Obama announces re-election campaign

Barack Obama has announced his re-election campaign. He says that he is announcing it early to allow the campaign to build. Here is his website's video announcement. What do you think, a good start? No other candidates, either Democrat or Republican, have yet announced. Here is the list of Republican contenders. Tim Pawlenty is the only one to have officially declared his intention to run. Which one would you back at this stage?

Politics Questions

The Nonsuch Politics Dept blog has had an update, and now has the latest questions for AS Unit 1 and A2, which may assist your revision. Here is a link.

Justin Webb Visit

An exciting visit today from Justin Webb, the presenter of the Today programme on Radio 4. He started working for the BBC in 1984 and has done a variety of different jobs since then from Breakfast News to the European Correspondent to (most importantly for A2 Politics students) the BBC's Chief Washington Correspondent from 2001. He remained in the USA until 2009 when he started working for the Today programme.
Come along to the Library at 1.15pm to hear his talk and ask him questions.

Assessments of Bill Clinton (in verse)

The Year 13 Government & Politics group were set a task to read various assessments of Bill Clinton as President and sum up their own conclusions on his presidency in verse. Below are some of our favourites:

There was a fellow called Bill
Who lived near Capitol Hill
He had an affair,
the Dems did despair, nearly losing him his seal.

Renowned for missed opportunities,
Congress was known for disunity,
a disappointment for some.
Having too much fun,
He had lost touch with community.

An era of fiscal prosperity,
Two terms of energy and clarity,
Crime figures were low,
Employment was a go,
Free trade was a popularity.
CW

There was a young gov'ner named Bill,
With undeterrable political will,
Despite tales of scandals,
And Congressional mishandles,
He remains ever popular still.
KM

Bill Clinton had lots of charm
It didn't do his presidency harm
Although he had flair
He failed with healthcare
And he and Republicans didn't get on.

By the end there was a budget surplus
But Congress had turned into a circus
He gave the Middle East support
Then avoided going to court
In the end all was forgiven.
AT

Was Bill Clinton a superficial president?
His lack of moral authority was evident
White Water, Lewinsky, impeachment, the lot
Clintonian scandals will not be forgot
His obstruction of justice was reprehensible
But the Republican attack was hardly defensible.

In domestic affairs the guy showed ability
An era of economic prosperity and social stability
Yes relations with Congress were at a strain
And healthcare reform went down the drain
But surplus was up and crime was down
The role of government re-asserted, even Newt didn’t frown.

In foreign affairs he didn’t do as well
The Test Ban Treaty was hard to sell
Yet global trade was encouraged at least
Peace established in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Middle East.

So to conclude our judgement of his presidency
In the art of persuasion he clearly lacked competency
He did leave the country in robust good health
Welfare reform and economic wealth
But we can’t help but feeling a sense of talent wasted
His hopes of a fairer society only briefly tasted.
AH

State of the Union

It was Obama's State of the Union address yesterday. With Gabrielle Giffords' seat empty, there was a real mood of bipartisanship if only among some of the Congressmen and women who, contrary to convention, chose to sit together. Many commentators have seen it as a speech that defiantly argues for the positive role of government - see below's quotation, Mark Mardell and Channel 4 - but there is much else to consider - see BBC's key excerpts.
"I recognize that some in this chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without. But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. And let's make sure what we're cutting is really excess weight. Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you'll feel the impact."
And for those thinking of becoming a teacher, "To every young person listening tonight who's contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child - become a teacher. Your country needs you."

Political rhetoric?

The recent shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that left 6 dead and Giffords fighting for her life with a bullet through her head has led to a debate as to whether it is political rhetoric that has led to this tragedy. Certainly Sarah Palin's map of 'targets' has been highly publicised although now many conservatives are defending themselves by accusing Democrats of exploiting the event to attack them. Make up your own mind with a range of opinions here on the BBC and Mark Mardell's blog and a range of articles on CNN including Rush Limbaugh's defence.

