Hillary clinton https://www.morningsidecenter.org/ en About Those Conventions... https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/about-those-conventions <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>About Those Conventions...</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To the teacher:<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>This political season has generated extraordinary attention to the actual process by which presidential candidates are chosen.&nbsp; The made-for-the-media candidacy of Donald Trump and the unexpected popularity of Bernie Sanders contributed to a high level of interest for everyone--but especially among young people.</p> <p>Both the Democratic and Republican nomination processes underwent widespread examination and criticism as anti-establishment forces fought for control of their respective parties. Republicans made several last-ditch efforts to thwart the nomination of Donald Trump--the clear winner of the party's primary contest. In the Democratic Party, the role of unelected superdelegates and the Democratic National Committee’s favoritism toward Hillary Clinton led to anger among Sanders supporters.</p> <p>Leading up to the conventions, many questions were raised:</p> <ul> <li>Who makes the rules and can they be changed?</li> <li>Is it possible for someone other than the winner of the primaries to win the nomination? What would have to happen?</li> <li>Are superdelegates anti-democratic? Should they be eliminated?</li> <li>Should the party platforms reflect the views of the nominee?</li> <li>Will the factions unite sufficiently to win the election?</li> <li>Is either party facing an actual split?</li> </ul> <p>The goal of this lesson is to clarify the role of the conventions in the election process so that &nbsp;students can better understand the political maneuvering&nbsp; underneath the headlines and appreciate the historic nature of the 2016 election.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> <br> A Brief Quiz<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask students if they watched the Republican and Democratic conventions this summer. &nbsp;What’s one word they would use to describe the Republican convention July 18-20?&nbsp; How about the Democratic convention&nbsp; a week later?</p> <p>Ask them to take this brief quiz on the convention of &nbsp;"conventions."</p> <p>1. How are candidates nominated for the presidency by the two major political parties?<br> a) now it's by email<br> b) by delegates elected at state primaries and caucuses<br> c) a survey mailed to all eligible voters</p> <p>2. What happens at the national conventions?<br> a) speeches by former elected officials<br> b) official nomination process<br> c) the candidates' spouses and children talk about him/her<br> d) the Pope addresses the nation<br> e) average Americans with compelling stories praise the candidate</p> <p>3. What is a party platform?<br> a) a stage for speakers<br> b) where the important party leaders sit<br> c) the Party's policy positions<br> d) the Democrats' or Republicans' computer environment<br> e) not applicable</p> <p>4. What do Reince Priebus and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have in common?<br> a) They both won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor or Actress<br> b) They both ran for their party's nomination and lost<br> c) They were both fired by Donald Trump on "The Apprentice"<br> d) They were leaders of their party</p> <p>5. Which word or words do not belong with the phrase "Party Establishment"<br> a) Feel the Bern<br> b) super PACs<br> c) super delegates<br> d) "invisible primary"<br> e) RNC</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Student Reading 1:<br> About Conventions</h4> <p><br> Have the students read the following descriptions of the broad history and anatomy of the major party conventions.</p> <p><strong>What are the conventions for?</strong></p> <p>Political conventions are large meetings held by political parties to choose candidates to run for office. National conventions are held every four years to determine the parties' candidates for president. Both the major parties—Democratic and Republican—and the smaller third parties hold conventions in the months preceding the presidential elections. Though the outcome of the convention is almost always decided before the convention actually begins, the level of unity, the political positions adopted by the party, and the speakers and speeches on display to the nation sometimes make the conventions an important piece of the election process.</p> <p><strong>How did they begin?</strong></p> <p>The first national nominating conventions were held for the 1832 presidential elections. Before then, caucuses of party leaders—usually members of Congress—met privately and decided the candidates. Though the conventions brought a more open nominating process, the decisions were still being made by a small number of party leaders. Delegates were mostly chosen by party bosses and maintained their loyalty on the basis of patronage--government jobs in return for the right vote. By the late 1800s states began to institute party primaries, which gave voters the power to decide the party nominees. But it was still possible as late as 1968 to win the nomination without entering a single primary. Since then, delegates to both major parties are chosen in state primaries and caucuses, and the conventions merely make the nominations official.</p> <p><strong>What is a smoke-filled room?</strong></p> <p>In 1920, the Republican Party met in Chicago to decide their presidential nominee. Among the leading candidates, none could win a majority of the delegates. After four unsuccessful ballots, the convention adjourned and delegates met overnight in several private meetings to try and break the deadlock. At 5am, reporter Kirke Simpson filed a story which stated "Harding of Ohio was chosen by a group of men in a smoke-filled room early today as Republican candidate for President." Senator Warren G. Harding won the nomination and went on to win the election. "Smoke-filled room" went on to mean a group of influential power brokers meeting in secret to make important political decisions. (Warren G. Harding usually appears on lists of the worst presidents in history.)</p> <p><strong>How do they work?</strong></p> <p>Each party determines their own rules for how the convention operates. The national party assigns a specific number of delegates to each state—based on the population of the state and the size/winning power of the state's party membership. Each state party has its own set of rules for how the delegates are chosen.</p> <p>The conventions are four days, with the daytime agenda devoted to meetings, rallies, and speeches and entertainment from lesser-known figures. Evenings are given to nationally known speakers and celebrities—always with an eye toward the television audience.&nbsp; The formal nomination is decided by a state-by-state roll call vote. The presidential and vice-presidential nominees give their acceptance speeches on the last evening.</p> <p>During the course of the convention, committees meet to hammer out the party's official positions on national issues. (The individual issues are called "planks," and the set of political positions is called the party "platform.") In both parties, these meetings tend to be contentious affairs, with party factions arguing for different priorities and wording.</p> <p><strong>The national committees</strong></p> <p>The parties are governed by a national committee comprised of hundreds of party leaders from across the country. The national committees promote their party's candidates and political positions, raise money, and establish rules for the nominating primaries and caucuses. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) represent the "establishment," both in the parties and in the nation as a whole. They generally locate themselves somewhere in the center of the party's ideological spectrum, are resistant to radical change, and control access to the big money contributors.