Campaign Audio from PRX » Audio Favs

8 volunteers canvassing

charles — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:11:15 +0000

On the eighth of Electionmas, McCain and Obama are in a pitched battle for Florida. Caught in the middle are older Jewish voters. In PRX’s countdown to the election we are going over some of the better radio pieces for this campaign and top among them is Rebecca Sheir’s piece on Jewish voters.

Another Promise to Native Americans

charles — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:36:24 +0000

The last thing Native Americans need is another broken promise. But during the democratic primary Obama laid on some juicy commitments to Montana’s Black Eagle tribe, calling for high-level appointments in his administration and government-to-government talks with tribes. Here Native Americana Calling host Harlan McKosato warns the candidate not to make promise he can’t keep.

You can license McKosato’s piece here and listen to Obama’s raw speech here.

Obamaland, Roots in ’68

charles — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:56:47 +0000

Probably the most remarkable thing about the Obama campaign has been its ability to commandeer the reform/change sentiment and steer it (so far) successfully. A hard thing to do.

The more predictably successful alternative is the golden days approach where wannabe leaders hearken back to “the good ol’days” sometime in the near distant past stirring emotions of lost innocence. Regan did this well but it goes back way further, to Homer (the poet) and Hammurabi.

But this hope for change is something unique that doesn’t really come around much. Here indy producer Barbara Bernstein remembers the last time it occurred on a major scale when she was an activist in 1968. She compares the feeling back then to today.

What to do in Iraq

charles — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:19:03 +0000

What set Obama apart during the primaries was his whole-hearted opposition to the war in Iraq. What sets McCain apart from most everyone else now is his “stay until we win” strategy. But once one of these men becomes president, what do either of these promises mean? Shia Levitt asks an Iraq vet and a policy expert these questions.

What’s With the Jewish Vote?

charles — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:27:30 +0000

The media has made much ado of Jewish voters who get “shpilkes” — or “jitters” — at the thought of “President Barack Hussein Obama.” But does the Democratic candidate really have a “Jewish problem”?

Rebecca Sheir takes a walk through Boston’s Brookline neighborhood to get a pulse on this elusive Jewish vote.

Washington Changes Health Care or Health Care Changes Washington?

charles — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:19:18 +0000

Kicking off PRX’s series on campaign promises we look at the two biggest promises this year: change and health care.

Here Snigdha Prakash takes a tour of Washington to explore the reality of “change” with health care.

You can license the audio here. The flash is below:

The Country Yields to Clinton

charles — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:23:14 +0000

In yet another show of respect/unity the Obama-run DNC carefully orchestrated some “spontaneous” drama on the floor tonight with both New Mexico and Illinois yielding their delegate presentations to New York allowing Clinton to “cast” the deciding vote for Obama’s nomination.

But calm those rolling eyes you cynic!

One the one hand, yes, the Clintons did hijack Obama’s coronation. But listening to the audio, there is so much of our democracy tucked into what happened. So much of our American character in the pompous declarations from these great states and these aggrandizing leaders. We are indeed an arrogant and truculant bunch.

But also in this moment is a generosity that is impossible to ignore. That even in our most bitter political feuds there is a reconciliation for the common good. Take a listen and try to remain cynical.

Obama’s New Attack Dog

charles — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:44:58 +0000

So, Biden.

Barack Obama introduced his new VP pick today, Joe Biden. They spoke for about an hour in Springfield, IL, here’s the audio. Obama praised Biden as a “scrapper” with a heart for the middle class and foreign policy experience. He played up Biden’s Pennsylvanian working class roots then misspoke and introduced him as the “next president.” Biden, like the aged pit dog he will undoubtedly become, did a mini hobble/run on the stage where he attack McCain, ridiculing his seven houses and close associations with George Bush.

Here’s some flash that will probably the nicest things Biden will say for the next few months, the old good cop/bad cop routine I suppose.

Driving the Latino Vote

charles — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:19:46 +0000

The candidates are in a pitched battle over the Latino vote. Both McCain and Obama have spent a lot of time courting them and morphing their policies to appeal to first generation immigrants, Cuban exiles, and Mexican-American soldiers in Iraq. But so far neither party has had any real success. Diego Graglia, a reporter from Mexico is documenting the lives and political issues of Latinos during this presidential election year. In this report, he talked to Teresita Jacinto, a spokeswoman for Mexicanos Sin Fronteras-Mexicans Without Borders. They discuss the Prince William County, Virginia crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

You can listen to the flash above. You can license here.

Youngins in ’08

charles — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:03:59 +0000

The frequently repeated characterization for the 2008 election is “historic.” Historic candidates, historic turn out, and historic voter participation. Anecdotally, much of the historic excitement of this campaign is in the youth vote. But you wouldn’t know it by listening to the candidates who have spent relatively little time on “youth issues.” The conventional wisdom is that McCain has already conceded the youth vote to Obama and actually McCain has an incentive to keep young ones from showing up at the polls because they are not very likely to vote for him. Blunt Youth Radio a production group out of Portland Maine, knows a thing or two about youth voting habits. Here’s Spencer Scott with a brief interstitial and then William Nelligan explaining why he is politically involved.