“Hardball” by Chris Matthews challenged my perspective on how politics works. Before reading Hardball, I knew that money and advertising played large roles in presidential elections. However, after reading Hardball, I have come to understand that rather than simply being a single factor out of many, money, advertising, and retail politics control almost all of any major election. The best candidate may not always win, but the candidate with the most corporate backing, funds, and connections will. The traditional and most popular way of thinking about politics is simple; the candidate who wins elections is always the candidate who has the support of American voters. Hardball, while not challenging this notion, addresses a similar question; …show more content…
He convinced me, who had previously thought of politics as the best candidate wins, the think about politics differently. He emphasizes how politicians who “sell” themselves, gain support. For example, he talked in detail about Lyndon Johnson’s political career and why it was successful. LBJ would speak to small groups of people, and get them to like him as a person; this campaign strategy was most successful in the Senate, where he got to know 100 senators on a personal level. Also, Matthews challenged my conventional thinking that if you do someone favors, they will like you and support you. In fact, Matthews argues, it is the other way around. The more someone grants you favors, the more they invest in you, which was the case of third party candidate Ross Perot. Perot asked his supporters a simple favor; to get him on the ballot in all 50 states. Soon enough, Perot supporters started showing up in shopping malls and public places, working to get him more support. Matthews says that they did this for a simple reason- once they started doing Perot favors to get him on the ballot; people became gradually more and more invested in him. Perot’s genius strategy of asking for a simple favor made him a serious candidate
Collision 2012 Dan Balz’s Collision 2012 tracks the ebbs and flows of the 2012 presidential campaign, starting from the disastrous 2010 mid-terms for the Democratic Party, moving into the crazy ride that was the Republican primary, and finally ending with the tumultuous presidential battle. Through his tracking and research of the election, Balz finds that the 2012 election cycle was a stark departure from prior cycles, characterized by three major collisions which set the tone for the future of elections/campaigns and our country. One of these collisions was the clash between the America that elected Barack Obama in 2008 and the America that gave Democrats their biggest defeat since 1938 in 2010. The 2008 election led to Democrats gaining
In the past few years, the United States has seen a huge spike in the money spent in federal elections (See Appendix 4.B). Not only have candidates been making greater efforts to communicate their ideas to the American public, but super PACs have also been displaying their support for candidates and their political policies; they do so by using their right to accept unlimited donations from the public and later, use that money to promote certain candidates, or to sway voters in a desired direction. The immense power that super PACs have to sway voters has come under harsh criticism, spurring the creation of new laws and limits on the super PACs in an attempt to keep them in check and to avoid possible corruption. These limits on super
In the Huffington Post article “Why Partisan Voting Makes Accountability Impossible”, Todd Phillips analyzes how social groups and political ideology heightens the response we have toward the candidate that represents our political party. Phillips states that social groups will vote for a candidate because of their loyalty to the political party, and not because of their issue advocacy. This loyalty is emphasized due their attachment to their social group. During times of an election, politicians will have different policies and stances on issues that can be seen as being more liberal or more conservative. However, this does not deter partisans from voting for their a candidate, since their loyalty lies within their attachment to their political
The book Hardball by Chris Matthews gives deep insight about politics. Throughout the book Chris explains different strategies or concepts used in politics, also know as political maxims. He explains how they are used, how they work, and he gives historical evidence showcasing each political maxim. There are many quotes in Hardball taken from history that are used to explain and demonstrate different political maxims. This is a quote used in the book coming from previous president Jimmy Carter.