</p> <p>The Democratic National Committee is made up of the chairs and vice-chairs of all the state committees, all Democratic governors and elected members of Congress, some former high officials, &nbsp;and others elected by state committees and appointed by the chair—almost 450 people in all. The DNC is supposed to remain neutral in the nominating process according to DNC rules:</p> <p class="rteindent1">"The Chairperson shall be responsible for ensuring that the national officers and staff of the Democratic National Committee maintain impartiality and even-handedness during the Democratic Party Presidential nominating process."</p> <p><strong>This year’s DNC controversy ...</strong></p> <p>During the current electoral season, Bernie Sanders ran a presidential campaign that was explicitly anti-establishment. One of the obstacles his outsider initiative faced was the early endorsement of Hillary Clinton by the Party's "superdelegates." Superdelegates are the 716 members of the nominating convention who gain their voting status through their relationship to the Democratic Party rather than through votes in the primaries and caucuses. The system of superdelegates was introduced after the 1972 election for just such an occasion—to prevent the party from nominating the "wrong" person. &nbsp;Whereas convention delegates&nbsp; who earn admittance to the convention through their state's primary results are pledged to support their candidate, the "super" delegates may vote for any candidate. All members of the DNC are superdelegates.</p> <p>The allegations of bias turned out to be true. Just before the 2016 Convention, the Wikileaks website released documents hacked from the DNC. They revealed that throughout the entire primary season, the DNC was maneuvering to sidetrack the Sanders insurgency. The chair of the Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign.</p> <p><strong>And RNC controversy</strong></p> <p>The RNC consists of three representatives from each state party—the chairperson, national committeewoman and national committeeman. The current chair, Reince Priebus, is the longest-serving chair in RNC history. Throughout the 2016 primaries, Priebus performed a delicate balancing act in maintaining impartiality in the face of a candidacy that many in the Republican establishment opposed. In a July 21 piece in Politico, Eli Stokols gives a detailed account of just how difficult it has been for Priebus (and the RNC) to manage its relationship to the Donald Trump campaign and his ultimate decision to support Trump:</p> <p class="rteindent1">But Trump’s unexpected rise last fall presented Priebus with a choice: continue to fight for the vision of the more modern, inclusive GOP he had laid out three years earlier or finish out his third and likely final term as, in the <a href="https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/753626586348421120" target="_blank">words</a> of Bill Kristol, an "obedient, compliant apparatchik willing to subordinate a grand old party to a new strongman."</p> <p class="rteindent1">Priebus chose to stay to aid and coach a candidate who may undermine the very things he has dedicated his tenure to improving. He has staked his reputation on Trump. To some extent, the tenuous unity visible at the Republican National Convention this week may be due to Priebus’ peacemaking efforts. And Trump’s near total dependence on much of what Priebus has built has made the RNC itself more vital than ever to Republican success in November. But in bending over backward to appease Trump in an effort to make sure the GOP didn’t crack up, the man who worked to strengthen the party has become a symbol of its weakness.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Discussion Questions:</h4> <p><br> 1. There is usually no suspense about who the major party nominees will be, and network television generally broadcasts only a few hours of the nominating conventions. &nbsp;If you were making decisions about broadcast coverage of the conventions, which of the following would you choose? Why?</p> <p style="margin-left:.25in;">a) &nbsp;the acceptance speeches<br> b) &nbsp;celebrity endorsements<br> c) &nbsp;platform committee discussions<br> d) &nbsp;personal endorsements by everyday people<br> e) &nbsp;speeches by elected officials<br> f) &nbsp; brain surgery demonstrations<br> g) &nbsp;speeches by family members of the nominees<br> h) &nbsp;the roll call vote<br> i) &nbsp; singers, comedians and other entertainers<br> j) &nbsp; all of it<br> k) &nbsp;none of it</p> <p>2. The DNC and RNC, which operate as private clubs, decide the rules under which presidential candidates are chosen. Is this good for democracy? Is there a better way?</p> <p>3. Senator Robert LaFollette, who ran for president in 1924, defined voting rights as "the sovereign right that each citizen shall for himself exercise his choice by direct vote, without the intervention or interference of any political agency." &nbsp; What does the quotation mean and how close are presidential nominations to his ideal?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>Student Reading 2:<br> The 2016 Conventions</h4> <h4><br> Drama at the 2016 Republican Convention</h4> <p>On July 18, 2016, 2472 delegates assembled in Cleveland to begin the Republican Convention. Donald Trump went into the Convention with 300 more delegates than he needed to win the nomination. Despite Trump's apparent winning majority, the Convention began with a high level of drama. Many of the delegates who were not supporters of Trump continued their efforts to block his nomination - or at the very least, to make it difficult for an "outsider" to capture the party in the future. These efforts to change the nominating rules at the Convention were as futile as the "Never Trump" efforts before the Convention.</p> <p>Though the Republican National Committee was supporting the candidate, the Republican establishment was highly divided on how much support to give or, for some, whether to endorse Trump at all. Many of the party's top names refused to endorse Trump or even attend the convention. They object to his anti-Muslim rhetoric, anti-immigrant stances, attacks on the judiciary, attacks on fellow Republicans, erratic statements on foreign policy, intemperate manner, and incoherence generally.</p> <p class="rteindent1">"I don't want to see trickle-down racism."&nbsp;<br> -2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney</p> <p class="rteindent1">"He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for."<br> - Senator &nbsp;Lindsey Graham</p> <p class="rteindent1">"If we shrug at public dishonesty ?— ?if we normalize candidates who think that grabbing power makes it OK to say whatever they need to in the short-term ?—? then we will be changed by it."<br> - Sen. Ben Sasse (condemning both Clinton and Trump)</p> <p class="rteindent1">"No. I've got to mow my lawn."<br> - Sen. Jeff Flake on whether he's attending GOP convention.</p> <p class="rteindent1">"Trump’s abrasive, know nothing-like nativist rhetoric has blocked out sober discourse about how to tackle America’s big challenges."<br> -Gov. Jeb Bush</p> <p>With the two living Republican ex-presidents and&nbsp; dozens of elected officials boycotting the convention, and many others offering only tepid support, there were few really big names among the speakers. Perhaps the most illustrious speaker was Trump's nomination rival, Sen. Ted Cruz. But Cruz, incredibly, did not endorse the nominee. Instead, he urged voters to "Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution." Cruz was booed off the stage.</p> <p>Republican senators, governors and representatives as well as entertainers, business people, religious leaders and members of the Trump family. Some of the speaker highlights include:</p> <ul> <li>Chris Christie: The New Jersey governor led the crowd through a trial of Hillary Clinton for a litany of "crimes," with the audience enthusiastically yelling, "Guilty!" for each charge.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Ben Carson: Trump’s former rival for the nomination spoke of the connection between Clinton and Lucifer (the Devil).<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Melania Trump (Donald Trump's wife): What was intended to be an important introductory speech by the next First Lady turned into an embarrassing fiasco when it became apparent that parts of the speech were copied virtually word for word from Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Paul Ryan (Speaker of the House of Representatives):&nbsp; The speech by the most powerful Republican in the country urged support for the Republican ticket without offering any praise for the Republican nominee.