Voter Turnout: New Voters

Tim Kaine is talking about the turnout of voters in elections that are not presidential, such as the midterm elections. He also talks about first time voters and who is in this group of first time votes. The first time voter turn out is low when the vote is not for president, so he talks about how to get the voters that usually wouldn't come to other elections. Using more "personal" ways to get these voters out and he talks about what those could be.

Voting and Voter Turnout

 (This video was not able to be embedded but if you click the link it will take you to the video on the C-Span website and right to the clip in it about voting and voter turnout)

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/AReturn/start/562/stop/852

Michael Waldman talks about voting and the law that are set in place. He talks about the problems and the possible solutions that could fix voter turnout, and make more people vote. He talks about possible universal voter registration and about how people vote. He also comments on why we vote on a Tuesday in November when  many people can not actually make it to vote. It is just a tradition which is not necessarily needed any more.

Electoral College; Why its better?

In this c-span video there seemed to be two parts that were important. So rather than give your a 20 minute chunk of video I cut it into two videos.

This video talks about the electoral college and why it works versus going by the popular vote and why that would cause more problems than it is worth. Mr. Gregg brings up an interesting point about what happened in the 2000 election and the fact that it was so close would have caused more problems than it did if we didn't only have to go over the electoral votes but nationally have to go back over all of the public votes as well.

Campgain Finance and Were the Money can Come From

More and more corporate funding has been being used after the Citizens United court ruling. This clip talks about corporate funding and the recent new ways that there is funding from the ways that our campaigns were funded before. The idea that corporate groups can now spend their money the way they want seems to be a good idea but the fact that you never know what where that money is coming from may not be the best idea. The idea that the corporate groups can spend the money that want seems to be a good thing.

Financial Funding for Campgains by Corporations

This clip talks about real world examples from the past years as to what a organization or company can and can not donate. This clip also talks about the supreme court ruling of citizens united versus the FEC and the ruling independent spending by corporations for political broadcasts is permissible and how these laws impact other organizations.

Rising of Herman Cain and Falling of Michele Bachmann

Saturday, September 24^th, Herman Cain won the Florida straw poll by almost 40% beating out the two republican front runners, former Texas governor Rick Perry, and former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney. He beat out Perry and Romney by more than 20%.

 As surprising as this is, what was more surprising was Representative Michele Bachmann, who won the Iowa straw poll in August, came in last with only 1.5% votes in the straw poll.

Governor Perry had a rough debate on Thursday, which is evident in the outcome of the Florida straw poll. His stance on immigration and “allowing illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities” has gotten a lot of publicity and caused a lot of controversy; seeing as this is not an extremely conservative view and different from every other republican candidate. However, with the amount of criticism Governor Perry has been receiving the past few days on his stance on immigration, it is surprising that he came out above Mitt Romney who trailed Mr. Perry by 1.1% in the straw poll. 

At least Governor Perry is sticking with his views unlike Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney. Michele Bachmann keeps repeating the phrase “I am not judging anyone, I am running for president of the United States” in this video below, where she will not voice her opinion on her views of gay rights. Although Perry is getting a lot of criticism on his views on immigration, it is better than the criticism that Michele Bachmann is receiving about completely ignoring her views on the gay rights issue which she has obviously never had a problem with voicing before running for president. Especially seeing as her husband runs a Christian “reform program”. 

As Perry stated in the debate on Thursday, which President Romney will we get, “is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of- against the Second Amendment before he was for Second Amendment? Was it- was before- he was before the social programs from the standpoint of – he was for standing up for Roe v. Wade?” Although, Perry and Romney have been known, throughout their campaigns, to stab at each other and each other’s views, Perry is right. 

Do we want a President whose views we can’t make clear of or a President who won’t voice their opinions, which they at one point were very vocal about? 

Although, it is very early in the race, Michele Bachmann’s campaign seems to be severely struggling, especially in fund-raising, while Herman Cain’s campaign and his 9 9 9 plan seems to be taking off, possibly putting him in the race alongside the front runners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. 

 (Herman Cain on his 9 9 9 plan)

The candidates for the republican nomination seem to be all over the place for this election and at this point it seems like anything can happen. Michele Bachmann seemed to be a strong competitor at the beginning and now seems as if she won’t even be around anymore if her campaign continues going the way it has been going. If Herman Cain continues the way the Florida straw poll seems to see him, and over shadow Romney and Perry who seem to dominate most of the debates with their banter back and forth, he could have a strong possibility of becoming the Republican nominee.

Florida Republican Debate September 22, 2011

Watch the Republican Debate held in Florida on Sept 22 if you haven't already.

