Now that it's all over but the recounting and at least some of the dust has settled, take a few minutes to reflect. For many of you, this was the first presidential election in which you were old enough to vote. What was it like? What did you learn about the electoral process? What was your favorite moment of the campaign so far?
due 11/9
Note also that Personal Blog 6 has been moved to Wednesday, November 14.
Not only was this the first Presidential Campaign in which I was old enough to vote but it is also the first one that I was actively involved and engaged in, which feels like a big deal to me as well. Personally, I enjoyed all of the pre-election flyers, cards, commercials, mail etc. but only because it had a lot to do with all of the classes I am taking and my major. Had I not had a nerdy and specific interest in it I think I would have been just as annoyed as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in class yesterday, one of the weird experiences that I had in the election process is that I didn't have to show any proof of identification while voting- and this was a little scary to me. However, when I filled out my forms in line they then took them to their back office and ran some kind of check. I am interested in knowing what exactly they checked or how they could tell that I was who I was claiming to be.
I learned that the electoral process is something we should be proud of because it is incredible how we are able to count opinions of Americans and porportion it according to population. It is a seemingly complicated and confusing process that seems elementary and logical once you figure it out. Clearly, in this election I have been doing nothing but beaming with pride for my country.
My favorite campaign moment so far was definately Obama's speech on election night. While I admittedly was half asleep watching it and had to catch the tail end of it on the news the next morning, it really gave me the sense that we are doing something right here in America. Now I know that there are probably many opposing views when it comes to supporters of Mitt Romney, but regardless of party divides it was a significant moment for America. My absolute favorite quote was during this speech and it was my favorite quote of the election so far (and arguably Obama's career!)
"We can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America"
This election was definitely an interesting experience for me because I have never considered myself to be that into politics, but this was also the first election for which I was old enough to cast a vote. For the previous election, I was a senior in high school but still 10 months short of being old enough to register. For the last election, I was in a Recent American History class during which we spent a lot of time focusing on the issues and the candidates, so it was cool that for this election I was also in a class for which we looked at the candidates and the issues pretty intently. I felt like it is good for me to be exposed to the election in this way because since I am not really interested in politics, it would be unlikely for me to go out on my own and look up stuff in order to become a more informed voter.
ReplyDeleteAbout this process, I learned a few things. By logging into Facebook the day after the election, I have seen how hostile people become over something as simple as how someone voted. It seems silly to me that friends would be fighting one another just because they voted for different people. I have also learned that it is surprisingly easy to register to vote and actually vote. The registration process took like 10 seconds, and I didn't even have to provide much of any information beyond my name, address, and birth date. When I actually went to cast my ballot, I didn't need to provide any form of identification. I just had to fill out a couple forms that they did a computer check on. I have also really learned what it is like to live in a swing state! I never really realized how much attention we get from the candidates. Both Obama and Romney were all over Ohio in the closing weeks of the election, visiting both Athens and my hometown of Circleville. One of my friends in Montana said she barely even saw any ads on television. How lucky!
My favorite campaign moment is actually a few that can be lumped together. In each of the debates, one of the candidates said some a bit "stupid," for lack of a better term, and it was entertaining to watch how people and the media would latch onto that one statement and put the rest of the debate on the back burner to focus on that one comment. A few of the comments were certainly things I picked up on, but they probably wouldn't have been brought up in casual conversation with my friends if the media didn't have a field day with them. I think I just really noticed how much the media is involved in the candidates' campaigns and how they skew things.
I found the campaign and the election in its entirety to be very interesting but also a little annoying. It was somewhat intriguing to know that going into this election, I would be able to help decide who the next President would be. This idea gave me the drive to read and learn about each candidate and what he stood for on the various issues that American is dealing with today. I am also glad that I was able to take this class during election season; it truly helped me to build perspective and allowed me to reflect on and write about how I feel in regards to each candidate. In the middle of the 2008 election, I was taking a US Government class as part of my high school graduation requirement; I have been lucky enough to be enrolled in informational classes during the past two elections. I am currently wondering what it is like to not be enrolled in some kind of government class during an election, but I guess I will find out in 2016.
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoyed learning about the election in class, I also felt a little bombarded by the campaign outside of the classroom. I could not turn on the television without seeing Mitt Romney’s face or listen to my Pandora radio without hearing Michelle Obama advocate for her husband. I even heard about it when I would call home; my grandparents tried to turn the kids in my family into their own political minions by constantly reiterating who they felt was the best man for the job.
