election — interest in bringing to an end the three-decade Era of Reaction — the only limit to the spread of this particular application is that only...
Read MoreOctober 30, 2008, 03:35 AM ET
Two Views of the Current Crisis
cross-posted from howtheuniversityworks.com
Episode #3 of John Lenin’s series Allday University Starring Adjunct Alice.
Follow the link to view the cartoons in more convenient strip versions.
The top 10 percent of American households represent over 70 percent of U.S. net worth (and 80 percent of stock ownership). The bottom 90 percent splits the rest.
By the way: ever ask yourself how the degree-inappropriate salaries of higher education shape the racial composition of the professoriate? The chart below contains all the information you need to figure it out for yourself. Which group is best positioned to subsidize not just graduate school but a lifetime of low wages?
Median net worth by race, 2004 White: $140,700 African-American: $20,600 Hispanic: $18,600 source: extremeinequality.org
Read MoreOctober 29, 2008, 04:05 AM ET
Colleges Welcome Women Faculty
cross-posted from howtheuniversityworks.com
Episode #1 of John Lenin’s series Allday University Starring Adjunct Alice.
Follow the link to view the cartoons in more convenient strip versions, which can be printed, embedded or emailed.
Read MoreOctober 6, 2008, 08:40 PM ET
McLiar Bingo
cross-posted from howtheuniversityworks.com
Having a debate-watching party?
Follow along with any of the FOUR McLiar Bingo cards created by John Sellers and Andrew Boyd of Agit-Pop Communications.
From Card 2:
“Obama “pals around with terrorists.” ACTUALLY: Obama was 8 when radical Bill Ayers planted bombs to protest Vietnam. Now a professor, he & Obama volunteer for the same charity. (CNN FactChecker)
From Card 1: “Obama wants to teach sex ed to kindergartners.” ACTUALLY: The bill Obama voted for in the Illinois Legislature helps protect children from sexual predators. (factcheck.org)”
You get the picture.
Read More
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