Monday, October 27, 2008

Presidential Endorsements



By reading two presidential endorsements about Barack Obama and John McCain I think that both of them present a good argument. However the one to have a stronger argument is Obama's endorsement. In Barack Obama's the endorsement is trying to convince the reader of how he can fix the mistakes president Bush had made in the past few years. In McCain's endorsement, the same technique is used but in a less detailed manner. Obama's uses real life situations to prove his point while on the other hand McCain uses less details and mentions repeatedly that he is more experienced then Obama as a leader.
Obama's endorsement, talks about how he wants change for America and he will fix all of the mistakes president Bush has made in the past. Obama focuses on the education of children living in America and he says in one of his speeches that “Government cannot solve all our problems." He has a point when he says that. We have to step up and bring change ourselves too.
He also focuses on the economy. He believes that the American tax structure should be changed. When it comes to foreign affairs Obama does not like the fact that the United States gets involved in them. He also wants to reform the United nations. His endorsement is mainly trying to say that Obama can really bring change in America when compared to McCain. That's because the endorsement is trying to say that McCain will continue what president Bush did in the past years for America. This presents a good argument saying that we need a new not only the first African American but also American to change America.
McCain's argument also provides a good argument. He also wants the best for America as described in his endorsement. It mostly talks about how McCain is more experienced when compared to Obama, so for this reason he can control the United States in a better way. It talks about how he will keep us safe and more secured. Not many details are provided in his endorsement when compared to Obama's endorsement.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

"The Electoral College"

What is the Electoral College?
  • An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular office.
  • Consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the president and the vice president of the united states.
  • This is when the United States citizens vote for electors.
  • Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of its Senators and Representatives.
  • In order to be elected, a candidate must have at least 270 of the electoral votes.

Strengths of the electoral college:

  • The electoral college recognizes a role for the states in electing a president.
  • It encourages more people to campaign.
  • It maintains a federal system of government and representation.
  • Forms stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system.
  • It has easier recounts.
  • I has less motivation for election fraud.

Weaknesses of the electoral college:

  • Direct election is seen as more consistent with democratic principles than the Electoral College system.
  • The electoral college sometimes tends to discourage voter turnout.

I don't think that we should have the electoral college. That is because I think the people should have the power to choose their president. Eve though the people vote and start to think that they are actually choosing the president then their wrong. If there is an electoral college then there is no point of making g people vote.

Friday, October 3, 2008

"Mayor Bloomberg and Term Limits"

I think that if Mayor Bloomberg believes that he can make a difference for the nation after seeking to change the laws which will allow him to, then he should go for it. Also we should look upon his past records and see how he represented New York City. If his reputation has been good enough for the nation from the past to now then I think that we should give him another chance and allow him to seek another term.

Find out the Term Limits for these positions:

- President of the US: Two 4 year terms

- Vice President of the US: The limit is only two terms, however there are no restrictions for how many times a vice president can run.

- US Senate: Unlimited 6 year terms

- US House of Representatives: Unlimited 2 year terms

- Supreme Court Justice: Life time.

- Governor of New York: two terms and three years.

- Governor of California: 4 years and limit of two terms.

- Mayor of Los Angeles: four year term and limited to serving no more than two terms.

- Queens Borough President: Four Year Terms.