I was very excited when it finally came time to vote. I was anxious to experience the voting process and I was very ready for the political ads to be over. After class on Tuesday, my roommates and I all traveled to the ABH Center. The line was fairly short; I think I only waited about five minutes, which surprised me. I checked in, signed my name on the sheet and was directed to an open booth. I felt a little intimidated reading through the whole ballot, but it was also an experience that I did not want to cut corners on. Walking back to the car, I felt very accomplished.
Watching the results on Tuesday night, I realized how complex the ballot counting process was. I was expecting something similar to the result show on American Idol, with both candidates on stage and Ryan Seacrest in between them, but it did not happen like that. I also found it interesting that Ohio was so important in the final result. I learned a lot during this election, and I’m glad that I was able to experience the entire process.
Like almost every person in my graduating class, this has been the first election in which I've voted. I immediately voted after my 18th birthday in 2010. My home city is a suburb of Pittsburgh, so instead of reregistering in Athens I opted to vote by absentee ballot. The process of obtaining an absentee ballot is not simple. I first had to locate the form online which I feel is riddled with confusing terminology and "fine print". I then had trouble locating an address to mail it to on the PA Board of Elections website. The instructions on the ballot that explained the web address to the Board of Elections led me to a non-existing web page, so I had to investigate to find the real page. Good going, PA. After doing my extensive report on the issues of ID laws, the absentee ballot seems like a greater issue at the moment.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finally received my ballot I was partially surprised to find that I also got to vote for my local officials. All of the presidential campaigning completely overshadowed the local elections to the point that I forgot they even existed. At this point I realized I knew nothing about the individual candidates and opted to vote almost entirely Democrat in accordance with my current registration.
I learned little about the election process; much of what I witnessed I had already known from high school. I learned less about the election process and more about the resulting media coverage that follows rhetorical errors on the part of the candidates. I was most amused by Romney's "binders full of women comment" and the resulting media criticism. I believe that his statement was totally innocent but taken out of context became a major joke to be later exploited. This happened several other times but Romney's quote seemed to get the most attention and successfully made me want to shoot myself in the face.
Now that the elections over, social media is overflowing with braggers and whiners. I would like to ignore it, but unfortunately I need Facebook for scheduling and messaging, so I must suffer. With that being said, I'm happy to watch the Romney fans complain while my friend Obama laughs it up in the Oval Office.
This is the first time for me to see a presidential election in the United States. I have to say that I have never seen an election like this. In China, a presidential election would not be intense like this. Since Chinese government only has one party, there is no real competition between candidates. Unlike in the United States, all of these leaders will follow the same political structure. Therefore, the new leaders will continue the principles and policies of his predecessor. Of cause, the current leader makes some changes when the situation is changed. However, the policy will not be changed a lot. Thus, people in China do not pay attention on election like Americans. Furthermore, people in China will never spend as much money as Americans do for the election.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I cannot vote, I still got lots of advertising for both of the two parties. Since I am a person totally out of this, I just feel both of them are not a good choice for me. However, when I read these advertising, I remember the story, Mark Twain’s Running for Governor. I thought it was overstated when I learned it in middle school. However, I know the author did not overstate in his story. On the other side, I heard many jokes about Americans think that politicians are never telling truth. Thus, I thought Americans may do not care about these candidates’ speeches. In fact, it surprised me, when I saw that lots of people were watching the election speeches carefully.
I found the process of election is similar as in China but a more complex. I have voted once in China when I was in college. The college organized students to vote. Since we were students in the college, no one needed to check our ID before we voted. Thus, I think the United States make the election more complex than it should be. I feel confuse about the different vote rules in different states in the U.S. Sounds like some states do not need to use photo ID, but others need.
In China, every one has a photo ID when we are sixteen. Each of the ID has a special number similar with the social security number in the U.S. The photo on this ID card will be renewed in every ten years; thus, others could see whether the person on the picture is the owner of the card easier. This ID card has all of the person’s information, such as name, age, address, and family relations. Police officers can find out the anything they want to know about a person if it is necessary. Thus, we only need to bring one ID with us to prove who I am. However, in the U.S. people more dependent on their driver’s license. If people cannot drive for some reason, they may have some trouble to vote. It taught me that the importance of a driver’s license for an American.
