With all the television ads and various media coverage, it’s easy to tell that the presidential race is in full swing. But is this race like all the others?

Sen. Barack Obama wouldn’t like you to think so. His potential success rests on a nontraditional campaign. But is Obama really nontraditional, or has he been sucked into political rhetoric?
With 1.5 million people donating more than $250 million, Obama advisers have refused to take lobbyist money. This was possible because of different outlets like iTunes, MySpace and Facebook.

Dawn Bisterfeld, a senior dietetics major, said “I feel it’s been a lot different with the new technology. It is a new and different approach to drawing in voters.”

Obama’s campaign has also found aid from icons Bob Dylan, Will.i.am., Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and many additional celebrities. For those of you who steer clear of the pop culture loop, Obama even has his own music videos where his speeches are merged with melodic tunes and chorus-catchphrases like “Yes, we can.” His face can be seen on the cover of Rolling Stone, GQ, TIME, Newsweek and VIBE.

It is possible, though, that he is truly sincere. Obama’s attacks on Washington and his opponent Sen. John McCain could be what he feels are serious problems.

Mikel Wyckoff, a political science professor, said “You still need to point out differences with the other candidate to give voters a reason to support you rather than the other.”

Obama’s method of attracting voters through popular media may just be his personal forte at attracting voters and not a gimmick. Thus everything we consider “predictable” in presidential elections might unfortunately be unavoidable.

Josh Celvi, a senior Kinesiology major, agreed that “every presidential candidate will fall into the same politics as long as they’re trying to get votes.”

Some may ask, “Why can’t there ever be a candidate that’s completely modest, has an absolute flawless plan and takes attention to everyone’s wellbeing?”

Well, let’s see. There are only two men trying to take interest in as many people out of the 303,824,646 Americans. Not to mention, they must also take cowncern to international affairs as well as domestic and there are multiple issues in both. On Obama’s Web site there are 24 issues that are addressed. So, does it not make sense that it is inevitable for a presidential race to eventually turn into a political cold war?

Perhaps we should look at their issues, listen to their speeches, look at their actions and determine which is most interested in our own issues and let the best man win. Just because a candidate finds a new way to reach the majority of Americans doesn’t mean they’re a bad choice.

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