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Republican Platform</strong></p> <p>The fight for the Party position on controversial political issues was not so much a battle between the establishment and Trump, as between moderates and extremists. On nearly every issue, the most conservative stance won out. This was true even when (as in the case of LGBT rights) Donald Trump's own positions were more moderate.</p> <p>Planks in the platform include:</p> <ul> <li>Opting out of all climate change agreements</li> <li>Privatizing the health insurance for older citizens--Medicare</li> <li>No amnesty for undocumented immigrants</li> <li>Building a wall along the entire Mexican border</li> <li>Supporting abstinence-only birth control programs in schools</li> <li>Supporting expansion of the death penalty</li> <li>Eliminating federal student loans</li> <li>Supporting a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion</li> <li>Opposing all campaign finance laws</li> <li>Protecting businesses that want to discriminate against LGBT customers</li> <li>Opposing regulations on the environment and in banking/finance</li> <li>Encouraging the teach of the Bible in public schools</li> <li>Ensuring that "man-made law be consistent with God-given, natural rights"</li> <li>Supporting oil exploration on public lands, fracking and coal ("an abundant, clean,affordable,&nbsp; reliable&nbsp; domestic energy&nbsp; resource")<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <h4><br> Drama at the Democratic Party Convention<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>The Democratic Convention was held in Philadelphia from July 25-28, 2016. As with the Republican Convention, the final results were clear from the beginning. Hillary Clinton had the support of almost 60% of the delegates.</p> <p>The release of documents showing the DNC's anti-Sanders bias just before the convention served to further alienate the many Sanders delegates who were already reluctant to support Clinton. The Sanders forces brought their fight to the platform committee, convention floor and to the streets outside the convention. They continued their protests even after Sanders formally endorsed the front-runner. The&nbsp; Sanders supporters clashed with Clinton on many issues, including global trade agreements, climate change, reining in Wall Street, and healthcare.</p> <p>These issues were hard fought in the platform committee. The Sanders delegates did win on some issues:</p> <ul> <li>support for a $15 minimum wage</li> <li>support for a financial transaction tax on Wall St. trades</li> <li>abolition of the death penalty</li> </ul> <p>And lost on others:</p> <ul> <li>the platform will not include opposition to the TPP trade deal (the number one issue for the Sanders campaign)</li> <li>the anti-fracking plank failed</li> <li>no tax on carbon emissions</li> <li>no endorsement of a single payer health plan</li> <li>no mention of the Israeli occupation of Palestine</li> </ul> <p>Bernie Sanders endorsed Clinton on the first night of the convention. It was a move that all his supporters knew was coming, but one that many opposed. The opposition to Hillary Clinton and the anger toward the Party establishment fueled protest throughout the convention—from the chants of "Bernie!, Bernie!" and "No TPP!" to the walkouts, to the demonstrations in the streets outside.</p> <p>The speaker whose talk got the most media attention was Khizr Khan, whose son Humayun was an Army captain killed in Iraq. Khan, a Muslim, delivered a scathing reproach to the Republican nominee and offered Trump a copy of the U.S. Constitution, asking Trump if he'd ever read it. He went on to ask Trump: "Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing. And no one."</p> <p>Donald Trump spent the following week attacking Khan in tweets, speeches, and interviews. In&nbsp; reply to Khan's withering indictment of lack of sacrifices, Trump explained: "I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot."</p> <p>Other notable speeches at the Democratic convention included:</p> <p>Barack Obama:&nbsp; The president excited the audience with a speech that emphasized optimism for the country, enthusiasm for the candidate and scorn for the Republican candidate.</p> <p>Michelle Obama:&nbsp; In a compelling speech, Obama spoke of the progress the country has made, noting that her own children living in the White House as an example--and praised the nominee as a champion of children everywhere.</p> <p>Bill Clinton: Clinton gave a personal speech, seeking to humanize a candidate whose manner is sometimes perceived as less than personable.</p> <p>Rev. William Barber (leader of the North Carolina NAACP)--Barber gave a fiery speech exhorting people to stand up and join the struggle for social justice. In reaction to forces that are intent on stopping "the heart of our democracy," Rev. Barber said "We are being called, like our mothers and fathers, to be the moral defibrillators of our time."<br> <br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> The Vice Presidents</h4> <p><br> Both parties nominated safe, establishment-approved candidates for vice-president. Under pressure from the RNC, Donald Trump agreed to run with Indiana governor Mike Pence. Pence is a stalwart conservative who has served in Congress and as governor. He is best known nationally for his defense of Indiana's law extending legal protection to businesses which choose not to provide service to same-sex weddings.</p> <p>The Democrats nominated Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Sen. Kaine, also former governor of Virginia, is a political moderate from a swing state who speaks Spanish fluently. He was not favored by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party because of his support for the TPP trade deal, (anti-labor) "right-to-work" legislation and opposition to strict banking regulation.</p> <h4><br> The Grass Roots</h4> <p><br> Watching a political convention is a passive activity.&nbsp; But what happens at conventions is very much determined by the ongoing activism (or lack of activism) in the years before and after.</p> <p>Trump’s nomination was fueled by anti-establishment forces and grassroots groups on the right. Activist organizing by gun clubs, volunteer border patrols, "pro-life" activist groups, conservative evangelical churches, property rights and general anti-big government groups, and Tea Party organizations around the country largely determined the Republican Party’s anti-immigrant, anti-abortion, pro-gun platform.&nbsp; Perhaps because of Donald Trump’s erratic statements and inconsistent ideology, not all of the grassroots groups have joined the campaign. However, lacking a powerful campaign organization, the Trump campaign will be depending heavily on single issue grassroots groups.</p> <p>The Bernie Sanders campaign too benefited from&nbsp; a movement that to challenge the status quo. The "political revolution" that Sanders championed reflected widespread activism over the past few years by grassroots organizations working to close the ever-widening gap between the super-wealthy and everyone else. Their activism helped give rise to the unprecedented level of support for a candidate who describes himself as a "democratic socialist." Hundreds of local organizations advocating for the homeless, working on environmental justice, national health care and LGBT issues joined the campaign. National organizations like Fight for 15, National Nurses United, Occupy Wall Street, MoveOn, and Peace Action formally endorsed the candidate. In American politics, presidential campaigns provide a convenient vehicle for easy participation in the political process, but it's the grass roots organizations that carry on the fights every day of the year.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Discussion&nbsp;</h4> <p><br> 1. Given the party divisions that were apparent at the conventions, what is the future of the Democratic Party if...</p> <p class="rteindent1">a) Hillary Clinton wins by a large margin.