29 major newspapers in the United States switched party endorsement from Republican to Democrat (Bush in 2004 to Obama in 2008).

4 major newspapers in the United States switched party endorsement from Democrat to Republican (Kerry in 2004 to McCain 2008).

Infochimps provides us with an interactive map that describes circulation based on newspaper endorsement and its consequential support.

From Infochimps

Deciding to play Average American for a day, I glanced at the headlines of the Texan this morning and based my opinion of the State of Things strictly on those few words—and the caption underneath the dom art, I admit. They probably misrepresented each story they hyped but that’s a job for some dork at Media Matters. It all looked pretty bad though. No wonder suburbanites are such assholes.

Here’s what I took away from a cursory and half-assed attempt to stay informed:

1. “Staff warned of expressing political views” = Uptight and overpaid administrators are looking for someone else to boss around after students won the temporary right to put Obama signs in their windows. I guess you can still make an omelet if you scrape the egg off your face. Does en loco parentis really apply here?

2. “Survey: For grads, a tough job market awaits” = College used to be a path to success but now it’s, on average, a path to survival. And, maybe, a waste of time. But I guess I knew that. I studied journalism and now the Gold Standard of my learned craft, the New York Times, is basically being traded in junk bonds. Twenty years of schoolin’ and they put you on the day shift…if at all.

3. “A&M Republicans, UT Dems debate presidential politics” = On a scale of 1-10, this marks an Annoyance Factor of 11. (See previous headline re: waste of time.)

4. “Site offers profs methods to increase student turnout” = No one votes. (Okay, about one-third of eligible Americans do.) Professors hold the key to getting students to do so. That key is talking to them about politics. For my part I’m choking on my eyes because they just rolled to the back of my throat.

5. “Unease rises as fence appears” = Some editor embarked on a subtle, yet, too clever by half attempt at rhetorical flourish with this one. Alone with this headline in a smoky, satiny, red-tinted room or sitting at a bus-stop being whipped by the cold and heralded by the gray of dawn I would be entirely lost, a little enticed, uneasy but full of a nervous anticipation and I might actually have to read the story. But thank God for the dom art and its caption. Turns out all I need to know is that while UT-Brownsville is being forced by the federal government to build a border fence straight through campus with UT System money, the River Bend Resort Country Club right next to the Rio Grande gets to be a gap in our nation’s security—the fence doesn’t cut through their useless and wasteful property. Cough, class war, cough.

And, that’s the front page of our most cherished daily (except weekends) rag around these parts.

Lesson for today: As good as Entourage was last night, something can always come along and choke the happiness right out of your system. In this case it was Monday.

Oh and by the way, banks are hoarding the bail-out cash instead of lending and 50,000 voters were illegally purged from the rolls in Georgia. Slainte!

–Colin Kalmbacher, UT Journalism Alumni 2008

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Plumber: The American people.

A report on CNN yesterday about the election actually woke me up from my political fatigue. At first, it seemed like another generic display of social concern for “racist tension,” but then the anchor read a letter from an audience member who was intelligent. The world didn’t end. It was weird.

The letter asked why Obama was referred to as Black when he is 50 percent Black. The letter continued by asking, “Why is he not referred to as White, then, 50 percent of the time?”

Good question. If Obama were to be elected, are we really electing our first Black president?

A friend pointed out, well, same thing with Tiger Woods –but Woods is primarily (50 percent) Black and only partly Chinese and American Indian.

A better example would be Yankees player Derek Jeter, who is also 50 percent Black and 50 percent White. Yet, Jeter is considered White.

And sure, there are others that are multiracial but are considered Black, such as Alicia Keys or Lenny Kravitz. But all of this is based on perception.

Obama’s father is truly African. He is a first-generation African American as my mother is a first-generation German American; Only, my mom is not considered White because of her roots, and somehow Obama is considered Black because of his.

We may shudder to think our college diversity talks were correct when we hear the phrase, “race is a social construct,” but how else can we justify?

By no means is this an endorsement for a candidate rather than a new take on race. The argument is more difficult for McCain, who fits the traditional presidential formula (White male of European descent). Because of this, McCain doesn’t make us think about “race” as much.

If Obama were to be elected, I should hope that our nation can at least embrace a new concept:

Electing Barack Obama as the first Black president in United States history would not be nearly as revolutionary as electing Barack Obama as the first nonracial president in the history of the world.

–Chelsey Delaney, journalism senior, Daily Texan Blog Editor

Cruising around Dallas this past weekend, some yard decor caught my eye, and it wasn’t burnt orange football paraphernalia (I got plenty of that inside the fairgrounds).

Instead, I was drawn to the campaign yard signs and bumper stickers on the cars parked in each driveways we drove by.

Observations: this is Obama country.

Literally the entire time I was in the Big-D I only came across one of those things that supported McCain and Palin.

This can only be the result of one of two things: more support for the Illinois Senator or a general non-use of the little election gems by Dallas Republicans.

It it is the result of significant alignment with Obama, it would be a shift from Dallas county’s 50/50 split in 2004. A shift, according to D Magazine’s editor and chief, Wick Allison that has resulted from a dissatisfaction in the direction and philosophical transitions of the party.

According to Politico.com, my observation is not revolutionary. Obama is picking up votes left and right,

Four large states John McCain once seemed well-positioned to win — Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida — have in recent weeks shifted toward Obama. If Obama were to win those four states — a scenario that would represent a remarkable turn of events — he would likely surpass 350 electoral votes.

In short if McCain plans to win this thing, he’s going to have to do better than one lone lawn sign –A lot better.

–Lindsey Mullikin, Journalism Senior, Daily Texan Web Editor