A Little Logic for an Illogical Attitude

Charles Blow, the current visual Opinion-Editorial columnist of the New York Times, addresses the issue of the growing force of minorities in elections over the last few years in his article Losing the Races. He particularly targets the Republican Party’s flippant and devil-may-care attitude towards the minority vote. In his career, Charles Blow began as a graphics editor at the Times who quickly rose to the top to become the graphics director. From there he continued to rise, eventually becoming the newspaper’s Design Director for News. In 2006, he left the New York Times to become the Art Director of National Geographic magazine. Charles Blow won several awards during his time at the Times, mainly pertaining to coverage of 9/11 and the Iraq war. Charles Blow also writes his own blog, By the Numbers, which further demonstrates his love to combine the graphic arts with facts and figures. In his columns and blog, Blow uses charts and other figures to further support his opinions. This unique integration of art and fact creates a powerful image of his carefully calculated opinions. With a resume like Charles Blow, one would expect him to be a well qualified and well prepared journalist. In his editorial about the new power of race in elections, he demonstrates his persuasive skills as both a designer and journalist.

Blow begins his article by describing several events of the Young Republicans meeting which occurred last week. He describes racially slanted jokes told by party members, as well as the reckless appointment of woman who has a history of politically incorrect language with regard to race. Blow continues with several other incidents of racial insensitivity including the Republican attacks against Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Blow goes on to bravely state that, “If Republicans buy this ‘who cares’ reasoning, they’re doomed to defeat.” He supports this heavy statement with statistics of not only the growing numbers of Hispanic among other minority voters, but the swing of these voters. Comparing statistics from the 2004 and 2008 presidential election in Florida, Blow concludes that both George W. Bush and John McCain received about the same amount of votes from white voters, but John McCain lost by almost three percent in the state because of the realignment of Hispanic voters. He also uses a chart comparing percentages of non-white voters to demonstrate the growing rate of minority voters, particularly Hispanics. Charles Blow finally concludes that it will “take more than fried chicken and potato salad, or arroz con pollo” for the Republicans to win and keep the minority vote.

Blow’s conclusions are not only meant to heed warning to the Republican Party, but also to inform voters of the Republican Party’s behavior. The G. O. P. continues to contradict itself in the matter of race, often having fickle and sometimes selfish interests in minorities. With the growing number of the Hispanic voting population, the G. O. P. will have to address their conflicting interests and take action to win over the minority votes. Blow’s article is not only informative, but passionate in a personal way since Blow himself is a minority. Over all, this article proves to be knowledgeable and well-supported, displaying his skill for design and expectations of fair politics.

Healthcare Reform is Not Just Expensive, It's Necessary

The main argument against health care reform is that it will cause an increase in taxes and an increase in the national debt. However, thousands of uninsured Americans leave the hospital each day without paying, leaving the bill to be paid by the state and national government. This article addresses the bills being currently being pushed forward in Congress in regards to health care reform and regulation.

Laura Meckler not only describes the view of the Democrats in Congress who are progressing the bills forward, but also includes important view points from fiscally conservative Democrats who fear the cost of the bills, and the insurance companies who fear the outcome of the bills. Throughout his presidential campaign, President Obama encouraged the idea of increased health care coverage from the national government, but also providing a government health insurance option that increased competitive rates between private providers. Although this still appears to be the ultimate goal, private health care providers argue that new fees imposed on the companies will simply continue to increase the cost of premiums, rather than make the prices more competitive. The fees themselves are meant to fund the new health care program, which is estimated to cost over $1 trillion. This article properly addresses the problem of cost, but also describes the current problems with our health care system. Ultimately Laura Meckler gives a balanced view of the current progression of health care reform in Congress.

Laura Meckler’s article, Democrats Turn Up the Heat on Insurance Industry, can be found in the online version of the Wall Street Journal.