Campaigns and Politics class blog

       Over the course of American electoral history presidential debates have changed the course of elections, drawn millions upon millions of eyeballs, and led to more arguments than the state of Israel. Yet throughout this contentious history of yelling, lies, counter lies, and nonsense, one political event usually gets somehow more contentious, the vice presidential debate. This is because historically the President or the Presidential candidate is supposed to maintain an element of decorum and respect, in order to inherit or keep the office of the Presidency. However, as we have found over the course of Donald Trump's political career that he himself is his own attack dog, and Mike Pence is a more traditional face for the administration. Thus the Vice Presidential debate that took place resembled what a Presidential debate should look like. While neither side had a revelatory win or moment, both sides maintained their talking points, forced each other into awkwa...

  Module 5 Part 2: The Federalist Papers In parts 9&10 of the federalist papers the discussion of Republics, confederacies, and factionalism take center stage. In part 9, Alexander Hamilton makes references to and invokes the style of Machiavelli's The Prince when referencing the various histories that have plagued republics. Hamilton specifically refers to the issues of despotism, nepotism and corruption remarking on how these issues especially can stem from republics. However, Hamilton makes a point of referencing how far Political Science and Political Philosophy have come since the days of the Roman Republic, or the failures of the Medici (possibly one of the most powerful factions to ever exist.) Hamilton then calls on the enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu, whose suggestion of combining elements found in confederations with republicanism to create a “Confederate Republic.” Montesquieu through Hamilton explains that  “This form of government is a convention b...

  Module 5: The Debate for fans of policy. The presidential debate was unfortunately the chaotic mess everyone in the American public feared that it would be. Well not everyone, as debates can serve as a form of “ideological pep rally” for the most hardcore on either side of the election. An example of this kind of debate would be the Sanders  V Clinton Democratic Primary debates of 2016, that were ideological slugfests. The same could not be said of the last Presidential debate that left anyone with ears reaching for the remote to turn down the volume. That was in fact the difference between the types of debates being discussed, Ideological debates have a lot to say  while the Biden v Trump debates make a lot of noise. ****To  be perfectly clear President Trump's behavior and conduct on the debate stage  cannot be defended. His choice to combat and ignore the impartial moderator was exactly how things began to devolve. That has to be said within the context ...