Shared Attributes between the Voter and the Candidate: A Look at the US 2008 Democratic Primary Election…
In the era of the 1960’s America faced problems which new to the country. Problems like antiwar rallies, civil rights movements, and assassinations of some of the greatest men that ever made an impact on society. The horror of the Vietnam War spreading through the nation from media, and the continuous fight to have equality was just too much for some. The 1960’s brought even the President of The United States to his knees. The 1960’s had many changes in the goals, the strategies, and the civil rights movement throughout America. This era was at the very least a struggle and a heart wrenching time.…
Over the duration of this course, we have also been undergoing our current primary presidential election race, as Abramowitz has expressed in “The Polarized Public?” the polarization, the divide, that separates individuals as well as certain groups of people from each other and their beliefs has been evident in these debates. Many such as Fiorina and his coauthors may express the situation to be on the contrary, but Abramowitz even mentions that Fiorina fails to acknowledge that in Americans today “sorting by party is actually an important contributor to the growing ideological polarization among the public and especially among the politically engaged public” (pg. XV, Abramowitz, A.), it is evident that…
In the 1996 article “The Alienated American Voter”, Richard Harwood investigates whether the American voter feels that they have become alienated from the political process. Harwood believes that the average American voter feels alienated or in at least some ways, disconnected from the workings of the political system. From how politics are portrayed in the media, to the way legislation and certain topics are presented to the average voter, there are numerous reason for the feeling of alienation.…
voting writes. When it came time to pass the voting rights act, in 1965, there were…
About forty years ago, we saw Republican Richard Nixon win the United States Presidential Election of 1968 against the Democratic nominee by the name of Hubert Humphrey.…
The 1970s were by far the most turbulent decade for the United State domestic and abroad. The government was torn in many different directions and the Vietnam War had torn the public in two different directions as well. Throughout the entire decade every citizen of the United States had to question the legitimacy of the government and if they could honestly trust the government. Several events plagued the decade: Vietnam, Watergate, Iran Hostage Crisis, and Stagflation. The White House lost all creditability and none of the Presidents could stop the bleeding that occurred. The 1970s put the United States under the most pressure to perform with the whole world watching since World War 2.…
The 1992 presidential election was one of nit picking and change amongst voter expectancy. Since the White House was made into a Republican Stronghold for the previous 12Upload File years, and Bush had failed to deliver on his 88' promise not to raise taxes, there was a larger differential of angered voters willing to waiver their ballot from one party to another. With the beginning of the primaries came specification on policy, closely heated margins, and resentment.…
“Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth about the American Voter,” by Rick Shenkman is a book with an eye opening experience. It was one of the best-selling books on the market in 2008 for a different look into the political issues. By Shenkman asking such a forward provoking question, it automatically catches the reader’s attention. It has you go through an immense variety of approaches and opinions. According to Shenkman, Democrats and Republicans point fingers on who’s to blame for the 2008 presidential elections. Most people think it all had to do with the “bad Bush years” in administration, but Shenkman is convinced that it is “too easy to blame our mess on Mr. Bush” (Shenkman xi). Shenkman is questioning the American voter directly; he believes that we The People should be questioned for the root of the problem. Shenkman’s explains that he has five characteristics of stupidity, but the most important are; ignorance, negligence, and how the American voter depends on myths. (Shenkman 14).…
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 had 19 separate sections. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 protected the rights of voters in the United States. No voting qualifications to voters shall be imposed. It outlawed poll tax. American citizens could not be denied the right to vote based on race or color. The United States Attorney General was given the authority to appoint federal examiners to audit states, voting policies and practices if they felt there was a violation.…
Presidential candidates tweak their political formats and focuses depending on a scientific study of American’s interests in different demographics. This scientific process is studied by one company called Spectrum who specializes in electoral demographics. During the study this company examines “voting patterns of people based on their similarities and differences” (Spectrum). The information this company provides includes ways to look at the voter profiles, demographic poll maps, and ad targets. These resources are utilized by the candidates to take the concerns and interests for desired areas and make them their focus when targeting the specific audience. Spectrum states: “Understanding the electoral demographics can help you [candidates] target your [candidates] time and resources most effectively.” To candidates this means no wasting time or money placing ads in demographics that will not get them votes according to the data provided.…
The main difference between Liberalism and Conservatism during the 1960s was their stance on government involvement. Liberals wanted the government to be more involved and to continue giving assistance to the public. Liberal President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “The solution to these problems does not rest on a massive program in Washington, nor can it rely solely on the strained resources of local authority,” which shows the Liberal’s want for a stronger, more involved government. Conservatives, on the other hand, did not want the government getting more involved. The Sharon Statement states that the government needs to “fulfill its proper role”, and anything more than what Conservatives think is the government’s proper role means that the government…
Throughout the midwest the votes were predominantly for Mitt Romney; subsequently, the east and west coast were all in favor of Barak. Obama had won the electoral votes for all of the swing states besides North Carolina, in which Mitt won by a 2% margin. In Kansas there were only two counties whom votes were in favor of Obama, the rest of the state was in support of Romney; however, Kansas’s electoral vote is only worth 6 points. The Electoral College gave Obama a much larger lead (61.7%) rather than the actual popular vote (51.01%) would have. Through this election I learned how important the swing states are when candidate’s campaign, and the need for their electorate vote to win the election.…
Among the most apparent implications of the Electoral College is that the election is effectively decided in a few number of “swing states”. (Heuvel 2012) In an entrenched two-party system as seen in America, it means that both parties – the Democratic Party and the Republican party – need to pay close attention to the partisan leaning of every state. For most of America’s electoral history, there would be states that voted the same way every time (“base states”) and a relatively few that produced mixed results and would effectively determine the winner of the election (“swing states”). (Heuvel 2012) Since there is no extra incentive in winning more than the necessary majority of the electoral votes, candidates or parties would not feel the need to run the table in order to win the general election. For instance, this would mean that the candidates would concentrate their limited allocation of resources such as campaign visits and television advertising in “swing states” such as Florida and Ohio rather than the “base states” such as California and…
Voting in America is difficult. There are many obstacles the potential voter has to run through in order to have their voice heard, and even, their candidate of choice may not win. They have to struggle with paperwork to get registered to vote, which also registers them for the eligible list of candidates for the jury pool, a task nobody wants anything to do with. Then after the hard paperwork and jury duty comes Election Day. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which leads to great confusion as to what day the elections are on. Even worse are the municipal elections which vary from town to town, and county to county, leaving masses of voters confused as to what day they have to go out and make their voices heard.…