cToday was the day! Today we woke up and got on the road at 8:30 in the morning and made our way to the great state of New Hampshire (stopping along the way at The Blue Ben Diner to grab some fabulous breakfast of course!).
As soon as we crossed the border into New Hampshire from Vermont it was clear that the primary is less than a week away. We saw sign after sign for all of the major candidates: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. Driving into downtown Concord, New Hampshire's capital, it was clear that this state is invested in their legacy of being the first state to vote and how dedicated they are to this freedom.
The first campaign I was able to interact with during this trip was with the Hillary Clinton campaign with my friend Jenny. We walked to their campaign headquarters in Concord and were able to sign up right away to canvass around neighborhoods. While this was an enjoyable experience it seemed like the Clinton headquarters were not as populated as I was expecting them to be in the capital of one of the first primary states. Yes, the people we interacted with were friendly but they did not seem as energetic as I was expecting them to be about their candidate or about campaigning in general.
However, Jenny and I were able to meet and do some canvassing with an older couple named Annie and Henry. These two have been involved in politics in some way or another since George McGovern ran for president in 1972. They were what I thought more people from the Clinton campaign were going to be like. They were impressed that both Jenny and I were taking such an active interest in politics at a young age and were hopeful that our generation would be able to fix some of the problems that their generation had not. Annie and Henry were dedicated, informative, and energetic to get out the vote and make changes in our country. And I love that. To be able to have two generations working towards the same goal is something you definitely do not see everyday, but I'm glad I got to experience that moment.
After canvassing for a few hours, we returned to our hotel room in search of dinner. We found it at a Mexican Burrito shop where (I kid you not) I got a "Feel the Bern-rito." And it was pretty great! Beef, beans, cheese, rice, guacamole, and spicy mayo was a combo that you could only find in this shop; and the only dinner to get in order to truly get the New Hampshire primary experience.
Finally we ended out night with our own debate watching party at our hotel. This debate was sure to be an exciting event and it did not disappoint. It all started with a mis-calling of the candidates names forcing awkward interactions as Ben Carson was forced to wait to be called onto the stage, with the cameras focused on him the whole time, while almost all of the other candidates were called before him. Throughout the debate, Governor Chris Christie confronted Senator Marco Rubio about his inability to answer a question by simply dancing around it. These interactions showed that Christie wasn't afraid to show voters that he is still in this race and that Rubio may not be the next best candidate. While I finished watching the debate it was hard to focus on after such a long day of traveling and volunteering, so I'll try to post a good analytical article about the debate tomorrow morning.
Showing posts with label Iowa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iowa. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Thursday, February 4, 2016
2016 Campaign Cartoons
Looking for a way to laugh a little about the craziness that has become the 2016 Presidential Election?
Click the link below to find editorial cartoons about the presidential candidates, the state of the campaigns, and some of the policies they have begun to propose.
It's sure to make you laugh and cry at the same time whether you think the cartoon is funny or you just can't stand to hear another second about politics and the state of our nation!
(And if you just don't quite feel like clicking the link I've added a few of my favorites to this post )
Campaign 2016 Cartoons
Click the link below to find editorial cartoons about the presidential candidates, the state of the campaigns, and some of the policies they have begun to propose.
It's sure to make you laugh and cry at the same time whether you think the cartoon is funny or you just can't stand to hear another second about politics and the state of our nation!
(And if you just don't quite feel like clicking the link I've added a few of my favorites to this post )
Campaign 2016 Cartoons
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Iowa Caucus Results
On February 2,2016 the Presidential election officially got underway because on this night the first votes were cast in Iowa to see who would become the 45th President of the United States. The most recent polls from Quinnipiac indicated that Donald Trump was leading in the Republican field with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio rounding out the top three while Hillary Clinton was leading Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley in the Democratic field. However the results hat the polls had been predicting for months could not perfectly indict how he night would turn out.
In order to figure out exactly how the night went down let's begin with the Republican candidates for president. Polls from various sources had long been indicating that Donald Trump was leading both nationally and in Iowa for the past few weeks though his gap had narrowed to a 7 point lead for Trump, the closer it got to Election Day and the closer Ted Cruz got to the Evangelical voters. On the Democratic side the race was even closer with Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton by just 3 points which, as Sanders stated later in the evening is "a virtual tie."
