Positive News for Obama

With elections just a year away, many people have been questioning if President Obama has a viable chance to win reelection. With his approval rating plummeting since taking office and support with his key groups at a new low many people are wondering if he can win or not. President Obama’s most difficult task since taking office has been tackling the high unemployment rates. Majority of the people are not happy with how is handling the unemployment situation. However, this past week President Obama received some good news in term of people unemployed in the United States.

As reported in my earlier blog, President Obama faces a scary statistic. No incumbent president has ever won reelection with an unemployment rate above 7.2 percent (Soltis). President Obama has been trying to battle that high unemployment with his American Jobs Act, but it did not get enough cloture votes. However, President Obama did receive good news last week. The November unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent from 9 percent in October (Lee and Parsons). In November the economy gained 140,000 private jobs while losing 20,000 public jobs (Lee and Parsons). Many of those jobs were in retail. “Retailers last month boosted their head counts by 50,000, the second-largest holiday hiring in November in a decade” (Lee and Parsons). The average monthly rate of creation of new jobs over the past three months has been 143,000 jobs which is almost twice the number of news jobs that were created a month over the summer (Lee and Parsons). Also, November is the 21^st   consecutive month to show job growth in the private market (Lee and Parsons). Another positive note for President Obama is the fact that unemployment rate has not been this low since March of 2009 (Lee and Parsons). However, as positive as this new number is there are still millions of people out there who are unemployed. Speaker John Boehner echoed this sentiment by saying that “the jobless rate in this country is still unacceptable” (Lee and Parsons). I have to agree with Boehner on this one. Although, this is a positive sign, we need to be posting these kind of unemployment rate decreases every month. Since November was a holiday month, it would be interesting to see how many of those jobs were temporary in preparation for the holiday.

Another scary statistic facing President Obama is his approval rating. No incumbent president has won reelection with an approval rating of less than 48 percent (Soltis). Compared to that his November approval rating of 43 percent is not looking very promising (Jones). Although, it is an improvement from the 41 percent it was back in August it is still very low (Jones). Only President Carters who had 40 percent approval rating November of his third term, had a third year November job approval rate below President Obamas (Jones). According to Jones, “All recently elected presidents were at or above 50% in December of their third year in office.”  The most recent three presidents had approval ratings from the low to mid fifties (Jones).  George H. W Bush had November approval rate of 56 percent, Bill Clinton 53 percent, and George W. Bush had 52 percent (Jones). If President Obama wins reelection, his November numbers would be a stark contrast to theirs.

The 2012 elections will be very interesting to watch. Congress’s approval rating is even less than President Obama’s. With the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and more people calling for higher taxes on the rich, I wonder if a Republican can really win no matter how unpopular President Obama is right now. It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming year.

                                                                    Works Cited

Jones, Jeffrey. "Obama's November Approval Weak From Historical Perspective." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. http://www.gallup.com/poll/151106/Obama-November-Approval-Weak-Historical-Perspective.aspx.

 

Lee, Don, and Christi Parsons. "U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.6% - Los Angeles Times." Featured Articles From The Los Angeles Times. 02 Dec. 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/02/business/la-fi-jobs-20111203.

 

Soltis, Kristen. "Kristen Soltis: Is Obama Destined to Win or Doomed to Fail?" Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristen-soltis/is-obama-destined-to-win_b_1124431.html>.

Herman Cain Suspends Campaign

              This Saturday Herman Cain announced that he will no longer be running for the bid of Republican presidential nominee. During the last month Cain has been plagued by rumors of affairs and sexual harassment charges from years ago. While at first he was not addressing the rumors, lately he has been denying any sexual misconduct ever happened. He even held a news conference where he said that the rumors were no true and that he would even take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. At the news conference last month he said that he would not pull out of the race believing that he is the best choice for the American people.

However, it seems like the recent accusations of a thirteen year affairs by Ginger White proved to be just too much for the businessman (Daly). White claims that it was a sexual relationship and that Cain even gave her money at times (Daly). Cain, on the other hand, claims that it was only a friendship (Daly). But it seems like the new accusations had had an effect on the campaign since, just a week after the allegations came out Herman declared that he would be suspending his campaign saying “"I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family” (Blackmon and Yadron). He also announced his new venture working on a new website www.thecainsolutions.com (Blackmon and Yadron). In addition he said that he would endorse a candidate in the upcoming future (Blackmon and Yadron).

At first Cain supporters were not affected by the allegations.  However, as more women started to surfaces Cain support began to falter. A poll by the Des Moines Register released just a day before Cain suspended his campaign showed that only 8 percent of voters said they would support him at the Iowa caucus (Daly).  Only a month ago Cain had 24 percent of voter support in Iowa (Daly).  It seems like Herman Cain’s remaining supports will be divided about the two front runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich is leading Mitt Romney in the Iowa polls, which is the first in the nation to hold its caucus on January 3^rd (Babington and Fouhy). A poll released this weekend by the Des Moines Register found that Gingrich is leading in Iowa with 25 percent support of the people likely to vote in the Iowa caucus (Babington and Fouhy). Ron Paul is in second place with 18 percent of likely votes in Iowa (Babington and Fouhy). Mitt Romney is in third place with only 16 percent of the votes (Babington and Fouhy).

Herman Cain’s endorsement for a candidate will not only be beneficial to that person supporter wise, but also financially. Since the Federal Election Commission does not discuss the meaning of suspension of a campaign, technically Herman Cain can still raise funds until he officially puts an end to his campaign (Eggen and Sonmez). After Herman Cain puts an end to his campaign the Federal Election Commission rules allow him to then transfer his funds to candidate or political committee (Eggen and Sonmez). I think that whoever Cain endorses will also receive his remaining funds. I am interested in seeing who Cain will endorse and whether or not he will transfer his funds to that candidate. Even though, I will miss the sometimes crazy things Cain says, I think he made the smart choice. He has been losing support with the voters. And with more and more allegations surfacing I think it was very unlikely that he would receive the nomination.

                                                                Works Cited

Babington, Charles, and Beth Fouhy. "Romney, Gingrich Proceed Carefully in GOP Showdown - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Daily News, Breaking News and Video Broadcasts - ABC News. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/romney-gingrich-proceed-carefully-gop-showdown-15080240.

 

Blackmon, Douglas, and Danny Yadron. "Herman Cain Suspends Campaign - WSJ.com." Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204826704577076491325757510.html.

