What Should You Be Looking For In Christmas Television?

It really is the season now isn’t it OliverRawlings readers? You really can’t escape Christmas now. The decorations are going up all around you. The lights are beginning to blind you. You’re putting up your tree and making it look lovely. You’re really getting in the mood and preparing for the big day. When the big day rolls around you want to make sure that you really enjoy yourself. You want to make sure that all the presents are just what everybody will want. That the food is ready and waiting and will be delicious. You also want to make sure that you get the best in Christmas TV possible.

Christmas TV really does have a polarising reputation doesn’t it? On the one hand there are things that we love. There are programmes that have amazing Christmas specials. These are the ones we spend all year looking forward to.  The ones that prove iconic. Then there are the Christmas movies they play every year. The documentaries which rehash the same subject over again. The types of TV that puts you to sleep and makes you wish that the day would just end already. So how do we discern one from the other. How do we define the characteristics of good Christmas telly? Well there are a few things it has to have.

Drama: It has to hold you on the edge of your seat. It has to make your mouth dry and you heart start racing. It has to be exciting and daring and make you feel for the characters on the screen. It’s a special occasion; it makes sense then that you want to watch a story that’ll have you biting your nails and wanting more.

Comedy: Christmas has always traditionally been a time for merriment. People want to feel good about themselves. They want to enjoy the holiday and have a bit of a laugh every now and again. You need to watch something that’ll have you in stitches.  Something that really is laugh out loud funny.  It needs to have the ability to make you feel good and leave you with a warm feeling.

Balance: You need something with both drama and comedy to really make a good Christmas special. This is the telly that people are waiting for throughout the year. They don’t just want one thing. They want something that is going to tick all the boxes. This is the thing that separates the good Christmas telly from the great Christmas telly. It’s the hardest bit to get right.

Heartwarming: At the end of the day, it needs to make people feel good. It has to have them believing once again in the innate goodness of humanity. That’s what the holiday season is all about after all. 

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The Emergence of Chris Christie: Strongest Republican Candidate 2016?

Hello Oliver Rawlings fans! How have you been? I’ve been somewhat sucked in. What do I mean by this? Well I think you all know by now that I’m an avid follower of politics; I can’t help it, there’s something extraordinarily intriguing about the power plays, secrets, lies and grandstanding of politics; it’s like Hollywood on acid. That means that of course I spent last week hooked on the American off year elections. There were three races to watch; the governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey and the mayoral race in New York. What I want to talk to you today about is the New Jersey race.

Incumbent moderate Republican governor ChrisChristie won re-election by a landslide, it wasn’t even close. What’s interesting to note is that even a fair number of Democrats voted for him; the women and minorities coalition that has been credited with electing Obama to the Presidency both times somewhat went for Christie. This all seems odd remembering the fact that Christie is a Republican; he has bucked the national trends and is particularly being noted as being successful in re-election in a deeply blue state. Now many are hailing Christie as the obvious choice of Republican candidate in 2016. So, what’s the likelihood of a Christie 2016 campaign?

If Christie were to get the Republican nomination, he’d have a fighting chance, a good chance even, and that’s more than you could say for most Republican presidential hopefuls like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. That’s because Christie’s a proven moderate. Through his governorship in New Jersey Christie has proved that he can work across the aisle and work with Democrats and the American people are sick of a Tea Party backed movement that categorically refuses to work with Obama and other Democrats. Plus Christie’s approval ratings are through the roof.

However there are two reasons why Christie may have a hard time running. The first is his own party; specifically the Tea Party wing. Quite frankly; they don’t like him. Hell, these days unless you’re Ted Cruz, they don’t like you. They’re on a movement to ‘purify’ the Republican Party and they’re not letting anyone get in their way. This wouldn’t be important except they’re notorious for voting in primaries to pick candidates and going to huge efforts to oust candidates they don’t like. The Tea Party will do everything they can to stop Christie getting the nomination. If they get their way, Ted Cruz will cruise to the nomination; but he’ll lose the election. America doesn’t want a Tea Party President.

The other reason goes by the name Hillary Clinton. To be honest, she’s one of the few American politicians that could beat Christie quite easily and that’s because she’s more popular, more well-known and has access to fundraising avenues that he could only dream of. If Clinton runs, she will be America’s first female President; she’s hugely popular with the so called Obama coalition. The only silver lining to this for Christie is that nobody is sure if she is going to run yet.

In conclusion, Chris Christie is probably the best chance the Republican Party has at taking back the White House. However their tendency to pander to the Tea Party Wing means that he has a fight on his hands for the nomination. Then, after that, he better pray Hillary decides not to run; I’m pretty sure at this point she’s unstoppable. 

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