Money, coverage remain hurdles to SCHIP passage – Ali V

Summary: Under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), children from low income families who have no health insurance are provided with this insurance. On Thursday, October 25, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress sent a bipartisan bill to President Bush expanding SCHIP to cover an additional 3.9 million children by the year 2012 at an additional cost of $35 billion. Congress proposed to fund this expense through an increased tobacco tax. While Bush and his administration claim to support the expanded coverage, they do not support paying for it through a tobacco tax increase and instead plan to fund the program through spending cuts and new fees from Bush’s budget. Also, Bush wants to place further limitations on state governments in determining who is entitled to receive this government-subsidized insurance. In addition, while previously supporting adult coverage in SCHIP, Bush’s administration is now purposing plans to remove adults from the program.  

Impact on 2008 Election: It can be argued that, aside from the war in Iraq, healthcare is at the forefront of important issues to be addressed by presidential hopefuls for the 2008 election. Therefore, it will be essential for each candidate to personally address this topic and express their positions and plans for funding SCHIP in order to be compelling candidates in the upcoming primary elections.

Focus Question: How important do you believe it should be for the candidates to include this issue as a top priority in their campaign? Do you believe that SCHIP should be funded through an increase in the tobacco tax?

Article Link:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/29/childrens.health.ap/index.html

Gay Rights Activists Criticize Obama – Colleen H.

Summary: The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights organization in the US, has publically denounced Democratic candidate Barack Obama for one of the singers he has chosen to perform in his upcoming gospel concert in Columbia, South Carolina. The singer, Donnie McClurkin, has previously made anti-gay statements, including once saying that homosexuality is a “curse” that is curable with prayer (though McClurkin later claimed he had been misquoted). Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, has asked Obama to cancel McClurkin’s appearance. Obama has not cancelled the singer (who is scheduled to perform tomorrow) and though he has not had a direct statement about the issue, his aides claim that he stands by this statement he made on Monday, October 22: ““I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country.” Obama has also sought to appease the gay community by booking Rev. Andy Sidden to speak at the concert since Sidden is openly homosexual. Though Solmonese claims this is appreciated, Obama is still recieving much criticism from the Human Rights Campaign, along with other gay activists and online bloggers, for keeping McClurkin in his concert and campaign.

Impact on 2008 Election: Obama and fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton are currently in a fierce competition over South Carolina, which will be an important state to win in its January primary. This also will affect Obama’s popularity with the gay population, who have recently said that they believe he is seeking the votes of the black evangelicals over their own (the gospel tour Obama is having is seen as purely for the black evangelicals). Obama and Clinton are also in competition to win the vote of African Americans in general, as they make up approximately half of those voting in the Democratic primary. Still, those who support gay rights do make up a large part of those voting and this will also affect Obama’s standing with this section of the Democrats.

 Focus Question: Is Obama making a mistake by keeping McClurkin as a performer in his gospel concert? Will this hurt his standing for the primary elections?

Article Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/us/politics/25obama.html?ref=politics

Giuliani Exposes Evangelical Rift Over Loyalty to GOP – Will H.

Summary:  Evangelical Christians gathered on October 18th at the Values Voters Summit to try to reach agreement on support of a Republican candidate.  This is a tough decision because Christian conservatives are loathe to support candidate Rudy Giuliani who is pro-choice and pro gay rights.  Evangelists are divided over whether to field a third party candidate if Giuliani wins the nomination.  Such a move would, without a doubt, deliver the Presidency to Hillary Clinton, an enemy to social conservatives.  Giuliani has other strikes against him, such as his three marriages and his support of gun control. The other Republican candidates don’t show much promise.  Fred Thompson has lost some support when he admitted to not attending church and supporting states’ rights to decide on gay marriage.  John McCain is not a friend to Christian conservatives due to his criticism of them in the 2000 election.  Mitt Romney doesn’t garner trust with conservatives having flip-flopped on his earlier support of gay rights and abortion.  Mike Huckabee, the Governor of Arkansas and former Baptist minister would be a good choice for Evangelists; however he does not have enough support and will not win the nomination.   Some Christian leaders will absolutely not vote for anyone who is pro-choice and pro-gay rights but others feel that in the absence of a perfect candidate, they have to support the candidate who will be able to win.    