 

Daly, Corbett B. "Ginger White Apologizes to Herman Cain's Wife, Kids - Political Hotsheet - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57335433-503544/ginger-white-apologizes-to-herman-cains-wife-kids/?utm_source=feedburner.

 

Eggen, Dan, and Felicia Sonmez. "Cain’s Exit Gives Him Financial Flexibility - The Washington Post." Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cains-exit-gives-him-financial-flexibility/2011/12/04/gIQAnUyfSO_story.html>.

Political Ads and Undecided Voters

Mr. Mahe and Mr. Strother discuss campaign advertising. I thought it was interesting of Mr. Strother, who is a political consultant, to say that undecided voters sometimes decide last minute and that is why political campaigns usually run ads up to the last minute. He also says that this is because it takes people a long time to decide. He thinks that some voters “subconsciously” have somebody in mind who they want to vote for, but “consciously” they have not decided up until the last minute. This point confused me because I do not understand how you can subconsciously pick a candidate. He also said his consulting group will be running ads up until decision time.
This is interesting because it goes against what Garin's statements since
Garin said that at a certain point people stop listening to political campaign ads.
Mr. Strother’s remark sounds dangerous and irresponsible to me. I would prefer that voters have a candidate in mind and research them and their policies ahead of time. It seems a little irresponsible to me if people allow themselves to be influenced by ads.

Obama and the “Lazy” Debacle

Last weekend, President Obama was in attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Hawaii (Allen and Isenstadt). When discussing foreign investment in America, President Obama said the following, “Well, this is an issue, generally. I think it's important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world. And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity — our stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture. But we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We've kind of taken for granted — well, people will want to come here and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America”(Farley).
Although, Obama says that American have been a LITTLE lazy in attracting new foreign investors he clearly said nothing about Americans being lazy. Aside from the remark, Obama actually complimented the United States by saying that we are still the country with the most foreign investment which is because of our great attributes as a country. However, Republican politicians have been distorting President Obama’s comment and taking it completely out of context. First, Rick Perry tried to use the sound bite to make voters believe that Obama was calling the American public lazy in general. Perry actually made a political ad in which he uses that clip, however, he distorts the context of the clip because he makes it seem like President Obama was calling Americans lazy as a whole. The ad starts with the clip of Obama saying “we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades.” However, the original question is not included, so unless the viewer knew the context of the question, then the viewer is lead to believe that Obama was saying that about all Americans. In addition, the clip does not include Obama’s previous or following remarks after that particular sentence.
In his previous remarks, Obama actually complimented the United States. After the clip, Rick Perry comes on and asks if the viewer can believe that President Obama said that Americans being lazy is what is wrong with our country and called it pathetic. He said that it is time for a balanced budget and concluded the ad by saying that President Obama and his “socialist” policies are bankrupting our country. After watching the ad, the only thing that was pathetic to me was Rick Perry. Rick Perry loses all credibility because he was not being honest and twisted the context of President Obama’s remarks.
Mitt Romney also accused President Obama of calling Americans lazy. In South Carolina, Romney said the following, “Sometimes I just don't think that President Obama understands America. Now I say that because this week, or was it last week, he said that Americans are lazy. I don’t think that describes America” (Huffington Post). However as Obama’s full quote proves, he was never calling Americans lazy. He was only saying that Americans have been lazy in attracting new foreign investors. Even though, I think President Obama used the wrong choice of words I am disappointed by how the Republican politicians have distorted the context of his remarks. However, I also understand that the election is a year away and attack ads will become more commonplace on television. As Carl Forti, a Republican political consultant, said about the clip, “You will definitely see more of it. It’s definitely something campaigns will use” ( Allen and Isenstadt). I can only hope that the general public is well-informed enough to know exactly what President Obama said. I also hope that President Obama thinks about his word choices better next time.




Works Cited

Allen, Jonathan, and Alex Isenstadt. "Obama's 'lazy' Remark Catches Fire - Jonathan Allen and Alex Isenstadt - POLITICO.com." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Farley, Robert. "Fact Check: Obama's 'lazy' Comment Taken out of Context." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Post, Huffington. "Mitt Romney Criticizes Barack Obama's 'Lazy' APEC Remark." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Committee Likely to Fail, Romney Blames the President

This past summer, the American public waited in anticipation for the Republican controlled Congress and President Obama to reach an agreement that would avert the first ever American default on our loans. A compromise was reached that allowed the United States to raise its borrowing limit and prevent a default; however, the government had to make cuts in different programs over a certain number of years. The agreement proposed “$2.4 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years ” and $900 billion immediate cuts (New York Times). As part of this agreement a bipartisan committee was established in order to reach an agreement about the best ways to reduce the deficit, however, if the members did not reach an agreement by a certain time then automatic cuts would be made in education, defense, Medicare, and transportation (New York Times).
This bipartisan committee is comprised of 12 Democrats and Republicans. There are 3 Democrat Senators and 3 Republican Senators as well as 3 Democrat House members and 3 Republican House members. The Democrat’s side includes Senator Patty Murray, Senator Max Baucus, Senator John Kerry, Representative Xavier Becerra, Representative Chris Van Hollen, and Representative James Clyburn (Cowan, Drawbaugh, Ferraro, Smith). The Republican’s side includes Senator Rob Portman, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Patrick Toomey, Representative Jeb Hensarling, Representative Dave Camp, and Representative Fred Upton (Cowan, Drawbaugh, Ferraro, Smith). The deadline for the agreement is November 23rd by which time the agreement would be sent to Congress for a vote (Cowan, Drawbaugh, Ferraro, Smith). However, with only three days to go it is becoming more likely that an agreement will not be reached.

