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Political Parties – Question 2
EVERYONE answer this question. I am going to summarize and add to a section in the text here, and then point you to another source on the web for the actual question. The text has a discussion of the use of primaries to select candidates for office in the state. The original use of primaries back when the state was a one-party Democratic state was more than just selecting a candidate. The primary actually selected the officeholder because the Republicans either did not run or ran a token candidate who was certain to lose. The Democratic primary was run by the party, not the state, and the party acted like a private club in which only whites could be members. Much of that changed with the civil right revolution of the 1960s. As the Republicans became competitive they too began to hold primaries. Jumping ahead in the chapter, if you look at Table 6 you can see that since 1996 more people have voted in the Republican primary than in the Democratic primary, reflecting the changing fortunes of the two parries in the state. As the text notes earlier, the legacy of party organized primaries remained until 1992 when the state began to operate the primaries so that rules and records and procedures were much more uniform. Again, as the book notes, most local offices (county and municipal) also employ primaries to select candidates. The text also talks about presidential primaries, which are getting a lot of national publicity right now because South Carolina will be holding early presidential primaries in 2008. Unlike primaries for state offices, these were run by by the two parties until the upcoming 2008 primaries. The legislature passed a law in 2007 to have the state run them, the governor vetoed the bill, and his veto was overridden in the last days of the 2007 session (no surprise there). Recently, Educational TV and Winthrop University ran a state-wide survey to see how voters feel about the upcoming primaries. Go to the web page that gives the results – it is at http://www.myetv.org/television/productions/tbp/winthrop_etv_polls/poll1/survey1page1.html. Take a look at the results and findings and describe ONE thing that you found most surprising.
12 comments:
One of the things I found quite interesting among the Winthrop’s ETV poll findings are the results for the candidacy of John Mc Cain. It seems as if his support for Bush’s policies would hurt his bid for presidency but the results show it in fact actually helped his candidacy. Another thing that was very interesting in these findings was the question of whether or not this country was ready for a female president. Result to this answer was not what I really expected. I though I would see many vote of undecided or don’t knows when it fact there were high numbers of the response yes. There were yes to all, democrats, independents, and republicans.
Cequita D Edmond
One thing that surprised me the most was the results to the question “If the presidential primary election were held today, which of these candidates would you vote for? (Among Democrats)”. It surprised me that Hilary Clinton beat out the others with the exception of the undecided vote. I honestly did not think that she would be as well received in this election as she has been.
-Sarah Luckey
I found it very interesting on the ETV poll that Hilary Clinton did so well and that people believe she has a chance.
-Kaycee Doying
Honestly, the most shocking thing I noticed about the survey was the question that said, “If Hilary Clinton became president then Bill Clinton would be a great first husband.” That question made me laugh. However, in all seriousness, I find it surprising that Rudy Giuliani won both the independent and republican vote. Giuliani might classify himself as a Republican; however, he tends to be on the liberal side of most issues. In South Carolina, the majority of the residents are conservatives. With Giuliani divorce history, liberal stance on most issues, and overall personality I find it hard to believe that he would win the primary.
Julie Kate
I found it suprising that many South Carolina voters, mostly republicans but even some democrats feel that McCains support of the way President Bush has handled the war in Iraq actaully helped McCain chances of getting the Republican nomination.
Matt Burroughs
What caugh my attention is the support of Hilary Clinton. Hilary Clinton has as much support as Obama and Edwards. I'm not saying she doesn't have a chance of winning, its her ability being as a leader I'm still questioning. I believe she tanked in the first debate, hope she gets better in the next ones. Another thing that surprises me is that John Edwrds has roots in S.C., so won't that help him surpass Clinton and Obama. Instead its still a three way tie. I also believe that the results are kind of flawed, what about those that have not resigereted to vote (18 and up) but will participate in election time later.
Xavier de Jesus
please delete my first one. Thank you!
After looking at the survey I saw a few things that were surprising to me. The First is Clinton! If the election was to be held today Clinton by the poll would have taken the victory. I see it now that it is going to come down to Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani for president and when asked if the country would be ready for a female to be president, the survey showed that 68.9% said yes. So this election should be one for the history if this keeps up.
Another that was surprising to me is that some issues were not brought up nearly as much ie: Education and gas prices. Now I’m not sure if gas prices were part of the economy portion of the survey or not but that is something that I thought that would be an issue to discuss about. What wasn’t surprising to me was that the TOP issue to discuss about would be the Iraq situation.
Randy Lucas
While reviewing the results of the poll, there were several things that stood out to me. First, was the question issued to all parties about the most important topic on issues for presidential candidates to discuss was Iraq for all three parties, however the interesting part is the second issue. Liberals wanted to discuss healthcare, as Republicans and Independents wanted to discuss illegal immigration. Through this you can tell how more liberals think as opposed to republicans and independents. The second issue that stood out to me was whether the people of the state felt more ready to have an African American president as opposed to a woman president. I am not sure what to think about that, that means the state has come a long way in racial issues, which is a good thing, but what does that mean for the women?
Matt Spivey
The most surprising matter pertain to the survey is the Iraq War. Regardless of the ongoing debate on immigration the Iraq war seems to be the most controversial issue for any presidential debate. Even in a conservative state as South Carolina, citizens are unsure about the president’s current position. I believe the poll shows that the Iraq war and its continued progress is the key element for a candidate’s advancement to the White House.
DeQuawn Smith
I was suprised about the question of if the primaries were held today. 29% of Republicans were unsure. This was suprising.
Lots of interesting observations! I gave all who responded on time S+'s for their grade -- here are a couple of responses to your observations.
Republicans in South Carolina still favor the war, but they do have questions about how competently the Bush administration has run the war, so I am not surprised that it is seen as an issue that could help McCain, because he too had been critical of how Bush has run the war.
Hillary was leading when this poll was done, but a more recent poll has Barak Obama in the lead. She definitely has the best experience of all the candidates for being president having watched one real closely (but perhaps not close enough at times!!! :) )for 8 years and also having a rather successful record in the Senate in working across party lines. On the other hand, she also is intensly disliked by many Republicans and will stimulate them to work hard against her candidacy.
I am not surprised that a majority say they would vote for a woman, but it was not a strong majority -- and many of them would no doubt find something wrong with any woman who did run -- what we see here is social etiquette at work.
That more said they would accept a black candidate than female candidate is a measure of two things -- some leak from feelings about Hillary -- she is more disliked than the black candidate Obama, and the fact that not voting for a women is less socially unacceptable today than saying one would not vote for a black -- relative social etiquette.
Iraq is the #1 issue by far and will remain so as long as we are losing 1-3 people every day. That is the issue that will give almost any Democrat an advantage in the next election. Immigration reform is a more complex issue that cuts across both parties and divides them both.
The number of unsures is bound to be high at this point because many people do not pay attention to campaigns until shortly before election day, or primary day in thsi case. What you see is a lot based on name recognition. The Republican dk's or unsures are particularly high because none of the candidates has really resonated with voters so far.
And I agree with Julie Kate that Giuliani will have a tough time winning SC becuse of his moderate to liberal issue positions and personal situation with his several wives.
Bob B
I am pleasantly surprised for the Democratic party. Normally I always vote for the underdog no matter what. This is especially important for me becuase I am black woman. I would be thrilled to see Hilary or Obama in office. This would break ground on sooo many levels. America needs a change a dramtic change. I thinkit would definitely show how far we have come if we end up with a woman president and or black president. I think they should run on the same ticket but i know that Obam is opposed to that notion. I am more suprised to see Hillary leading the pack, everyone thought she wouldnt have a chance.
Erica
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