The debate between candidates was so intense in the U.S presidential election. For me, it sounds like an argument or almost a fight. I cannot understand why people interested in two people to describe the illusory future and mutual verbal attacks. Although the debate made the election like a fight, it probably the most interesting part in the election. At least, this activity shows people that the resilience of candidates.
For me this was not my first presidential election in which I could vote. My first time voting was back in 2008 in my senior year in high school. I did not vote this year because I did not feel strongly about nether one of the people running for presidency, I don't have any way to judge how company to two. The reason why I did not vote was because, I did not like either candidate, I was not feeling the that the issues were a big deal so I just did not vote. When I did vote I learned a lot how to vote and why it is important to vote. I also learned that to be a good voter one should be able to know the issues and the other things that they are voting for, so they don't look silly showing up unprepared. What I do remember of the electoral process was that, I went to my local voting place and they asked me republican or demarcate then they gave me a ballot. Then I went to a little office cubical and voted. It reminded me of a test because the whole ballot was like a school test bubble sheet. The one thing that I enjoyed about the campaign so far would be the ads on TV. The reason for this is that each and new ad shows or tells something new negatively about the other candate. Each ad comes up with a new way to bash the other guy head in and make him look stupid. I think the person the supports the ad is stupid, because most of the time it's made up faxes and B-S. So I enjoy making fun of ads that are not true.
ReplyDeleteThis year was the first year I was old enough to vote in a presidential election but it was also one that I was the most involved with and into. While I had voted before in elections that just pertained to my town, voting for the next president was much more exciting than voting for school levy’s and town issues. There was so much leading up to this election between campaign commercials, the yard signs and just the intensity between people that when it was all said and done it was quite possibly the biggest relief I had ever felt. It was intense.
ReplyDeleteFor the electoral process I learned why some states are called so early with maybe 3% in because of what those states tend to lean towards. That kind of baffled me considering that states could have gone different ways but then again you still have the swing states. I also learned they don’t always wait for the swing states to have all their votes in before they call them, though it is very close to the 100% mark. Calling states though I have seen is such a big deal because if you call them too early, like they had with Ohio, then major freakouts occur, like on Fox News.
My favorite moment of the campaign was probably the debates, even if I didn’t get to watch all of the last one, they were all so interesting and both candidates were both really fired up over the issues. In all the years I can remember seeing the debates these ones were most definitely the most like a real debate, not just some nice back and forth argument, these were real. They were so interesting to watch and even though both just wanted to talk about the economy it was nice to see both points of view on the big issues of the election in one place and then be able to go online and do the fact checks, which I think were a huge part in this election as well.
Let me start by saying that I’m not at all a least bit interested in politics. I never really understood anything about the government nor did I ever really care to understand. But this year, I was a lot more involved. I started doing my own research on each presidential candidate. I looked at both Romney’s and Obama’s website which laid out their plans. From there is where I formulated an opinion. I am a democrat so naturally I related better to Obama, but I wanted to make sure I made the right choice. I paid more attention to the news and listened to what the critics had to say. This year particularly, was my first time really getting familiar with the presidential election and this was my first time formulating my own views and opinions about the presidential candidates. My favorite part about this election was the presidential debates. I had never watched any presidential debates before this year and oddly they were very interesting to me. I really paid attention to what both Obama and Romney had to say, especially about education. The most humbling experience about this election was the chance to see President Barack Obama speak at my school. I waited for hours, but it was all worth it. He is such a powerful speaker and I just couldn’t believe that I was actually standing in front of the president. I was my first time ever seeing him in person and definitely was a great experience.
ReplyDeleteThis presidential election was the most important for me. I was so excited to go to the polls on voting day, I went by myself so I felt more like an adult and as I was filing in my votes I saved my presidential vote for last. After I finished voting I immediately called my mother and she was so proud. The feeling of voting for the first time made me feel like a great American citizen, it was ultimately a good feeling. Not only was I able to vote for the first time this year, but also I was able to vote for the first African American president in his second term. That is something I will be looking forward to telling my children and my grandchildren. When it was announced that Obama had won the election, I was beyond excited and at that moment I knew that I helped make a change.