RJ Matson http://yubanet.com/cartoon/Super-Duper-Committee.php


It seems like the main issue that the committee cannot agree on is an increase in taxes on the wealthiest Americans. It should not come as a surprise, because much of the debt ceiling debate was structured around raising taxes on the richest Americans. During the summer President Obama kept reiterating how it was unfair that some of the richest Americans pay a lower tax percentange than the average middle class household. Patty Murray said the following on CNN, “That's the Bush tax cuts. In making sure that any kind of package includes everybody coming to the table and the wealthiest of Americans, those who earn over a million dollars every year, have to share, too. And that line in the sand, we haven't seen any Republicans willing to cross yet”(Delaney). Jon Kyl countered with, “In Washington, there are folks who won't cut a dollar unless we raise taxes .If you want to get serious about the deficit our country has to grow economically. You can't grow if you raise taxes in the middle of a recession” on NBC (Bolduan and Desjardins). It seems like both sides are not willing to budge when it comes to taxes.
Since it seems like an agreement will not be reached in time, some politicians want to stop the automatic cuts in programs that will happen if the committee does not agree on a compromise. Jon Kyl has expressed that he wants Congress to stop the automatic cuts in defense (Stein). Mitt Romney agreed that defense cuts are a bad idea and has blamed President Obama for the imminent failure. In New Hampshire Romney said the following, “It is another example of failed leadership. I call on the President of the United States to immediately introduce legislation that restores that cut to our military, we cannot put the United States’ security at jeopardy by virtue of the failure of this committee and the failure of his leadership”(Friedman). However, I do not think it is the President that is to blame here, but the members who are too partisan to reach a compromise. Senator Kyl cannot have it both ways. The automatic defense cuts should not be eliminated because the committee knew the consequences of their actions or vacillations.

Works Cited

Bolduan, Kate, and Lisa Desjardins. "Aides: 'Super Committee' Likely to Announce Failure to Reach Debt Deal - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Cowan, Richard, Kevin Drawbaugh, Thomas Ferraro;, and Donna Smith. "Factbox: Deficit Super Committee's 12 Members| Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. 07 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Delaney, Arthur. "Super Committee Failure: Bush Tax Cuts Obstacle To Deal." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

"Federal Debt Ceiling - The New York Times." Times Topics - The New York Times. 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Friedman, Emily. "Romney Blames Obama for Expected Failure of Super Committee." Abcnews.go.com. ABC News. Web. .

Stein, Sam. "Super Committee Member Jon Kyl Turns Eye Towards Saving Pentagon From Trigger Cuts." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .

Televised Political Ads Part II

Michael Murphy discussed the ads he made for Bob Dole. One of the ads was to differentiate Dole from Bush and the other was a “bio” ad. Garin says that the ads were good, but by that time it was almost too late because the campaign had “taken a life of its own.”
Geoffrey Garin makes a point that I found very interesting. He said that by a certain point political tv ads do not matter as much. Garin says that when other sources, such as the news, start airing more information about the candidates, then people stop relying on political ads less. I think this is both good and bad for the candidates. It is good that people are relying on other sources, so you competition cannot influence the constituents with negative ads. However, it is also bad because at a certain point ads are not as influential so a candidate has to find other ways to make the public aware of something.

Televised Political Ads Part I

Michael Murphy, a Republican Political Consultant, and Geoffrey Garin, a Democratic Political Consultant, discuss televised campaign ads. Garin says a good ad presents an issue and a problem and the candidate as the solution to that problem. He says that the Mondale “red phone” ad is a good example of an ad that does that. Murphy adds that the information in ads has to be factual because credibility is very important.
I watched the red phone ad and it is very persuasive. The commercial makes Gary Hart sound inexperienced and not knowledgeable and puts Mondale as the right candidate because he has the experience. I think this type of ad construction that presents a problem and the candidate as the answer, is very compelling.

Rick Perry's Oops Moment

It seems like Rick Perry cannot catch a break. Last week it was allegations that he was either drunk or high during a speech in New Hampshire. Now this week the only thing anyone can talk about is the “oops” moment that has left people asking if Perry should just drop out now. During the debate Rick Perry discussed his flat tax plan and how it will balance the budget and fix regulatory problems. He added that he will eliminate only three federal agencies to do this. That is when the situation became really awkward. Rick Perry turned to Ron Paul and began naming the agencies. However he could only name the first two agencies which were the Department of Education and Department of Commerce. He tried to remember, but could not think of the third one. One of his opponents says “the EPA?” Rick Perry begins laughing saying “EPA there you go” and then says no. The moderator asks Perry if it is really the EPA and Perry says that it is not, but the EPA does “need to be rebuilt.” The moderator asks if he can not name the third one. Rick Perry begins thinking and says he would do away with Education, Commerce, but could not think of the third one still. The most famous phrase from the debate was “The third one I can’t. Sorry. Oops” Perry, who was laughing about the situation earlier, seemed really deflated and disappointed and the moderator moved on to a question about the EPA. To be clear the third department Perry wants to do away with is the Department of Energy.
What followed for Perry was damage control with visits to different television shows. One of the shows he went on was the Today show. In the interview he said that he has no problem admitting that he messed up and that he is “human like everyone else.” Perry even turned the debacle into a joke saying that there are too many departments. He said that he will not drop out of the race and will continue to debate (and did on Saturday). He also went on the Late Show with David Letterman and made fun on the whole thing by doing a “Top Ten” segment. Aside from doing damage control with the American public he also reached out to his supporters. Rick Perry and his team sent out an email to his supporters regarding the debate. In the email he once again said that he is human and pointed out the different snafus of previous presidents like the when President Obama said he had been to 57 states in his campaign (Terkel). He also asked his supporters for their own input on what agencies they would like to eliminate and asked them to include $5 for every agency on their list (Terkel). The email also had a “donate today” button so his supporters could really donate to his campaign (Terkel).
A recent Reuters/Ipsos found that Romney was in first place of the candidates with 28 percent, while Perry was fourth with only 12 percent (Felsenthal and Wroughton). After the snafu an NBC News/Wall Street Journal found that 33 percent of the Republicans polled were “less enthusiastic” about Perry (Felsenthal and Wroughton). That number is up from 24 percent the previous week (Felsenthal and Wroughton). The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that 31 percent thought that Perry should drop out, however, 52 percent say that Perry should stay in the race (Felsenthal and Wroughton). Since Perry has been plagued by problems and has not moved from his fourth place in the polls I think Rick Perry does not have a viable chance of winning the candidacy and I do not understand why he is still in the race.
Works Cited
Felsenthal, Mark, and Lesley Wroughton. "Perry Gaffe Has Him down in Republican Race, Maybe Not Out| Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. 13 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .

Terkel, Amanda. "Rick Perry 'Oops' Stumble Serves As Base For His Campaign's Next Fundraising Push." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .

Town Hall Debates and Moderators

Janet Brown discusses how a town hall style of debate is organized. This style of debates is fairly recent with the first being in 1992 and the organization of this town hall debate is very interesting. First the Gallup organization finds undecided voters from the city where the debate is being held. These people come to the debate with a couple of questions which they want to ask the candidates. Brown said that since 2000, the moderator looks at the questions to make sure that the debate covers an array of issues. However, she reiterates that it was the invited citizens who came up with the questions. While responding to a caller she also states an interesting point which is that the moderators are the only people who know the questions ahead of time, the candidates do not know what questions will be asked. I thought this was interesting because it ensures that the candidates will be educated about an array of issues since they do not know which issue will be brought up during the debates. She then goes on to speak about how the moderators are chosen and says that the moderators have to meet criteria the Commission deems to be important.

