Sunday, October 9, 2011
Third party representation
She calls the two party political system that we have here in American a two party political monopoly. She states that they tell us what we want to hear and do something else. Republicans and democrats are unwilling to do anything about homelessness and they are in favor of the government rather than the people. She believes that the solution to this is an independent black lead and multi-race third party.
Who is being represented in our two party system?
Bernard Sanders talks about the lack of voting amongst poor people in the United States. He states that the reason very few people vote is because the government doesn’t represent their interest. No one is addressing issues that face the vast majority of the people. Bipartisan policy essentially favors the rich at the expense of working people and poor people. He urges that we need a third party that can tend to the needs of the less fortunate.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Vote Increases
Former Governor Kaine, talks about democratic prospects about increasing voting for people across America that don't generally vote. He talks about tactics including personal calls, e mails, polling that includes what they're happy about and what they want to see done, more voter registration, etc. These are all great tactics because so many people around America feels as though their votes don't count and that takes away from our democracy. It's important for everyone to vote because every vote counts. Strategic plans like this one may just work.
Third millennium project
In the year 2000, there was a huge issue based on the fact that young people weren't voting enough. Candidates weren't appealing to young voters and so they didn't care to vote. He talks about the interaction between young adults and candidates; there is no interaction. The t.v add buying habits go to show the interaction between political parties and young voters. Adds were primarily skewed towards older voters. Majority of eligible voters were 50 and older at the time. This is important to look at because today in 2011, there has been such an enormous change within youth voting.
Youth Vote
John Della Volpe, polling director at Harvard University talks about voting results from the millennial generation. He states that there has been an increase of voters ages 18-29, which is significant because our vote is actually what matters most for the future. It's also important because this shows that the millennial generation has been paying attention to politics and are willing to take that extra step to make a difference. He states that Obama's victory in the 2008 election is due primarily to voters within the age group of 18-29
Campaign tactics: Will they work?
In 2008, Obama’s tactics were considerably different than they are today and will be in the future. His strategies were primarily based on the economy and restoring it but they seem to be shifting towards social issues in present day electoral battlegrounds. What are some of his best tools you might ask? Well, the environment, abortion, gay rights, and of course the fight against Al Qaeda.
Obama intends to undercut the issue of the economy with the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden during his term. His argument could go something like this: killing a highly dangerous man was more important than the fall of the economy in America. Although to an extent, killing Osama may have been a victorious move on Obama’s part, it still shouldn’t give him any leeway on the issue of the economy. America needs a sense of security but at the same time, a stable economy. What will he do for us in the long run? Or will he just keep giving us excuses?
The presidential candidates go back on forth mocking one another and scrutinizing one another over one matter or another. Over the weekend, Obama accused the Republican candidates of displaying a “kind of smallness” for not ciritcizing a debate audience that booed a gay soldier that served for our country. He used this as a tool against his challengers and questioned their ability to be president. Smart move, Obama.
What did voters like about Obama in 2008 and what are they looking for in present day America?
Obama’s supporters were those in high income homes that supported his scope of social issues because they tend to be less religious and more tolerant of homosexuality and abortion rights says Dante Chinni, Patchwork Nation’s director. Obamas victory was based greatly on the “monied” suburbs which exit polls showed as suburbanites and college graduates that earned more than $200,000 a year. Today, the danger lies within the economy. Will these people steer towards the republican side or will their stance on social issues or will they remain on Obamas side? John Harwood of the New York Times writes that “their distance from the Republican right on social issues gives Mr. Obama a tool for fighting back,” and he may be right.
Obama isn’t the only one using “social issues” as a tool for re-election. Harwood writes: In Colorado, the incumbent Democratic senator, Michael Bennet, survived the 2010 Republican wave after he “shifted a chunk of the conversation off the economic and onto social issues.” Unfortunately though “It didn’t work in the 2009 race for governor of Virginia. Democrats tried to cast the Republican nominee, Bob McDonnell, as an extremist on social issues; Mr. McDonnell, now governor, focused relentlessly on the economy.
What’s fortunate for Obama as Harwood says is that Republicans can’t capitalize on national security but he can. Nor does any of the Republican candidates have any foreign policy experience; once again, Obama does. Those are major topics in the white House race, but who’s coming in first?
Rick Perry is a highly religious dude from Texas that opens his campaigns with prayers and insists that the climate changes aren’t scientifically proven to be man-made. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney, a former finance executive has focused greatly on the economy.
Who will take the lead for the election? We have a long way to go.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Voter Inconsistency
Voters are seen to be quite antsy when it comes to the presidential election- that is they are all over the place. Dan Balz talks about the unpredictability of the voting outcome. Today’s outcomes are said to be far different when the election process gets serious. Voters are less serious about the polls going on now because most people only pay attention to certain campaigns at certain times and aren’t fully swayed towards a certain person; it is all too early for that.
The media sets up the election process in a way that will keep the people interested, but is it too soon? Most candidates are only setting the tone but voters aren’t so easily impressed.
Speculations are far more interesting than what is really happening. Media offers the wonders of speculation quite generously. Voters seem to be more interested in the “speculation” aspect of campaigning because we as people are more inclined to read something dramatic than boring and dry. Speculation is created in the election process to keep voters interested in a particular candidate but according to Balz, at this point in the election process, voters are still just swinging by and freely shopping around for a candidate without specifically purchasing; but, but, but if they do decide to purchase, their mind can easily change once things get real.
To better understand this position, Dan Balz writes, “One week Michele Bachmann is the star of the show. Then it’s Rick Perry coming to the party’s rescue on a white horse, and everyone writes off Bachmann. Herman Cain was written off months ago, and yet he is enjoying a new burst of attention. Jon Huntsman is just a speck in many national polls but has shown movement in New Hampshire. Ron Paul has his cadre of passionate supporters, but does he have enough to be a real spoiler in some early states? Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have been effective in debate, but they get little respect from the political class. Mitt Romney’s poll numbers remain steady but not particularly impressive. Donors pant after Chris Christie. Sarah Palin bides her time.’’ Candidates, are like a product at the store and the voters are the consumers. At this point in time there are too many candidates, so voters, being the smart consumers that they are (or are they), they are just shopping around and getting a feel for what is good what is not. The voters are in a state of confusion and are conflicted with their choices but little by little as time progresses, they are being influenced by one another and the results of the masses (polls). At the same time, we must not be fooled by the outcomes set forth so far because the race has just begun to get serious. As Balz, states, “looked obvious or apparent in October got blown up once the voters began to get serious about picking a new president or a presidential nominee.” He is absolutely and undoubtedly right because it’s a long process and the candidates are plenty. Although we love speculation, it’s untrustworthy.
Balz goes into detail explaining why this is true: “At this time in 1983, Walter Mondale was on a march to the Democratic nomination, with Sen. John Glenn seen as his principal challenger. Glenn was viewed as perhaps the party’s most attractive general election candidate. House Speaker Tip O’Neill thought he could be described as a Democratic Eisenhower, a national hero whose popularity transcended politics. But voters cast Glenn aside quickly when their time came.”
“In 1996, Phil Gramm tied Bob Dole in the Iowa straw poll and was on the move in the Republican nomination contest. He had staked his credibility as a candidate on his ability to raise lots of money. By the time of the Iowa caucuses, he was almost an afterthought to the voters, who saw less virtue in his candidacy than some of the experts. He disappeared quickly.”
This goes to the show the inconsistency of the voters and how they’re willing to vote in the long run. Nothing is constant until the candidates lessen and tension is multiplied.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-gop-race-voters-have-their-own-timetable/2011/10/01/gIQAJh4kCL_story_1.html
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