</p> <ul class="rteindent1"> <li>&nbsp;Will the Party establishment be in a better position to ignore the progressive/Sanders wing of the Party?</li> <li>&nbsp;Will Sanders supporters create an alternative party?</li> <li>&nbsp;Will Clinton feel free to push a progressive agenda?</li> </ul> <p class="rteindent1">&nbsp;b) Donald Trump wins the election</p> <ul class="rteindent1"> <li>Will the Republican Party establishment begin to build an alternative party?</li> <li>Will large sectors of the Party move to the Democrats?</li> </ul> <p><br> 2. In an <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33980-bernie-sanders-and-the-limits-of-electoral-politics">article</a> examining the Sanders political revolution early in the campaign, Michael Corcoran notes the usual sad state of presidential elections:</p> <p class="rteindent1">&nbsp;Organizers work tirelessly year-round in trying to raise consciousness and fight for social justice. But every four years, the country gets consumed and distracted by the presidential election - or what Noam Chomsky&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laMs3iFRP80" target="_blank">calls</a> "a public relations extravaganza that only marginally deals with issues."</p> <p>Do you agree? Will the 2016 electoral campaign be different?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4>Activity: &nbsp;Examine the platform</h4> <p><br> Have the class look at the platform comparison&nbsp;available from http://www.votekentucky.us/Dem%20and%20Repub%20Platform%20comparison.pdf (PDF no longer available).</p> <p>Ask students to choose one issue (e.g. abortion, marriage issues, crime and punishment, etc) to examine in detail. Read the relevant sections in the original document.</p> <ul> <li>What does the platform language actually mean?</li> <li>How do the positions differ?</li> <li>Do they call for a specific action or just state a general policy?</li> <li>Do a reality check: Is the plank more of a "wish list" position to appease a faction of the Party, &nbsp; or can the policy be enacted in the real world?</li> <li>Assuming the final platform is a compromise between competing factions of the parties, imagine the starting positions for the Sanders and DNC, and Trump and RNC delegates on the platform committee.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Sources<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/9637980/Thompson_Primary.pdf?sequence=2">https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/9637980/Thompson_Primary.pdf?sequence=2</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html?_r=0</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/2016-gop-convention-reince-priebus-donald-trump-214078">http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/2016-gop-convention-reince-priebus-donald-trump-214078</a></p> <p><a href="https://prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL%5b1%5d-ben_1468872234.pdf">https://prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf</a></p> <p>https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Democratic-Party-Platform-7.21.16-no-lines.pdf (no longer active)</p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/us/politics/republican-convention-issues.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/us/politics/republican-convention-issues.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/tim-kaine-has-a-troubling-record-on-labor-issues/">https://www.thenation.com/article/tim-kaine-has-a-troubling-record-on-labor-issues/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33980-bernie-sanders-and-the-limits-of-electoral-politics">http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33980-bernie-sanders-and-the-limits-of-electoral-politics</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-08-16T09:17:43-04:00" title="Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - 09:17">August 16, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:17:43 +0000 fionta 385 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org The Significance of Electing Women https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/significance-electing-women <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>The Significance of Electing Women</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To The Teacher:</h4> <p><br> Hillary Clinton stands on the brink of becoming the country's first female president. If Clinton secures the Democratic Party nomination and wins the general election, her victory would mark a significant moment for a country that less than 100 years ago did not even allow women to vote.</p> <p>This lesson is divided into two readings designed to have students think critically about the prospect of America electing its first woman president. The first reading provides a historical survey of women leaders in modern world politics. The second reading considers the significance of a potential Hillary Clinton presidency and weighs the debates surrounding the importance of electing a woman to the White House. Questions for discussion follow each reading.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Reading 1:<br> Why does the U.S. lag in electing women leaders?</h4> <p><br> As the leading Democratic Party candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton stands on the brink of becoming the country's first female president. If she secures the Democratic nomination at the party’s convention in late July and goes on to win the general election, her victory would mark a significant moment for a country that less than 100 years ago did not even allow women to vote.</p> <p>The United States lags behind numerous nations around the world, which long ago elected women as heads of state and government. Presently, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, and Taiwan all have either a female head of state or head of government. In a June 7, 2016, article, for the <em><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-women-leaders-0607-snap-story.html">Los Angeles Times</a>, </em>reporter Ann Simmons details the extent to which the United States has lagged behind the rest of the world:</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">Hillary Clinton is set to make history as&nbsp;the first woman to be a&nbsp;presidential nominee for a major U.S. political party and potentially becoming the country’s&nbsp;first female commander in chief.</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">But the glass ceiling to a nation’s top office was long ago shattered in several countries around the world, including some with nascent democracies.</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">"The fact that these countries have democracies that are less established may make it easier for someone outside of the conventional political norms to get elected," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. The United States&nbsp;"has had two centuries to develop old-boy networks, the results of which are walls that are less easy to scale. New democracies have had less time to build such walls."</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">India has had the longest stretches with a woman in power, according to the Pew Research Center.&nbsp;Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and later President Pratibha Patil served a combined 21 of the last 51 years.&nbsp;In Europe, the Nordic countries stand out in terms of electing women to their nation’s top political office, according to Pew data, barring Sweden, where a woman has never headed the government.</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">There are currently 18 female world leaders, including 12 heads of government and 11 elected heads of state, according to the United Nations&nbsp;(some leaders are both, and figurehead monarchs are not included).</p> <p>Hillary Clinton is already the most successful woman presidential candidate in U.S. history. However, as Julia Manchester writes in a June 10, 2016, article for <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/09/politics/hillary-clinton-women-presidential-candidates/)">CNN.com</a>, she is far from the first woman to seek the office. While women have only had the right to vote in the United States since 1920, they were running for president nearly 50 years before. Manchester wrote:</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">While Clinton and her predecessors faced similar gender barriers in the politics, the nation's earliest female politicians had an additional obstacle to overcome.