Trump Spent More on Hats Than Polling

Trump has spent $1.8 million on polling and $15.3 million on collateral (hats, signs, shirts) from June 2015- September 2016. His campaign strategy was to spend more on hats than on field consulting for a large portion of his campaign. It wasn't until September of 2016 that he started spending more on ads (roughly two thirds of his total campaign budget). Do you think this was an effective campaign strategy? How does Trump's campaign compare to Clinton's? Do you think the outcome of this election will be largely impacted by this?

Nightmare Election for Female Republicans

Women of the Republican Party are struggling with the defense and fallout of of their party nominee. Some of the conservative women defend him and his misogynistic comments while other struggle with the fact that they have to push back against their party. This is not a normal election, and many women of the Republican Party don't want viewers to think that Trump speaks for the entire party. Most of the Republican women speaking out against Trump's sexism are getting a lot of hate and negative feedback. Many think that after the 2016 election, there will be feud in the Republican Party over issues like sexism and racism. Also, interviews with conservative women solely regard their thoughts on Trump's most recent sexist comment or allegation, rather than policy or their thoughts on the other presidential candidate. What do you think about the Republicans who are speaking against their party nominee? How do you think this election will effect women in the Republican Party?

Electional Law... Ceding the Election?

Electional Law Doesn't Care

"I guess we'll have to wait for November 8th to see if Trump decides to wipe his a&& with the Constitution!" exclaimed a fiery Stephen Colbert recently after Trump's promise to keep the country in suspense over whether he'd accept the results of the election. (Don't worry, he absolutely will*).

*assuming he wins. 

Don't worry, though, there's no need for a concession speech by either candidate, legally. The Founders had a sneaking suspicion we'd get a few sore losers along the way, and made it not a problem. 

Knowing what you now know about the actual laws, consider the campaign we've witnessed. Think about Trump and Clinton's respective fan bases and consider what they will feel about the results of the election. We can safely assume Clinton will win, so what do you think happens if Trump doesn't cede the election? What will his supporters do? Will we still have a country? Who showed me how to use the italics feature??

Why do bad things happen to good people?!

I Had a Scary Dream About Trump

"I Had a Scary Dream About Trump"

"Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it"
Many who have tried to compare the current election cycle to history are met with an uncomfortable reality. Call Donald Trump a demagogue and face the wrath of conservatives everywhere who can't stomach a Hillary Clinton presidency (for various reasons). You'll be accused of over simplifying, or told that you're equating everyone you don't like to Hitler. Fail to address Donald Trump as such and not only will you draw ire from liberals, you'll be aiding the desensitization of this country to such foreign concepts as Donald Trump and many of his supporters.

Still, awkward as it may be to discuss, this election reeks of demagoguery. With sotto voce anti-Semitic speech from Trump and especially his supporters (many of whom represent broad coalitions of white supremacist groups from #AllLivesMatter to the actual KKK) we begin to draw some pretty strong parallel between Trump and Hitler. Trump's proposal of a Muslim ban and tests on their faith would be unlike anything the United States has ever seen, but not unlike anything the world has ever seen.

Consider the human impact of Trump, his speech, and the kind of speech he encourages. Consider whether comparing Trump and Hitler is fair, or if it's just the sort of anti-Trump propaganda any idiot could make online. Consider perhaps other historical figures more aptly compared to Donald's campaign.

Trump ends big-money fundraisers that were boosting GOP

This article is about how Donald Trump has scheduled no more high-dollar fundraisers between now and the election. The campaign is still raising a lot of money thanks to online donations and other RNC members who are fundraising for the entire GOP ticket. Trump's financial chairman said that they want to focus on talking to voters instead of holding these fundraising events. The Trump campaign says they are raising enough money online, but only 20% of online donations go to the RNC. What does this decisions show about the relationship between Trump and the RNC, if anything? Do you think this will prove to be an effective strategy?

Millennials Go for Clinton

This article is about how Hillary Clinton has been appealing to millennials, especially since the first debate. It discusses how hard Clinton's campaign has worked to appeal to this age group. The article includes quotes from a lot of students about what it is about Clinton that has caused them to support her. Factors such as her toughness, confidence, focus on family issues, and lack of tolerance towards Donald Trump are all cited as appealing qualities about Clinton. It's clear that Clinton will never have the same response from millennials as Obama or Sanders, but what she has now should be enough for her to secure the vote from this demographic. Do you agree with the quote from Clinton's campaign manager that "Secretary Clinton is going to win this campaign because of millennial voters"? A lot of the people in the article were former Sanders supporters. How much of an impact do you think Sanders' endorsement of Clinton has had on the amount of millennials who now support her?

The Political Environment on Social Media

There has been a particularly large amount of social media activity surrounding this election season. Some users of social media have found this amount of activity helpful in facilitating political activism and engagement, while others are "worn out" from this unpleasant and unproductive saturation. Also, some view the tone and manner in which this activity is conducted to be harmful. This type of activity is most prevalent on Facebook and Twitter. Users have taken steps to ignore and block what they view as "angry and disrespectful" political discussions. This frustration occurs across the entirety of the political spectrum. What role do you think social media has in the political process? Do you personally see more political activity on social media from one side of the political spectrum? Do you enjoy the amount of political discussion on your feed, or are you frustrated with it?