Elections Blog

In order to get elected nowadays it takes more than good morals and ideas; what really matters is who has the most money in their campaign and how much publicity they get. In terms of money, a lot is needed in order to run a successful campaign. There are signs, media coverage, public opinion polls and media consultants that need to be taken into consideration and with how technological our society has become, the more that can be spent on news publicity and commercials the better off the politician will be. The majority of the time politicians will spend millions of dollars in order to out shine their opponent. A presidential campaign is of course more expensive than that of a representative or senator. According to the text, in 2004, Kerry and Bush raised nearly $500 million in private contributions during the primary season alone. This goes to show the importance of money in campaigns.
There are many different ways to go about getting money. For example, there are organizations like Political Action Committees (PACs) who are established by corporations, labor unions or interest groups to channel the contributions of their members into political campaigns; raise money and distribute funds. This basically means that there are businesses out there that will essentially sponsor the campaign by donating as much as 5,000 dollars. Also, soft money, money contributed directly to the political parties for voter registration and organization, is used as a way to gain money. This is the safest way to get donations from legitimate donors as opposed to hard money. Hard money is money that is difficult to come by because you have to do fundraisers or just simply ask people to support your campaign. There are minute legal issues that can stem from receiving hard money because you never know where the money is coming from sometimes, which was the case for Jeff Smith in his second election. Without money it is very difficult to run a successful campaign, but second to money is media or a way to get your message across to the public.
Media in itself is important in our society because it is a way to attain information. The number one way for people to hear about the candidates running is by listening to them speak on TV or reading about them online and in the newspapers. The only problem with media is that there is a lot of bias. Media bias is when the opinions and views of those who are giving out the information are shown in the way they deliver the news, and have an influence on those receiving that news. If a news reporter is a Democrat, than it is likely that those views will come across in the way he presents or talks about the Republican candidate; and also the reporter will show favor to the party he/she associates with. Without media it is almost impossible for a candidate to be recognized as a serious contender because that is the main way for the candidate’s political ideas to be shared; they just run the risk of not being properly compared to the opponent due to bias. Another the way the media is used is slander. In an average campaign today a lot of times you won’t see what a candidate will do for the people, but what his opponent WON’T do. It is sickening sometimes to see the amount of malicious intent that is put into the commercials as a way to ruin the reputation of another candidate; especially when the money that went into that slander could be used in a more beneficial way. The way media is used today actually can make people shy away from involving themselves in the voting process. This is one of the many reasons voter turnout has gone down.
Voter turnout is the amount eligible voters who actually turnout to vote. People have become so consumed in their daily lives that they do not take the time out to follow politics, and as a result less people are represented in the outcome of the election. According to our text the majority of the voters are white employed college graduate males. This hasn’t really changed since our democracy was set up years ago. Although more groups are voting their turnout is less than that majority group. A big problem with this is that many groups do not feel represented enough, the Latinos for example. The text says that “one factor is America’s large population of immigrants who have not learned the ins and outs of democratic politics. The Latino community, for example, has not been fully integrated into American political process”. If a group does not feel equally treated or represented they are less likely to take part in the process.
In all, there are a lot of flaws when it comes to elections today that have taken away from what it really means to have a democracy. Money and media have become the forefront of elections and not so much the actual beliefs and ideals. there are groups that are under represented and people that do not feel conencted to politics therefore they do not vote. A democracy is suppsoed to be all about the people and once the people are gone there is nothing left. I believe that people should not vote if they are not properly informed and aren't 100% about their decision so it is the responsibility of both the canidates and the people. The canidates should inform and the people should take the time to be informed, that is a way a proper government should work.

Civil Liberties Test

The rights granted to the citizens of America are heavily cherished because once a case is brought to court those rights become very vital in the overall outcome. This stands true in the case of Gideon v. Wainright. Gideon was charged with a felony for breaking and entering. He was unable to afford lawyer to defend him in his case and when he requested the court to appoint an attorney for him, the court refused. Gideon defended himself in the trial and was convicted by a jury, sentenced to five years in a state prison. In this specific case Gideon’s 6th amendment right was violated. The 6th amendment states that one has the right to a fair trial which includes being represented by an attorney. In any situation, if the defendant is unable to afford his own attorney then the court is to provide him with one. If he had an attorney that could rightfully defend him then the results of his case could have been much different. Average people do not have the skills it takes to defend themselves against a well trained attorney, which is why a trial is not fair unless both sides are represented. Seeing that Gideon was not granted his rights the Supreme Court jury overruled the previous punishment because of his violated rights and Gideon was able to have a retrial. While adults are protected under the rights listed in the Constitution, so are school students. But when it comes to school cases, there are other factors. While in school, students are under the supervision of the authority figures; this is referred to as “in loco parentis”. Therefore, it is their responsibility to look out for the students as if they were their own children. They have to look out for what is best for everyone and make sure everyone feels safe and respected. In the case of Veronia School District v. Acton an official investigation led to the discovery that high school athletes in the Vernonia School District participated in illicit drug use. School officials were concerned that drug use would increase the risk of sports-related injury. This lead the school to adopt the Student Athlete Drug Policy which allows student athletes to be randomly drug tested. James Acton was denied participation in his school's football program when he and his parents refused to consent to the testing. In a case like this one, the school had every right to enforce a drug testing policy because it protects the well being of the students while they are participating in a school event. Not only are drugs dangerous, but they are also illegal making it okay that the school gives consequences for the behavior. Acton thought that his right to illegal search and seizure was being infringed upon, but in reality the school had every right to test him because he was involved in a school activity. Like I stated before, while students are under the supervision of the school they are to be kept safe; and so, the fourth amendment was not violated in the Veronia School District v. Acton case. Another issue dealing with rights in the school was the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case. In this case students participating in a school newspaper felt their 1st amendment rights to freedom of speech and press were being violated when to of the articles were denied publishing. While in a school setting, it is the school’s responsibility to make sure everyone is treated fairly and feels safe. If something is published in the school newspaper that could possibly offend or embarrass another student in the school, then it is the school’s job to protect that student. Also in school, students are just learning to ins and outs of publishing so there are still limits to what they are able to do. In an out of school setting, journalists are able to publish more freely because it is not their concern to look out for the feelings of the millions of people that come in contact with their articles. There is no way to please everyone in a non-school related publishing. Kuhlmeier may have felt that her right to free speech and press were being taken from her, but given the circumstances she was not able to publish the articles due to how it could affect others. If she were to start an underground paper it would be a different story because it is in now way connected to the school; therefore, the school can not decide what is being published. Because she was writing for a school newspaper, the jury ruled against her when she brought the case to court. Similar to the previous case, the case of Bethel v. Fraser dealt with a student’s right to freedom of speech. During an assembly, Fraser delivered a highly inappropriate speech to a crowd of 600 students. Fraser’s sexually explicit speech made the underclass students and parents of the underclassmen very uncomfortable because they felt their kids were to young to be subjected to such language. Seeing that it caused such an uproar, the school had to act. Bethel High School enforced a rule prohibiting conduct which "substantially interferes with the educational process . . . including the use of obscene, profane language or gestures”. They had every right to enforce this rule because once again, since the students were in a school setting it was the administration job to look out for them. Fraser’s right to free speech was not being taken away, he was just being punished for his innapropriate behavior in an academic atmosphere.