Some firsts with this election..no historical precedent

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

The first election after a significant attack on the US mainland.

the first election with the media owned by a few corporate conglomerates.

The first election after a pre emptive war, in contrast to 200+ years of a non preemption mandate.

The first election in which the internet played its most significant role to date.

The first election after a record breaking deficit preceded by a record breaking surplus.

The first election with new voter registration at an all time high.

The first election where pollsters missed large portions of the "likely voter" population due to young voters bucking the trend.
"cell phones", first timers, etc.

I could go on...other thoughts? MKJ

[bryant69]

1. This is the first election where

There's serious consideration of having outside observers to ensure the fairness of the election.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

3. ROFLMAO..didn't think of that "first"! n/t

MKJ

edited to add...welcome to DU...:yourock:

[cheshire]

5. Which proves the Left is right. LMAO

[unblock]

4. not to quibble, but

there were quite a few significant attacks on the us mainland during the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, and the civil war.

the commercial media played a huge role in the spanish-american war.

the canadians might differ with you on the non-preemption thing (war of 1812) as would the spanish (spanish-american war) and the mexicans (mexican-american war) and the french and indians for that matter.
shrub did do away with the pretext of needing a violent "causus belli", but our previous wars of expansion were hardly pure self-defense.

we also had elections that were the "first" after telephones, and television became widely used.

the record deficit to record surplus thing probably happened before, long ago, though prior to the last 25 years the deficit wasn't the same magnitude.

voter registration increases in nearly every election, just because the population also does.

we also had elections where pollsters missed notable populations, for instance, homes without phones in 1948.


your points are all good ones though, i'm just ribbing ya :)

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

6. oooh, tell me more...this is so cool

I know that we have launched preemptive strikes on presumed aggressors..all of whom were on the North American continent (OK, I'll concede the French, please enlighten me). In the 20th century, our conflicts were generally related to direct threats or threats to our allies.

With the Spanish American War, there were military skirmishes that could be exploited as indicating a hostile threat from the Mexican military...I admit I don't know enough about the war of 1812 to address the Canadian/American conflict leading up to the war.

The pre 20th century commercial media was primarily the written word, i.e. pamphlets, catalogs, magazines...how did the illiterate and difficult to reach geographically come by this propaganda/information? In contrast, even the most isolated home in the Appalachians can now access cable TV. (BTW, I would really like to hear more about the commercial media influence around the Spanish-American War)

Our current deficit has broken all previous records.

Voter registration this election has been reported to be significantly more than previous elections. I will need to research further for the quantifiable data. (I hope there are some credible websites that can provide this information, otherwise, your position is the winning one, based on my unwillingness to immerse myself in research around this point.)

As far as the pollsters...I'll have to agree, polls over the last 6 or 7 decades have probably had many problems capturing the elusive American voter...you definitely know your stuff..thanks for your counter punch. I love civilized debate with people who are as smart (and most likely smarter) than me. MKJ
:7

[unblock]

13. you can get a primer on most of this with google

for instance, try looking up spanish-american war, yellow journalism, william randolph hearst. a battleship called "maine" sunk in a cuban harbor. in retrospect, it was probably due to an accident or incompetent crew, but the newspapers wanted war and so accused the spanish of sabotage. war ensued, with history left to debate whether we would have gone to war anyway without the newpapers fanning the flames.

it's true that the newspapers didn't reach everyone the way television does today, but those who didn't get their news from papers still got informed by people who did. regardless of the medium, propaganda is ultimately about controlling the nation's discourse. the papers influenced the literate and the literate in turn influenced the illiterate.

[maxwall]

7. First with widespread BBV which could steal the election...

... with noone knowing the wiser, w/o paper trail/ballots...

[Bread and Circus]

8. First election where the incumbent flew onto an aircraft carrier w/

what looked like a huge codpiece.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

10. ROFLMAO...n/t

MKJ

on edit..added F to ROLMAO.

[VOX]

12. BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!

Thanks for the well-needed laugh, fd.

:toast:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

9. First election in 8 years (after the Supreme Court stopped the last) nt

[VOX]

11. Regardless of the Chimp's cushy TANG "duty," it's the first time that...

there have been two candidates who volunteered for the military during the Vietnam era.

And I make **no** comparison with that statement. Kerry actually served overseas.