Impact on 2008 election:  Christian conservatives had a huge impact on the last election and would have to be unified to be able to defeat Hillary Clinton.  Christian conservatives can account for about 12 percent of the population that will be voting for a republican.  However, this 12 percent is now undecided if they can give their vote to a Republican who will have the same beliefs as themselves.  This lack of a definitive person for the Christian conservative means the votes may be split.  This split in the votes would leave a candidate with ten or eight percent instead of the whole twelve.  If the Republicans have a third party candidate, this would spilt the votes even more, leaving the republicans with an even less likely chance to stay in control of the white house.

Focus Question:  Should Giuliani choose a Christian conservative as a running mate in order to win the religious vote?  What else might Giuliani do to secure their support?

Voting Population 

Giuliani Article                                                                        

Generation Q – Brad S.

Summary: NY Times columnist, Thomas Friedman theorizes on the level of political engagement, ambitions, and interests of today’s college student.  His editorial is situated in a political context, describing the “Generation Q” adolescent as idealistic, involved, and digitialized.  When speaking to his daughter, Friedman is struck by her questions about the environment, which led him to challenge all of the political candidates to bring forth a diverse range of issues facing America. 

Impact on the 2008 Election: While no event or specific issue has been targeted in this editorial, the writing of an influential journalist/author may spark conversation in political media outlets, even on the national stage.  The important questions raised about the nature of the youngest voters are profound and controversial. 

Focus Questions: Are Fridman’s depictions of today’s adolescents accurate? What can the college student do to influence the questions and issues raised in the national presidential election?

Generation Q

Generation Q – Letters to the Editor

Thompson’s absence noticed in N.H., Lindsay H.

Summary: Republican candidate Fred Thompson mysteriously cancelled his tour of New Hampshire scheduled for this weekend, leaving voters concerned. Thompson has only been to New Hampshire once after entering the race. Many of the people living in New Hampshire said that they liked Thompson, but didn’t know him or his policies well enough to vote for him. Meanwhile, Barack Obama was stealing Thompson’s publicity by sending his staff door to door in New Hampshire. Following Thompson’s absence, an editorial in the state’s largest newspaper, the New Hampshire Union Leader, suggested that Thompson should talk to fellow candidate John McCain, “who knows a thing or two about winning New Hampshire primaries. You can’t do it if you don’t show up.”

Impact on 2008 Election: Obviously, this is going to hurt Thompson’s campaign. He started later than the other candidates, and now he gave New Hampshire voters a bad impression, although many voters have agreed that he did a good job in the recent debate. This event may have knocked Thompson even lower in the popularity ratings, and is not a good strategy for winning the primaries.

 Focus Question: At this rate, will Thompson be able to rise to the popularity of other Republican candidates?

Article Link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071014/ap_on_el_pr/where_s_fred

John McCain prefers Christian President, Jessica N.

Summary:

During a recent interview, Senator John McCain stated his opinion that he would prefer the next President to be of the Christian Faith. He then went on to say that being of the Christian faith is a necessary “qualification to lead”. During another interview with BeliefNet ( a website that covers religious news),  he was asked his opinion about a Muslim Presidential candidate. He responded by saying that although he believes that a person of any faith would be suitable, that a Christian President would be more suitable because this country was “founded on Christian principles”.  At a later date, McCain was asked his opinion of his Mormon opponent, Mitt Romney. His response was hypocritical to his previous statement that Christianity is a necessary qualification to lead. He said that Romney’s religion would have nothing with whether or not he is a good candidate. During the excitement of all these statements, the American Jewish Committee stated that McCain needs to know that the Democratic ideal of the United States does not pertain to religion whatsoever.