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">"You know they were running before women had the right to vote," said Debbie Walsh, the director of the Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics. "Susan B. Anthony in the late 1800s would try to go to vote and she was jailed. So these women faced scorn and ridicule for running ... If you look at cartoons from that period, they were mocked."</p> <p>Here are some of the women who have sought the presidency:</p> <ul> <li>Victoria Claflin Woodhull, of the Equal Rights Party, was the first woman to run for president; she ran in 1872. Woodhull went on to become the first woman to own a Wall Street investment firm.</li> <li>Belva Ann Lockwood ran for president on the Equal Right's party ticket in 1884 and 1888. She later became the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court.</li> <li>In 1964, Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican, became the first woman to seek the nomination of a major political party. She lost the GOP nomination to Barry Goldwater, but did serve in the U.S. House and Senate.</li> <li>In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress. In 1972, she became the first woman ever to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination - and the first major party Black candidate for president.&nbsp; Her campaign slogan was ‘unbought and unbossed."&nbsp; Although Chisholm ran in most of the nation’s primaries, she lost the nomination to George McGovern. &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Why has it taken so long for a woman to come as close to the presidency as Clinton has? According to Zack Beauchamp of <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/6/9/11884430/hillary-clinton-global-woman-president">Vox.com</a>, both structural factors and voter perceptions have hurt the chances of female candidates. As Beauchamp writes in a June 9, 2016 article:</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">A handful of women have won presidential elections — Brazil's current president, Dilma Rousseff, is one.... So it's not that gendered stereotypes make it impossible for a woman to win a presidential election; it's just a lot harder.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">A number of factors in the U.S. make it harder still.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">For one thing, the U.S. has an unusually low number of women in its federal legislature. Data from the&nbsp;Inter-Parliamentary Union&nbsp;finds that an average legislature is 22.7 percent female; the U.S. Congress is 19.4 percent female, ranking a dismal 97th in the world when it comes to women's representation. A smaller female legislative bench means fewer women are likely to run for president.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Another important factor, somewhat strangely, is the stability of the American political system. Historically, women are more likely to take over executive positions in countries that have recently experienced or are currently undergoing fundamental crises.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">"19 percent of women came to power after a period of political transition, 45 percent came to power in countries with a recent history of instability, and 33 percent after a military takeover," University of Texas Austin's Pamela Paxton and University of Pittsburgh's Melanie Hughes write in their book&nbsp;<em>Women, Politics, and Power</em>....</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">The American political system is famously stable, with 227 years of democracy under the same Constitution. So here, would-be women presidents don't really benefit from crisis effects.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Finally, America's unique military might works against women candidates. The United States boasts the most fearsome military in human history. And voters think about electing a president in terms of electing a "commander in chief" with their "finger on the nuclear button."</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">These are, of course, highly gendered ideas: Leading troops into combat is stereotypically the most masculine of all masculine pursuits. People tend to envision a man in charge of the U.S. military, creating another implicit barrier to a woman being elected...</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>For Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the reading, some women were running for president before they even had the right to vote. Why do you think they might have pursued this strategy?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Zach Beauchamp asserts that voters think about electing a president in terms of electing a "commander in chief" with their "finger on the nuclear button," and that "people tend to envision a man" playing this role, creating a barrier to electing a woman president." Do you agree that these sexist stereotypes and biases are still commonly held today?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Have you encountered people who have biases against voting for a woman for president? What arguments did they make? How did you respond?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4>Reading 2:<br> Does the President's Gender Matter?</h4> <p><br> The possibility of Hillary Clinton's victory has opened a debate about how much it matters to have a woman president. Some argue that the election of a woman to the highest office in the country would be a victory for women, regardless of the political policies she advances. Others contend that the actual positions a president takes are more important than her gender, and that even female politicians can support policies that hurt other women.</p> <p>In a June 7, 2016 article for <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/6/7/11879746/hillary-clinton-first-woman">Vox.com</a>, Matthew Yglesias discusses how electing a woman president would have a lasting impact. Yglesias writes:<br> &nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">[T]here is clear and convincing evidence that [electing a woman president] does matter. Enormously. In the aggregate, women&nbsp;do&nbsp;govern differently than men, even when you control for partisan affiliation and the ideological composition of the election. But there aren't many women in the governing class. More than 80 percent of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives are men, as are&nbsp;just over 75 percent of state legislators&nbsp;and 88 percent of governors.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Electing Clinton would be a break from that pattern, but it would also drive further breaks. Studies show that when women achieve high office, female advancement in politics "trickles down," with a woman governor or senator inspiring a downstream boost in women state legislators. These victories would themselves carry important symbolic value, but beyond that they would generate concrete changes in the governance of the country — including more attention to issues related to child care, family life, women's health, and the needs of the neediest....</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Tali Mendelberg, Christopher Karpowitz, and Nicholas Goedert show that "when women are many, they are more likely to voice women’s distinctive concerns about children, family, the poor and the needy." What's more, when women are more numerous and therefore more vocal on these topics,&nbsp;men become more vocal too,&nbsp;and "these effects are associated with more generosity to the poor."...</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Women lead different lives than men, and would consequently govern differently if more of them were in office. And the evidence strongly suggests that electing women to high-profile jobs inspires more women to run for and win lower-profile jobs. The presidency is by far&nbsp;the highest-profile job in American politics, meaning a Clinton presidency would likely have a meaningful downstream impact on women's representation for years to come — with far-reaching ramifications for public policy at both the state and national level.