...At the start of the Democratic Convention, polls showed Barack Obama tied with Mitt Romney. That's surprising because many Americans do not look favorably on the Obama Administration; they hold the President responsible for high unemployment and trust Romney to fix the problem. Nonetheless, voters expect Obama to win, because he's more popular. The most reliable political prognosticator, Nate Silver, expects Obama to get 50.9 percent of the vote (he received 52.9 percent in 2008) and 305.5 electoral votes (365 in 208). Silver says Obama has a 73.1 percent chance of winning. If the President does prevail in November, it won't be because of the economy. The US is experiencing a weak recovery from the devastating 2008 recession (GDP growth is a tepid 1.7 percent) and unemployment is high (8.3 percent). Even though America's growth rate is greater than that of Europe (but less than that of China and India), citizens are not satisfied. Consumer confidence is low and recent polls show 62 percent of respondents believe that the US is "on the wrong track." Not surprisingly, 52 percent of poll respondents believe that Mitt Romney "would do a better job handling the economy and unemployment." Romney hasn't done a good job articulating his vision for the next four years. In his acceptance speech, he presented his minimalist five-step plan to create "12 million jobs": open all of America to fossil-fuel excavation; initiate an education voucher system; forge new trade agreements;...
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...When comparing and contrasting the leadership styles of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, it is important to note the differences in leadership/management and communication styles. Looking to each leader in the context of their organization we know that Mitt Romney was the running Presidential candidate for the Republican Party and Barack Obama was the Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party that went on to win the Presidency for two terms. In this paper I will discuss the differences in each leaders communication style and how it affects their organizations, how it determines the differences between managers and leaders, how they use verbal/nonverbal communication styles to influence their followers and others around them, and what communication styles contribute to them being judged as a “good” or “bad” leader. Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama take strategic approaches while attempting to get support from their distinct organizations. An example of this was during their campaign speeches in 2012. In an article by the Huffington Post it describes Romney talking mortality or a conservative style while Obama talks mainly policy. It also describes Romney’s framing as being more moral, simple, and straightforward while Obama’s style is policy-oriented, filled with numbers, details, and proposals. This gives a clear distinction as to which political party each candidate belongs to based on the assumptions that generally, republicans are seen as more conservative (socially and...
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...The election was between Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney who both had their separate views of changing our country and getting the U.S. out of turmoil. I was in Civics and Economics when my teacher put on the election. Throughout the election, my teacher broke the class into groups to discuss the debate. I was uninterested in politics because I thought it did not affect me. However, when my teacher brought up racial issues I was immediately intrigued. Earlier that year, Trayvon Martin, a young black teen, was killed due to racial profiling. This still having an effect on the black community, which I felt Mitt Romney could not relate to. On the other hand, Obama being the first black president, can relate to what it is like growing up as a young black male in America. As I sat and listened to my classmates, I then started to engage in conversation about the election. My overall view on the election became about race. The main issue I had in the debate, which I stated, was that Mitt Romney disregarded what happened earlier that year with Trayvon Martin along with many others. I felt that his main focus was making the poor poorer and the rich richer. In contrast, I noticed that not only did President Obama addressed racial issues, he also tackled strategies on creating jobs, and investing in healthcare and education. The presidential campaign of 2012 was the biggest discussion we had ever held in class. My teacher asked why I felt so strongly about Obama being re-elected as president...
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...Stephanie Huerta Kyrias H. Political Science October 26 2012 Romney vs. Obama When we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can” (Obama).The presidential debates between President Obama and governor Mitt Romney were certainly a game changer, with polls tightening among the two candidates in the final stretch of the campaign season. Obama has a clear lead. He gave great points throughout the second and third round, he also gave great responses in every question and to Romney, and he answers the questions completely, unlike Romney who goes around the question. At the beginning of the second debate Jeremy, a former college student asks a question over job perspectives and how they are planning to give out jobs to the new graduates of America. Not answering the question fully Governor Romney, states that he wants to create five million jobs, but he does not state how he is planning on doing so. On the other hand president Obama states that one, he wants to build manufacturing jobs in this country again. He will also change the tax codes, so that he is giving incentives to companies that are investing in the United States and creating jobs. It also means he is helping them and small businesses to export all around the world in new markets. Number two, he is making sure that the United States...
