Governor -, presidency and parliamentary elections in America

Elections in America

VIEW: Elections in America —Syed Mansoor Hussain

As mentioned above, certain groups vote predictably. But only a few of them are big enough to make a difference. However in close votes, the smaller groups can become important. Of these the two most important ones are the Jewish voters and the immigrants from Castro’s Cuba Never has there been so much international interest in an American election. For most of the world, it is the foreign policy of the United States that is most important, especially since the recent war in Iraq. If it were a worldwide election, George W Bush would definitely lose. But, as Tip O’Neill, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives famously observed, “all politics is local.” This election, like all others before it, will be determined by local concerns of the American voters. It might seem surprising to many in Pakistan that there are actually people in the US who oppose Mr Bush and his policies and that at this time they are almost as many if not more than those that support him. It might be worthwhile to talk a little bit about the Republican and Democratic parties. An incomplete summary of the important ideas behind the Republican Party as it exists today is: less regulations concerning business, lower taxes, greater role of religion in public life and freedom of local and state governments to determine policy. As such, the core constituencies of the party today include the conservative religious groups (primarily Protestant), those for whom lower taxes and less control of business practices are important and the remnants of the segregationists who, under the guise of “states’ rights” want to do away with federally mandated programmes designed to provide minorities, especially African Americans an equal opportunity to take advantage of the American system. Most Democrats on the other hand still believe that government has an important part to play in providing an even playing field for all citizens, that regulations are important to control excesses that business is capable of, that religion though important is a matter of individual preference, and that taxation is also a means of providing the poor with support from the rich. As such, the minorities form the basis of support for the Democratic Party. In the US, the minorities include Catholics, Jews, African Americans, Hispanics and recent immigrants from almost anywhere. Muslims of course are a different matter. Other than the minorities, there are different single-issue groups like the environmentalists, abortion rights advocates, labour activists, feminists and remnants of the old left that normally support the Democratic candidates. Election for the president is not a general election but an indirect election. When voting for the president, people are actually voting for ‘electors’ committed to a particular candidate in their own state. Every state is allotted a number of electoral votes that equals the number of representatives they send to the US Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate). The party winning a particular state even by a single gets all its electors. These electors make up the Electoral College that actually elects the president of the United States. Therefore, even though the number of electoral votes for every state reflects its population, the fact that a candidate can win big in one state but lose many others by a few votes can lead to defeat even if he gets more votes overall. It is for this reason that small voting blocs can make a tremendous difference in a relatively evenly divided state. As mentioned above, certain groups vote predictably. But only a few of them are big enough to make a difference. However in close votes, the smaller groups can become important. Of these the two most important ones are the Jewish voters and the immigrants from Castro’s Cuba. As far as the much talked about Muslim bloc is concerned, of the roughly four to five million Muslims in the US, about half are African Americans who vote like others of their background. The rest are equally divided between those from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The numbers are much too small to have a measurable impact on any election except in the state of Michigan where Muslims combined with non-Muslims of Arab descent can indeed make a difference. Any candidate for president from either major political party usually wins at least forty percent of the vote. It is the next ten percent that makes the difference. This election is relatively unique in modern US political history in that this early in the election cycle more than ninety percent of the voters have already made up their mind. So, it is only about five percent of the voters from among those referred to as ‘undecided’ that will determine the outcome of this election. Most of the undecided voters are political independents who do not belong to any political party. They are often torn between different parts of the agenda that either party espouses. For instance, some of them might favour unrestricted choice of abortion but also want lower taxes. Others might oppose the war in Iraq but at the same time want a strong defence against terrorism. Then there are those who like President Bush as a person, but do not agree with his policies. So, it is over these five percent that the two candidates are going to fight during the next three months. Here perception is more likely to determine the result than any particular policy detail. If John Kerry can convince these voters that they will be better off if he is elected, then he will win. As far as Iraq and terrorism are concerned, these are wild cards and could go either way. Any major attack within the US could increase the support for President Bush. It might equally make feel people less secure and change their mind about him as an effective fighter against terrorism. Iraq is a little bit more predictable. If thing do not settle down in Iraq and US casualties keep mounting up then that would make President Bush less popular since this war is clearly identified with him. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, we can be sure that John Kerry and President Bush are going to differ but little when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, anti immigration policies of the US aimed primarily at Muslims, or the future of Iraq.
The writer, a cardiac surgeon, has practised and taught medicine in the US Daily Times - All Rights Reserved

Governor -, presidency and parliamentary elections in America |US Election 2004

Politics1 presents our profiles of the White House hopefuls. President Bush, John Kerry -- plus all the third party and Independent candidates -- you can find them all here, plus lots of other P2004 resources!! Cast an informed vote on Election Day - Tuesday, November 2, 2004.