The Commission on Presidential Debates and Scheduling

Janet Brown, who is the executive director for the Commission on Presidential Debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates and how the date and location for presidential debates is determined. The Commission of Presidential Debates is a nonpartisan and nonprofit private organization that was started in 1987. It was established as result of two studies that noted the importance of the debates in the elections. The commission’s only concern is the debates. Janet Brown says that the debates are schedules months ahead of time. The goal of the commission is to have as many viewers as possible, however, they have to work around other majors events such as holidays and sports playoffs. Therefore, the commission starts working early to find the best date for the debates. The location for debates is determined by a bidding process. The institutions who want to host a debate first have to meet the requirements set by the commission. After an institution applies, the commission surveys the site to make sure that they really do meet the guidelines.

Cain Responds to Accusations

It was almost two weeks ago that we first heard the news about the allegations against Cain for sexual harassment when he was the CEO of the National Restaurant Association (Bacon and Eggen). At first Cain denied the rumors. Then he chose not to address them at all, telling reporters who asked him specifically about the allegations that he would not answer those questions. The first allegations were sexual in nature, but did not include physical contact. The women who brought up these allegations said the conversations with Cain were, “filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature” and “regarded as improper in a professional relationship” (Garment). However, it was last Monday that a face was put on the allegations and the allegations themselves became more serious in nature. Sharon Bialek and her attorney Gloria Allred had a news conference Monday where Bialek charged Cain with “groping her and trying to force her into a sexual act” (Bacon and Eggen). Since the allegations became too serious to ignore, Cain was forced to address them head on with a news conference on November 8, 2011.
In the news conference he denied the accusations and said that he has “never acted inappropriately with anyone.” He also said he was seeing Sharon Bialek for the first time at her news conference and did not even recognize her name. He said that the allegations are completely false and nothing of that nature ever happened. He also said that these accusations will not cause him to drop out the race for presidency because he believes he is the best choice for the American people and will not be “deterred by false, anonymous, incorrect accusations”. He also believes that it was the” democrat machine” that brought the fourth woman forward to make accusations. One of the reporters asked Cain if he was willing to take a lie detector test to prove his story and Cain said that he was willing if he had a good reason. During the question and answer part he also addressed the accusations against him when he was the CEO of the National Restaurant Association and said all those allegations were “found to be baseless.” However, the most interesting part of the news conference was when Cain mentioned his wife. He mentioned the fact that they have been married for over 40 years and when the allegations were first made public his wife told him that that does not even sound like something he would do. I was a little confused about why Cain thought it would be a good idea to say that. When I heard that I thought to myself that I hope his wife does not think that sexually harassing women at work is something that does “sound” like him.
The sexual allegations were even brought up during the presidential debate in Michigan. Amidst boos, the female moderator brought up the allegations during a question to Cain about character. She asked if the American people will vote for a president with character issues. Cain once again said the accusations are not true and that he values his morals and integrity above anything else. He also said that for every person who makes these allegations there are “thousands others who would say otherwise”. A CBS News Poll shows that Cain’s support among women went down from 28 percent in October to 15 percent (Backus, DePinto, Dutton, and Salvanto).So even though he is leading in the polls, it seems that Cain has lost support among Republican women.
Works Cited
Backus, Fred, Jennifer DePinto, Sarah Dutton, and Anthony Salvanto. "Poll: Cain Tops 3-way Race with Romney, Gingrich - Political Hotsheet - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .

Bacon, Perry, and Dan Eggen. "Herman Cain Faces Sexual Harassment Allegations from Fourth Woman - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .

Garment, Suzanne. "Opinion: Cain Reaction: Not by the Book." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

Televised Presidential Debates

Alan Schroeder, author of a book about presidential debates, discusses televised presidential debates. The news anchor brings up the 1960 presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy, which was the first ever debate to be televised. Alan Schroeder believes that this debate was one of the most “critical” moments for American politics because it introduced television and media as a way of campaigning. Schroeder said that Kennedy and his team considered this debate like a campaign, which Schoroeder believes was “forward-thinking” and turned out to be beneficial for him.

Rick Perry's New Hampshire Speech

It seems like the Republican candidates have been suffering this week from allegations of bad behavior. Herman Cain is plagued by sexual harassment allegations by two women and Rick Perry was accused of being drunk and/or on drugs during a speech in New Hampshire. I think these allegations are just making it easier for Romney to win the nomination.
Although, this happened last week I thought Rick Perry’s speech deserved its own blog post. I heard about the speech and decided to watch the whole things myself. The whole speech is twenty five minutes long and Perry was addressing the Cornerstone group in New Hampshire. Throughout the speech Rick Perry seemed very animated. Even though there were points in the speech where Perry was serious including a discussion of his life and his pro-life stance, a lot of the time he was giggling and acting very giddy. For me some of the New Hampshire speech highlights included him admiring New Hampshire’s slogan “Live Free or Die” and comparing it to the slogan of the Alamo. While doing this he was very animated using hand gestures and the words “man” and “cool” more than once. Perry said that he loves slogans like that. Also, I like the jab he made at Tim Geithner by pulling out a notecard to illustrate his tax plan. He said that his new tax plan was so easy that even Geithner “can get his taxes in on time.” He also poked fun at Herman Cain’s nine percent plan. While doing this he scrunched down his neck and giggled saying that he loves Cain and that he is an interesting guy.
Perry denies that he was either drunk or high during the speech saying, “No. I was just giving a speech. I've probably given 1,000 speeches. There are some that have been probably boring, some that have been animated, some that have been in between” (Peoples). He also went on saying that the New Hampshire speech was "a pretty typical speech for me” (Peoples). Although, I have not seen many of Rick Perry’s speeches, he did not seem this lively and giddy during the debates. With that said and from watching the whole speech myself, I have to say that I do not think he was high or totally wasted during the speech. He was very giddy and giggly. I have no seen enough Rick Perry’s speeches to make a judgment whether or not he is always like that or maybe he did have a drink beforehand. However, he did not seem completely drunk as some news reports first lead me to believe. To his credit Perry’s deliverance of the speech made it more interesting to watch and it seemed like the audience really enjoyed it. The audience kept laughing and clapping throughout and even gave Perry a standing ovation at the end.
With that being said, if this is Perry’s behavior during other speeches he needs to tone it down. If the case was that he had a beer beforehand, then he needs to not do it anymore. It is one thing to give an interesting and lively speech and connect with the audience; it is another when you have newspapers pondering if you were high or drunk when you were speaking. Doing anything to raise those kinds of questions is not proper presidential behavior. I think Rick Perry is trying to capture the image of George W. Bush and wants to be seen as the candidate "most people want to have a beer with." However, he also needs to be seen as a serious candidate for the nomination. Perry needs to learn to find a balance between the two.