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...President Obama vs. Governor Romney The issue of whether President Obama is suitable to be the President of America has been widely debated in the 2012 American Electoral Debate. Polls show Governor Romney taking the lead in many states. The debate is an important issue because it concerns the well being of America, the tremendous debt they are in and the poor economy resulting in high unemployment rates. This paper will consider the arguments and points of both President Barrack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 Town Hall Debate. It will then put forward reasons why both candidates deserve the title of the President of the United States. Town hall meetings are an indication of early American democracy that today modern candidates are very familiar with. It is the democratic process in which fellow Americans ask the candidates serious questions about issues they are concerned with. Neither candidate goes into this debate knowing the questions being asked, only the mediator is notified and in this case it was Candy Crawford. During the debate a few right hooks and upper cuts were thrown back and forth between the candidates, but it seem the last one standing holding the victory was in fact the mediator, Candy Crawford. The town hall debate covered both domestic and foreign policy. The audience touched upon some very important topics from immigration, women’s equity, costs of gas, the military, they Libyan attack and gun rights and comparing Mitt Romney to previous...
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...(internet, TV, radio) * Receiver * Noise (anything that interferes with the message) * Feedback Loop (the customer gives a feedback about the ad or message) * Example: 2012 Presidential Campaign * “47%” Romney Quote * Sender: Romney * Communication Channel: TV/News * Receiver: Electorate * Noise * Feedback Loop: Instant feedback –very negative * Example: 2012 Presidential Campaign –Obama * “Ann Romney never worked a day in her life” * Sender: Democratic Party staffer * Communication Channel: TV/News/Twitter * Receiver: Electorate * Noise * Feedback Loop: Instant feedback, not acceptable How Consumers Perceive Communications * People decode messages differently * “Never worked a day in her life” * Attack on Ann Romney * Meaning? * Obama Attack Ad * Senders adjusts message * Medium * Receivers’ traits * Example: You Can Play Project The AIDA Model * Awareness (Obama on Jimmy Fallon –April 2012) * Interest (Romney “47%” comment; Obama campaign attack on Ann Romney) * Desire (Motivation to do something…) * Action (barackobama.com; Michelle Obama “36 votes” Florida Ads) March 6, 2014 Communication Strategy Elements * Advertising: Increases awareness (it’s in different media like video games.) * Public Relations: Aimed at media, events and different activities...
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...Aid to help pay for school. In the midst of the election season the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, voiced how he wants to end government funding. Currently, the nation provides direct government funding and Governor Romney is in favor of giving private banks and institutions the responsibility to provide student loans to those in need. Many people are deeply concerned with the issue at hand. Private Institutions vs. Government Disbursement The educational reform is a debate that is widely argued between the two presidential candidates. The current system of how student loans are disbursed in the United States is not perfect, but it is working. Both candidates are in favor of receiving higher education, but differ on how individuals should pay to learn. Throughout the presidential debates both candidates took a firm stand as to where they both stand on the topic of student loans and government funding. College tuition costs are increasing at a rapidly linear rate each and every year. The problem is college students today are taking on the burden of steep student loans and left without a job upon graduation. The average annual cost to attend a four-year institution is roughly $35,000. Some private institutions will run a tab of $50,000 annually. With rising tuition cost government funding is necessary for students to pay for school. Obama & Romney Plans President Barak Obama believes that providing direct financial assistance with as low of interest rates as possible...
