Clip from the Past: Lyndon Johnson

Lyndon Johnson was the 36th President of the United States.  He served from 1963-1969.  Above is a clip from a speech he made right before he told the American people that he would seek nor accept another nomination for President of the United States.  Listen to the Johnson’s words.  Do the words used back in 1968 still hold true in the United States today?

No Congress For Young Men (or Women)

The average age of members from the 113th Congress (2013-2014) were as follows:

House:  57.0 years
Senate:  62.0 years

In order to be elected to the House of Representatives, you must be 25 years of age when the newly inducted Congress is seated.  For the United States Senate, you must be 30 years old.  With voter turnout so low amongst younger voters, do you believe that it has something to do with the age of the candidates?

Source:  Calculations based on CQ Roll Call Member Profiles

Executive Orders — Part Two

Chart: FiveThirtyEightBlog

If executive orders are on the decline, then why are there so many disagreements with the usage of an executive order by a President?

Executive Orders — Part One

How Important is Presidential Character?

James David Barber, believes that it is very necessary to understand the character of someone who plans to run for President.  Knowing about a candidate’s character will give the voter a better understanding as to how a President may govern.  Presidential character, as Barber defines it, can be divided into four parts.

1.  Active-Positive:  Presidents who fall under this category are very active in their job, have high levels of self-esteem, and work hard towards accomplishing goals.

2.  Active-Negative:  Those who fall under this category tend to be aggressive in their work, but act as if “they were trying to make up for something or to escape from anxiety into hard work.”

3.  Passive-Positive:  In this category, Presidents tend to lack self-esteem but have a positive outlook on the results of political decisions.  They look for rewards from others because of their positive outlook on life, not because of the work that they do.

4.  Passive-Negative:  This is someone who believes that they have place in the political system, but a.) does little in his work and b.) does not enjoy the work that he has to do.  These individuals believe “that they ought to be in politics” despite their sour nature.

What category of character does President Obama fall under?

…Without Political Experience

The Character of Washington DC

Henry Clay once said, “Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.”  We hear much about partisanship in today’s political climate that we perhaps fail to recognize the character of elected officials.  Do we still have honorable men and women serving in the nation’s capital?  Do you agree that character is the most important property one can have in order to be honorable?

Immigration Policy

Louisiana’s Jungle Primary

In Louisiana, they have primary system that is sometimes called a “jungle primary“.  This open form of a primary allows candidates for office to run on one ballot, regardless of party affiliation.

The 1991 Louisiana Primary for Governor
Edwin Edwards (D) 33.8%
David Duke (R) 31.7%
Buddy Roemer (R) 26.5%
Clyde Holloway (R) 5.3%
Others (including R, D, and I candidates) 2.2%

Since no candidate received a simple majority, a second election was held.  Edwards defeated Duke 61-39%.  In this case, a Democrat ran against a Republican in the second round.  You could, however, end up with two candidates from the same party who run against each other in the second round.

In most other states, the conventional open and closed primary systems are used.  In each case, a nominee is chosen by the public for each party.  In open states, party affiliation is not a prerequisite for voting in either party’s primary.  In closed primary states, you can only vote in the party primary under the label you are registered.  Louisiana continues to use the “jungle primary”.  What is your opinion on the “jungle primary”?

On a side note, the Louisiana race was an intriguing one due to the candidates who ran at the time.  Edwin Edwards was an ethically challenged former Governor who lost a re-election bid to Governor Buddy Roemer.  Roemer was elected in 1987 as a Democrat but then switched his affiliation to the Republican Party midway through his term.  David Duke was a state Representative who was once the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.  Clyde Holloway was a Congressman who, some thought, ran a spoiler candidate who could siphon off votes from Roemer.

Who Paid For That Ad?

A common misperception from the 1988 Presidential campaign between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis is that Bush team produced and ran ad that prominently featured Willie Horton.  The “Willie Horton ad” is it was to be called, featured a criminal (Horton) and how he was allowed out of prison on weekends by a Massachusetts Governor (Dukakis) in part to that state’s prison furlough program.  The ad mentions that while Horton was out on one weekend pass, he kidnapped, stabbed, and raped a woman and brutally beat that woman’s boyfriend.  The ad struck a nerve with the public, hurt the Dukakis campaign, and Dukakis never recovered.  Many who watched the ad would reference it as “Bush’s Willie Horton ad” when in fact the ad was created by the National Security PAC (Political Action Committee).  This PAC ran an ad, by federal law, independent of the Bush campaign.

How would the public know if the ad was paid for and produced by an outside or independent organization?  Sure, there was a disclaimer at the bottom of the “Horton” ad that disclosed the source.  The disclaimer was about the size of the type of disclaimers that you see in a car commercial.  A magnifying glass is a necessity for proper reading.  In the last twelve years, identifying a commercial’s source became a bit easier for the public.  With the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) (2002), candidates at the federal level who run ads from their own campaign coffers must say, “I am so and so and I am approve this message.”  Most campaign commercials are run by outside organizations, so this BCRA requirement is not applicable.

What are your thoughts on the amount of ads that you have seen in the last few months?  Now that the elections are over, you perhaps can fully process what has been transmitted over the airwaves in this election season.