Works Cited
Peoples, Steve. "Rick Perry Drunk At New Hampshire Speech? No, Say State GOP Leaders." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

New Media and 2008 Conventions

Patrick Ottenhoff talks about bloggers during the 2008 conventions. CSPAN had a special page for bloggers at the conventions to post news, updates, and other reports from the conventions. CSPAN also has a special page for Twitter and Quick where people from the convention can record videos and then post them online. This is really great because it makes people feel more involved in political events. Even if an individual is not able to attend a function such as the convention, they can feel like they are part of it by looking at the pictures and different blog updates.

Obama's Twitter Town Hall Meeting

During the deficit reduction debate, President Obama led the first Town Hall meeting on Twitter. He was the first president to live tweet. He said he did this to involve Americans and ask them to share their opinions regarding how to best reduce the deficit. President Obama also answered certain questions that people posted on Twitter. This is one of the big advantages that came with the new social media. Americans can now share their opinions with politicians easier and faster than ever. I think it made politicians more accessible to the American public.

State of the Union and New Social Media

Howard Mortman discusses the role of social media during the State of the Union Address. He says the new social media sites like Facebook and Twitter help representatives spread their opinion and reaction to the State of the Union. It was actually this year that Senators and House Representatives were allowed to “tweet” during the State of the Union and CSPAN compiled all of the “tweets” and put them on their website. The goal of this was to show the audience the opinion of the representatives and update them about developments as soon as they happen. It also lets the audience share their own opinion regarding the State of the Union. Mortman said that it creates a “two-way conversation.”

Cain Remains Mum

Herman Cain has made it clear that he will not answer questions regarding the sexual harassment allegations that have been plaguing him this week. Twelve years ago two women who worked at the National Restaurant Association where Cain was president accused him of sexual harassment (Garment).The women said that conversations with Cain were “ filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature” and “physical gestures that were not overtly sexual” but did make them feel uncomfortable(Garment). A lawyer for one of the women says that the woman did receive a settlement (Elliott).
At first Cain denied the sexual harassment charges (Elliott). However, now he chooses to not address the allegations at all. At a recent Texas debate, Cain did not address the issue, instead choosing to say "There are too many people in the media who are downright dishonest. ... They do a disservice to the American people"(Elliott). When a reporter tried asking him a question specifically regarding the allegation Cain cut him off and said, “Don't even go there” (Elliott). When the reporter asked if he could finish his questions, Cain said no and told his chief of staff to “please send him the journalistic code of ethics” (Elliott). However, I believe the job of the journalists is to investigate and find the truth, so I see nothing wrong with going straight to the source and asking them about the allegations. I find it strange that supposedly Cain has nothing to hide, but will not address the issue when a chance to clear everything up is presented to him.
He either needs to own up to the allegations or say that the accusers are lying and provide the adequate information. It seems like fellow Republicans feel the same way. Jon Hunstman said, "legitimate questions have been raised and that information has to come forward” (Nicholas). Mississippi governor Haley Barbour also thinks information needs to be put out for the public saying, “I’m not one of the people who think this is necessarily fatal. It might not hurt him at all. But people need to know what the facts are. And that’s the challenge for him right now to get those out as quickly as possible and get it behind him"(Nicholas). Just being mum about it and not addressing the issue head one gives me the wrong assumption especially after the whole Weiner scandal. At first Weiner said that his account was hacked, but then he did not address the issue for some time, until his press conference and more pictures were leaked. That is why I get suspicious every time there is a sexual allegation and the politicians stays mum on the issue. If there is nothing to hide then I think he should have addressed the issue right away.
It seems like the Republican voter’s response to the allegations is mixed. A Washington Post-ABC News found that 7 out of 10 people say the allegation do not matter when chosing a candidate (Elliott). However, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Cain’s approval among Republicans fell from 66 percent to 57 percent (Nicholas). It seems like the Republicans are saying that the allegations do not matter, but for some reason or another their approval for Cain is falling. The question I have regarding the Washing Post ABC News poll is why do the allegations not matter to Republicans? When it comes to gay marriage, the Republicans have a lot to say about the protection of the sanctity of marriage. However, sexually harassing a coworker does not seem like he respects his marriage or his wife. I am interested in seeing what will happen next.

Works Cited

Elliott, Philip. "Herman Cain Says He Won't Answer Sexual Harassment Questions." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

Garment, Suzanne. "Opinion: Cain Reaction: Not by the Book." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

Nicholas, Peter. "Republicans Urge Herman Cain to Tell All in Harassment Flap - Latimes.com." Los Angeles Times - California, National and World News - Latimes.com. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

Role of Media in Politics

Professor Adams responds to a caller about the role of media in politics. Professor Adams thinks that the media fails to cover substantive issues and policy positions. Part of his thesis is that it is important for our leaders to be good communicators. I agree with both of those statements. First, I totally agree that newspapers and news shows are no covering substantive issues. I believe that newspapers and tv shows are covering issues that they know will attract and entertain the reader/ viewer since they are concerned with the amount of readers and viewers they have. Reading about a candidate’s stance on different issues does not really sound all that entertaining. Second, I think it is very important for the candidates to be good communicators. This is especially true if Kernell’s “Going Public” theory is correct. In order to influence the citizens about a particular policy, presidents need to be good speakers.

Polls and Voter Decisions

Professor William Adams discusses the role of the polls and campaigns. He thinks that journalist’s use of polls is dangerous. He explains it like this. A citizen likesa particular candidate, however, if they keep seeing polls concerning that candidate showing that he is not viable then they will not vote for him. This is because people do not want to vote for a loser and waste that vote. This is an interesting political theory that needs further investigate. It does make sense from a political scientist perspective and it would be interesting to research if people change their vote based on the poll results.

