Thursday, October 6, 2011

On the Campaign Trail

Mitt Romney stands on a chair at a town hall
meeting in Chandler, Arizona.
We'll pick up our investigation of American federalism next week. Don't forget -- you have a test tomorrow.

Today, we'll continue taking a look at your Republican primary candidates. Palin team, since your boss has dropped out of the race, you've decided to pack your bags and head for Louisiana, where you'll work on Buddy Roemer's campaign.

It's time for all of you to meet the other members of your candidate's campaign committee today. Since you'll be working together to actively campaign for your candidate during Quarter 2, we'll use today and a couple of days next week to compile some basic information.

Start by creating opening a new MS Word document. Save it to the Y:\Ramin American Politics\Republicans folder. Name the file "Your Candidate - Dossier". Include your complete PSM heading with the names of all group members in your document. Ultimately, you will create a website for your candidate, but  today and next week we'll start small.

Begin by combining the information you compiled last Thursday in the computer lab. Under the heading "Candidate Profile," Combine your information with your partner's to create a complete background profile of your candidate. We will expand upon this as the semester goes on.

Then, you will begin thinking about the next steps for your candidate. How will he/she earn the chance to face off against President Barack Obama in the presidential election next fall?

The first step is the primary election. Under the heading "Primary Preparation," complete the following using the links on this site, your candidate's website, and any other relevant information you can find. Copy and paste the link where you found your information after your response.
  1. What is a "primary election?" Where are they held? How do presidential primaries work?
  2. Are any of the primaries more important than the others? Explain.
  3. What is your candidate doing to prepare for the primary elections? 
  4. Is he focusing on any particular primaries more than the others? Explain.
  5. Has he decided to put less emphasis on succeeding in any of the primaries? Explain.
  6. How is your candidate currently performing in the polls (compared to the other Republican candidates)? Can you find any information that explains why this is the case? What inferences can you make about your candidate's campaign based on his current poll performance?
  7. According to the poll data from the Real Clear Politics site, how would your candidate fare against President Obama if the election was held today? What inferences can you make based on this data?
  8. Examine CNN.com, NYTimes.com, WashingtonPost.com, and other television and print news sites. What has your candidate been talking about lately? What issues keep coming up in interviews?

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