Impact on 2008 Election:

The impact on the 2008 election will be extremely controversial. Minorities have taken offense to the statement made by McCain. Even though religion has no place in the Presidential Election, some people do hold the same belief as McCain. The way that McCain has presented his opinion on religion will cause many voters of the 2008 election to reconsider his credibility. Many citizens of the United States will not want a President who will make or has made anti-Semitic remarks such as McCain’s statement. Even though McCain later said that he did not mean to offend anyone by his statement, people will take offense to it.

Focus Question:

Although religion should not be considered when voting in the 2008 election, it will be considered anyway. Why do you think religion comes to play such a negative role in politics when so many of the citizens of this country are here because they came to find religious tolerance?

Article Link:
McCain: I’d prefer Christian President

Democratic Candidates Announce Formal Withdrawal From Michigan Primary – Sarah P.

Summary: Five of seven democratic presidential nominees have officially withdrawn their names from the Michigan primary set at January 15. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio all announced the move Tuesday, the deadline for filing official paperwork, leaving Clinton and Dodd on the ballot. In an effort to gain more political recognition, Michigan pushed up its primary to mid-January, arguing that Iowa and New Hampshire dominate the race for the primary. However, Michigan and Florida refused to comply with the rules of the DNC which has scheduled the nominating contests to begin on February 5, or Super Duper Tuesday.

Impact on 2008 Election: Since the 2008 election has already started out on a bad note, this “political” setback really only sets the unpropitious impressions of the election process in stone. The five candidates share no single motive regarding their withdrawal; whether they claim it’s on the basis of their allegiance to the DNC or because they want to jump on the bandwagon, the real objective of a later Michigan primary is to extend the election for as long as possible, thus depleting the campaign funds of more “behind the scenes” candidates like Dodd and Richardson. With a smaller collection of Democratic nominees, the better one’s chance becomes of being nominated in the primary as the Democratic presidential nominee. On the other hand, by pulling out of the primary, the five candidates openly show support for the policies of the DNC, which could quite possibly result in more free-flowing recognition. But regardless of any ulterior motives that may be in play, a lengthy primary election and an indecipherable DNC opinion will only be a hindrance to the American people in welcoming a new president by noon on January 20, 2009.

Focus Question: What do you think is the most important motive for these five presidential nominees: the recognition of the DNC or a longer primary?

Article Link:Democrats withdraw from Michigan primary

Obama stops wearing flag pin, Lindsay H.

Summary: Over the past week, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has expressed his view of wearing an American flag pin in many interviews. He says that unlike most politicians, he feels that one should show one’s patriotism through one’s actions and policies, not just by wearing a pin. Obama claims that his ideals and hopes for America speak for themselves more than a pin would. In an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Obama said, “Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq war, [the pin] became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security.” Among Obama’s plans for America are elements such as more benefits for the family’s of the National Guard and Reserve troops, a period of rest before troops are redeployed, and increased mental health services among soldiers.

 Impact on 2008 Election: This could either have a positive effect on Obama’s campaign or a negative effect. People could possibly think that he is not patriotic because he doesn’t wear the pin. This could also make voters think that Obama thinks wearing the pin is above him, especially if they don’t hear the whole story and his plans for the country. It could have a postive effect if people conclude that he is a “real” politician and is apparently supporting plans for the good of Americans. Also, people might be comforted by the fact that it appears that he is being honest, which would be a nice break from the corruption in poltics. The key is for the media to tell the whole story, including what he wants to improve for soldiers, for this to have a positive effect.

 Focus Question: Will Obama’s not wearing the American flag influence the public’s votes?

Article Link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071004/ap_on_el_pr/obama_no_flag_pin_6;_ylt=AphLR4QeBZ8rXfgXcK9r9UXkbeRF