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Drew University 2013 Commencement on Flickr.
This is a slideshow of photos that I took during Drew University’s 145th commencement ceremony. Most graduating students in this video pursued a major in political science or completed the Semester on the United Nations. Enjoy!
A portrait of a horse during a foggy morning in New Jersey.
"DNC Buzzwords: A Political Word Game"
I saw a pretty good video produced by Time Magazine. The reporter asked individuals to respond with one word to a phrase or a word.
Here is a link: "DNC Buzzwords: A Political Word Game"
Some of the responses are pretty funny. But, check out, people responses to "Forward". This is the Obama campaign's slogan and the respondents' reactions showed that it is not captivating these people's imagination.
This is not a scientific study and it may not say anything about the mood of voters, but given respondents' answers to other words like "Bain", "Romney", etc... this is something that Team Obama needs to think about.
Is "forward" the best campaign slogan?
Complaining Romney Sounds like Gingrich and Santorum During the GOP Primaries
Campaigning yesterday in Ohio, Mitt Romney demanded that the Obama campaign change its tone, stating: "take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago". He made a similar plea late last week in an interview conducted by MSNBC's Chuck Todd. This morning in an interview with CBS Morning News he went a step further, arguing that President Obama was "just [trying] to hand on to power", running a campaign based on "division and attack and hatred".
There is no doubt that this has proven to be a very nasty race and that it will probably get even dirtier. But, it is ironic that Romney and his surrogates are complaining about the tone of the race. After all, it was Team Romney who used this strategy against Newt Gingrich during the Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida primaries earlier this year. The strategy worked so well that Rick Santorum was also the repeated target of Team Romney's negative ads.
And during the primaries, both candidates complained that Romney could not win the primary without destroying his opponents. They were right. During the primaries, Romney was unwilling to provide details of his plans, preferring to talk about the failings of the Obama administration's policies than presenting a new road map for America.
It is important to remember that Santorum and Gingrich also attacked Romney. But their attacks were not as effective because they lacked the finances to run many ads. That said, the many GOP debates, allowed Santorum and Gingrich to attack Romney on his unwillingness to share his tax returns and on his record as governor, convincing many conservatives to question his candidacy.
It is not surprising that Team Obama is using negative attacks so early in the process. They have successfully defined Romney as an out of touch, plutocrat who is only interested in the needs of rich Americans at the expense of the poor and the middle class. The recent attacks on Paul Ryan are meant to define him as Romney's henchman, fighting for the interests of the rich.
Team Romney has not been afraid of attacking Obama, taking comments out of context, implying that he is un-American, arguing that he is a socialist and so forth. While these attacks have been less successful, they have rallied the Republican base.
Negative ads can backfire, but by in large, many political scientists have found that they work if the attack is not purely a personal attack, but if it is tied to an issue of relevance. One interesting question is why the attacks against Romney worked, but Romney's attacks against Obama have been less effective.
This is an issue for another posting, but the short answer seems to be that many of Romney's attacks do not redefine the President. They only reinforce existing perceptions. Obama, as president, is better known than Romney and Romney's campaign has done a poor job of defining who Romney is.
Romney should stop complaining. His campaign has raised more money than Team Obama and the Super PACs which support his candidacy have also out raised pro-Obama Super PACs.
It is time for Team Romney to embrace his new campaign strategy. Selecting Paul Ryan as his running mate signals that he wants to promote conservative values and policies. Which means that he needs to provide more details on how he will help revive the American economy, balance the budget, create jobs, save Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, promote national security and so forth. This will not be easy, but this is his challenge.
His campaign had originally hoped to make this election a referendum on the Obama presidency. The Obama Team's summer campaign torpedo this plan. All the public opinion polls show that although people are not happy with the last four years and have little hope that the economy will improve in the short term, they would still vote for Obama.
The onus is not on the Obama campaign to change the tone or the dynamics of this race, but on Romney and his team....
This is one of my recent and most favorite images. I took it during the 4th of July weekend in Mt Desert Island, Maine. I used my Olympus EP-3 with the 20mm Panasonic Lumix (which is 40mm in full frame) at 1/200, f2, ISO 200. This is out of camera JPG, though I did some adjustment in Lightroom. I love this little pancake lens. I take well over 80% of my photos with the EP-3.
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago in Bar Harbor, ME. It was one of those picture perfect mornings.
This Month in U.S. Politics
As June comes to a close, here are some quick observations pertaining to U.S. political landscape and its impact in the upcoming presidential election.
1. What impact will the recent decisions of the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) have on the race for the White House?
On the Arizona immigration law, known as SB1070, it is clear that the battle is not over. The SCOTUS upheld the most controversial part of the law - the so called "show me your papers" provision - pending its application. Latinos voters and many human rights interest groups are not happy with this part of the ruling, but they are happy to see SCOTUS strike down other parts of the law, stressing that immigration law is mostly a federal matter.
At first glance, this seems to be a victory for both sides as conservatives argue that law enforcement officers have the power to arrest illegal aliens. But, politically the ruling helps President Obama and it complicates matter for Governor Romney.
As both campaigns woo Latino voters, this decision will really help the President; he has been trying to make the case that he has been working on behalf of issues important to the Latino community and this reinforces his narrative. Romney will have a more difficult time on this one. He has to be critical of the decision, as many Republicans were upset by the ruling, but find ways of moving forward to get some Latino support. Indeed, to win, he needs close to 40% of the Latino vote.
The Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Healthcare Act, more popularly known as Obamacare, is a huge win for President Obama. It is his administration's signature legislation. The ruling does not mean that President Obama will not face political challenges in the near future. Here are at least two challenges:
Justice Robert's opinion finds that the Act's constitutionality does not rest in the Constitution's Commerce Clause, the Obama administration's main argument, but on the taxing authority of the Congress. Thus, Republicans and the Romney campaign will say that Obama raised taxes during the term and this is something voters will not like to hear.
The Affordable Care Act is still unpopular with Republicans and independent voters. A CBS/NY Times poll a couples of weeks ago found that 8 out of 10 Republicans dislike the law, while only 48% of independents support it. A slim majority (56%) of Democrats favor the law. These are not impressive numbers and the White House knows it. A more recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found similar attitudes. Republicans will try to rally Americans to not only elect Romney but to help them hold on to the majority in the House of Representatives and take the majority in the Senate. If they can win both chambers and the White House they can pass a new law revoking the Affordable Care Act's provisions.
The Obama re-election, nevertheless, team must be relieved. The campaign would have been more difficult had the Court found the Act unconstitutional.
2. Whom do voters prefer?
According to the Realclearpolitics average, which indexes all major public opinion polls, Obama is ahead of Romney by 3%. This of course is within the margin of error, suggesting a very close race. But, here are a couple of observations:
These polls were taken before this week's landmark Supreme Court decisions. I am curious as to whether these rulings will give a boost to Obama or Romney.
Why is Romney not ahead in the polls? Think about it. For the last weeks, the economy has been dominating the news cycle and the headlines were not exactly good for the White House. Romney has been attacking the President on this issue, while it has had some traction - polls have tightened, he does not seem to be connecting with most Americans.
If we break it down by states, Romney has problems his campaign staff need to address quickly. He is tied with Obama in New Hampshire - this is basically his home state and he should be ahead because his economic message should resonate with voters there. He is behind in Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Where exactly does Mitt Romney have momentum?
In Massachusetts, Obama is ahead by 16 percentage points. Now we can't expect Romney to win his home state but this should be closer. Can Romney attract enough independent voters? This is the reaction I have when I read the results of this poll.
It is very early in the race for the White House, but here are some thoughts as we close the month of June.
I took this image in a field in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, off Route 206. This is my contribution to the following Google+ daily photothemes: #tonemappedtuesday, #tractortuesday, and #mytowntuesday.
ONE more thing, I just opened a new Facebook site:
Carlos Yordan Photography - http://www.facebook.com/cyordan.photo. I will be uploading some of my work there as well.
If you like this photo or others I have published in my tumblr site, please go to this Facebook page and press the "Like" button.
Minutes before the Sunrise
Another photo of my Cape May collection, which I took during the 2012 Memorial Day Weekend.
I love the vibrancy of the colors. I used an 0.9 ND filter, thus the silkiness of the water.
Cruise Liner Enters San Juan Harbor
If you are ever in Old San Juan, I recommend that you take a stroll down Paseo El Morro. You get to walk alongside the city's walls, built in the 1630s by the Spanish after the Dutch ransacked and burned San Juan. The path ends at the foot of El Morro Castle and at the entrance of the harbor. Unfortunately, you will not be able to enter the Castle or the city from this point. You need to turn back and enter the city by way of La Puerta de San Juan, which was built in 1520.
Last December, on a windy and cool morning, my wife dragged me and our daughter, nephew and nice down the path. I am glad we followed her because the scene was spectacular. The waves were crashing on the rocks and the clouds were magnificent. As we walked down the path a cruise ship was entering the harbor and I had my camera with me.
This is one of my favorite photos. What do you think of it?
Morning Blue
I took this photo on top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park during the 2011 Labor Day Weekend. It was a cold and windy day! The sunrise was magnificent.
If you ever visit Acadia National Park, you should drive up Cadillac and see the sunrise. It is a wonderful experience.
This is photo is of an abandoned building off the D&R Canal Trail in the Princeton-Kingston border in New Jersey. It used to house a flour mill. The stone bridge has a lot of historical significance. It is New Jersey's second oldest stone bridge, built in 1798. An earlier wooden bridge was destroyed by the Continental Army after the Battle of Princeton in 1777.
Another interesting fact, the bridge sits in three counties: Mercer, Somerset and Middlesex.
This is my contribution to three G+ daily photography themes: #tonemappedtuesday, #mytowntuesday and #tuesdecay.
I took this photo last year during the Labor Day Weekend at Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park.
This was my contribution to today's photography themes in G+: #monochromemonday,#mountainmonday,#leadinglinesmonday, and #moodymonday
This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago in Belmar, NJ. Technical: T2i with my very old EF 75-300mm (4.0-5.6) at 255mm, 1/640, f 5.6, ISO 100.
One of the photos I took during the 2012 Memorial Day Weekend.
At Epcot, you can buy beaded bracelets and necklaces. The beads are made by Uganda female artists with recycled papers from the Walt Disney World theme parks. All proceeds are given to the artists. What do you think of this initiative? Should Disney further develop this program?