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...Mitt Romney. This paper will compare and contrast why Mitt Romney, with his business expertise, economic stance and political experience, is better than Obama to accomplish the difficult task of creating and bringing jobs back to America. Introduction Barrack Obama assumed the role of President of the U.S. in January 2009. The unemployment rate at that time was 7.8 percent. By the end of his first year in the White House, unemployment reached an astounding 9.9 percent. Average unemployment during his first year was 9.3 percent. As the table in Figure 1 shows, employment in the U.S. has not recovered by much as we approach his fourth year as our President. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) President Obama may have a lot of experience in community service, but absolutely no experience as a businessman. His experience is that of an extremely successful politician, and politicians are the ones who have created the economic mess we are in today. It is time we all realized that the U.S. Government is a for profit “business”, and needs to be managed as such or the country will go bankrupt taking all Americans into bankruptcy with it. (Atkinson Jr., 2012). Business Experience Mitt Romney has an extremely successful career managing and consulting for large corporations. Even the Obama administration recognized this and tried to attack Romney because of his success. Obama’s attacks were an attempt to pit the poor (Americans) against the rich (Romney). Romney...
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...shape the future of our country, which is how both Obama and Romney pitched this election. This allowed the race to turn into an ideological battle between two main ideas of government. One that argued for less government and privatization and the other that argued for the fundamental need for government in order to provide foundation for our society to work. While this war of ideology waged on there was another war that was being waged, the all out money war that took place this election. This was the first presidential election after the infamous Supreme Court ruling on citizens united vs. The Federal election Commission, which paved the way for Super-Pacs and unlimited corporate and union donations. This ruling was thought to have powerful ramifications on future elections and the 2012 presidential election. After the election it remains somewhat unclear what effects Citizen United had on the presidential election and what future impacts it will have. Citizens United did not hurt Obama substantially in the election because of his demographics and organizational advantage; however, citizens united could have a significant negative affect on future state and federal elections. Citizens United did not hurt Obama because it allowed him to seize a demographic advantage in the election. In this election Obama’s key advantage was minorities. According to Latinos Post, “Over 93 percent of African-Americans voted for Obama this year, as well as 73 percent of Asian-Americans...
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...Nicki Minaj vs. Mitt Romney Controversy By Faith Choi, Jour. 1160 Nicki Minaj’s statement about her voting for Mitt Romney, in her new song with L’il Wayne, was a lyric of pure sarcasm. Minaj, who is originally from Trinidad, is known for her strange clothing, fast raps, and alter egos. The song called “Mercy” from the album “Dedication 4 Mixtape” was released on September 3, 2012. Since then, it has gained popularity for being very explicit, vulgar, and hopelessly controversial. The lyric that caused so much controversy lies in the second verse of the song where Minaj states: “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney.” Now, just by listening to the first half of the sentence, people will go straight to their computer and tweet something nasty about how Nicki Minaj has “betrayed us all” or how “she’s lost the respect of America.” For those who stayed to listen before unleashing their thoughts onto the Internet, the full sentence actually goes, “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy b*tches is f*cking up the economy.” Nevertheless, a full-fledged Internet storm was inevitable as most of the listeners would’ve been the ones in the first scenario: running to display their opinions without thinking anything through. “Even political pundits entered the fray,” writes Daniel Dale of Toronto Star. Dale quoted Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics senior elections analyst, when he said, “There is about a 0.00000001 percent chance Nikki [sic] Minaj was not mocking Romney voters and...
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...On November 6th 2012 American could have a new president; this two horse race is between Republican Mitt Romney and Democratic Barack Obama. This report will be looking to assess if Mitt Romney could become the next President. Such factors come into consideration as who Romney is? What’s is his plan to win over the American voters, What polices he will be focusing on and how popular they are with voters, tracking the polls to see where he stands, analysing his campaign to see if it has had any major triumphs or disasters, is Romney on the right path to get 270 electrical votes and most importantly looking at his opponent Barack Obama and is he likely to win again?. Using sources such as newspapers, online journals and poll websites to evaluate how successful Romney’s campaign will be. Romney The man, the plan. Mitt Romney has emerged through the rankings of the Republican Party to run in the 2012 Presidential campaign. Romney attended Harvard University where he studied law and business. He later moved on to become a high powered business executive who swiftly stepped into his father’s former position as Governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Even though he only served one term he quickly had his sights set higher but he was unsuccessful in his first attempt at becoming a Presidential candidate when he lost out to John McCain in 2008. Successful the second time around, he is committed to making sure someone in the race “understands” the Economy. During the race for the 2012...
