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319 Posts
Notes Photo September 13, 2012

Romney and the Foreign Policy Crisis…. His Own

I don't imagine Team Romney feels they've got anywhere to go on foreign policy but up. I'm not so sure about that, though.

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Salon Photo September 12, 2012

Campaign ’12: The Stretch Run – Oct 10th Live Salon at Columbia University

BagNewsNotes and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism present a live salon examining the photojournalistic coverage and visual framing of the 2012 presidential race.

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Notes Photo September 9, 2012

Obama’s "Lift" Coming Out of Charlotte: The Definitive Picture

So the question is, why is this photo attracting so much buzz on the social nets? Answer: it elects to define Obama’s standing coming off Labor Day and the conventions. While Nate Silver rummages through the post Charlotte data and hints about a statistically significant shift Obama’s way, the...

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Notes Photo

What's Wrong With this Picture: the Gabby Giffords DNC Appearance and Gun Violence

With the party congratulating itself for programming Gabby Giffords’ final convention night recitation of the pledge of allegiance, and so many news outlets having extolled Gabby’s proud but not exactly fluid or easy rendition as a brilliant Hallmark moment, it’s worth stepping back and taking a closer look at...

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Notes Photo September 7, 2012

The DNC in One Picture: "Obamacare"

If the Administration has had trouble framing the argument on any of a number of issues, the convention provided the opportunity, some planned, some unplanned, to boil the politics down to one picture … aiming for the heart or the gut rather than just the head. Speaking of heart,...

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Notes Photo September 6, 2012

Two Views of Racial Politics from the Same Democratic Convention Shoeshine Stand

Watching the Democratic Convention (or the RNC stage) this year, it’s pretty clear there’s nothing new or special about WASPs and Anglos. While the Republicans, on the other hand, bent over backwards to populate their show with darker shades, with an emphasis on Latino women, a glance at the...

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Notes Photo

DNC: Feeling It (Photos via Charles Dharapak/Instagram)

What Charles Dharapak has captured as well as anyone in these Instagram photos is the totally unexpected scene in Charlotte after two days of the DNC. It’s as if a party that that has been cautious and understated to a fault (possibly reflecting those aspects in the President) has...

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Notes Photo September 5, 2012

DNC Body and Mind: Tammy Duckworth

It was obvious Romney would be called out last night for his failure to recognize the troops or even mention Afghanistan in his RNC speech, the Obama’s being thorough and meticulous in their support and courting of the troops. (In the administration’s eyes, they’re also seen as a voting...

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Notes Photo

DNC: Michelle Obama with the Sound Off

It’s important to keep in mind that there isn’t a political speech that isn’t also a performance, that Michelle Obama’s presentation last night was, of course, a rhetorical exercise, and that her mission was nothing short of updating the American people on the Obama’s 2008 contract of hope with...

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Notes Photo September 4, 2012

The Corporate Invasion: DNC, RNC as Google Hang Out

Talking about the two major parties, and especially their conventions, being beholden to Wall Street and corporate interests, no organization has done a more brilliant job penetrating the inner sanctum — and doing it right out in the open — than Google. Exploiting the culture’s new media addiction, techno-love...

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Notes Photo September 3, 2012

Securing Our Conventions

I caught this photo a little late. It’s from the NYT feature, the 2012 Presidential Campaign, Week by Week, and what it shows are members of the National Guard waiting their turn for weapons at the Republican Convention. I should also say, I’m curious why the NYT also ran...

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Photo September 2, 2012

In a Snapshot: Hurricane Isaac Fallout as Seen From the Romney Motorcade

Talk about up shit's creek without a paddle.

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Notes Photo

RNC Poaches "We are the 99%" and Alludes to Latinos in Desert as Road Kill in One Video

It only makes sense that the conservatives would be looking to co-opt those themes and visual memes both to water them down and to try and siphon off a little of that populist indignation for itself.

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Notes Photo September 1, 2012

How Deeply Touched She Was By Paul Ryan

Spectators listen during Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan's speech at the RNC in Tampa.

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RNC Demographics (if the Broadcast Version Left You Confused)

The photo might not look like America, but neither did the RNC convention program look like the GOP.

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Notes Photo August 31, 2012

RNC: The (Dark) Morning After — With Hat Tip to Instagram

These three Instagram shots from this morning use the weather and security to capture the unsettled official launch of the Romney campaign.

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Notes Photo

The Real Romney Keynote: Eastwood Renders the Invisible Invisible

People can fault Eastwood for his age or Romney's handlers over vetting, but marshaling his still formidable creative and directorial instincts, Clint merely (if unintentionally) blew the visual lid off the charade.

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Notes Photo August 30, 2012

Romney RNC Acceptance Speech: Not of This Planet

If there was one line and one moment that set off Mitt Romney and the GOP last night, it was this one.

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