This presidential election mostly annoyed and frustrated me by having to many campaign ads in places they weren’t before such as Youtube. This campaign in comparison to the other one I remember in my life seemed to have more ads about it and most of those ads were negative towards the other party instead of the candidates saying how much they should get elected it was more just saying how much the other guy didn’t deserve to be elected. These began to get annoyingly relentless by being everywhere I looks. This is the part of the election I will probably remember the most and I am not looking forward to the next one in four years. Another thing that this election has made me realize was how much I hate politics. Not only do I choose not to pay attention to them most of the time because the way in which the majority that run this country holds no interest to me. But, when I truly take note about politics I only see greed and a strong desire to cut down anyone who is in their way in order to get to the top. Especially with these two candidates who were both very similar in beliefs so they really shouldn’t have cared if they lost since it would still meant that their ideals would be in the white house anyway. However, they still attacked each other ruthlessly in order to get the cushy paycheck and the fame that goes along with the presidency. There is no possible way that the two candidates were running for any other reason since they tried to say each other was so horrible to the position when they shared almost identical beliefs. So they clearly want the seat in the white house instead of actually having strong views to how the country could better itself. For if this was the true then they wouldn’t have been campaigning so hard against one another but trying to work together to have their view become one and saying to the nation of hey this is what we want to do so if you support it then elect one of us. In my humble opinion the presidential position in our government is a joke that has been reduced to greedy men that want fame and money and have no intention to actually helping our nation further as a strong nation. That is what I have learned in this presidential election. It’s a very similar lesion that I learned four years ago in the last presidential election when I actually became concerned about politics. However, just like four years ago I have become so annoyed by how the election process works that when It came time to vote I choose not to. I have also learned that until there is a major candidates running for president that I can say without doubt that they are running in order to help this country and not for fame I shall not vote for the president.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first presidential election. I am very happy that I took this class during this election. I found that I was able to learn many things about the presidential election and the candidates to help me prepare for this election. I was surprised how intense the election really gets. I guess I was not aware of this aspect of the election since I never took part in an election before. I found the election very frustrating at times. I felt like I knew about my favored candidate and it was hard hearing all the negativity that was directed towards the candidate that I believed would be the best fit for our country. But, even though I was frustrated, I found the negative feedback to be helpful as well. It really made me evaluate why I wanted this candidate to become the next President of the United States and why they would be better suited than the other candidate. I found the debates very intriguing. I have watched presidential debates in the past, but I do not think that I have paid as much attention to them as I should have or as much attention as I thought I did. I honestly felt like the debates are where I really learned and understood the candidates. I read the books and did research on the candidates, but I honestly feel the debates are what sold me. How the candidates presented themselves and sold themselves to the audience was very interesting to me. After voting in this presidential election, I feel as though my voice counts and I also feel as though I am more involved and aware of the issues that are going on in our country. I learned that people could be very ignorant and just vote the way they were raised, rather than actually understanding what is at risk and what they are voting for. This was one of the most frustrating aspects of the election. But, I viewed it as an opportunity to educate these people in the two candidates, without being too biased. I also learned that many people could be deceitful and manipulative during election time. And by people, I mean commercial advertisements. etc… but I learned to take what the media says very lightly and actually learn and become knowledgeable about the candidates through credible sources. Overall, I was excited to be involved in this election and make a change in our country.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this campaign was very interesting. Since this is the first time there has been an election where I was old enough to vote, It made me pay attention more than ever. Although I still did not vote, I was interesting to watch the speeches and see how they responded to one another. The bashing I found to be really funny, It was ignorant and somewhat hypocritical. Romney talked about how he was such a family man and a good person, but he bashed on Obama so much that there had to be retaliation. I watched the second half of the election at my friends house after I got off work. It was interesting to watch the numbers go up because they would not go up one point at a time, but it would jump depending on the electoral votes which is cool and different from most events you see depending on a certain amount of points. When I saw Obama win they said that I was not for sure which I thought was interesting because usually If someone hits the amount of points to win, it would be over, but since this is such an intense situation they have to be certain on the votes.I think my favorite part of the campaign is the fact that It made me laugh. I like laughing and I found a lot of the prompts this year to be funny. I also just watched the movie The Campaign last night and the image that they portrayed was exactly what I was thinking the during the Obama and Romney race. It was an interesting process to be able to witness, but I am glad to say it is over.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first presidential election where I was able to vote. I had voted two years ago in one of the local elections, but it was not the same experience. I was very excited to vote this year. It was a good feeling to be able to mark my ballot for my candidate. It made me feel like I was doing something important that could really make a difference. The fact that I felt passionately on who I was voting for definitely contributed to this feeling as well.