By the end of the night it was clear that Ted Cruz would be the Republican winner with 28% of the vote while Donald Trump came in second with 24% and Marco Rubio rounding out the top three with 23%, a margin that was much closer than most polls had predicted between Trump and Rubio. During his acceptance speech Cruz showed yet again that he is the best representative of the conservative movement, stating this was a "victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation." Trump meanwhile was rather subdued in his comments over his second place finish saying that he "absolutely loves the people of Iowa" and that he is "just honored" about the votes that he received from his supports.
Yet maybe the most surprising victory speech came from Marco Rubio who sounded more as if he had won the entire caucus rather than come in third place, "they told me I didn't have a chance because my hair wasn't great enough and my boots were too high, they told me I needed to wait my turn, to wait in line." With Rubio finishing strongly in third place and surprising many who thought that Trump would have had a much larger margin between the other candidates, Rubio will likely be getting more endorsements, money, and media attention than he has thus far. And with more attention this could mean a stronger finish both in the New Hampshire primary next week and the South Carolina and Nevada contests at the end of this month.
While the Republican race was able to be called relatively early in the night, results for the Democratic race were not officially announced until the next morning because the race was the "closest democratic election in the history of Iowa" according to party officials. In the end Clinton beat Sanders by barely a percentage point, though she began celebrating long before this was officially announced. Clinton spoke from a victory stage early in the evening before all of the caucus votes had been finalized, to thank Iowans as she "breathed a big sigh of relief" that her campaign was able to overcome the grassroots momentum that the Bernie Sanders campaign had been gaining for the past few weeks.
Meanwhile during Sanders speech, he seemed extremely grateful to be able to go from zero name recognition in Iowa to a tie with one of the well known political candidates of our time. For some across the nation, the narrow margins from this Iowa caucus evoked memories from 2008 when Clinton, who was known as the presumed nominee, was beaten by then Senator Barack Obama. However, this cycle the Clinton campaign seems extremely eager to take this small margin over Sanders as an absolute win, most likely in the hopes that she will be able to continue to build momentum towards New Hampshire and the rest of the primary season. Sanders is not opposed to declaring victory either as this tie proves to those who doubted him that he can indeed put up a fight against Clinton and Wall Street.
But Monday night was not just about the men and women who were able to finish strong and continue their campaigns and hopes of receiving a party nomination. No, Monday night was also the end of the road for candidates who were simply not able to turn out the support that they had once dreamed of. Republican Governor Mike Huckabee ended his run for the White House on Monday evening as well as Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley. By Wednesday afternoon even more candidates dropped out of the race including Senator Rand Paul and Senator Rick Santorum who had actually won the Iowa Caucus four years ago. For each of these campaigns they never seemed to be able to gain enough momentum to produce a serious run for the presidency, but nevertheless, they tried their best.
Now it's on to New Hampshire, the first state in the country where the first primary votes will be cast for president and where unprecedented things will be bound to happen. Who will come out on top of the Republican field? Will Cruz maintain his lead? Will Trump win and prove that he can turn out the vote when necessary? Or will Rubio continue his upward climb and potentially upset the entire field? And of course we can't forget about the Democrats. With Sanders' home state of Vermont next door he is presumed to win New Hampshire with a large margin over Clinton. But with her slight victory from Iowa will she be able to close the gap on Sanders and possible even win the entire state? Get ready to find out, there's only 5 days to go!
By the end of the night it was clear that Ted Cruz would be the Republican winner with 28% of the vote while Donald Trump came in second with 24% and Marco Rubio rounding out the top three with 23%, a margin that was much closer than most polls had predicted between Trump and Rubio. During his acceptance speech Cruz showed yet again that he is the best representative of the conservative movement, stating this was a "victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation." Trump meanwhile was rather subdued in his comments over his second place finish saying that he "absolutely loves the people of Iowa" and that he is "just honored" about the votes that he received from his supports.
Yet maybe the most surprising victory speech came from Marco Rubio who sounded more as if he had won the entire caucus rather than come in third place, "they told me I didn't have a chance because my hair wasn't great enough and my boots were too high, they told me I needed to wait my turn, to wait in line." With Rubio finishing strongly in third place and surprising many who thought that Trump would have had a much larger margin between the other candidates, Rubio will likely be getting more endorsements, money, and media attention than he has thus far. And with more attention this could mean a stronger finish both in the New Hampshire primary next week and the South Carolina and Nevada contests at the end of this month.