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...ObamaCare vs. RomneyCare: Is There Really a Difference? Before the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there were over 50 million people in the United States who did not have health insurance coverage. Governor Mitt Romney says that the health care plan he passed in Massachusetts, known as “RomneyCare” is fundamentally different than “ObamaCare” and will end up becoming a nationwide health care system forced upon the American people. Are the two plans really that different? The 2012 Presidential campaigns have demonstrated that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have different visions for the country, yet both men share common views in healthcare. The centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act was created on the idea of the individual mandate. The individual mandate states that all citizens are required to buy health insurance. Most people tend to purchase health insurance only when they need it, such as in an accident or a sudden illness. This presented a moral challenge as it was questionable whether people could be forced to purchase insurance they don’t need. However, people are required to purchase car insurance so this was used as justification to force the purchase of health insurance. Another key justification is the fact that all hospitals are required to treat people in their emergency rooms regardless of their ability to pay. This creates a burden on the hospital as it raises their costs, so they must recover their losses from the paying patients. Under this type...
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...general elections counting as separate elections, individuals were limited to $25,000 per calendar year in total contributions to candidates, party committees, and political action committees, PAC’s and party committees were limited to contributing $5,000 per candidate per election. In addition, the 1974 amendments established the presidential financing system of matching funds to candidates for amounts raised in contributions of $250 or less, established overall spending limits for eligibility to receive matching funds, and provided for public funding of major party candidates in the general election for president. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 brought about a modern take on the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. Buckley vs Valeo, is a famous case around campaign finance as a coalition of liberals and conservatives attacked FECA as...
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...When will we see Change? A Critical look at Barack Obama and the democratic party. Charles Kerber POLS 202 9AM American Government Livingston This paper will take a critical look at the history of the democratic party, its most recent 2012 election, its current presidential candidate Barack Obama, and the latest platform. While the paper may read as being highly critical of President Obama, it should be caveated by the fact that this is an extremely trying time in the history of the United States, and the government is under considerable pressures from outside terrorism threats and international relations, to severe recession and domestic economic concerns. Nevertheless, one must look critically at President Obama, and answer has he really given us “change we can believe in”? Biography & history The Democratic party went through a number of iterations before it became the current democratic party. The party began as the anti federalists under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Thomas Jefferson a former secretary of state under George Washington's administration who had resigned to protest the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton. These two rivals would become the basis of the first two political parties of the United States. Alexander Hamilton favored the constitution, the creation of a national bank and repayment of the revolutionary war debt with federal funds. Under this philosophy they would name themselves Federalists, for their leaders support of ratifying the constitution...
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...Commanding the Heights: the Battle of Ideas This essay starts with an introduction of the documentary Commanding the Heights: the Battle of Ideas made by PBS, then conducts the analysis on the two competing economic ideas of Keyes vs. Hayek, and finally presents a detailed illustration of their impacts on the America’s economic policies since 1980. Introduction The PBS-made documentary ‘Commanding the Heights’ is to promote better understanding of globalization, economic development and world trade, featured with specific examples of different countries and interviews with related parties. Episode One "The Battle of Ideas," gives an overview of the battle between two major competing ideas about the world economy over the course of last century. On the one hand, the English economist Keynes believes in the ‘planned economy’ and advocates the government intervention to mitigate the risk during economic recession or depression; On the other hand, the Australian economist Hayek favors the free market mechanism and believes in minimum government intervention as market will eventually take care of itself and the prices system is at the heart of what makes a functioning economy work. The episode tracks the root of these ideas and explains how the world moved toward the government controlled economy during the 20th century in a chronological order summarized as below. The Russian Revolution in 1917 marked the beginning of communism economy, in which government is very important...
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