Role of Media in Politics in Iowa

Robert Woodward a professor of journalism at Drake University discusses the role of media in politics in Iowa. He studied the topic on all levels of government and broadcasting medium. He says the national media has a role in earlier stages of the campaign. He claims that the local newspapers in Iowa are covering the candidates more extensively than national media. If this is true, it would probably be a good idea to read the newspapers in Iowa.

Romney’s Interesting Week

Mitt Romney has been experiencing an interesting week. From being criticized for being a flip-flopper to being at the top of the polls in Iowa, he has experienced many ups and downs this week. During this summer, Mitt Romney did something out of character for a Republican candidate. In New Hampshire, he said that humans “are at least somewhat responsible for climate change”(Graves). He even called on Americans to act on the climate change problem. Saying “ It's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors”(Graves). That statement was the complete opposite of most Republican‘s belief about global warming. Herman Cain, Romney’s biggest competition in the polls, believes that climate change is a scam (Graves). Rick Perry thinks that climate change is just a natural occurrence and not as a result of global warming (Graves).
However, this month he tried to go back on his previous statement saying, “My view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet. And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us. My view with regards to energy policy is pretty straightforward: I want us to become energy secure and independent of the oil cartels” (Graves). When asked about his previous statement he said the following "One, I believe what I said before, I think it's getting warmer. Two, I believe we contribute to it. And three, I don't know by how much -a lot or a little. And I am not willing to adopt multitrillion dollar programs to reduce greenhouse gases in America. They don't call it America warming, they call it global warming” (Graves).
In regard to this apparent change of positions, Romney has been getting criticized for being a flip-flopper. Rick Perry said the following about Romney “Like it or not, the governor has been on opposite sides of a lot of issues”(Ward). I would have to agree with Perry. In the initial quote Romeny clearly states that humans are somewhat responsible and something has to be done to reduce our emissions. However, later saying that we do not even know who is responsible for the climate change and that it is not an American problem. However, America needs to take the initiative and be the leader on this issue.
Mitt Romney did also receive some positive news this week. The Des Moines Register's new poll shows Romney with 22 percent of the vote for the Republican presidential nomination (USA Today). Cain leads over Romney with 23 percent. Third in the Iowa polls, surprisingly is Ron Paul with 12 percent of the vote. Michele Bachmann was in fourth place, dropping to an 8 percent (USA Today). Rick Perry was in fifth place alongside Newt Gingrich with only 7 percent (USA Today).
It seems like being called a flip flopper did not affect Romney’s popularity. I think because of Iowa’s importance, it is safe to say that Cain and Romney are the two leading candidates for the nomination. Because Perry is doing so poorly, I do not think he will be able to recapture the popularity he saw when he first entered the race.

Works Cited
Graves, Lucia. "Mitt Romney Embraces Climate Denial: 'We Don't Know What's Causing Climate Change'" Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

"Poll: Cain, Romney Lead in Iowa – USATODAY.com." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

Ward, Jon. "Mitt Romney's Rough Week Doesn't Change Much In 2012 GOP Primary." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

Obama Trying to Recapture the Young Vote

As reported earlier, President Obama won big with the young vote in 2008. He received 66 percent majority of the young vote in 2008 (Horowitz Keeter and Tyson) After he took office, Obamas approval rating among voters 18-29, was 84 percent according to a Washington Post poll (Blake). However, since then his support among the young population has been slipping. The latest October 23rd Gallup poll shows, President Obama’s rating to be just 47 percent. With the upcoming elections, President Obama needs to recapture the support of this group. I believe that this is exactly what the president is trying to do. Recently, in my home state of Colorado, President Obama presented a new plan that will help recent and future college graduates with their student loans.

At CU Boulder, Obama said the following, “College isn’t just one of the best investments you can make in your future, it’s one of the best investments America can make in our future. We want you in school. But we shouldn’t saddle you with debt when you’re starting off ”(Bruce). He plans to do this in a variety of ways. First, he plans on allowing students to consolidate their federal loans into one and pay the lowest interest rate of all of them (Bruce). Second, the plan will reduce the amount an individual is required to take out of their annual income for repayment of student loans from 15 percent to 10 percent (Bakst). It is important to point out that this was actually enacted by Congress and President Obama just moved the date that it would go into effect from 2014 to 2012 (Bakst). Third, he plans on forgiving outstanding student loans after 20 years instead of the 25 years it is now (Bakst). The president says that this new plan will not affect taxpayers in terms of increasing taxes to cover it (Bakst).

I think that this is a step in the right direction to recapture the young vote and even improving our economy. Since his job approval rating has been slipping among young adults, it was important for Obama to do something to summon their support again. One of the issues the Occupy Wall Street movement is concerned with is student loans. Although, I do not think that this plan will make the protestors pick up and go home feeling they have won, I believe that Obama is going to receive recognition for trying to help Americans most affected by this recession. Also I think that this plan will help boost our economy. As Obama pointed out student loan debts are the second leading source of household debt (Bakst). If you take some of the burden off of people for student loans, then they will have more money to spend on other things and stimulate the economy.
As predicted the GOP had only negative things to say about the plan. Michelle Bachmann said that this plan will give people an incentive to no repay their debt (Bakst). I do not agree with this statement. It does not say that you do not have to repay your debts, but it just makes it easier for people most affected by this recession.


Works Cited
Bakst, Brian. "Michele Bachmann Criticizes Obama Student Loan Plan." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

Blake, Aaron. "President Obama and Young Voters Are No Longer a Love Match - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

Bruce, Mary. "President Obama Unveils New Student Loan Plan in Denver - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Daily News, Breaking News and Video Broadcasts - ABC News. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

Horowitz, Juliana, Scott Keeter, and Alec Tyson. "Young Voters in the 2008 Election." Pew Research Center. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

"Presidential Job Approval Center." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. .

The Drafting of the 2008 Democratic Platform

Patricia Madrid is the co-chair of the Platform Committee for the Democratic Party. First, she describes what the party platform is and how it was composed this year. This elections platform drafting involved regular citizens who could propose their own planks. The party platform is a report that describes what the party is, what they hope, and what their principles are about it. She said it is like a “reflection” of the party. The drafting of this party platform was very different from the previous years. The Democratic Party had hearing in every state of the country where regular people came in and participate by submitting their own proposed planks. She thinks this new platform covers every topic that Barack Obama might deme as important. I really like that the Platform Committee actually went across the country and listened to what regular people had to say.