Obama's Christmas Congress success

Despite it looking like Obama was going to end 2010 with little success after the November elections, Obama has managed to pull the START treaty out of the bag and the law allowing gays to serve openly in the military. The former should enhance his reputation abroad to get things done and the latter reassure his own party that he still wants to achieve the radical agenda promised in the 2008 election.
Happy Christmas everyone!

Federal judge impeached

For only the eighth time in US history a federal judge was impeached in the Senate yesterday. Judge Thomas Porteous, a federal judge in Louisiana, was impeached on all four charges of corruption including lying to Congress. See the BBC's reporting of the story and Politico's.

American political update

Lots to keep American politics students busy on a snow day... Another selection of interesting articles from the Economist - on the virtues and talents of Sarah Palin, on a Pentagon report leaving the way clear for gays to serve openly in the military, and on the Wikileaks fiasco. On the latter issue, Mike Huckabee (a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful) sees execution as the only option for dealing with those who leaked the information to Wikileaks and many other politicians are lining up to condemn those involved. Washington Post is concentrating on Congress and Obama's attempt to cut a deal with the Republicans over the Bush-era tax cut and whether to renew it as a whole or only for the middle class. Great topics for discussion and examples for your political analysis - and possible questions for Wednesday's current affairs test.

JFK and the Art of Politics

Andrew Marr has written an article and will be presenting a programme on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of John F Kennedy's successful presidential campaign. Kennedy has become iconic because of his youth, great speeches and tragic early death. Marr argues that if you study his campaign closely, the truth is rather more murky. Kennedy's political team (which included Ted Sorensen, who died recently) pulled every trick they could in order to secure victory. "It is a tale of soaring and risk-taking rhetoric..." writes Marr, "but also big money, smears, bribes, wire-pulling and bottomless cynicism." Marr believes this set the template for the modern political campaign, linked very clearly to the rapidly- developing world of advertising and PR as seen in "Mad Men". The most well known aspect of the campaign was the television debates (which we have blogged about before). One interesting fact was that Kennedy asked for a "comfort break" with a minute to go before transmission, and only reappeared with seconds to go. This clearly unsettled his opponent, Richard Nixon, who went on to deliver a rather flustered and unsteady performance. Let us know what you think of the programme.

Bush's Decision Points

The Nonsuch English Blog brought up Bush's imminent publication last week. Bush has now given an interview to NBC about his book which Mark Mardell has commented on in his blog. Bush has also released his own description of his book on Youtube. The book is released tomorrow - enjoy!

ps for those upset by Obama's 'shellacking' by the voters last week in the mid-terms, Andrew Rawnsley had some more upbeat analysis of what it might mean for his chances in 2012.

PPS: Here are some early reviews of Bush's book.

Women in American elections

It has been claimed 'The Year of the Conservative Woman' or Mama Grizzlies as Sarah Palin would say conservative women were. What does this really mean? Certainly the elections today will not mean more women in Congress. In fact, there will be fewer if the Republicans make the gains expected - possibly even the lowest number for 40 years. Are they advocating women's rights? They tend not to focus on women's traditional issues and put forward more traditionally male issues such as the concern about the deficit and taxation. Is this post-feminism as claimed in this US News article? Certainly, Democrat women do not see it that way. They argue that repealing healthcare is not helpful to women and the children that the mama grizzlies have supposedly reared up on their hind legs to protect. Michelle Obama in her recent speech for Harry Reid was forceful in her refutation of this argument. The Times have a good article on these arguments which will be up in the Study Room tomorrow.

ps on American women, see here for the story of Dilma Rousseff, who has just won the presidency of Brazil.

10 Unfortunate Midterm Ads

This Guardian article highlights 10 of the more tactless ads put out during the midterm election, including Christine O'Donnell's "I am not a witch...I'm you" video (above), and a rather creepy (and xenophobic) ad from the "Citizens against public waste (below). You'll need Youtube access to watch these, but let us know what you think!

