21
Oct
2008
State Profiles
Many of you are looking for the ‘key issues’ in your swing states.
The New York Times has good profiles for all 50 states, including several key issues for each state! Use the drop down menu on the right to select your swing state.
14 days from today!
13
Aug
2008
8
Aug
2008
On Faith
Which candidate would you rather go to Church with? Be in a Bible Study with? Pray with?
These are serious questions that pollsters are asking Americans.
Religion and faith will play a huge role in the presidential election. The role of faith came to the forefront with the rise of George W. Bush to the White House in 2000. The Democratic Party appeared inept when it came to issues of faith.
However, Barack Obama appears comfortable talking about religion and faith. On the other hand, McCain holds his faith close to his heart and rarely speaks of it. They will come together on August 16th for a forum on faith in a California Mega-Church to discuss the issue.
Is it a requirement for McCain have to speak frequently on faith? John McCain’s source of spirituality may be different than yours, but is that a good reason to not vote for a presidential candidate? Many say yes – many say no. I guess that’s why we all get a vote.
TIME Magazine features an essay on faith from each presidential candidate. These are worth reading.
5
Aug
2008
Texas Senate Race
Texas’ race for Senator is getting a little closer in the polls. John Cornyn (R), the incumbent, is up against Rick Noriega (D).
This is the second poll in a row where Cornyn’s numbers are below 50%. But don’t read too much into it. Cornyn has raised A LOT more money than Noriega. In addition, a Democrat hasn’t won a state-wide office in Texas in 10 years! The Dallas Morning News doesn’t think Noriega really has a shot, and CQ Politics rates the race as ‘Republican Favorite.’
12
Jul
2008
Vetting the Veep
Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about who Barack Obama and John McCain will select for their respective running mates. A woman? black person? latino? Southerner? military experience? Who will it be?
The office of the Vice President is, however, one with little responsibility or power. Whereas in a high school, the Assistant Principal has several assigned duties (discipline, grade levels, etc…), the Vice President only has two assigned duties. Funny enough though, both of these Constitutional duties are quite ceremonial. (We discuss these two duties in detail in our Executive Branch Unit.)
So first of all, the job of VP isn’t that powerful or glorious.
However the trick is, to become Vice President you have to be elected. What makes this very interesting is that everyone who runs for VP is closely scrutinized. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people will begin to separately dig through the past of the potential Vice Presidents. They’ll be looking for dirt. Anything that will sell a newspaper or make TV ratings go up. A nanny who’s an illegal immigrant, a video of a rude comment, or (best of all) an extra-marital affair – anything.
What both campaigns are doing now is called ‘vetting.’
The campaigns will look through the past, through all the dirt, of the people who may potentially be their Vice President. This means giving all sorts of personal information out to the Obama or McCain campaigns. I imagine that some people are giving some really juicy information out!
Why, however, you would want to go through a process like this, just to become a figure-head with little to no real responsibility, amazes me. In fact, some potential running mates have already bailed.
The New York Times has a good, up to date, analysis of the race to be Vice President. I think this particular page will be worth checking on a regular basis.
We’ll talk soon about how much the selection of a running mate actually makes a difference in the election.
Update: As of July 12th, Clinton is still on Obama’s ‘short list’ for VP running mates.
Update: Some vetting rumors may actually be a ruse!