Platforms, Candidates and Articles...Oh My

Welcome to the EAHS Government blog. This blog is brought to you by your government teachers in order to assist you in your next project. I know, I know, another project? Yes, another project. Just think though, at least you don't have to listen to your teacher give notes! With the 2008 Presidential election right around the corner we thought it would be a great idea for you to look at some of the major topics in this year's election and too see for yourselves exactly where each candidate stands. Your job is to analyze the 2008 presidential election and create a portfolio. Your portfolio will be graded on the following:

• Two presidential Candidate Platform Sheets (Obama and McCain) 20 points
• Four articles regarding the election (2 Obama and 2 McCain) 20 points
• Four articles response sheets (2 Obama and 2 McCain) 20 points
• 1/2 page prediction of outcome of election 20 points
• Report Cover (can be purchased from your teacher ) 20 points
• Typed (extra credit) 10 points extra credit

Two Presidential Candidate Platform sheets (Obama/McCain)

Complete one platform sheet for each presidential candidate. When you are completed, you will have two sheets. Each sheet has four required topics and one topic you chose. If you cannot find information on one topic, replace it with a topic you can find information on.

Four articles regarding the election (2 Obama/2 McCain)

You will submit four articles from either newspapers or magazines (printed or Internet) dealing with the election. Two articles should be primarily about Obama and two should be primarily about McCain. No article should have a publication date prior to 2007. If you cut your article from a newspaper or magazine, please mount it on a plain white sheet of paper.

Four article response sheets (2 Obama/2 McCain)

After you read four articles regarding the 2008 Presidential Election, fill out the attached response sheets. Be sure to fill out all areas of the sheet. Write three questions that you would ask the candidate after you read each article.

1/2 page prediction of outcome of election

State your belief on the outcome of the election. Give three reasons why you believe the candidate you chose will win the election. This should be written using proper grammar, spelling and mechanics.

Completing the Platform Sheet

Your project requires you to complete 2 platform sheets, one for Obama and one for McCain. We will provide the template for you, your job is to fill it in with the proper information. To do this you must research websites (see help links) and find out where each candidate stands on the issues. The issues you must research are:

• War in Iraq
• Terrorism
• Immigration
• Education
• Your choice (abortion, gay rights, religion, environment, health care, etc)

If you are choosing to type your responses and would like the template, please e-mail Mrs. Archer at jarcher@d131.org and your request will be honored. Be sure to indicate which document(s) you are requesting.

Article Response Sheets & You

Article response sheets for your project can be completed rather easily. Your task will be to find 2 articles on each of the candidates for a total of four. The articles can be about anything related to the 2008 Presidential Election. Some possible topics for your articles might include: campaign strategies, the debates, topics from your platform sheets, and poll predictions.

The articles may come from newspapers, magazines, or the Internet. Just be sure your article is recent, no article should have a publication date prior to 2007. If you are getting your articles from a newspaper or magazine, please mount it on white paper.

When you are filling our your response sheets be sure each area is completed properly. Your response is a quick summary of the article as well as your opinion about what you learned about the candidate. This summary should be two paragraphs in length; one for the summary and one your opinion about what you have read. Finally, include three questions you have for the candidate after reading the article.

So, What Do I Look Up?

Navigating your way through the Internet can often be a challenge. A good rule of thumb for researching on the Internet would be to avoid blogs, they often contain information that is one sided.

If you are looking for news articles your best bet are addresses with .gov or .org. However that is not to say you should avoid .com sites either. For example http://www.cnn.com/ is a great source to get articles.

When you are doing your Google searches try to be specific in what your are looking for. For example, if you want information about Barack Obama's view on education. It would be best to type, "obama on education" rather than just typing "obama".

Here is a list of some websites you might what to check out for your portfolio.

John McCain Website

On the Issues

CNN

Politics1

Washington Post

Chicago Tribune

USA Today

Barack Obama Campaign Site

Vote Smart

Obama Senate Site

Obama Fights Campaign Smears