PS: Here is a good comment on the significancd of the midterms from Mark Mardell, plus a good round-up of stories from the BBC. Here is Comedy Central (Home of the Daily Show)'s election site, and analysis of their recent "Rally to restore sanity"

Ted Sorensen

Ted Sorensen, John F Kennedy's speech writer, has died. He cooperated with JFK to write such famous lines as "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" from the President's inaugural speech. His close relationship with Kennedy was particularly important during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when he drafted with Bobby Kennedy a letter to Nikita Khrushchev. This careful piece of diplomacy ignored some of Khrushchev's harsher comments but agreed to remove missiles from the US base in Turkey, persuading the Soviets to withdraw their missiles from Cuba. "That's what I'm proudest of," he once said. "Never had this country, this world, faced such great danger. You and I wouldn't be sitting here today if that had gone badly." You can read more about Sorensen here, plus his comments on Kennedy's inaugural speech here.

Obama and the mid-terms

The mid-term elections are less than a week away now and the predictions are still dire for the Democrats. Next week, it is likely that the Republicans will have won control of the House and substantially reduced the Democrat majority in the Senate. There is so much to read and look at on the Internet on the elections, here are just a few suggestions: Obama has appeared on Jon Stewart's Daily Show (on Channel 4 OD) which is interesting for his defence to his own rather disappointed supporters and for his constitutional reform suggestions; The Economist has an article setting out why Obama has disappointed but that the criticism has been overblown and another on the electoral position at the moment; the BBC has a special website with a range of articles and features such as the races to watch, the issues of the election and the craziest campaign moments.
What would you suggest? Have you found any good websites?

Condoleezza's memoirs

Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State and National Security Adviser under George W Bush, has released her memoirs. Not yet of the years under Bush, that is due in 2012, but of her childhood and career up to 2000. She grew up in segregated Alabama as an only child of a teacher and preacher and showed enormous talent early on in a wide range of areas from music to academia to ice skating. In 'Extraordinary, Ordinary People' she tells of living with segregation and emerging victorious as well as her parents' experience of the politics and violence that made Alabama the focus of the civil rights battle in the 1960s. It sounds a good read, if criticised for being 'aloof' by the New York Times. Here is an interview with CBS News where she talks about the book.

Supreme Court Cases 2010

The beginning of the Supreme Court's new term always brings with it some interesting new cases. None more so than the one they were hearing today - have a look below.


Here is a list of the other cases up for review and here is a very useful list of the cases that were considered in 2009-10 and their results.

Tea Party Colouring Book

Fans of the Tea Party movement now have their own colouring book. Passages include, "When taxes are too high, the high tax takes away jobs and freedom. In 1773 we had a Tea Party and this led to freedom from high taxes. Today we are having another Tea Party and this will lead to freedom from high taxes again!" The publishers deny that they are trying to make a political statement, as they also publish an Obama colouring book and many other topics. What other subjects do you think deserve the colouring in treatment?

Worshipping the constitution

In this week's Economist there is a fascinating article about the USA's obsession with their constitution. The tea-party movement is the latest group to hijack their own understanding of what the constitution means for their own ends. Lexington provokes a passionate debate on the Economist's blog by statements such as 'there is something infantile in the belief of the constitution-worshippers that the complex political arguments of today can be settled by simple fidelity to a document written in the 18th century'.
This is proof, if needed, of history's ever-present relevance to today's political debate.

Pledge to America

The Republicans in the House are trying to replicate the success they had in 1994 with a new 'Pledge to America'. Then, they put forward a 'Contract with America' which proposed new legislation in a short time period. Many Republicans credit this document with their winning back Congress in 1994. They hope for a similar success in November ie winning back Congress from the Democrats. This is much more likely in the House than in the Senate, where only a third of members are up for election. See here for more information and some of the conservative measures advocated such as a ban on federal funding for abortion.