Homeschool 2.0 » civics

How to Elect a President

lynn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:09:53 +0000

Here’s the nitty-gritty on how we elect the President of the United States from Commoncraft.

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Keeping Tabs on Election Stuff

lynn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:28:13 +0000

To get a snapshot of what polls and pundits are saying regarding state and national elections bookmark RealClearPolitics. For today’s Michigan primary their poll average is Romney at +2.7%.

Open Primaries vs. Closed Primaries: A Civics Lesson

lynn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:23:46 +0000

We’re in the midst of primaries and caucuses in the run to the November presidential election. It’s a tremendous learning opportunity for all. What I’m finding most interesting is the lack of discussion of results from open primaries vs. closed primaries. In the mainstream press the difference is generally dismissed as meaningless. If so why did the Alaska GOP sue to win the right to a closed primary? And why are Hawaii’s Democrats considering the same action?

Generally, inclusiveness is considered a good thing but when it comes to choosing a candidate for public office should Democrats be allowed a vote in choosing Republican candidates? Or visa versa? Sounds like a good research project for a high school civics class. (For the record: I think primaries should be closed.)

Today is Michigan’s primary, an open primary where anyone can vote for the Republican nominee. Only Senator Clinton is on the Democrat ballot and Democrats are being encouraged to vote for a GOP candidate. Will Dems vote for a strong Republican candidate or a weak candidate that would be easier to defeat in the general election? If there is a large Democrat crossover vote how should the results of the GOP primary be interpreted? Is that candidate the legitimate choice of Republicans? Will he be able to add to his delegate count over the long haul? After all, the candidate with the most delegates wins the nomination at the convention not the candidate who wins the most primaries. New Hampshire was an open primary. How does Senator McCain’s victory look in light of a large Democrat crossover vote?

Wall Street Journal Offers a Free Lunch

lynn — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:27:25 +0000

OK, I know there is no such thing as a free lunch but The Wall Street Journal has offered up something close to it. America’s best newspaper is now available online free.

Since 2000, we’ve operated in a dual world on the Web. The majority of our daily editorial offerings have remained behind a paid subscription wall at wsj.com/opinion, while our free site, OpinionJournal.com, offered select stories plus a few Web-only features. As of today, those two sites will merge and become a single free site for all Journal opinion, both in the U.S. and overseas editions, book reviews and leisure and arts.

Readers will be able to access the site either through wsj.com/opinion or OpinionJournal.com, and they will see the same page.

Presidential Campaign: Candidates’ Online Resources

lynn — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:35:25 +0000

Docuticker has posted this very useful presidential campaign info. It’s their “Resource of the Week,” a compilation of all the online sites each candidate has including Facebook, MySpace, flickr and YouTube. It’s also available in pdf if you like to copy and paste instead of click.

HT: learnerchik