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Contrary to this perspective, other commentators argue that simply electing a woman to the presidency will not necessarily improve conditions for the majority of women in America. As journalist Kate Aronoff writes in a June 10, 2016 article for <a href="http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/clintons-nomination-a-victory-for-the-womens-movement-not-women/"><em>Waging Nonviolence</em></a>, the tenures of some recent female leaders left many women worse off than before these politicians took office:<br> &nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Women have been all but locked out of the United States’ highest office for decades, and Clinton herself has faced a barrage of sexist attacks since long before her campaign began. That she is now a legitimate contender for the Oval Office is an unambiguous testament to the power of feminist movements throughout this country’s history, from those who came together in Seneca Falls to the women who’ve fought back against toxic birth control and forced sterilization this last half-century. Those who fought for these victories changed the political weather, and stripped away the idea that women are unfit for either high office or basic dignity.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Clinton’s nomination, though, can be a victory for the women’s movement without being a victory for women....</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Clinton would not be the first woman to run a major global north country. Angela Merkel has been the chancellor of Germany since 2009. And Margaret Thatcher, of course, broke the glass ceiling at 10 Downing Street when she was elected prime minister [of the U.K] in 1979. Each have driven brutal austerity agendas that left women worse off — Merkel in Greece and Thatcher in her own backyard.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">"For a woman to occupy that office is a tremendous moment in the country’s history," one NBC correspondent remarked when Thatcher took office. "Britain may have entered a new era today. Not just because the prime minister is a woman, but because of the strong conservative policies she intends to push."</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">The neoliberal orthodoxy Thatcher pioneered has had a devastating effect on women worldwide. In the global north, shrinking welfare states leave working mothers without access to either basic social services or common sense policies like paid family leave. The free market fundamentalism Thatcher and Ronald Reagan both evangelized lingers on, no less so than in Britain and this country’s starved social safety net. A study last summer committed by the United Kingdom’s Labor party found that of the more than $13 billion cut from families in the Conservatives’ 2015 budget $10 billion would come directly from women.</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">Cuts to services like the National Health Service and the wholesale privatization of healthcare in this country have annihilated reproductive health services and made care work — the vast majority of it done by women — both more painstaking and expensive....</p> <p style="margin-left:35.45pt;">The point here is simple: Women can back policies that are bad for women, even if the fact that they are in office at all is a win for women’s movements. Thatcher’s victory made life harder for millions of women. If her career has been any indication, Clinton won’t do any better by women simply by virtue of being one.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>There is no doubt that a win by Hillary Clinton would be symbolically powerful, but the potential policy impact of having a woman president remains a matter of debate.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>For Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ol> <li>How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? Do you have any questions about what you read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the reading, wins by high-profile women politicians encourage more women to run for office, especially at the state and local levels. Why do you think this might be the case?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Matthew Yglesias maintains that&nbsp; "women lead different lives than men, and would consequently govern differently if more of them were in office." Do you think this is true?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>At least one study shows that as more women are elected to office, they "voice women’s distinctive concerns about children, family, the poor and the needy." Do you think a woman's perspective on these issues is necessarily different from that of a man? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Some women leaders in the past have advocated for policies such as cutting social services for working mothers or families in poverty. Given this, do you believe the gender of a politician actually matters, or is their ideological orientation more significant? Explain your position.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think? How significant would a victory by Hillary Clinton be for women in the United States?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-07-04T11:15:44-04:00" title="Monday, July 4, 2016 - 11:15">July 4, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Mon, 04 Jul 2016 15:15:44 +0000 fionta 389 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Teachable Instant: The Superpowers of Superdelegates https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teachable-instant-superpowers-superdelegates <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Teachable Instant: The Superpowers of Superdelegates</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Introduction<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask students to answer this true or false question about how presidential candidates are nominated by their parties:</p> <p class="rteindent1">Each state holds a primary or a caucus, and delegates to the national convention are awarded to candidates based on the vote counts.</p> <p><em>Answer:</em> The statement is true for the Republican Party, but not entirely true for the Democratic Party. &nbsp;That’s because the Democratic Party has "superdelegates."<br> <br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> A quiz on superpowers</h4> <p><br> Super delegates have the following powers:</p> <p>a)<strong> flight: </strong>the superdelegates have the power to flit around from one candidate to another at will.</p> <p>b) <strong>mind-reading:</strong>&nbsp; they can read the minds of the citizens of their states who may not have voted</p> <p>c) <strong>invisibility:</strong> the superdelegates lurk unseen in the political process.</p> <p>d)<strong> strength:</strong> their immense strength comes from their numbers - one-sixth of the delegates to the convention.</p> <p>e) <strong>invulnerability:</strong> the superdelegates are accountable to no one.</p> <p>f) energy conversion: by announcing their choice early in the campaign the superdelegates have the power to maximize (or minimize) the momentum of candidates' campaigns</p> <p>g) all of the above</p> <p><br> <em>Answer:</em>&nbsp; g), at least according to critics of the superdelegate system.</p> <p><br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>What are superdelegates?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><em>Read or explain the following.</em></p> <p><br> On July 25-28, 2016, some 4,765 delegates will gather in Philadelphia to decide the nominee of the Democratic Party. (These numbers vary slightly according to different sources.) 4,051 of the delegates are chosen by voters in the primaries and caucuses held in each state from February to June. &nbsp;In the Democratic primaries, these delegates are apportioned according to the votes cast (with any candidate receiving at least 15% getting some delegates). Delegates chosen by voters are <em>pledged </em>to vote for their candidate at the convention.