Polling the Presidential & Congressional Races

REMEMBER - It takes 270 electoral votes to win the Presidential race. A number of polling organizations will be surveying potential voters for their presidential preferences between now and Election day. Each of the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX) and Major News Media (NY Times, Newsweek etc) as well as independent polling firms such as Zogby & Rasmussen will be publishing weekly if not daily polls of voters preferences. Watch this site for the most up-to-date predictions. CLICK ON
Map  for a daily update on elections around the country involving U.S. representatives & Senators and the latest presidential polls.

Week 2: Origins of the Presidency

In week 2, we examined the three basic forms of government identified by Aristotle (384-322 BC) and how these forms were modified by the British national government and the American colonies. Events leading up to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were highlighted to include: the Continental Congresses, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, The Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation, French and American victory at the Battle of Yorktown, peace with England and the Treaty of Paris.  During the Constitutional Convention, three proposals to select a president were considered and seven times the method was changed. Finally, the  indirect election method was chosen in which popular sentiment could be expressed by voting for intermediaries called presidential electors which were to be chosen by states in a manner designated by each state legislature.  During the period from the drafting and the proposed federal Constitution in 1787 to its ratification in 1789, there was an intense debate on ratification in the colonies and the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist papers played an important role in debating how this new government would operate and why this form of government was the best choice for the United States of America. A copy of the handout used in Class 2 and homework assignment can be found on the right hand side of the blog. To answer the homework assignment, you can use the Useful Links found on the bottom right of this blog. Next week we will look at the Evolution of the Presidential Office.

The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers were a series of articles written in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name of Publius by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The purpose of The Federalist Papers was to gain popular support for the then-proposed Constitution. You can view the 85 essays outlining this new type of government planned for the U.S. of America by viewing: http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/

The arguments against ratification of the Constitution appeared at the same time in various forms and by various authors , most of whom used a pseudonym such as "Centinel", "Cato", "Brutus" and "The Federal Farmer". Collectively, these writings became known as the Anti-Federalist Papers. They contain warnings of dangers from tyranny that weaknesses in the proposed Constitution did not adequately  provide against  and while some of those weaknesses were corrected by adoption of the Bill of Rights, others remained, and some of these dangers are now coming to pass. The Anti-Federalist Papers can be viewed on the same site above.

Presidential & Vice-Presidential Debates

The schedule has been published with the following dates  for the OBAMA-ROMNEY Presidental debates as follows:
        Oct 3      -->  Denver
        Oct 16    -->  Hempstead, NY  (a town-hall debate)
        Oct 22    -->  Boca-Raton, FL (foreign policy debate)

The BIDEN-RYAN Vice-Presidential Debate will be on October 11 in Danville, Ky

Week 1: Review of Course & Declaration of Independence

This first week we reviewed the Course Syllabus and the Schedule of Classes  (see right hand side of blog). We also took a quick tour of the World Almanac and pointed out the parts of the Almanac that will be useful for our classes and homework assignments. In class we reviewed events leading up to July 4, 1776 and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence  and the events leading to August 2,1776 when 54 of the eventual 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence signed the engrossed copy on parchment in the Continental Congress. We then watched scenes from the movie "1776" after the initial reading of the Declaration resulted in debate, alterations, deletions and amendments until the final vote culminating in the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. A copy of the handout used in Class 1 and homework assignment can be found on the right hand side of the blog. To answer your homework assignment, you can use the Useful Links found on the bottom right of this blog. Next week we will look at the Constitutional Convention and the Origins of the Presidency.