Comparing the Republican and Democratic Platforms

Sen. Nickles, Rep. McCollum and Gov. Ashcroft discuss the difference between the Republican and Democratic Platforms. It’s important to point out that these are all Republican politicians so their opinions are obviously very skewed. First, Sen. Nickles says that their platform hearings were very open and they had over 100 witnesses. He also says theirs is more comprehensive than the Democrat’s because its longer. He also says that their platform believes in less spending and taxes, but the Democrats want “massive taxes.” Sen. Nickles makes an interesting point saying that he encourages people to look at both of the party’s platforms and compare them. This is actually a good idea. Also something that I learned from this video was that witnesses are allowed during the drafting of the platform.

1984 Democratic Platform

Sunny McPeak , member of the Democratic Platform Committee, discusses the Democratic Platform for the year 1984. She says the party for the most part united under the platform, aside from 5 issues that will be debated at the Democratic National Convention. These issues are military spending, affirmative action, secondary primaries, role of US in Persian Gulf, and the role of US in world affairs. Some aspects of this platform will be that the national government cannot be responsible for everything. People from different levels of the government need to be involved in the problem solving process.

Republican Candidates and their Economic Plans

During the Las Vegas debate one of the big criticisms of Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” plan was the fact that it would not create the jobs desperately needed for our country.  While the candidates were taking turns attacking the plan, Mitt Romney mentioned his own “59 point” plan. Ron Paul also mentioned his ideas for his economic plan. Just days after the debate, Rick Perry said that soon he plans on releasing his own plan.  Since there is a possibility of one of these men being our next president I thought it would be beneficial to investigate their plans.

               The “59 point plan” takes its name after the 59 point proposals that Romney hopes will stimulate the economy.  Romney says that this plan will create 11.5 million private sector jobs and lower the unemployment rate to 5.9 percent by the end of the first term (Friedman).  The plan to do so is very simple and not very innovating. He wants to lower the corporate tax to 25 percent, which he believes will cause corporations to hire more people. Next he would eliminate “Obamacare”, get rid of regulations on corporation’s Obama put in place (Friedman).  This seems like a ridiculous idea to me because deregulating of everything is a big part of what got us into this mess. A big component of this plan is to make it easier to drill for oil and natural gas in the US (Friedman). At the debate, Romney mentioned that he would also like to produce more manufacturing and technology jobs, which I think is a good idea.  Regarding his plan Romney says “It’s a practical plan to get America back to work. It’s also immediate”(Friedman). 

                Next is Ron Paul’s plan. He also made mention of some of his proposals at the Las Vegas debate. Although, there isn’t a good chance that he will be our next president, I was still interested in investigating it further. First, he said that he would have a balanced budget which he would do by cutting the size of the federal government.  He plans on doing this by cutting the Department of Education, Environment, Housing, and Urban Development (Bingham). He says that he would not fire the people already working in those agencies, but transfer them to other departments. However, that would eliminate thousands of jobs for future federal employees. He would also cut 40 percent of the Food and Drug Administration’s budget (Bingham).  This is an outrageous idea. The FDA’s job is to make sure that our food and other products are safe. If you cut their budget by almost half, what will it mean for our products? I believe we would start hearing about salmonella in our food more. He would also pull out troops in some places and cut some defense spending because as he said in the debate “we have spread ourselves too thin.”  This is actually a really smart. We have missions in some countries that are unnecessary. Overall, his plan would slash about “$1 trillion from the federal budget” (Bingham).

                Finally, we have Rick Perry’s plan. Although, he has not put out the actual plan yet, he made reference to it at a recent event in Iowa.  The major part of his plan would be a flat income tax for everyone (Erb). He says that he plans on releasing his plan in a few days. After watching the debate and hearing the points made about Herman Cain’s plan, I do not think a flat tax would be a good idea. As mentioned, during the debates it would make some people pay more in taxes than they do now. On the other hand, people making millions of dollars each year would pay less than they do now.  With the discontent around the tax issue on the rich, I don’t think Perry’s plan will be well received by the public.

                                                                            Works Cited

Bingham, Amy. "Ron Paul’s Economic Plan Eliminates Department of Education and 5 Others." ABC News. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/ron-pauls-economic-plan-eliminates-department-of-education-and-5-others/.

 

Erb, Kelly. "Perry Hints At 'Simple' Flat Tax - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2011/10/19/perry-hints-at-simple-flat-tax/.

 

Friedman, Emily. "Romney’s Job Plan Promises 11.5 Million Jobs in First Term - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Daily News, Breaking News and Video Broadcasts - ABC News. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/romneys-job-plan-promises-11-5-million-jobs-in-first-term/>.

The Las Vegas Debate

The Last Vegas Republican Presidential Debate was very entertaining to watch.  There was drama, jokes, Obama bashing, and even some physical contact. The more interesting parts of the debate were the bashing on Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” plan and the growing tension between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Since Herman Cain has been the surprising front runner in the polls, it seems like the other candidates decided to gang up and attack his “9-9-9” plan. The “9-9-9” is Herman Cain’s tax plan that proposes a 9 percent corporate tax, individual income tax, and national sales tax. It seemed like every candidate found something wrong with the plan. First, Rick Santorum pointed out an interesting fact which was that 84 percent of people would pay more taxes with Herman Cain’s plan. This is because people, who do not make enough money and don’t pay taxes now, would have to start paying 9 percent. He also pointed out that Herman Cain’s plan does not distinguish between families and individuals, like our current tax system. Herman Cain repudiated those facts by saying that everybody needs to look at his web site and they would see it’s not true. Most of the issues he didn’t directly, but just said read his plan and all the questions would be answered. Rick Perry also had an interesting point, saying that states like New Hampshire don’t pay a national sales tax. Therefore, making them start paying a national sales tax was “not gonna fly.” All of the candidates also mentioned that it would increase the price on some things because the tax would be combined with the state tax. To this, Cain said that it was like comparing apples and oranges. Mitt Romney had a really funny answer to that saying at the end of the day they would have “bushels of apples and oranges.”  Many of the candidates were confused about how this plan was supposed to create jobs. It was very clear that the other candidates felt threated by Herman Cain’s growing popularity and decided to attack him on his policies.

