AS revision: Parliament
Are tales of legislative decline exaggerated?
read more...»Iraq: will America ever get out?
Thomas Powers writes an excellent long essay on this in the New York Review of Books
read more...»Clinton claims victory
Too late to make the morning papers is the story of Hillary’s important win in the Pennsylvania primary
read more...»If it’s Monday, it must be Sweden
Apparently the latest educational flavour of the month in party policy circles is the Swedish system
read more...»Pennsylvania or bust?
This week attention turns to the Keystone State, as the Democrats gear up for a potential showdown in the last big primary
read more...»President 2008 - Who Will Capture the Idgit Vote
Some US voters are firmly in the Replublican camp. Others are staunch Democrats. But which candidate will succeed in capturing the vote of the crucial Idgits?
read more...»Geek-o-pedia
For US politics geeks everywhere go to Electopedia!
And for up to minute breaking news from a tremendous range of sources - you can no better than Real Clear Politics
John He Is
Whatever Barack can do John McCain do better? Perhaps not!
read more...»Yes We Can!
Here is the original Barack Obama promotional video on You Tube which has attracted so much attention
read more...»Politics Categories
Indy’s US Election Specials
The Independent newspaper is producing two specials ahead of Super-Duper Tuesday on February 6th. The giant poster in today’s edition will look great in your classroom or departmental resource room. Make sure you get your cope. And tomorrow there is a special 22 page booklet. Naturally there will be plenty of coverage of the US Presidential elections right here on the Tutor2u blog.
The heat is on
With just days until super duper Tuesday, we bring you an excellent overview of the Democratic race from the Guardian newspaper. For American politics watchers there is a danger of drowning under sea of election coverage. This short article focuses on the main points
read more...»Primary consideration
I am sure that blog readers have been following the fascinating primary battle with interest. Here we take a look at the arguments for and against the primary system in light of evidence from the current race.
read more...»Bush’s religion
The forgotten man’s faith
In today’s Sunday Times there is a fascinating excerpt from a new book on George W Bush which provides an analysis of the president’s faith and how it has affected his politics.
The hypothesis presented in the article is based on the idea that Bush has used evangelism for political reasons.
One of the defining aspects of George W Bush’s presidency is his professed belief in God. Yet what really are his religious beliefs? The question, which seems central to understanding his presidency, never receives a satisfactory answer. Indeed, one religious figure close to him soon after his conversion was shocked to find that he talked about sex rather than theology and says that a lot of his faith seemed to be politically calculated.
Bush’s religion has often been described as evangelical. But unlike most other evangelicals, he blithely uses profanity and as governor of Texas he would play poker. He doesn’t pay tithes, he doesn’t try to convert others – one of the central obligations in most evangelical denominations. And he didn’t raise his daughters in the faith.
Read the full article here:
Author of the Bush Tragedy, due for publication in mid February:
Academic analysis of US elections
Want Bill get Hill?
This week we were fortunate to welcome Professor Robert McKeever to the school’s Politics Society to deliver what was for us the third instalment in a series of talks by academic specialists in US Politics on the race for the White House 2008.
Robert Singh spoke in October: http://www.tutor2u.net/newsmanager/templates/?a=2637&z=15
David McKay spoke in November: http://www.tutor2u.net/newsmanager/templates/?a=2706&z=15
McKeever began with an overview of the contest, working backwards from the key date of 4 November through the campaign proper around September time onwards, the National Party Conventions in August and to where we are now; post the early primaries of Iowa (okay, technically a caucus) and New Hampshire.
McKeever suggested that these early contests were not as significant as people tend to make out. They are atypically representative and have a small number of delegates. Although occasionally they can shoot some candidates into the national limelight.
The big day is of course super duper Tuesday on 5 February where a sizeable number of big states come into play. (McKeever pointed out, looking ahead to the GE, that if a candidate wins the 11 biggest states they can carry the election.)
What about the candidates?
The Democrats are largely undifferentiated in terms of policy. Clinton is pitching on the basis of experience. Edwards focuses on his southern-ness and his ability to reach out to a core constituency (southerners) that most Democrats can’t. Obama presents himself as the new generation, a theme that JFK campaigned on over 40 years ago.
On the Republican side, the party is in a bit of disarray – mainly due to an attempt by candidates to distance themselves from GWB.
The GOP is unsure what comes next, due to for instance an apparent decline in the influence of religious and social conservatives.
The big one: who will win?
First, the nominations. Hillary will win. Why?
(1) The Democrat party machine is on her side (partly due to the influence of her husband)
(2) Experience. Differentiating from Obama’s newness.
(3) Base appeal.
For the Republicans, McKeever was less certain.
Giuliani hasn’t actively started campaigning and current frontrunner McCain has no appeal with the base. Romney has no appeal and the GOP faithful are unlikely to fall in love with him.
And the election itself? McKeever states that the Democrats are in a win-win situation since if they select Hillary they will turn out in numbers to vote. And if they select Obama they will turn out in numbers to vote.
But on the GOP side Republicans are less energised and either Democrat would beat any Republican nominee. But bear in mind that Hillary is predicted to win the nomination. So this means that despite the fact that over 40-45% of the American electorate have stated that they would not vote for Hillary under any circumstances, she is odds on to become the 44th president.
Primary interaction
Primary interaction
With only days to go until American voters (well just over 100,000 of them in Iowa’s case) begin the formal process of deciding who will become the nominee for the two main parties, the blog suggests a site to get readers up to speed.
read more...»
Primary defence
Primary defence
Browsing through the Christmas edition of the Economist the first time I somehow managed to miss this excellent leader article on the presidential primaries. It is an excellent supplement to revision on this always popular exam topic, but could also be used as an introductory piece.
IT IS easy to make fun of Iowa and New Hampshire. These two states, with a combined population of 4.3m mostly white people, will soon kick off the 2008 primary season and also influence the presidential race out of any possible proportion to their size. Ethanol subsidies for greedy farmers, bleak midwinter meetings in rural diners, humourless men in lumberjack shirts: all come in for their share of ribbing. What an absurd way to choose a president, sneer many non-Americans.
In fact, the primaries system, once again, is working pretty well. There is a basic reason why Americans don’t seem seriously interested in challenging the position of the kick-off states: in the end, it doesn’t really matter which states start the ball rolling, so long as they are small. For the past four months or so, and now at a hysterical pitch, America’s presidential candidates have been forced to campaign for their lives in these unlikely arenas. Slick TV ads alone will not cut it, as they must in bigger states where meeting more than a fraction of a percent of the electorate is an impossibility. Iowa and New Hampshire want their candidates up close and personal.
This imposes immense, and immensely testing, challenges. Money and organisation matter far less than stamina, agility and that most unfakeable of all political attributes, charisma. Anyone deficient will be found out: anyone with the right stuff has a chance to shine.
Read the rest of the article to find the all important examples to back up the points made in this last paragraph, as well as further arguments for and against the primary system:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10328996
