South Dakota may not be a Key Player Anymore

Recent evidence had suggested that the Republicans in Washington were pouring in large amounts of money into the SD senate race to help Republican Mike Rounds win the election and give SD two Republican senators.  However, the article titled "GOP pulling cash from South Dakota Senate race" says that the GOP is very confident that Mike Rounds will win, so it is no longer necessary to provide him with more funds.  The National Republican Senatorial Committee is planning on canceling over $300,000 in funds.  The confidence of the Republicans comes from a recent poll that had Mike Rounds in the lead.

This article may have an effect on those voters who are still wavering between candidates.  They may begin to see less advertisements for Mike Rounds.  However, according to this article, this should not affect the outcome of the election.  Elections are approaching fast and many people probably already know who they are voting for.

I am not a fan of the biased and attacking political ads that are always on TV, so I am happy to hear that they may be slowing down.  It is surprising that people can feel so confident about the outcome of an election days before it even happens.  I think that less money should be spent on campaigning and more on other aspects of government.

Link: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/2014-south-dakota-elections-mike-rounds-nrsc-weiland-pressler-112232.html

Record-Breaking Spending

Jim Morrill discusses the Senate race that is going on in North Carolina in the article titled "

Tillis-Hagan showdown could be nation’s most expensive Senate race ever." Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan are receiving massive amounts of donor money in this tight race. Combined, the two have paid for about 80,000 TV ads through October 13, which is three ads every 5 minutes and is expected to add up to over $103 million. These campaigns will surpass the 2012 race in Massechusettes between Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Scott Brown who combined spent around $76 million.

This Senate race is drawing national attention as it nears the end. It will be interesting to see how the amount of donor money affects the outcome. The amount of ads has likely made the NC citizens very informed on the senators they are voting on, but I am sure that all of these ads were very biased.

In my opinion, it is a shame that this much money is spent on just campaigns for the candidates. It would be better if they could have saved this money to help institute changes they want to make while in office. However, in today's ad-filled society that would be hard to accomplish. Also, if I was living in NC I would have grown very tired of seeing these ads so often.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/10/18/5250909/tillis-hagan-showdown-could-be.html#storylink=cpy

Link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/10/18/5250909/tillis-hagan-showdown-could-be.html#.VEbA1Pm-3PY

Improvements to be made in air travel

The article titled "Flight returns to San Francisco airport after cabin wall panels come loose" discusses the flight of the Boeing 757 on Monday, October 13. As the plane took off from the San Francisco airport en route to Dallas, passengers said that they heard loud popping noises as the plane shook. The side panels in row 14 began to come loose, but cabin pressure did not change and the oxygen masks did not deploy. The pilot announced that the flight would continue to Dallas, but he changed his mind when he saw the panels for himself. None of the 184 passengers were hurt, but the FAA is still going to try to diagnose the problem.

This incident was likely scary for all of the passengers, and they were probably upset about the long delays caused from this event. However, this scary incident might have a positive impact on air travel safety as the FAA works to resolve this problem. Since no one was hurt, it may be a good thing that this happened. Maybe planes will have to go through more frequent checks and simulations, and the production of future planes may also be affected.

I am glad that no one was hurt on the plane, and I hope that this does prompt some changes in the aviation industry. Plane safety has been improved greatly since 9-11, and I will still feel safe while flying because I know instances like this one are continuing the push towards extremely safe air travel.

Article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/14/flight-returns-to-san-francisco-airport-after-cabin-wall-panels-come-loose/

Rebublicans Want to Win the Senate

The article titled "Senate Republican's campaign arm says it's raised record $15.5M in Sept., no word on savings" discusses how the Republican senators campaign has bounced back from previous low months of funding to receive four times the average amount in the month of September.  The National Republican Senatorial Committee declined to comment on how much money they have spent in their campaign, but they will have to release these details by October 20.  Senate Republicans feel optimistic that this boost of confidence is a sign that they will pick up the 6 seats needed to have a majority of Republicans in the Senate.

These statistics might have a huge impact on the outcome of the upcoming elections.  This may be one of the first months that the Republican Committee raises more than the Democrats, but it is happening at a very crucial time.  After Republicans failed to win the majority in the senate and the presidency, donors are most likely wanting to contribute even more this year.

In my opinion, raising money is very important to the success of a campaign.  However, the politicians themselves will be the ones who ultimately determine who the voters will choose.

Article:  http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/10/07/senate-gop-campaign-almost-16m-raised-in-sept