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The primaries are a set of elections in our country that determine the two candidates for the presidential election. Each state holds its own elections for the registered voters, and the candidates from each party are selected. Some states have different primary elections whether they are open or closed. These two terms apply to what kind of voter participation is allowed. Closed primaries allow registered party voters to participate in that partys election whereas the open ones allow any registered voter to participate in one of the elections. This election year the democratic candidates are battling for the primaries with the hope of running against incumbent George W.
Bush for the presidency. At this point it is hard to say who is truly ahead in campaigning for the democrats. A good start is often helpful to a particular candidate but as George Bush showed us last election, it isnt everything. As of now four democratic candidates stick out as strong contenders. In terms of polling, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Dick Gephardt stand in the lead thus far, with Joe Lieberman a close competitor.
The polls, however, are all from different sources, including the Associated Press poll, a CNN/Times poll and some others, and the true leader will not be evident until the election is complete. When examining what is going on here in terms of political analysis we must look at the lenses as we learned them from Low this semester. They are based on five simple principles: The Rationality Principle, the Collective Action Principle, the Institution Principle, the Policy Principle and the History Principle. By using these lenses se can look at the primaries in a way that can answer questions and explain what the election is really about and how it works so that we may all be more educated voters next term. This analysis brings up questions on the issues that the candidates stand for and how they will play out in the election. Each politician has their own goals in mind at the top of everything, and the rules that they have to play by shape the election until the voters, as best we can, choose our favorite candidate in terms of who meets our own interests best.
So what are the interests of the individual candidates? What do they want and how can they make an appeal to what the voters want? How do candidates get people together in supporting and voting? What rules do the candidates have to follow in their campaigns to get the support they need to win? What will the outcome of the election be and how can we explain it in terms of goals and procedures? And finally, what can we say about this election and its candidates in comparison to others in the past?
So how does each of the candidates differ and how should we decide who to vote for? At this point Dean has raised the most money for his campaign by a good amount with a total funding of 25, 387, 493 dollars as of November 18 th and has thus far spent a total of 12, 951, 593 dollars (web). He is one of the democratic candidates who have opted out of public funding, as Bush has also done. He stands for a change in campaign finance reform among one of which his reforms would be increasing the amount of public financing.
This targets clearly his own interests (the Rationality Principle) because he knows he can gain more money by not using public funds, however, he knows that raising the amount of public funds would encourage more politicians to target smaller groups instead of just the wealthy contributors. This is what politics should be about, not who has the most money to buy the election. He believes in promoting healthcare. In the richest, most advanced country in the world in the 21 st century, it's simply wrong for sick children to go without seeing a doctor because their parents can't afford it (web).
Dean feels civil rights and civil justices should be for everyone. He is also on board with many of the other democratic ideals including supporting women in our society, protecting the environment, and being a more ideal role model as a country to others which he feels we have not properly done under our current administration. In terms of funding John Kerry comes next on the list. Kerry has received a total of 20, 043, 631 dollars and has spent 12, 098, 642 dollars.
Gephardt has funded 13, 666, 915 dollars and spent 7, 782, 314 dollars, and Clark has funded 3, 491, 108 dollars and spent only 107, 259 dollars (web). But funding isnt everything. Clearly last in the funding race, Clark ranks strongly with his campaign and is at the top right now with Dean. Clark, a retired military general, has some strong policies in mind for his campaign.
He has been said to be ambiguous about his stance of America in the war, but according to his own website (web), he has said we need to end the American monopoly. We have lost money and troops in this war and more importantly the support of some of our allies, making us an even bigger target. As a general this war is a very big issue to him as it is too many American families. Clark is gathering a lot of voters by opposing this war and pledging to bring home the troops.
He is a true democrat supporting the democratic social values but he is very serious about protecting the homeland and making America a safer place. Gephardt also follows the democratic ideology, but also poses some bold new ideas that might sway some of the democrats to his side. He has proposed an idea of an international minimum wage. He feels that this will protect American jobs (web). Gephardt's focus is changing the balance of power in Washington. All the democratic candidates would agree with this, but Gephardt's ideas come from common ideals.
He stresses healthcare, education and the hard worker. Gephardt is a strong candidate because his focus is on the problems that are going on in our own country more than worrying about others. Our economy is a problem right now and Gephardt realizes this and has many policies to help solve this problem. John Kerry recently spoke at Stanford University. He talked about his policies to the young voters who are a strong group that do not get enough voter turnouts. He has also target the economy in his campaign.
He feels we need to lead the way in technology to create new jobs and create an economy that is strong enough to be a global force. He is also for strong homeland security. On his website, the first issue he target is restoring jobs to rebuild the economy. He also takes an interesting stance on the war here. He says, What does it gain America to win a war and lose a peace? (web). In education, Kerry takes a stand on college expenses.
He says that college should be affordable for all Americans. This is a good way to target this group of voters. Kerry understands that all Americans should have an equal opportunity for the best future and he targets Bush's tax cuts as taking away from our youths future. In analysis of the above information it is important to keep in mind the five principles. Using these lenses we can better understand why, how, and for whom these campaigns are...
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Research essay sample on Analysis Of The 2004 Democratic Primaries
