Blog #4 - Conservative Actions PAC Dominates Super Tuesday Airwaves

Super Tuesday, a day on which 11 states hold primaries, leads to a war over recognition for campaign advertisers. This day could be referred to as the super bowl for presidential campaigns. Republican candidate Marco Rubio’s super PAC, Conservative Solutions PAC, has been making their dominant presence known over the past few weeks. Rubio’s group has most prominently made their mark in rival Ted Cruz’s home state, Texas, spending $1.5 million in advertisements. While Marco has made remarkable progress in the advertisement aspect, Cruz has yet to spend any money on the Super Tuesday states.

PACs have been a controversial topic ever since Citizens United v. FEC. There have been arguments that they are totally corrupt, while others protest that giving money is an unalienable right given to American citizens under the First Amendment. In my opinion, giving money to a cause or, in this case, campaign that you support is something that should be protected. Although I cannot wrap my head around the fact that it would be considered a part of freedom of speech, I still believe it is important that people should be able to express support to anything they want. My only problem is the significance of money in politics. Unfortunately, money is the driving force of all campaigns, presidential or not. This means that PACs are something that could very well sway elections. When large amounts of money are given by corporations, we completely disregard the most important factor of elections. Democracy. Now the average American citizen (someone who usually doesn’t have millions of dollars to donate) no longer has as big of a voice as our Founding Fathers would’ve liked.

This relates to class because we just finished discussing campaign financing and PACs. After 1972, when the Watergate scandal exposed illegal donations to candidates, the Federal Campaign Reform Law was made. This law limited personal donations to $1,000 (although this was later raised to $2,000 by the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act). It also created the FEC which was later a part of a supreme court case on regulating PAC spending (FEC argued that PACs were corrupt).

Blog #3 - Kendall Jenner Shows Support for Hillary Clinton

At the New Hampshire primary on February 9th, Bernie Sanders won the vote by a landslide, as predicted. According to an exit poll conducted at the event, Sanders has 83% of the vote from people aged 18-29. So naturally, his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, is rushing to find a way to appeal to the younger audience. Recently, high fashion designer, Marc Jacobs, released a line called "Made for History." This line showcases a shirt with the female politician's face on it. This shirt was most recently seen on reality T.V. star Kendall Jenner's Instagram and Twitter. She posted the picture with the caption, "Shirt by @themarcjacobs. History by @hillaryclinton. #MadeForHistory #ImWithHer @voguemagazine." Jenner's Instagram has a whopping follower count of 49 million along with her Twitter acquiring 15 million devoted fans. Saying this is a big deal for Hillary Clinton's campaign would be a major understatement.

In my opinion, this is a huge push in the right direction for Hillary Clinton. She has lacked the young vote ever since the race started, and now she has almost 64 million people viewing a major celebrity supporting her. It's crunch time for Hillary Clinton's campaign managers, and this picture gives them a big hand. Not only does this picture widen her audience, but it also makes voting seem "cool." There's no denying that when a celebrity endorses something new, it makes everyone else want to do it too. This way, Kendall Jenner expresses her political opinion in fashion.

This relates to class because we are talking about how the media can affect political campaigns. Internet and television are major keys of politics in modern day America. Through internet, candidates can tailor their address to particular voters easily and rapidly. In television, politicians can run advertisements called "spots," and appear on nightly news broadcasts. There is much preparation done to sell the candidate when it comes to mass media.

Blog #2 - Outrage in Cleveland Over Tamir Rice

After 15 months have passed since the tragic death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, the city of Cleveland has noticed a palpable tension in the air. News about the “accidental” shooting has been spreading like wildfire since the incident. The latest news was released today, February 11th, about the city of Cleveland charging Tamir’s mother for the $500 ambulance ride that took him to the hospital on the day of the shooting. This is not the first insensitive jab at the Rice parents. The city of Cleveland tried to accuse Tamir Rice of his own death in a 41-page long suit that claimed Rice “failed to exercise due care to avoid injury.” Court trials in December of 2015 refused to indict the two officers that fired the shots at the young boy. Unfortunately, it seems that this encumbrance will be floating over Samaria Rice and Leonard Warner’s heads for months to come.

I think this event is a perfect example of the recent uproar of senseless killings of innocent people all over the country. It seems America has almost become numb to the news of deaths by police over the past year or so. Claims have been made that police are abusing their power and letting racism take over the good will of their officers. Cases like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and now Tamir Rice have fueled the flame of anger in the hearts of Americans. Personally, I think that we all have trouble trusting authority. These incidents have only given more reason to believe my theory. My head and heart are torn, however, on how to feel about the whole situation. Although there is no doubt in my mind that these deaths were inflicted by racism, I do have doubts on how to make sense of the new nationwide hatred of police. All of the sudden, people have decided to make police officers everywhere the bad guy. This has made protests like “Black Lives Matter,” come about. Repercussions from these protests have lead to violent acts against police officers. Saying that these events are upsetting is an understatement, but I don’t believe reciprocating this aggressive attitude is the solution.

This article relates to class because it is acceptable in American culture to protest. Asserting one’s rights is typically something only Americans do. This is also an example of public opinion vs. public policy. The public opinion is that the police officers should be held accountable for Tamir Rice's death, but public policy is that the court has made the decision not to indict the policemen.

Blog #1 - Bernie Sanders Earns Former NAACP Head's Support

Former NAACP head, Ben Jealous, just announced his endorsement for Democratic candidate, Bernie Sanders. Jealous stated he would be showing his support for Sanders in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, February 9th. Recently, Bernie has been giving his opponent, Hillary Clinton, a run for her money. At the beginning of the race, he wasn't considered someone who would make it very far, but things have changed. Even though Sanders has made lots of progress, he still lacks support from African-American voters. A recent poll shows in South Carolina, Sanders only has 17% of the black vote. Gaining the help of Ben Jealous will give Bernie the extra edge in the presidential race. 

In my opinion,Bernie Sanders is the best option out of the remaining two Democratic candidates. He is willing to make the changes this country needs. He targets the demographic that most politicians are scared to hit: the middle class. He wants to make college tuition free and raise taxes for the upper class. These are things that have been proposed a million times by other presidential candidates but have never been done. Earning the endorsement from Ben Jealous will be a great way for Sanders to widen his spectrum of potential voters and hopefully bring him closer to the White House. 

This relates to what we have learned in class because Ben Jealous is contributing to a campaign, a great example of political participation. Also, he is expressing his support for Bernie Sanders and