Presidency 2004

Project Vote Smart: Presidential Election 2004 - This site provided a great directory of the P2000 candidates -- with basic bio information, issue survey responses, calendar and links -- and is now doing the same for P2004.

C-SPAN: Bush Administration - Information, links and some streaming video events from one of the nation's leading sources of raw political television coverage on the current administration. Also be sure to check out the Road to the White House section, covering the various Presidential candidates. Constantly updated.

Ballot Access News - This respected publication -- founded in 1985 by Libertarian activist Richard Winger -- tracks the attempts of third party and independent candidates for various offices to secure ballot access in the 50 states. The site also tracks changes in the law, court challenges and other interesting tidbits of third party news you usually won't find elsewhere. Use this page to stay current on which third party and independent candidates will and won't appear on your state's general election ballot in November 2004.

Democracy in Action: P2004 - A great site has lots of detailed information on all of the leading 2004 Presidential candidates -- plus a large section devoted to the Bush Administration. Very useful -- although be patient as the pages take a while to load (but it's worth the wait).

WatchBlog - This news blog site covering the 2004 Presidential race is divided into three parallel blog sections: Democrats, Republicans and Third Parties. The site has multiple editors, with Dems editing the Dem section, Republicans editing the GOP blog, etc. Fairly new site, but shows some good potential.

Center for Public Integrity: Buying of the President 2004 - Lots of personal and campaign financial information on the various candidates and their respective campaign committees.

FundRace 2004 - A fun site that summarizes Presidential candidate contributions -- and ranks the success of the candidates -- under three categories: grassroots donors (the smallest average contributions), fat cat donors (the largest average contributions), and devotion (the highest average of repeat donors). Also a cool "money map" by candidate of where their money is coming from by state and county ... and more.

PresidentialMatch.com - Here's a way to pick a candidate based entirely upon the issues. Interesting, thought provoking, and a lot of fun. It's also rather informative. Answer the various questions (grouped by topic), click the button and ... voila ... up pops the stats on which P2004 candidates you agree with the most. The listing of major candidates will be supplemented with third party nominees later in the election season. Sponsored by AOL and Time magazine.

Candidate Scorecard - Not a corporate sponsored site, but another good tool for comparing candidate positions on key issues.

Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 - Just like the name says, this site give you an easy to read map -- based on the most recent polling trends in each state -- to show where Bush and Kerry are ahead and the electoral vote totals that will result.

Presidential Campaign Rhetoric 2004 - Park University Professor and former journalist Andrew Cline performs detailed analysis of the rhetoric used in the speeches by President Bush and the various Presidential candidates. Cline performed a similar task during the 2000 race. Despite what you might fear (i.e., that it would be a rather dry read), this can be rather interesting and useful.

Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Dave Leip prepared this very informative site, which provides historic voting results from the Presidential general elections of 1860-2000 and the 2000 Presidential primaries. Covers the vote totals for the major party nominees and the top 2 or 3 third party nominees in each race. Colorful maps and graphs, too.

Commission on Presidential Debates - Established in 1987 by leaders of the two major parties to ensure that debates remain a permanent part of every general election, this nonprofit and bipartisan organization sponsored all the general election debates in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. Their controversial and restrictive participation rules largely exclude third party candidates (even the major ones) from participating in these nationally televised debates. One of the groups protesting these restrictions is DebateThis.org.

US Department of State: Foreign Press Center - What is the difference between a caucus and a primary? How do nominating conventions work? What about the popular vote versus the electoral college vote? If you need a better understanding of the American Presidential election process, check out this informative site. The State Department runs this site to help inform foreign journalists about how the US political process works.

VicePresidents.com - No one pays much attention to Vice Presidents -- or, at least, they didn't used to -- except for these guys. History, trivia, quotes, bios, and more.

Presidency 2004

REPUBLICAN PARTY:

President George W. Bush (Texas) *
Presidential Nominee

Vice President Dick Cheney (Wyoming) *
Vice Presidential Nomineee

DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

US Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts)
Presidential Nominee

US Senator John Edwards (North Carolina)
Vice Presidential Nominee

THIRD PARTY CANDIDATES:

AMERICAN PARTY:

Diane Templin (California)
Presidential Nominee

Al Moore (Virginia)
Vice Presidential Nominee

CONCERNS OF PEOPLE (PROHIBITION) PARTY:

Gene Amondson (Alaska)
Presidential Nominee

Leroy Pletten (Michigan)
Vice Presidential Nominee

CONSTITUTION PARTY:

