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The Coming Elections
October 16, 2006






The November elections are four weeks from tomorrow. One must
only watch the news or read newspapers to see that races have heat
up around the country. The New York Times is running an article
entitled, "In Final Weeks, G.O.P. Focuses on Best Bets." The article
states:

Republicans said they remained confident that the party’s considerable
financial advantage would allow them to hold back a Democratic
onslaught over the next three weeks, and they said they were
preparing to spend significantly to bulk up any Republican who their
polling over the next few days suggested might be faltering.

It certainly will be interesting to see what happens on national, state
and local levels. Let's include our students in the election excitement.

Read the article!!


Discussion Starters

  • Each political party must decide where to spend its money to
    best support it's own interests. Tell students to pretend that one
    of the major parties has come to them asking for advice as to
    how to allocate funds. Tell them to make a list of criteria that
    should be considered when allocating funds. Should every
    candidate get an equal amount? Why/why not? Should
    candidates who are the most qualified get the most amount of
    money? Why/why not? What if a highly qualified candidate will
    likely win her election but a less qualified candidate is uncertain
    as to whether or not he will win. Should the money go to the
    less qualified candidate? Why? You might ask students to do
    this work in groups. You might ask them to blog their answers.

  • We live in a day and age in which political parties and candidate
    use negative advertising against their opponents all the time.
    Ask students if they've seen any negative campaigning? Ask
    them if they think that negative campaigning should be banned.
    You might ask students to develop interviews which they can
    use to ask other students and/or their parents/other adults about
    negative campaigning. Students might even be encouraged to
    podcast their interviews.

  • The New York Times article linked to above could not have
    been written without investigative reporting. Ask your students
    to investigate the ways in which a candidate in your local
    community is both raising money and spending money on the
    campaign. You might ask students to work in groups and ask
    each group to select a candidate to investigate. Though they
    can call the campaign office to solicit information there is also
    likely a lot of information in your local newspaper.

  • Candidates are asked questions all the time when they are
    campaigning. Indeed, well prepared candidates have platforms
    that explain and define their positions. Tell your students to
    develop a series of questions that they would like to ask a
    candidate. Then tell them that it's not always possible to speak
    directly with a candidate but candidates have spokespeople who
    can answer questions for them. If possible call a candidate's
    office during classtime and invite students to ask questions.
    (Among many other things, they might ask about standardized
    testing, curfews, smoking and more.) You could ask students
    to write up these interviews and place them on a wiki.
    Interestingly, if the candidates refuse to take the time to speak
    with your class you can ask your students to write about this
    too. Candidates, or their representatives, should take the time to
    speak with everybody who wants to speak with them. Be sure
    to interview all contestants for an office.
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