Monday, October 22, 2012
Debate tonight, Test tomorrow
Blog here tonight your comments on the final presidential debate, focussed on foreign policy. One of the president's key constitutional powers is that of Commander in Chief. How American's view Preisident Obama's performance here, blanced with his job as Economic Chief might make the difference in the 2012 election, just 15 days away.
Terms to know for tomorrow's MC portion of the test:
Traditional Roles of the Media
Voter Turnout in U.S.
Significance of 2000 presidential election
Campaign finance reform (Bipartisan Campaing Finance Reform Act of 2002, Soft Money, Hard Money, FEC, PACs, Super PACS)
Incumency Advantage
Primaries, Caucuses
National Conventions
Public opinion polling
Politcal Socialization
Political Efficacy
Where do liberal Democrats live?
Where do conservative Republicans live?
Conservative ideology
Liberal ideology
Third parties in America
Institutional challenges to third parties in America
Purposes of Politcal Parties
Valance issues vs. Positional Issues
Expanding electorate
Proportional representational voting systems
First-past-the post voting systems
Iron Triangle
Republican Party founding
linkage institutions
Special Interest groups
Growth of lobbyists in Washington
How many PACs in US?
Importance of Iowa and New Hampshire in campaigns
FEC
FCC
Ralph Nader
John McCain/Russ Feingold
Jon Stewart
Tea Party
Occupy Wall St.
Also, watch these short videos on political movements, on the fringes of our political parties:
Who are the Tea Party?
Occupy Wall St. --- movement on the left
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27 comments:
Where are the videos that were supposed to be posted? I thought I heard you mention something like that during class today...
They are linked, not embedded on the page.
i like how obama called romney out on him saying that russia was his main focus.
Romney points out Mideast troubles, President Obama says we need a strong steady leadership.
I agree with Rashi. Obama wins on the Russia comment.
i really think that romney should start telling us EXACTLY what he's going to do, instead of turning the conversation by pointing out the mistakes of obama.
romney thinks that our military doesn't need to be in syria...but wants to remove Assad...how is that going to work?
I thought Mitt Romney's idea of giving Medicare/ Medicaid responsibilities to the state. The State governments could enforce medicare and medicaid better. Although I also found interesting about Obama's statement on how we spend more on Military than the top 10 countries combined.
Romney on Medicare/Medicade to states could best be blocked grant in my opinion, however, states like Illinois are in debt (see pension debate). Do you think Romney was trying to shift out of foreign policy debate because it's not his strength?
Like Rashi said, president said we'll stand with democracy in Syria and Egypt....Romney agreed but didn't like the result in Egypt's election.
Question: Do you think most Americans can follow the discussion on Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lybia, Pakistan and Afghanistan or do they hear all the same thing and turn on the Bears?
By the way, did Bob Sheefer slip and say Obama when he meant Osama.
Just an interesting thing that I noticed that I didn't quite expect was that, in the beginning of the debate, Romney kept turning back to diplomatic negotiation and leadership being the solution to our current problems internationally. However, at one point, he was basically insulting Obama's assertive action in foreign policy (Bin Laden, using ground forces in the Middle East) and using the military instead of promoting democracy, elevating the economy, etc. This whole prospect I thought just seemed a little uncharacteristic for Romney and the Republican Party, especially given his stance on increasing military spending... Am I right in thinking this was strange? I feel like being tough in foreign policy is usually a Republican thing...
Romeny saying that even though killing important leaders is substantial, we still havent put terrorists on their "heels". Honestly I think this is completely false considering that we wouldnt have been able to kill Osama Bin Laden without infiltrating their systems and activities. Personally I think Obama kills it when it comes to Foreign Policy
Mr. Wolak I may have been guilty switching the channel. Sometimes I feel like I have either no outside information to make an opinion on certain issues.
Romeny......"Governement doesnt make small business................Iran is the biggest nuclear threat"
Did I miss something?
The moment when Obama says something about Romney, (aka investing in companies overseas) and he has ABSOLUTELY nothing to say back to him............
I think that after a while all the debate about the Middle Eastern conflict definitely just all blends together for most Americans... Especially if you are not super in tune with the news all the time, it's really tough to keep up with what's going on there because there is so much change and turmoil. I'd really love if before this debate there would have been some sort of catch-up/review of just major international events in the last year or so and then an update of what the situation is right now just so people who are watching the debate actually know what the issues are... because once the candidates get to it, it's a load of specifics...
Obama......."I AM doing this this and this"
Romeny..........."I want this this and this"
Question was a simple good one: What is the biggest threat to America? Romney said a nuclear Iran, Obama said the No. 1 issue was to continue to fight global terror.
I'm glad they ended the questions by saying they all loved teachers......I feel so special.
Emma's idea is a good one....but who would give the Mideast primer, Fox or MSNBC.....lol.
Bob Sheefer's mom: "go vote, it makes you feel big and strong."
Barack Obama has a great reputation on foreign policy and he definitely showed that in the debate tonight. Romney came in with a disadvantage because he simply does not have a background with any foreign policy, but he held his own for a little while. I thought it was interesting that Romney brought up his plan for the auto industry when the President has done a very good job of putting it back on its feet already. It's difficult to challenge a plan that has already worked, even only to an extent.
For me, the most interesting part of the debate (or, rather, the only part I could hear over the screaming at the presidential debate party my parents threw tonight)was Obama's and Romney's discussion over relations with China. Obama made a good case-- talking about China as both a rival and an economic partner, as long as their actions are regulated (I didn't even know it was possible to bring a case against a country for violating a trade agreement like that) and I enjoyed both how he gave a specific case on his protection of American markets and people from China (the tire story, which aptly referenced the average, middle-class American) and in turn turned the discussion on foreign policy around to discuss a need to advance businesses and NOT support Romney's budgets at home.
Romney, on the other hand I felt was very hypocritical. He attributed international economic success to corporations instead of large government (obviously an incredibly Conservative view) and then amazing spoke about how he had watched domestic jobs move to china over the last few years! Considering that he is involved in many of those corporations that notoriously outsource, I really don't think that was a phrase he should have used. I also have to question his idea of labeling China a "currency manipulator". I looked up what this meant online, and found that the labeling both had the potential to initiate a trade war and inflate the prices of Chinese products. He overall discussed China in a negative light ("hacking" "stealing" "counterfeiting"?? really?) and although I feel like the speech might have appealed to some demographic of resentful Americans, it's not exactly the encouraging tone in which a presidential candidate should be discussing, as Obama said, a nation that is one of our biggest trade partners. Yes, we need to discuss the problem realistically, but we shouldn't be building resentment against China.
I thought the debate was probably the most even of all of them, and I'm glad the moderator didn't interject all too much (or at least compared to the others) but from my soapbox, I don't believe that Obama deserves as much credit as he's received for the death of Osama Bin Laden. Although I know that that''s a great feat for our country, our military, and his administration, I just think that people don't give credit to the people who actually killed him: the Navy Seals. However, I do think the incumbent president will always have the advantage in foreign policy and I think that showed last night.
Some humorous cartoons about the debate...
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/28/163717275/double-take-toons-world-beaters?sc=fb&cc=fp
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