                What made the debate really interesting was the obvious tension between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney particularly on the issues of immigration and healthcare. The debate about immigration started when Anderson Cooper asked Herman Cain about his electric fence remarks. However, the debate soon turned uncomfortable when Rick Perry and Mitt Romney began to attack each other’s previous records on immigration. Mitt Romney accused Rick Perry of being compliant to undocumented immigrants by allowing them scholarships to college. He also brought up the fact that Texas’ undocumented immigration is growing, while Florida’ and California’s is not. Perry accused Romney for hiring “illegals” to do his landscaping. When Romney tried to explain what happened, Perry cut him off. Romney told Perry to allow him to speak, saying that if he wanted to be president he needs to learn to allow other people to speak. At one point Romney even put his hand on Perry’s shoulder. Another issue that turned into an exchange of words between the two was healthcare. After Romney criticized “Obamacare” and said he would repeal it while in office, Perry essentially called him a hypocrite. He said that “Obamacare” was structured on the healthcare policies of Massachusetts while Romney was governor. Romney answered back saying that even though the healthcare policy is working is Massachusetts, it does not work on a national level. He said that he even mentioned it in his book that he does not want this policy for the whole country.

         I really hope all presidential debates are this entertaining from now on. Although, Rick Perry’s “feistiness” was hilarious to watch I think Mitt Romney was the clear winner. Aside from the whole should touch incident he seemed very presidential. He was always cool and composed which makes him seem like the right candidate for the Republicans.

Being a Delegate in the 1992 Democratic National Convention

Delegates discuss their experience on day one of the 1992 Democratic Convention in New York. Not all of them are delegates for Bill Clinton, delegate Young was there to support Jerry Brown. Delegate Stanton shows of her passes that all of the delegates need to have to get into the convention. In 1992 the pass changed every day and it said the day of the week on it. Also some delegates had VIP passes such as delegate Stanton.Apparently, there was a controversy over letting Jerry Brown speak at the convention.

Being a Delegate in the 1992 Republican National Convention

Mr. Stephens, Mr. Roy and Mr. Early discussed their personal experiences as delegates in the 1992 Republican Convention. Mr. Stephens says that for delegates the Conventions are a lot of fun because you interact with people with the same interests as you. Mr. Early also talks about what it is like being a chair of a delegation at a Convention. It seems very mundane because it’s a lot of planning and a lot of work. However, all three of them say that the experience of being a delegate at a convention is fun.

Predictions about Day Three of 2008 Republican Convention

In this video Andrew Malcolm from the Los Angeles Times discusses what he thinks the reaction will be to day three of the Republican Convention. This is an important day because Sarah Palin is set to speak since being announced as the vice president nominee. He said that the convention expects to get a lot of viewers since Sarah Palin people are curious about her. He says that she brings a lot of excitement.

GOP Jobs Act

                      Since Obama took office in 2008, he has been haunted by a growing statistic and that is the unemployment rate. When Obama became President the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent (Silver). However, it has reached  9.1 percent in September 2011 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Moreover, the president’s job approval rate has been declining from 66% in January 2009 to 41% in September 2011 (Bertane and Newport). People have become frustrated and have turned their blame on the current administration. The mains issues voters are concerned with right now is the economy and unemployment. President Obama is trying to give hope to Americans with his “American Jobs Act”.   Obama had been trying to override the opposition in Congress by going straight to constituents. He has been going straight to the voters all over America telling them to encourage their representatives to pass the bill. In some cases it has been on top of failing infrastructure projects or in home states of his opposition in Congress. However, this week the jobs bill failed to be passed in the Senate due to Republican opposition. According to the Associated Press article found on The Washington Post, the Republican Senators had a problem with “higher taxes on the wealthy and spending proposals” (Washington Post). According to the Associated Press, the Democrats plan on breaking up the bill into pieces and hope to pass some parts of it.  President Obama is not feeling discouraged and instead he’s going straight to the American public again. After the defeat, President Obama had this to say in a weekly address “And if they vote ‘no’ on that, they’ll have to tell you why. They’ll have to tell you why teachers in your community don’t deserve a paycheck again. They’ll have to tell your kids why they don’t deserve to have their teacher back. They’ll have to tell you why they’re against common-sense proposals that would help families and strengthen our communities right now” (Associated Press/Washington Post).

However, it seems that the Republicans finally got fed up with being portrayed like the enemy of the middle class and unemployed and have presented their own jobs act.  The bill was written by Senators John McCain, Rand Paul, and Rob Portman and called “Jobs Through Growth Act” (Grant). So what is in this “Jobs Through Growth Act”? Not much and most of the ideas in this act are borrowed from previous pieces of legislation.  The “Jobs Through Growth Act” proposes a balanced budget amendment just like the summer Republican favorite “Cap, Cut and Balance.”  The act also proposes the “repeal of the health care reform legislation and cuts in EPA regulations” (Adams). Once again more cuts in social programs and bureaus. There is a proposed maximum of 25 percent on corporate and income taxes (Grant). In addition, the bill would “eliminate or sharply reduce taxes on profits made by American corporations outside the US”(Grant).

When I read all of the proposals I thought that it was a joke. First let me say that I think it is a good part on the Republicans to put a jobs act out there. Now they can say that they have a jobs act, but it is the Democrats not passing it through. However, proposing a flat tax and a tax reduction on corporate profit seems like a dangerous idea to me. This past week thousands of people showed up for the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in Times Square. Also, cities all over the globe saw protests this past week.  People are becoming more and more frustrated with this coddling of the wealthy and corporations, so this proposal seems like it will aggravate more people. I’m also confused about how this proposal is supposed to put people to work.

                                                                                Works Cited

Adams, Susan. "Do the Republicans Have a Jobs Plan? - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Forbes.com. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2011/10/14/do-the-republicans-have-a-jobs-plan/.

Bertane, Clancy, and Frank Newport. "Obama's September Approval Rating Remains at Term-Low 41%." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. http://www.gallup.com/poll/149966/Obama-September-Approval-Rating-Remains-Term-Low.aspx. 

"Current Population Survey (CPS)." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. http://www.bls.gov/cps.

Grant, David. "What's New in the GOP Jobs Plan? - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1014/What-s-new-in-the-GOP-jobs-plan.

Press, Associated. "Obama Praises Trade Deals and Pushes Congress to Pass Elements of Jobs Bill - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/obama-praises-trade-deals-and-pushes-congress-to-pass-elements-of-jobs-bill/2011/10/15/gIQAiwChlL_story.html.

Silver, Nate. "On the Maddeningly Inexact Relationship Between Unemployment and Re-Election - NYTimes.com." Election Forecasts - FiveThirtyEight Blog - NYTimes.com. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. <http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/on-the-maddeningly-inexact-relationship-between-unemployment-and-re-election>.