While the Republican race was able to be called relatively early in the night, results for the Democratic race were not officially announced until the next morning because the race was the "closest democratic election in the history of Iowa" according to party officials. In the end Clinton beat Sanders by barely a percentage point, though she began celebrating long before this was officially announced. Clinton spoke from a victory stage early in the evening before all of the caucus votes had been finalized, to thank Iowans as she "breathed a big sigh of relief" that her campaign was able to overcome the grassroots momentum that the Bernie Sanders campaign had been gaining for the past few weeks.
Meanwhile during Sanders speech, he seemed extremely grateful to be able to go from zero name recognition in Iowa to a tie with one of the well known political candidates of our time. For some across the nation, the narrow margins from this Iowa caucus evoked memories from 2008 when Clinton, who was known as the presumed nominee, was beaten by then Senator Barack Obama. However, this cycle the Clinton campaign seems extremely eager to take this small margin over Sanders as an absolute win, most likely in the hopes that she will be able to continue to build momentum towards New Hampshire and the rest of the primary season. Sanders is not opposed to declaring victory either as this tie proves to those who doubted him that he can indeed put up a fight against Clinton and Wall Street.
But Monday night was not just about the men and women who were able to finish strong and continue their campaigns and hopes of receiving a party nomination. No, Monday night was also the end of the road for candidates who were simply not able to turn out the support that they had once dreamed of. Republican Governor Mike Huckabee ended his run for the White House on Monday evening as well as Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley. By Wednesday afternoon even more candidates dropped out of the race including Senator Rand Paul and Senator Rick Santorum who had actually won the Iowa Caucus four years ago. For each of these campaigns they never seemed to be able to gain enough momentum to produce a serious run for the presidency, but nevertheless, they tried their best.
Now it's on to New Hampshire, the first state in the country where the first primary votes will be cast for president and where unprecedented things will be bound to happen. Who will come out on top of the Republican field? Will Cruz maintain his lead? Will Trump win and prove that he can turn out the vote when necessary? Or will Rubio continue his upward climb and potentially upset the entire field? And of course we can't forget about the Democrats. With Sanders' home state of Vermont next door he is presumed to win New Hampshire with a large margin over Clinton. But with her slight victory from Iowa will she be able to close the gap on Sanders and possible even win the entire state? Get ready to find out, there's only 5 days to go!
Claims of the Candidates
Have you ever wondered how much of what a candidate says is actually true? Maybe you have when it seems as if some of the information they are talking about in their speeches or during a debate doesn't exactly make sense to you, but for the most part it doesn't occur to people to double check what politicians are saying. However, if you ever feel like what a candidate says isn't true, but you can't seem to find any news site telling you otherwise, try going to FactCheck.org. On this site you will be able to find articles and videos that tell you both what candidates have claimed to be true versus what was actually correct about their statements. Here's what I found on some of the major candidates:
Rand Paul:
Recently, the pro-Paul Super Political Action Committee or PAC, ran an ad that accuses Senator Ted Cruz of being a fake conservative using information from various Senate votes that Cruz participated in. During the ad a voiceover states how Cruz "voted to borrow billions and bust the budget" and how he "skipped the vote to audit the federal reserve." The ad then goes on to say how Rand Paul is the true fiscal conservative in the race and that he will work to "cut spending" and "balance the budget." What the ad doesn't point out is that the first spending vote referenced dealt with an amendment to the defense budget or that this amendment never actually passed but failed in a vote in March of 2015 32-68. The second incorrect information deals with the fact that Cruz skipped a Senate vote. While yes, he did skip the vote, it was because he was campaigning in New Hampshire; during an election year it is common for Senators to miss certain votes simply because it would be hard for them to be in Washington, D.C. and campaigning around the country to get as many votes as possible. FactCheck also goes on to examine Cruz's voting record along with Senator Paul's and comparing them among conservative groups including Club for Growth, the National Taxpayers Union, and the American Conservative Union, all of which A ratings, indicating that both these members of Congress are conservative, contrary to what this ad will have viewers believe. Click on the link below to read the entire article that I used when writing this post: http://www.factcheck.org/2016/01/cruzs-conservative-credentials/
Hillary Clinton:
On January 12, 2016, Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton's daughter claimed that Senator Sanders wanted to "dismantle Obamacare, dismantle the chip program, dismantle Medicare, (and) dismantle private insurance." Clinton goes on to say that by "giving the Republicans, Democratic permission" to do such things that America will go back to a time when millions of people did not have health insurance before the Affordable Care Act was put into place. However, this is not true. Sanders intends to replace current insurance with a program called Medicare-for-All which would be paid for by new tax programs including increasing the amount of taxes wealthy Americans, those who make over $250,000 each year, would pay. Want to know exactly where I got this information? Click on the link below to watch FactCheck's video: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/22/politics/fact-check-trump-iran-clinton-health-care-tapper-origwx-pk/index.html
Rand Paul:
Recently, the pro-Paul Super Political Action Committee or PAC, ran an ad that accuses Senator Ted Cruz of being a fake conservative using information from various Senate votes that Cruz participated in. During the ad a voiceover states how Cruz "voted to borrow billions and bust the budget" and how he "skipped the vote to audit the federal reserve." The ad then goes on to say how Rand Paul is the true fiscal conservative in the race and that he will work to "cut spending" and "balance the budget." What the ad doesn't point out is that the first spending vote referenced dealt with an amendment to the defense budget or that this amendment never actually passed but failed in a vote in March of 2015 32-68. The second incorrect information deals with the fact that Cruz skipped a Senate vote. While yes, he did skip the vote, it was because he was campaigning in New Hampshire; during an election year it is common for Senators to miss certain votes simply because it would be hard for them to be in Washington, D.C. and campaigning around the country to get as many votes as possible. FactCheck also goes on to examine Cruz's voting record along with Senator Paul's and comparing them among conservative groups including Club for Growth, the National Taxpayers Union, and the American Conservative Union, all of which A ratings, indicating that both these members of Congress are conservative, contrary to what this ad will have viewers believe. Click on the link below to read the entire article that I used when writing this post: http://www.factcheck.org/2016/01/cruzs-conservative-credentials/
Hillary Clinton:
On January 12, 2016, Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton's daughter claimed that Senator Sanders wanted to "dismantle Obamacare, dismantle the chip program, dismantle Medicare, (and) dismantle private insurance." Clinton goes on to say that by "giving the Republicans, Democratic permission" to do such things that America will go back to a time when millions of people did not have health insurance before the Affordable Care Act was put into place. However, this is not true. Sanders intends to replace current insurance with a program called Medicare-for-All which would be paid for by new tax programs including increasing the amount of taxes wealthy Americans, those who make over $250,000 each year, would pay. Want to know exactly where I got this information? Click on the link below to watch FactCheck's video: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/22/politics/fact-check-trump-iran-clinton-health-care-tapper-origwx-pk/index.html
The State of The Campaigns
~To preface this post I need to say that the information I will be providing will be prior to the events and results of the Iowa Caucus on February 1, 2016 ~
By the end of January any candidate who dreams of taking over the White House by the end of the year has been constantly campaigning in the first two states of the election process for the past few weeks or even months. These are the states of Iowa which will be where the first votes of 2016 will be cast when they caucus on February 1st and New Hampshire which votes in the first primary on February 9th, just eight days after Iowa.
According to the CNN/ORC poll focusing on the Iowa Caucus on the Republican side the top five candidates are businessman Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Senator Ron Paul with Trump leading Cruz by 11 points. On the Democratic side Senator Bernie Sanders is leading the pack by 8 points over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Governor Martin O'Malley based on the same poll. With only a few days to go before the Iowa Caucus it will be interesting to see which candidates move up in the polls and which candidates loose momentum before the first test that there campaign faces.
Even before the new year started there have been many candidates who ended their bid before the contest truly started including Democrat Senator Jim Webb and Governor Lincoln Chafee and Republican Governor Scott Walker, Governor Rick Perry, Governor Bobby Jindal, and Senator Lindsey Graham. For the rest of the campaigns that are still in the running they have been gearing up by putting out more ads that focus on both what their campaigns offer and how they are the better option to become president than their opponents would be. Candidates in the lead such as Trump, Cruz, Clinton, and Sanders have been, and will continue to hold rallies, meet with their constituents and provide Iowans with the necessary information on how to get people to caucus in support of their candidacy.
Endorsements have also been growing for candidates from fellow politicians such as Sarah Palin who endorsed Donald Trump the other day and Evangelical Leaders who have been focusing their attention and resources towards the Rubio campaign. Yet as both the Iowa Caucus draws nearer with the New Hampshire primaries following shortly after, it will be interesting to see how candidates interact with each other, their constituents, and maybe even which candidates will drop out of the race.
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