In 2016, the presidential election was brutal: the two candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton spoke negatively about each other every chance they got and it still remains undetermined whether or not one or both candidates bribed and cheated their way to the top of their party. Additionally, the battle to decide the Democratic party’s nominee was tight, as Bernie Sanders was extremely popular with the young, liberal voters. In a way, 2016’s election bears many similarities to the Election of 1800. They both began with three potential winners: a popular upstart who was attempting to make his presidential debut, an occasionally-unconstitutional lawyer who had had already had an influential voice in the executive branch, and a racist, loud-mouthed,
Should the Electoral College Be Replaced by the Direct Election of the President? A Debate The presidency and election of the presidency is often viewed as the main focus of the American political system. In recent years the election process and Electoral College have come under scrutiny and reconsideration due to how important the election is. In this paper we will examine the two different arguments about whether or not the Electoral College is a democratic and useful system.
In light of the recent election it is time for America to abolish the electoral college. Discuss. The results of the latest U.S. presidential elections has re-introduced some of the political issues concerning the election system. One of the main issues being discussed is the role of the long-standing Electoral College.
As the United States gets ready to enter into another election year, each party is gearing up and raising money for their political campaigns. Numerous polls will take place and questions as well as platforms will come together in an effort to get the publics endorsement and hopefully their vote. It is important to understand why money and polls play a vital role in the American political system. It is equally important to look at certain aspects of issues that have plagued Congress such as the government shutdown and the debt ceiling crisis and how each of these aspects shape the political arena and what needs to be done in the future to preserve our way of life.
For the past century, voter turnout in American presidential elections has significantly declined, likely due to the fact that Americans do not believe their single votes are important. In light of more recent elections, political donations from corporations, identified or anonymous, have infringed upon traditional, American democracy. Although corporate donations to political campaigns have little effect on the public compared to the newly pivotal role of social media, these donations are founded upon a ruling that is classist, undemocratic, and corrupt, leading to unprincipled politics. This ruling is Citizens United, passed January 21, 2010.
How did a person never before in government run for president? He asked for help. Matthews writes “The best way to win a supporter
Frequent voters share common characteristics share common characteristics which include: Party association: Political bias affects most of voter turn out, individuals and groups who associates themselves with a political party are likely to vote more than those who don 't identify themselves with political parties or independents. According to New York Times, "between the two major political parties , Republicans tends to vote at higher levels than democrats". Political interests: Interest groups and individuals who are interested in politics and who follow politics in media platform such as televisions, internet, newspapers and magazines tend to vote more than those who are not interested and who do not follow politics in both the broadcast
Political ads are a way to persuade you to vote for one political party or the other. Every 4 years, there is an election between democrats and republicans that will help decide the next president of the United States. These campaigns between the democrats and the republicans are the strategies candidates use to win your vote. During the election season, there is many speeches made by both the people who are running for president. Debates between the two sides can sway your vote to one side or the other depending on what the candidates say.
This strategy took into account that most major cities would traditionally vote Democrat so a focus on rural and working class America was put on the front burner, in particular towards an area known as the Rust Belt. “We travel 1,000 miles across Donald Trump's America - exploring the rust belt states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Indiana, where the middle class is shrinking, opportunities are dwindling and people feel that they were left behind in the country's economic recovery. ”(Fault Lines) This feeling of being left behind was exploited by the Trump campaign, using the insecurities of people that have feel disenfranchised by a system who over the previous eight years had bailed out big banks and the automotive industries but had failed to alleviate all of the fears that this group of people have about their future and the future of this our
The effect of the interest group on any scale is both undoubtable and enormous. However, in a presidential campaign, and even more so in a presidency, their impact is exponentially greater than it would be in a local or state government campaign. Throughout history, interest groups have made possible and greatly influenced campaigns and therefore, their subsequent presidencies. By donating millions upon millions of dollars to fund candidates, interest groups, whose members usually include multi-billion dollar corporations or billionaires, essentially gain a substantial voice in important political decisions that may influence the entire country. There are seldom any campaigns that do not receive support from immensely powerful interest groups,
FACTORS AFFECTING VOTER TURNOUT IN CEBU CITY I. Introduction Rationale The scientific investigation of elections is called psephology; this term exudes from the Greek word for "pebble." (In antediluvian Greek city-states, individuals voted by depositing hued pebbles into containers.)