The United States has only two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. These parties have a duopoly, meaning that they share almost all the political power in the country. Stated in the Wikipedia “ the Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States along with the Republican Party. The party supports a social liberal, social democratic and progressive platform and its Congressional caucus is composed of progressives, liberals, centrists, and left-libertarians. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United States and is one of the oldest political parties in the world”. Most of the people I know are democratic because they are voting for Obama, which is a democratic as well. On the other hand we have the Republicans. Stated in Wikipedia “ the Republican Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery activists in 1854, it dominated politics nationally for most of the period 1860-1932. Eighteen presidents have been Republicans. The most recent Republican president was George W. Bush”.
As we talked in class about how the two party systems affect the voters, it was said that the dynamics of the two party systems also contribute to low voter turnout. With only two contestants for most offices in a general election, the candidates tend to converge to the middle of the political spectrum on the issues being discussed. To distinguish themselves in such races where policy differences may be few or unclear, candidates often resort to personal attacks. Many citizens, unable to perceive differences between candidates on the main issues of the day, elect not to vote. Most people don’t know who to vote for and some just don’t vote. If one of the two candidates appears to be dominating the race, many people do not vote because they feel that their vote will not make a difference in the outcome of the election. Despite the rational expectation that your vote will not turn an election, you may, like many of us, vote anyway, and for various reasons. Some people are proud of the effort they put into being informed and involved. Others vote out of a sense of duty or because of their belief in the value of democratic participation. On the other hand some vote jus cause they like and have not even meet you, but its hoe u presented yourself when you spoke are when they first saw you. Many people’s decisions to vote are also shaped by a sense of duty or obligation. They like you may understand how unlikely it is that each individual vote will make a difference. But they like you may also believe that there is something inherently good for the community and for themselves in participating in elections. Standing up and being counted showing that you care about what happens in the political system is one of the benefits of voting If one of the two candidates appears to be dominating the race, many people do not vote because they feel that their vote will not make a difference in the outcome of the election. With all the commercials, you would think they would help but they only make it worse. Both the Democratic and the Republican make it hard for Americans to vote because of how they present themselves to the people. They don’t give you the whole platform of what they are going to do to make the United States better. All the Democratic and Republican do is go back and forth at each other telling what the other said are didn’t say or how they feel to see the importance of this and how they are not helping the United States but bringing it down. I can truly say the once Republican told us that they were taking away finical aid for students, I really think that caught a lot of people’s attention. That’s messing with the future and I am the future. Finally, many people also vote in the belief that broad and sustained participation is critical for the legitimacy of a democratic system. They recognize that elections would not be democratic without their own and others’ participation.
Money plays a big impact on this year’s election. Both Obama and Romney for are spending lots of money to campaign for the election. Mitt Romney just announced his third $100 million month. He has approached this presidential campaign like a private-equity bid: the man with the most money wins. Mitt Romney-associated super PAC Restore Our Future has outraised the Obama associated Priorities USA Action by a 5-1 margin, despite Priorities’ raising a personal best $10 million last month. It stated from the” Dailybest”, “ that the campaigns are only part of the money in play post-Citizens United. The 2012 elections are expected to cost an unprecedented $5. 8 billion dollars $2. 5 billion on the presidential race alone according to the invaluable Center for Responsive Politics. And when it comes to the super PACs the new, new thing in campaign finance Democrats are being left in the dust”. Barack Obama and his team smashed all fundraising records on the way to victory, raking in a staggering $668 million. But some of that all-important cash came from questionable even make-believe sources. The question on money towards the election is that will it win the white house? CNN reported that “ by the end of July, Mitt Romney had widened his cash advantage over President Obama by $62 million. Romney had also been raising more money than Obama in the last three months. Also “ historically, the candidate who raises the most money is likely to win. In recent presidential elections, the only victors whose campaign committees rose less than their opponent were Bill Clinton in 1996 (raising $116. 8 million to Sen. Bob Dole’s $134. 7 million) and Ronald Reagan, who rose less than Jimmy Carter but nevertheless swept into Washington in a 1980 landslide”. This year money is even more important because candidates are not just competing with their electoral opponent anymore, but also with the messages and money from highly professionalized super PACs and nonprofits with lots of campaign experience. These unfamiliar groups’ agendas may or may not be clear to candidates, or the voters they’re trying to influence. CNN also reported that, “ Since 1976, the presidential public financing system included matching funds for small contributions in primaries and equal grants for the two general election nominees. Beginning with George W. Bush rejecting public matching funds in the 2000 primary campaign (and the spending limits that went with them), that system was diminished incrementally until 2008 when Obama’s rejection of general election funding spelled its final demise. “ Romney, Obama, their parties and the outside groups that support them are all locked in an exhaustive race for funds. While Romney has done well compared to Obama in the last few months, the Obama campaign has raised far more overall this cycle. Both camps will have enough money to get their message out, but only one will win the election. In the end, money may not be the only reason, but if history is any indication, whichever candidate raises more of it will likely be our next president (CNN)”. So as you can see money has a huge impact on this year’s election because without the money, it would be extremely hard to get the point across and campaign successfully.
Campaign advertising is the use of an advertising campaign through newspapers, radio commercials, television commercials, etc to influence the decisions made for and by groups. These ads are designed by political consultants and the political campaign staff. Political advertising is a form of campaigning used by political candidates to reach and influence voters. It can include several different mediums and span several months over the course of a political campaign. I feel that it is a little of both. It is there right to say what they feel but not at the cause of telling the world any and everything just to get them to vote for you. Every time I see one Obama are Romney ads or commercial is them going back and forth about what each other is not doing are what they are doing wrong. I want to see them put out ads and commercials about what they are going to do to help make America a better place to live and stop worrying so much about what they can do to hurt the other person. Some of these ads and commercials are pretty helpful but most of them are simply just going back and forth on each other. I feel that Romney doesn’t even know what he wants to do. I see that every time the people ask him a question, he never answers it. He always beat around the bush. I feel that this year’s election is going to be a great close election. After all is said and done I really hope and pray that Obama wins because if he doesn’t win America is going to change forever and I don’t mean in a good way
Sources
Text book
www. cnn. com
www. wikepeida. com
www. daileybest. com