Electoral College versus Popular Vote

Former Democratic Senator of Indiana,  talks about the electoral college and how so many people don't vote. This is true that so many don't vote and some should not vote because they do not keep up with politics. However, there are those that think that their votes don't count enough so they don’t want to vote. If there were a popular vote of the citizens, he is right, more people would vote.

As we saw in 2000, Al-gore won the popular vote but not the electoral vote and many people felt as if that was wrong. So, my question to you is do you think that Al-gore should have won because of the popular vote or do you support the electoral college as we have it now?  Where, as the former senator of Indiana states, if you cast a vote for a red candidate but your state votes for the blue candidate your vote is going toward the blue candidate and not the red candidate.

Electoral College

Thomas Mann talks about the electoral college. Although we have a good idea of who will become president the electoral college winner can end any way. He also talks about the history of the Electoral College and the difference between the reason's why we had the electoral college in the past versus why we have it now. The south wanted the electoral college seeing as they had so many slaves that couldn’t vote but would be partially counted for the electoral college.

Something to think about….

Why do we have the electoral college now if it not because of populations and slaves? Should we still have it just because its what we have always had or should we think about changing?

Bachmann's Struggles in Fundraising- New York Times Article

In Reversal, Bachmann’s Struggles Now Include Fund-Raising
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/us/politics/in-reversal-bachmanns-struggles-now-include-money.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=in%20reversal,%20bachmanns%20struggles%20now%20include%20fund-raising&st=cse

It's a Sign; Take It

After winning the Iowa straw poll in August, Michele Bachmann’s campaign has only decreased in momentum and some would say it is in the stages of crashing and burning. I would agree and go one step further to say, the only thing Michele Bachmann is good for in this race the republican nomination for President of the United States is a witty headline in the newspaper referencing her utter ignorance and stupidity. 

Three years ago, in the race for president in 2008, there were three strong candidates that most of the media and attention focused on for the presidency. All of which would have been the first “something” in the oval office. John McCain would have been the oldest president to be elected; Hilary Clinton would have been the first women President of the United States and Barack Obama, the first black President. 

This election showed how far our country has come. Only 150 years ago there was still slavery and even 50 years ago there was still separation of blacks and whites. Still now there is racism and racial bullying throughout our country, even with a colored president.

The election of President Barack Obama however was a turning point in American history and showed how far we have come. It was time for a change from former president George Bush and from the republican party all together. 

Now there is another possible candidate for President of the United States that would become another “first”. Michele Bachmann is one of the top competitors for the republican nomination for president in 2012. 

However, is supporting her for the fact that she is a women a good idea.

Absolutely not!

As much as I wanted Hillary Clinton to win in 2008, it was not solely on the fact that she was a woman. She was extremely well educated, clear on her views and has a strong background in politics. 

Hilary Clinton supported the right of choice when it came to abortion and was upfront and strong willed in her opinions of civil rights and women’s rights. The fact that she is a woman would have showed that our country has come far from where it was less than 100 years ago when women could not even vote let alone hold office or run for presidency of the United States. 

Hillary Clinton being a woman was a plus as well, however. I know some students who are not up to date on their current politics at all and say, I want Michele Bachmann in 2012; it would be great to have a woman president. 

Michele Bachmann may be a woman but electing her President of the United States in 2012 would be a step backward in our government.

Half the time she has no idea what she is talking about, and making false statements about topics she has no basis to be talking about. Her statements on Gardasil, the HPV shot, being a cause of mental retardation had no scientific basis and were only used to criticize former governor Rick Perry. 

Word to the wise; next time she wants to criticize another presidential hopeful she should make sure she has her facts straight. 

Even other republicans are beginning to see even with the poor choices of other republican nominees, any one would be better than Michele Bachmann. She can’t seem to get her facts straight or support her issues fully or at all (i.e. her position of gay marriage and gay rights). 

Michele Bachmann has begun to lose a lot of fundraising for her campaign and dropped from first in the Iowa straw poll to dead last in the Florida straw poll. 

She should take a hint and just quit while she’s ahead… oh wait…. she is dead last.

Public Funding

Meredith McGehee is talking about what the money is used for and how the money is raised for presidential elections and financing campaigns. There is so much money raised by the presidential candidates and most of it goes to TV broadcasting which should be changed because the money people are spending on these presidential campaigns goes to much to TV broadcasting.

Also, many people seem not to understand the public financing of the campaigns. As she says only less that 1% of people actually give a donation of more than $200 but so many feel they are not being paid attention to and their views not heard.