The Issues in the US Presidential Election

Everyone is talking about the issues in the US Presidential Election.  

Issues are the topics that matter most to Americans.  They include things like -
The economy and jobs
Taxes
US foreign policy
health care
Just to name a few

Through out the election the candidates have been talking about these issues - What do they think about the issues and what will they do if they are elected President.  

Here is a website that gives you video clips from each candidate on different issues
http://campaign2012.c-span.org/issues

Absentee Voting

Because I live in Vietnam many people ask me if I will be able to vote in the US Presidential election.  The answer is YES!  

In fact, I voted already using an Absentee Ballot. 

I registered with my home state's board of elections and asked them to send me an absentee ballot.  This allows me to vote even though I can not go to the actual polling place and cast my vote in person.  

American citizens who live and work in other countries can use absentee ballots to participate in United States elections that take place in their home state.  College students and business people who will be out of town on election day can also use an absentee ballot to cast their votes.

Funny Political Ad

The candidates make many TV commercials as part of running for President.  They want to give you reasons to vote for them and give you reasons not to vote for the other person.  Sometimes the ads are sweet and emotional, sometimes they are angry and they say harsh things about the other candidate.  

Here is a commercial that uses humor.  At the first Presidential debate, Governor Romney said if he was President he would cut funding to PBS.  

PBS is a TV station that does not have commercials so they get money to make programs from the US Government and from private donations.  

There is a popular Children's show on PBS called Sesame Street and one of the main characters is a big yellow bird called Big Bird.

President Obama's campaign used that idea to create this funny video.    


What do you think about this commercial?

Campaign Time

This week we will explore the "Road to the White House."  How does a person go from an ordinary citizen to President of the United States?  What is the process?  

Candidates must get the word out that they are running and want your vote.  One way to do that is with a commercial.  Here is a funny commercial I made at adomatic.us.

Republicans or Democrats What's the Difference?

In the United States we have 2 main political parties The Republicans and the Democrats.  

What is the difference between the two?  

Check out this link to see a side by side comparison Democrat vs. Republican.

The 15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 following the American Civil War.  The amendment stated that no one could be denied the right to vote based on race, color or former servitude.  This meant that African-Americans could now vote but not everyone accepted this.  They added poll taxes and literacy tests to voting.  At that time in history, African-Americans were more like than white Americans to be poor and unable to read.  So, these taxes and tests barred them from voting.  Watch this video to learn more.

Voting in America

How do we vote in the United States?
I can not answer this question.  Why?  Because there are 50 answers to that question. There is an answer for each and every state in the United States. That is because many of the rules, procedures, and laws about voting are left to each individual state to decide.

The States decide who is allowed to vote, how and where citizens can register to vote and what type of voting machines will be used in their state.  

Does that mean the States can do whatever they want?
No, the Federal Government does have a say.  Over the history of the country, the US Congress has passed laws and Amendments to the US Constitution that apply to all of the states.  




What are some of the important Amendments related to voting?
These Amendments don't tell the States who is allowed to vote but they do tell the States who can not be denied the right to vote. 

Here are 3 Amendments. 
15th Amendment passed in 1870- says that US citizens can not be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
19th Amendment passed in 1920- says that citizens can not be denied on account of sex.
26th Amendment passed in 1971- says that anyone over the age of 18 can not be denied the right to vote.    

Who do you think Will Win?

Listen to me read this post

Who do you think will win the US Presidential election?  That is the question on a lot of minds lately.  And some people think they know the answer.  How?  Because they asked.

Every day you see headlines claiming one candidate is ahead of the other.  But the votes have not been cast and counted yet so how do they know who will win?  The answer is they take an opinion poll.   They ask a small group of people, "Who would you vote for if the election was held today?"  And from that small group, they can make an educated guess of how the larger group of people will answer.  Of course, it's all very scientific about how they do it and it's usually quite accurate but keep this in mind.  

A poll is based on the day they ask the question.  People's opinions can change.  They can change their minds about who they want to vote for.   That is why you see different answers on different days.  One day the newspapers say Romney is winning and the next day they say Obama is winning.  But remember, until the official election day these numbers don't count.  They don't mean that anyone has won or lost the election yet.  They are simply a way to measure what might happen.  

So, how does that connect with the Electoral Votes that we have been talking about all this week?  I'm glad you asked.  If we take a map of the US and we use the numbers from the opinion polls to color the states blue for the ones that will most likely vote for the Democratic candidate Barack Obama or red for the Republican candidate Mitt Romney we get an idea of how many electoral votes that the candidates can expect so far.   If you want to take a look at one of these maps click on this link for Rand McNally.  So far neither candidate has reached the magic number of 270 electoral votes that are needed to win.   And you will notice that 10 of the states, as of today, are grey.  That means the poll numbers from those states are too close to decide.  

These states in particular are very important to the candidates.   Winning these states can help them reach the number of electoral votes they need to win.  And what's that number again?  That's right 270.  So, the candidates will be spending a lot of time and money in those states and not so much time in the other states.   We call them Battle Ground States because the competition between the 2 candidates is fiercer in those states.  Another name for the grey states is Swing States because the vote swings back and forth between the 2 candidates.  Or they might simply be called Undecided States because the voters have not yet decided who to vote for on election day.

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Twitter and the US Presidential Election

Twitter is changing the way people communicate about important (and not so important) topics.  I just finished watching the US Vice Presidential Debate and twitter is alive with comments.  If you want to join in the conversation or just read some of what people are saying here is a twitter hashtag to use #VPdebate.

Here are some other Hashtags related to the election -

#Debates
#Obama2012
#RomneyRyan2012
#Mitt2012
#TeamJoe
#VPdebate

You can also follow the candidates twitter accounts
@BarackObama
@JoeBiden
@MittRomney
@PaulRyanVP

Tie Breaker Video

Here is a video suggested by Pham Quang Anh.  Thanks for sharing!  This video explains what happens if there is a tie in the Presidential Electoral Votes.  Since there are 538 possible Electoral votes and 538 is an even number that means there could be a tie.  What videos have helped you understand the US better?  Suggest a video and other resources with everyone in the comments.  Thanks again for sharing you make this community a better, smarter place!

Election Day in America

Many times when I give a talk about American Culture someone will ask why do Americans do that?  Most the time the answer is because that's the way we've always done it.  But that's not really a good answer.  

For example, Federal Elections in the US are always held on   the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the month of November.  So that means this year, election day is on November 6.  But why do we vote on a Tuesday and not on a Saturday or a Thursday?  

That's a good question and I did not know the answer until  I watched this video.  Watch it for yourself to find out why.  

Voting

The United States government is often described as government "for the people, by the people."  That means every US citizen gets to say how the government is run.  We do that by picking the people we want to represent us in our own government.  We do that by voting.

But voting is voluntary and not everyone who is eligible actually goes out and votes.  Here is a commercial urging people to vote on election day.

It is from a group called Rock the Vote.

Topic of the Week - Voting

For the next few weeks I will be focusing on the up coming US Presidential Election.  Our first topic will be voting.  Here are the basic requirements for voting in the US:
-You must be a US Citizen
-You must be 18 years of age 
-You must register and meet the requirements of your state

Each State is allowed to set their own rules for how to register to vote, how far in advance you need to vote, and what type of id you need to show as proof when you show up to vote.

Watch this funny video of Homer Simpson trying to vote in the 2008 Presidential election to get an idea of what it's like to vote in the US.  Of course, it's a cartoon so it's meant to be funny and not an exact, true show of what happens when you vote.   Which parts do you think are true and which parts do you think are false and added to be funny?

Homer Simpson Tries to Vote