ReplyDeleteThe most exciting part about the experience for me was that I ended up voting on election day around 5 pm. It was exciting going to the polls and then heading home and watching the live results just a few hours later. I enjoyed the anticipation of watching the news, waiting for the call. When it was announced that Obama had been re elected, and his photo was flashing in Times Square, I was overjoyed.
This was not my first presidential election but it was a little bit different from my first experience. I voted in the last election back in my hometown at a church where there was no line and only just a few other people voting. When I voted this week there was a lot more people and it was squeezed in a pretty tight area. After seeing the voting process for the second time I feel that in this day in age we should have a much more efficient process. The identification process and address books are not as secure and efficient as computers would be. I
ReplyDeleteI did pay a lot more attention to Fox and CNN on Tuesday than the previous election. It was exciting to see the statistics and projections as the day went on. I learned that some of the analyst of excellent at their job! The knowledge some of these guys have on there is just unbelievable.
My favorite moment of the whole election process and campaign efforts is that we don’t have to hear all of the political ads anymore. I was getting annoyed hearing “And I approve this message” every other commercial. It is exciting to see how everyone gets so involved and patriotic on Election Day. It would be great if everyone came together and cared so much like that on an everyday basis.
This was the first presidential election I have voted in, but not the first one that I have closely followed. I am very political as is my mom. I remember staying up late with her waiting for the results of the second Bush term and also waiting to hear if Obama or McCain would be our next president.
ReplyDeleteThis time around was a lot different though. I felt it was my responsibility to get informed about each candidate since I would finally be voting. I researched them both for months, then finally decided on voting for a third party candidate (Jill Stein) because she was the candidate whose views closely reflected mine. I became very frustrated throughout this process because of the little recognition that third party candidates received. I also became frustrated with people's responses when I told them I was voting for a thrid party. Everyone I talked to said I was throwing my vote away and I should vote for the person out or Romney/Obama that I liked the most. It wasn't that I didn't like Obama, I just don't agree with the Patriot Act among a few other things. I voted for a third party because I didn't want to vote for the lesser of two evils. I also voted for a third party because if they were to get 5% of the Nation's votes they would receive similar funding to what the two parties receive now.
My favorite part about the campaigning was all the criticism toward Romney regarding his 47% comments. I also LOVE the debates. I think America's decision to re-elect Obama was a sign that we as a country are sick of the intense bipartisanship and the rich white men running the Republican Party. They're unrelateable to the American people. I hope that our Nation can start getting away from the two-party system and begin voting for the people and issues that most closely reflect the way they feel personally.
Great point about third parties. I think we need a third party now more than ever, and yet might be less likely to get one because the elections have been so close. i.e. It seems more like you're "throwing your vote away" when the election is really tight than it would if a winner were clear or if you lived in a non-swing state. I was really impressed with the clip of Stein that you brought to class.
DeleteThis was the first presidential election that I could vote in. The last election in 2008 I was just shy of being 18. My 18th birthday was actually on the day of the inauguration which made it a pretty memorable birthday. I put off voting and did not take advantage of early voting. I went out of town and was getting back only a day before Election Day. I was nervous that I had set myself up for waiting in long lines but when I voted this year I was surprised that there was not a long line at all at the city building which was my voting location. I had heard from several people that you should allow at least an hour on Election Day to vote because of the lines. I also noticed while waiting the five minutes that I did that there was some problems with how we identified ourselves and our place of residence. A woman in front of me was having problems proving her place of residence. She brought in a water bill that had her name on it as well as her address. They said that she needed to provide a copy of her lease to be able to vote. They were still looking into it when I left, hopefully things got sorted out and she was able to vote.
ReplyDeleteI also learned how some of the states, especially Florida, should really re-format how they work their polls during the election. It is outrageous that some people waited hours to cast their vote. It should be a uniformed system across the country.
I think my favorite memory of the election was watching the results come in throughout Election Day. The different channels described more of the process in various states and more about the campaigns. I also thought it was interesting seeing the speeches and the tradition behind them.