Michael Peroutka (Maryland)
Presidential Nominee

Chuck Baldwin (Florida)
Vice Presidential Nominee

GREEN PARTY:

David Cobb (California)
Presidential Nominee

Pat LaMarche (Maine)
Vice Presidential Nominee

LIBERTARIAN PARTY:

LMichael Badnarik (Texas)
Presidential Nominee

Richard Campagna (Iowa)
Vice Presidential Nominee

PEACE & FREEDOM PARTY:

Leonard Peltier (Kansas)
Presidential Nominee

Janice Jordan (California)
Vice Presidential Nominee

PERSONAL CHOICE PARTY:

Charles Jay (Indiana)
Presidential Nominee

Marilyn Chambers Taylor (California)
Vice Presidential Nominee

PROHIBITION PARTY:

Earl F. Dodge (Colorado)
Presidential Nominee

Howard Lydick (Texas)
Vice Presidential Nominee

REFORM PARTY / INDEPENDENT:

Ralph Nader (I-Connecticut)
Presidential Nominee

Peter M. Camejo (Green-California)
Vice Presidential Nominee

SOCIALIST PARTY USA:

Walt Brown (Oregon)
Presidential Nominee

Mary Alice Herbert (Vermont)
Vice Presidential Nominee

SOCIALIST EQUALITY PARTY:

Bill Van Auken (New York)
Presidential Nominee

Jim Lawrence (Ohio)
Vice Presidential Nominee

SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY:

Róger Calero (New York)
Presidential Nominee

Arrin Hawkins (New York)
Vice Presidential Nominee

WORKERS WORLD PARTY:

John Parker (California)
Presidential Nominee

Teresa Gutierrez (New York)
Vice Presidential Nominee

INDEPENDENTS & WRITE-INS:

A.J. Albritton (American Republican Party-Mississippi) *
Sterling Allan (Providential Party-Utah) *
Stanford "Andy" Andress (I-Colorado) *
Joe Bellis (America's Party-Kansas) *
Kenneth M. Bonnell (I-Mississippi) *
Harry Braun (I-Arizona) *
Fred Cook (I-Georgia) *
Eric J. Davis (Michigan) *
Robert DiGiulio (Children's Party-Vermont) *
Bob Dorn (Washington) *
Lonnie D. Frank (I-California) *
John Galt Jr. (I-Pensylvania) *
Jack Grimes (United Fascist Union-Pennsylvania) *
Michael Halpin (I-New York) *
Larry D. Hines (I-Texas) *
Georgia Hough (I-Georgia) *
Keith Judd (I-Massachusetts) *
Darren E. Karr (Party X-Oregon) *
Samuel Keegan (I-Rhode Island) *
Joseph Martyniuk Jr. (I-Illinois) *
David Mevis (I-Mississippi) *
Muadin (E-Democratic Party-Massachusetts) *
Jeffrey Peters (We The People Party-New Hampshire)
Andrew M. Rotramel (I-Texas) *
Joseph "Average Joe" Schriner (I-Ohio) *
Dennis P. Slatton (United America Party-North Carolina) *
Dan Snow (I-Texas) *
Brian B. Springfield (I-Virginia) *
Lawrence Rey Topham (I-Utah) *
Lemuel Tucker (I-Michigan) *
Da Vid (Light Party-California) *
Tom Wells (Family Values Party-Florida) *
A.J. Wildman (I-Virginia) *

NOT RUNNING / OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:

Gerald Daigneau (I-New Hampshire) - Withdrew in 2001
W. Aaron Gregory (I-Pennsylvania) - Withdrew in February 2003
US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) - Disclaimed Interest in 2003
Jakob Nielsen (USAbility Party-California) - Withdrew in 2002
Andisheh "Andy" Nouraee (I-Georgia) - Disclaimed Interest in 2003
Kurt Weber-Heller (Christian Falangist Party-Pennsylvania) - Withdrew in 2003
James W. Wright (I-Texas) - Withdrew in 2003

Presidency 2004

ELECTIONS 2004

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

…Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted... (Article II of the U.S. Constitution) Absentee Voting Overseas - Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL INFORMATION

* U.S. Elections 2004 - Bureau of International Information Programs/U.S. Department of State * The Federal Election Commission - In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) - the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections. * Foreign Press Centers/U.S. Department of State - links to sites which provide information on the election process, candidates, political parties, election calendar, elections trivia and news coverage
Elections in America |Governor -, presidency and parliamentary elections in America
Governor -, presidency and parliamentary elections in America | US Election 2004
Elections in America |Presidency 2004
Elections in America | Presidency 2004
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