Good Morning Citizens!

Today:1.Media – Finish

Merchants of Cool1.Discussion

2.Citizens United 3.Campaign ads vs.

debates

Citizens United Citizens United was a Supreme Court Decision which declared that Corporations had

the same rights to free speech as individuals.

And that Money = Speech

Thus – Corporations can, through Super Pacs, spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns.

Now, there are campaign finance laws and limits that you can spend giving to political campaigns.

BUT

Because of Citizens United, Unions, Corporations and Wealthy Individuals can form Super Pacs to create campaign ads on the their own, allegedly separate from the official political campaign. They DO NOT have to reveal where their money comes

from.

+ vs. - Campaign Ads What works best?

Cost of the 2012

election: ?

Debates vs Commercials

First – Highlights from the second presidential debate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19973295

65.6 million viewers

How are debates commissioned? How might debates be improved?

Criticisms of debates? Debates vs. commercials?

Happy Tuesday Friends Today:1. Voting2. Electoral College 3. Maps of the Electorate

HW: Research Paper Due Block Day. Please email me or see me if you need help finding resources to use in your paper.

Voting in the U.S.

Age – 18 – U.S. Citizen Registered to Vote

Vote Early – Absentee Ballot58.2% of eligible voters voted in 2012 dropping from

61.6% of those eligible to vote in 2008 Minnesota led the states with a turnout rate of

75.7%. Hawaii laggard, with a turnout rate of 44.2%What factors contribute to voter turn-out? How

might we increase voter turnout?

The Electoral College In the United States we do not elect our leaders by popular vote. Instead, we have a winner take

all electoral college system.

PresidentialCandidate

V.P. Candidate

PoliticalParty Popular Vote Electoral

Vote

Barack H. Obama

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Democratic 65,917,2

5851.0

1% 332 61.7%

Willard Mitt Romney Paul Ryan Republican 60,932,2

3547.1

5% 206 38.3%

Gary Johnson James P. Gray Libertarian 1,275,893

0.99% 0 0.0

%

Jill Stein Cheri Honkala Green 469,016 0.36% 0 0.0

%

Winner Take All and District by District Voting

2012 Election Results

What conclusions can we draw from looking at these maps? What might the map look like moving forward?

Only White Men

White Men and Women

Results with everyone under 24 removed

Actual Election Results

Youth Vote

Youth Voting has been on the rise

since 1996.

What factors contribute to youth voting? What types of ads do you find effective in encouraging young people to get out and vote?

2008 Election Results If Only Youth Voted

Restrictive Voting Laws

U.S. Supreme Court Declared Part of the Voting Rights Act Unconstitutional because it singles out states that have a history of suppressing minority

and female votes.

As soon as they made that decisions, states like Texas began passing restrictive voting laws – aimed

at preventing women and the poor from voting.

Voter Fraud?

TGIF! Does it really work right before finals? I’m not sure. At least you can sleep in right?

Today: 1. News2. Campaign Ads 3. Debates4. Discussion –

Commercials vs. Debates what do they each provide?

If you turned in your paper to me by today I will get it back to you by Monday so you can make revisions – if you want, by Friday.

News

Classroom NewsNational/International News

Senate Rules ChangesUpdates on Syria – Refugees Affordable Care Act Updates

Monday: Central Question Returning or Locke and Hobbes – Are

people mostly good or mostly evil? What are our politicians motives? What are our business leaders motives? What are

our own motives?

Final Open Floor Discussion