Obama's Early Ballot 

 

     Early Voting began on October 22nd for the people of Illinois. It's estimated that 40% of eligable voters will cast and early ballot. President Obama was one of those people. Earlier today, He flew to his home town to vote in the Martin Luther King Community Center. 

     Obama politely greeted the by standers cheering for him and all the poll workers. He made a joke about the lack of gray hairs in his driver's license picture. He placed his vote and made another joke about not wantingto reveal who he voted for.

     Obama really wanted to be an advocate for getting out and voting. He lead by example and became the first president to vote early. He stressed the fact that it was an easy process and didn't take muchtime. He advised people to vote early so they can get it out of the way, incase of any conflicting issues on election day.  

    



After the Street Fight

 

     In class we watched the documentary "Street Fight" which followed the the 2002 campaign for mayor of Newark, New Jersey. The documentary was very entertaining and had me questioning what happened after the election.

     Sharpe James won the 2002 election against Cory Booker with his dirty tactics. He used any means necessary to become mayor. But in 2006 James announced that he wasn't going to run for a sixth term. 

     Booker ran for mayor of Newark again in 2006, against Ronald Rice. Rice attacked Booker for the large amount of money spent on his campaign, but Booker still won the election with 72% of the votes. 

     Shortly after Sharpe James left office there was a federal investigation in his affairs. James was guilty of selling city owned property to a mistress of his. He sold the property at a fraction of what is was worth, and in turn his mistress sold the property for a profit. 

     James spent 18 months in prison. While in jail he wrote a book about his life titled "A Sharpe View".