For the next four weeks, newmatilda.com journalists Jess Hill and David Hollier will be road-tripping across the United States — from Los Angeles to Chicago — providing a behind-the-horse-race account of one of the most important presidential elections of our time.
As the economic crisis delivers a parting shot from the Bush Administration, will "middle America" be side-tracked into voting on lightning-rod issues like abortion and gay rights, or will they vote on issues that will actually affect their daily lives? Will campaign strategies of smears and bald-faced lying completely overwhelm genuine policy debate, or will the American people see through them?
Jess and David will be talking to voters about the 10 big issues of this election, in the places where they’re hitting hardest. They’ll cover the economy in California, where the nation’s highest incidence of home foreclosures is creating a surge in middle-class homelessness; border protection in Arizona, where vigilante citizens are taking border patrol into their own hands; the environment versus big oil in Texas, and much more.
They will cross 14 states, searching out the stories and opinions of the celebrated and the ignored — from politicians and campaign staffers to newly arrived immigrants and war veterans. This week they meet some of the many middle class Californians who are now living in their cars as a result of the sub-prime crisis. Read Jess and David’s first instalment here, and check in regularly for their updates.
In other news from the NM jacuzzi, this week is the final heat of our political cartoon competition. The competition has been running for the past eight weeks and we received so many great entries that we decided to extend it for an extra week. But this heat really is the last one! So if you haven’t done so already, make sure you vote for your favourite entry from the current line-up.
The finalists from each heat will go into the final round, to be judged by Academy Award-winning cartoonist Bruce Petty, former Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja and newmatilda.com‘s favourite boy-satirist, Ben Pobjie. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, 29 October and they’ll be taking home the grand prize of $6000 cash. Second place will receive $1000 and third place $500. Heat winners also pocket $250 each.
Stay tuned for more.
The newmatilda.com team