</p> <p>But what about the other 717 delegates? These are the superdelegates who are chosen by the party to represent the Democratic "establishment." They include:</p> <ul> <li>all Democratic governors</li> <li>all Democratic senators</li> <li>all Democratic representatives</li> <li>20 past presidents and other distinguished leaders</li> <li>437 members of the Democratic National Committee (the governing body of the Democratic Party). These include state party officials, leaders of party-affiliated organizations and at least a dozen corporate lobbyists</li> </ul> <p>The superdelegates can vote for anyone they choose.</p> <p>While critics have pointed to the problems with superdelegates (including their unaccountability), others defend them as a way to ensure that party leaders have a place at the convention, while still leaving room for grassroots party activists to be elected as delegates.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Superdelegate math quiz<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><strong>1. </strong>There will be 4,765 delegates to the&nbsp; Democratic Convention. A majority is needed to win the nomination. How many delegates are needed to win the nomination?</p> <p class="rteindent1">a) 4763<br> b) 4762<br> c) 2383<br> d) 2500 (plus all the delegates from Florida)</p> <p class="rteindent1"><em>Answer: </em>c), 2383</p> <p><br> <strong>2.</strong> There are 717 superdelegates. What percentage of the delegates needed to win do the superdelegates represent (if they all voted for the same candidate)?</p> <p class="rteindent1">a) 16.5%<br> b) 50%<br> c) .05%<br> d) 30%<br> e) not enough information to determine</p> <p class="rteindent1"><em>Answer: </em>d), 30%</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Background</h4> <p><br> <em>Ask students to read the information below, aloud or silently.</em></p> <p><br> Where do superdelegates come from? And what impact will they have in 2016?</p> <p>The precise formula for choosing the delegates to both the Democratic and Republican conventions has evolved over the years. The system gets tweaked based on the Party's perception of whether there is too much or too little control given to elected Democrats.&nbsp;</p> <p>After the chaotic convention of 1968, in which Hubert Humphrey won the nomination without having entered a single primary, the rules were changed so that delegates were chosen in an open process. Whereas most states had previously chosen delegates in state conventions composed of party insiders, the reforms led to most states choosing delegates in primaries--giving voters the power to largely determine the party’s candidates.</p> <p>In 1972 however, an anti-Vietnam War candidate not favored by the party establishment, George McGovern, won the nomination, but lost badly in the general election.</p> <p>This defeat and the messy convention of 1980 led to the invention of &nbsp;the superdelegate. The idea was that allowing party stalwarts to serve as unpledged superdelegates would make it more likely that in each election, the candidate perceived to be most electable &nbsp;would gain the nomination and less likely that an outsider would be the party's nominee.</p> <p>Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz&nbsp;explained the superdelegate system, in an interview with CNN:</p> <p>Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists [to be convention delegates]. We as a Democratic Party ... want to give every opportunity to grassroots activists and diverse, committed Democrats to be able to participate, attend, and be a delegate at the convention. And so we separate out those unpledged delegates to make sure that there isn’t competition between them.</p> <p>The presence of over 700 delegates unelected by voters could, especially in the event of a closely contested race,&nbsp; deny the nomination to the candidate with the majority of the popular vote in the primaries or even a majority of pledged delegates in the convention. Because this aspect of the nomination process is undemocratic and seems to favor party insiders, &nbsp;many commentators have called for the elimination of the superdelegates.&nbsp; One organization, Democracy for America, is circulating a petition begun by Robert Reich to ask superdelegates to vote according to the wishes of their state's voters.</p> <p class="rteindent1">"I think superdelegates should pledge to support the winner of the popular vote for the Democratic nomination, whoever that may be."<br> <em>- Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor</em></p> <p><br> The current race has moved supporters of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to question the role of the superdelegates. Sanders’ opponent, Hillary Clinton, has a 45-to-1 superdelegate advantage over Sanders.&nbsp;Many people were surprised to learn that although Sanders won the nation's first primary, in New Hampshire, with over 60% of the vote, Hillary Clinton had more delegates from New Hampshire than Sanders, because she had the support of superdelegates.</p> <p>Clinton has the support of superdelegates in part because she has deep roots in the Democratic Party. Sanders, on the other hand, has long described himself not as a Democrat, but as an independent or democratic socialist - though he has generally voted with Democrats as a member of the House and the Senate.<br> <br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> <br> For Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ol> <li>Agree or disagree? &nbsp;The Democratic National Committee can set up any rules it wants because it's their party.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should superdelegates pledge support for whoever wins the popular vote? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should superdelegates be eliminated? Why or why not? What negative consequences might result from this?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should the Democratic National Committee be neutral in the race for the nomination?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Extension Activity:</h4> <p><br> Ask students what they think would have happened if Bernie Sanders had run as an independent. &nbsp;What do they think would have been the pros and cons of such a strategy?</p> <p>Then ask them to research the history of third-party candidacies over the past 50 years, and conduct a follow-up discussion about their findings.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Sources</h4> <p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/02/17/voters-be-damned/">https://theintercept.com/2016/02/17/voters-be-damned/</a><br> <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Pledged_delegates">https://ballotpedia.org/Pledged_delegates</a><br> <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/11/10969120/superdelegates-clinton-sanders-democrats">http://www.vox.com/2016/2/11/10969120/superdelegates-clinton-sanders-democrats</a><br> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/23/opinions/superdelegates-democratic-party-kohn/">http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/23/opinions/superdelegates-democratic-party-kohn/</a><br> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/01/us/politics/ap-us-dem-2016-clinton-delegate-dominance.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/01/us/politics/ap-us-dem-2016-clinton-delegate-dominance.html?_r=0</a><br> <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-superdelegates-democrats-219286">http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-superdelegates-democrats-219286</a><br> <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/02/13/un_democratic_party_dnc_chair_says_superdelegates_ensure_elites_dont_have_to_run_against_grassroots_activists/">http://www.salon.com/2016/02/13/un_democratic_party_dnc_chair_says_superdelegates_ensure_elites_dont_have_to_run_against_grassroots_activists/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-03-13T14:23:34-04:00" title="Sunday, March 13, 2016 - 14:23">March 13, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 13 Mar 2016 18:23:34 +0000 fionta 407 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Teachable Instant: Clinton's 'Email-gate' https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teachable-instant-clintons-email-gate <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Teachable Instant: Clinton&#039;s &#039;Email-gate&#039;</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Ask students what, if anything, they have heard about the debate over Hillary Clinton’s private email server.