Coalminers shut down a mine in Blacksville, WV (the red dot on the map) last week in protest of the filming of an Anti-Obama ad at the facility. The work stoppage, which gave 440 miners the day off, was in response to a film crew, hired by the National Rifle Association to shoot interviews for an attack ad against Barack Obama, being given permission by the management at the Blacksville #2 coal mine to enter the facility and ask miners their opinions on the Illinois Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate. Workers at Blacksville #2 took notice of the production and phoned in their concerns to the headquarters of their union, the United Mine Workers of America. The union, which has endorsed Mr. Obama for President, subsequently called for a work stoppage “Memorial Day”, a part of the union’s contract, to protest the exploitation of their workers in the political advertisement which they felt was contrary to their interests.

While the response of these West Virginia coal miners to the NRA ad might have come as a surprise to the right wing, it makes perfect sense to me. While I was in West Virginia over the summer I was pleased to find a region much more diverse and open than the stereotypes leveled against it. It’s not West Virginia either, indeed both southern and rural areas across the United States are coming more and more to realize the integrated America on display in, say, a Craig Brewer movie or HBO’s True Blood than the typical racist depictions of the past. All of this is very good news for those working for true equality in this country, and bad news for those who continue to play on hate and fear politics in order to distract people from the real issues that affect their lives.

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McCain Wins Debate! Or at least that’s what the advertisement (seen left) spread around the Internet earlier today, 12 hours or more before the debate even started, claimed. We’re hoping that the McCain campaign simply made a mistake by putting this thing out there early, but given the sheer gall of some of the recent attacks and moves by the McCain-Palin camp, it’s difficult to know for sure.

What we do know is that tonight’s debate - to be shown on virtually every television network in the United States, so just turn on the tube and flip around - will be one for the history books. So tune in and watch history in the making, then judge for yourself who did better going toe to toe behind the debate podiums.

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It’s September in Leap Year and that means we’re in the midst of yet another closely contested Presidential campaign in these United States. So here at TakePart we thought it might be a good time to take a look back through the years to the most pivotal and memorable campaign moments to grace the small screen since the inception of television as a mass medium.

They’re not all deep, indeed some of them are downright petty. Some highlight an age in American politics where a quick dig, an easily accessible narrative or simply the impression conveyed by bits of picture and audio substituted for an honest dialogue with the public about the governmental and economic forces which shape their lives. Others show truly thought provoking moments that blend medium and message seamlessly without degrading either.   So here they are…for better or worse…your TakePart Top 10 Presidential Campaign Moment of the Television Age!

10. 1980 Jimmy Carter - Ronald Reagan Debate - “There you go again…”

The 1980 Presidential race between incumbent Jimmy Carter and California Governor Ronald Reagan marked a turning point in politics in this country. It also bears many similarities to the race now at hand between Barack Obama and John McCain in terms of the issues at play, notably energy, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and healthcare. In this moment, Reagan gave a glimpse of the next 28 years of medical care following his election in his dismissive, waving off “There you go again” response to Jimmy Carter bringing up the issue of health coverage for American citizens. An issue that has only gotten progressively worse to this day.

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John McCain wants to unleash the power of American innovation to ween the country off oil with an old fashioned, but effective motivator; a cash prize. The presumptive Republican nominee for President proposed awarding a $300 Million prize to the inventor who could come up with a car battery far advanced from the current technology available, in a recent speech at Fresno State University.

While enormous strides have been made in recent years in battery technology, what’s currently available for mass production limits plug in electric cars to about a 250 mile range per charge, and leaves little to no room for trunk storage with the space needed for the Lithium Ion Batteries. The batteries are also costly which prompted Senator McCain to require the winner of his proposed challenge to deliver battery power at 30% of current costs having as he put it, “the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.”

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