An earlier post discussed Republican success in generating young, exciting political leaders, but several other posts have noted Democratic success in rallying the youth vote. What gives? Why do young people, in general, lean left? This post will attempt to explain the Republican “youth problem.”
Category Archives: Election 2012
Americans Elect and the Failure of Third Party Candidates
Americans Elect, an organization dedicated to raising support for a third party candidate to be nominated online, announced today that, despite its success in getting on the ballot in 29 states, due to low support for its candidates, the organization would not be nominating a candidate to run for President this November. Americans Elect’s failure wasn’t exactly unpredictable. After all, no third party candidate has gained real support since the days of George Wallace. However, Americans Elect was long considered this year’s best shot at creating a credible third party candidate. The failure of the organization to mobilize support raises many questions about the American electoral future.
Biden in the White House
Two days ago, blogger Joe Miller, a staunch Tea Party advocate who ran for Senate in Alaska, argued on his blog that the Obama campaign may be considering “ditching” VP Joe Biden for another individual who would bring increased stability and electoral gains to the 2012 campaign. While Miller’s evidence is pretty loose (he cites only that Biden is no longer invited to Sunday Campaign strategy meetings at the White House and that Obama is increasingly relying on Senator John Kerry for Foreign Policy Advice), his claim is creating ripples in Washington, being referenced notably on the blogs Real Clear Politics and The Hill. While it’s unlikely that the administration will replace Mr. Biden, the story does call for a reassessment of Biden’s role within the White House and his strengths as a politician.
Romney and Bain Capital
Given the amount of discussion generated by my last post regarding Romney’s history as a bully, I decided to continue in the same thread and discuss my views on Romney’s history at Bain Capital. Since the beginning of the primary season, Romney has been lambasted for having worked in what is painted as a particularly destructive form of private equity. I argue that, in contrast to my view on his history as a bully, Romney’s history at Bain Capital should not discredit him in the election.
Romney and Bullying
Last week, news broke about Romney’s history as a bully during his high school days. This post will describe why I’m troubled by the decisions made by Romney more than forty years ago. Continue reading
Does the Youth Vote Matter?
In our initial post, we here at The View from Washington (Park) mentioned that one of our primary purposes in writing this blog was to get our peers involved in politics. We commented that we feared much of our generation was leaning towards becoming apolitical, something that we viewed as disastrous for our future. However, we have yet to talk about why we believe the youth vote is important, or to provide specific suggestions for how young people can become involved in politics. So, without further ado, I’m going to cover the first of those points. Look for a post this coming week to elaborate on the latter.
Obama’s Second Term
In our first-ever blog post, I argued that voting for Obama or for Romney was mostly a vote for the status quo. This post, directed at Obama and Romney supporters alike, will take a more detailed look at the assertion that Obama’s second term would be uneventful. I’ll argue that if Obama wins reelection, the change from the status quo will be relatively modest – I’m not sure Obama will really move us very far “Forward” – but that there are several avenues in which Obama could make some inroads.
Obama’s Gay Marriage Announcement
The Internet was abuzz yesterday with Obama’s announcement that he now supports gay marriage (my favorite: this Tumblr filled with excited GIFs). In this blog post, I’ll take a look at four categories of reactions to Obama’s announcement and provide some commentary on how we here at the View from Washington (Park) feel about Obama’s announcement.
What to Make of Richard Lugar
The year 1976 was a leap year. The USSR still existed, as did West and East Germany. The Washington Metro system had just opened. Jimmy Carter was celebrating victory. And Richard Lugar, a Republican Senator from Indiana, was elected to his first term in the Senate, to a seat he would hold for the next 35 years. Lugar, the longest serving senator in the illustrious history of our neighboring state, lost his bid for the Republican nomination yesterday by a resounding 20% to State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who maintains strong links to the Tea Party. In fact, Mourdock yesterday in an interview with Fox News thanked Tea Party volunteers for helping to get his campaign “to the finish line,” and credited them for his victory. Needless to say, Lugar’s loss has sent reverberations across the political landscape. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts commented that Lugar’s loss was a “tragedy for the Senate,” President Obama issued a statement thanking Lugar for being willing to work across the aisle, and Senator Susanne Collins added that she was “devastated” by the idea of a US Senate without Mr. Lugar. So what has gotten everybody so worked up?
Greatest Hits of the Republican Primary
When we first thought about writing this blog, both Charlie and I believed the majority of our writing would focus on coverage of the Republican primary. Obviously the Political Gods had other ideas, however, as we saw Mitt Romney emerge about a month before the inception of this blog as the all but confirmed nominee. For all of you who were watching through the Republican Primary process though, and are still watching as it drags to its inevitable conclusion, it is clear that there were too many golden moments to simply bypass on this blog. With that in mind, please enjoy the following “Greatest Hits” of the Republican Primary. Note that the quotes below have been selected based on the controversy they caused or the humor that we found in them, and that Mitt Romney is intentionally left off the list of candidates (more attention will be devoted to his Primary season in a later post). Keep reading for the selection of the “Gaffe of the Primary Season”!