</p> <p>Elicit or explain that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was U.S. Secretary of State for four years. During that time, Clinton used her own personal email server instead of the federal government's email server for her official communications.</p> <p>Since this became news in March 2015, there has been a steady stream of media reports about the legality of Clinton’s email system, possible security breaches and email deletions, a governmental review of her 55,000 emails, Clinton's arguments in her defense, and accusations by political opponents. Public distrust of Hillary Clinton, as measured by opinion polls, has grown steadily.</p> <p>But despite Clinton’s drop in the polls and favorability ratings, 39% of those polled believe that Clinton "did nothing wrong" in using a private email system.</p> <p>People on all sides of the political spectrum say they believe that open government, or "transparency," is a crucial ingredient for a working democracy.</p> <p class="rteindent1">Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what&nbsp;their government is doing. &nbsp;Information maintained by the&nbsp;federal government is a national asset.<br> -- President Barack Obama</p> <p class="rteindent1">But one of the reasons there is a crisis of confidence in this country over the government is because there is not transparency. Without transparency, accountability cannot be carried out.<br> -- Republican Senator Tom Coburn</p> <p class="rteindent1">Openness in government is not a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Tea Party or Libertarian issue. The importance of transparency in local, state and federal government should transcend parties and political ideologies. Checks and balances provide few checks and little balance when officials broker deals behind closed doors and conceal documents that contain important information that citizens have the right, and often the need, to know.<br> -- National Freedom of Information Coalition</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Journalists, advocacy groups, historians and other researchers use tools like the Freedom of Information Act to pry information out of government agencies at all levels. There are thousands of examples of new stories that originated with Freedom of Information requests. For example:</p> <ul> <li>the safety hazards of the Ford Pinto</li> <li>the health hazards of Agent Orange to Vietnam War veterans</li> <li>thefts by TSA agents at airports</li> <li>the FBI practice of allowing informants to break the law</li> <li>the Pentagon paying to plant articles in Iraqi media</li> <li>federal loans designed to help businesses recover after 9/11 that went to companies completely unrelated to 9/11 (e.g. a dog boutique in Utah)</li> </ul> <p>Secrecy versus openness in government will continue to be a key issue for our democracy - no matter how Hillary Clinton’s "email-gate" problem is resolved.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> For discussion:<br> &nbsp;</h4> <ul> <li>One of Hillary Clinton's defenses is that other government officials--including other secretaries of state, like Colin Powell--also used private email accounts. Is this argument persuasive? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Should we allow public officials to decide which of their communications should be public and trust that they are making the right choices?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Is it possible that the email scandal is being blown out of proportion by Clinton's political enemies?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>If Hillary Clinton were to visit your class, what questions would you ask about her private email server?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Optional assignment<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask students to go to the National Security Archive website (<a href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/foia/stories.htm">http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/foia/stories.htm</a>) to view some news items (from 2004-2006) that originated with Freedom of Information Act requests. Ask students to choose one story to research and write two paragraphs on the importance of the news story.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Sources</h4> <p><a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110shrg35801/html/CHRG-110shrg35801.htm">http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110shrg35801/html/CHRG-110shrg35801.htm</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/2016-poll-hillary-clinton-joe-biden-bernie-sanders/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/2016-poll-hillary-clinton-joe-biden-bernie-sanders/index.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/foia_default">https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/foia_default</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/06/02/the_shocking_news_about_government_secrecy_that_should_have_every_american_worried/">http://www.salon.com/2015/06/02/the_shocking_news_about_government_secrecy_that_should_have_every_american_worried/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/foia-hillary-clinton-email-daniel-metcalfe-116011">http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/foia-hillary-clinton-email-daniel-metcalfe-116011</a></p> <p><a href="http://foia.blogs.archives.gov/2012/01/27/striking-the-balance-with-third-party-requests/">http://foia.blogs.archives.gov/2012/01/27/striking-the-balance-with-third-party-requests/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/mar/12/hillary-clintons-email-did-she-follow-all-rules/">http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/mar/12/hillary-clintons-email-did-she-follow-all-rules/</a></p> <p><a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/transparency-and-open-government">https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/transparency-and-open-government</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/politics-swirling-around-clinton-email-scandal-obscure-real-problems">https://www.aclu.org/blog/politics-swirling-around-clinton-email-scandal-obscure-real-problems</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nfoic.org/guest-view-transparency-not-republican-not-democrat">http://www.nfoic.org/guest-view-transparency-not-republican-not-democrat</a></p> <p>&nbsp;<a href="https://freedom.press/blog/2013/03/freedom-information-act-most-powerful-tool-my-reporting-arsenal">https://freedom.press/blog/2013/03/freedom-information-act-most-powerful-tool-my-reporting-arsenal</a></p> <p><a href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/foia/stories.htm">http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/foia/stories.htm</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/politics/using-private-email-hillary-clinton-thwarted-record-requests.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/politics/using-private-email-hillary-clinton-thwarted-record-requests.html?_r=0</a></p> <p><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/03/how-did-the-state-department-respond-to-open-records-requests-for-hillarys-emails/">http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/03/how-did-the-state-department-respond-to-open-records-requests-for-hillarys-emails/</a></p> <p><a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-an-open-letter-to-hdr22clintonemailcom.html?referrer=&amp;_r=0">http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-an-open-letter-to-hdr22clintonemailcom.html?referrer=&amp;_r=0</a></p> <p><a href="http://qz.com/362594/hillary-clintons-email-and-the-pitfalls-of-transparency-accountability-and-trust/">http://qz.com/362594/hillary-clintons-email-and-the-pitfalls-of-transparency-accountability-and-trust/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-09-13T16:04:28-04:00" title="Sunday, September 13, 2015 - 16:04">September 13, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 13 Sep 2015 20:04:28 +0000 fionta 442 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org