U.S. Presidential Elections

It’s official — Obama fever has stormed the States!

Today, Senator Barack Obama paved the way for change as he accepted the Democrats’ presidential candidacy to run for the November 4th Elections — in a historic speech in front or a crowd of over 80,000 at the Mile High Stadium in Denver.

Every day, I say that this day has been the best yet, however, I really do think that last night was the highlight of the whole trip.

Obama fever is sweeping over the States — capturing the hearts and minds of millions of Americans, particuarly young Americans.

What about in the UK? Is Obama persuading us in the UK about whether he is ready for the presidency, and would be be a better ally to us than Bush? Who knows, but whether we like it or not, I think that we might just have to accept it, as from what I have witnessed in America, the next president of America is not going to be John McCain, but is going to be an African-American from Chicago named Barack Obama.

Next stop — New York!

Well, the dawn of the final day - a big day for Mr. Obama as he will deliver a speech this evening for his presidential nomination acceptance speech.

This morning should be a good one - as I am going to a breakfast with Mr. Obama - so it should be a great morning!

James.

Well, since I last wrote in this blog — what an amazing few days it has been!

The city has come alive with tens of thousands of Democrat delegates, media reporters and lobbyists — all here to witness history and to soak up the electric atmosphere that is a National Party convention!

During the interesting academic work which I have been doing whilst in Denver, I feel I have succeeded in my goal of understanding how the presidential election systems works, which, believe me, is a terribly difficult task; much harder than understanding our relatively easy democracy – and I am achieving my academic goals of understanding the contrasts and similarities between the British and American systems of electing a leader. On the education side of things – all is well!

Apart from academia, there have been a number of events I have been to – from Hillary Clinton’s New York delegation breakfast, to speeches by Howard Dean and to the heart of the Pepsi Center where so many key speakers have and will be speaking – not to mention meeting President Jimmy Carter whilst on the floor!

James Greenhalgh with President Jimmy Carter at the Democratic Convention

Only a few more days left, but my, how interesting and privileged I feel to be here at the convention, effectively being a youth ambassador for the young people of the UK and the UK Youth Parliament — witnessing history in the making!

Can it get any better than this? We shall see.

Four young Britons. Two political conventions. And an entire nation to discover. That’s the scenario for the UK Youth Parliament, which — with the help of the U.S. Embassy — is sending four students to experience the U.S. political system.

We want you to share the students’ experiences through their own blog.

The UK Youth Parliament is run by young people for young people. It’s an organization that provides opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change.

Support from the Embassy and the Washington Center enables the four UK participants to attend the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, where they will have free and liberal access to the convention sites.

During the first week of their two-week visit they will watch the build-up to the conventions — how media offices are set up, the podium erected and the hall decorated. They’ll experience the excitement as the delegates and public officials begin to pour into the city. As the weekend approaches the participants will act as volunteers for convention-related assignments and attend convention receptions and rallies.

Topics during the first week will include an introduction to the host city and the convention facility, the history of political campaigns and conventions, the nomination process, convention planning and procedures, party organizations, campaign finance and media coverage.

During the week of the convention, the events of each previous day are analyzed and the upcoming events of the current day are discussed. The focus of this week is on the keynote address, party platform, party factions, selection of the presidential nominees, campaign issues, and other important races.

Welcome to the Young Parliamentarians’ blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts with them.

Attending the Democratic National Convention, Denver, Colorado, August 17-29, 2008:

Attending the Republican National Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 23-September 5, 2008:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

James Greenhalgh blogs …

Well, it’s the first full day of activities today at the seminar series in Denver – and to my relief its been quite an untaxing day. (Severe jetlag doesn’t put you in the mood for a heavy academic workload!)

On the way here, the staff of United Airlines and the other passengers on the plane were so inviting and friendly – many of them insisting on informing me of the best places to see, ranging from white water rafting in the Colorado river, to the trendiest bars and the hottest baseball games in town!

However, this is not a trip for pleasure, as such; this is a trip of hardcore political activism, learning and the experience of being in the political nirvana that is at the heart of the U.S. political system: The Democratic national convention.

The trip is to be split into two parts. The objective of the first week is to learn and understand the process of political nomination and ultimately the long and winding path to the White House: How did Obama end up beating fellow Democratic candidates such as Hilary

Clinton – and will he be able to fight off Republican John McCain in his pursuit of change? This is what I am determined to discover.

The second part of the seminar series is where the real fun begins, and where I will be participating in the dirty game that is politics: the national convention.

To sum it up, the ‘convention is my oyster’ – anything could happen – literally the opportunities which may present themselves whilst I’m working in the convention centre are endless and could lead me anywhere. Only time will tell as the days go on.

On July 29th, the U.S. Embassy hosted a large delegation of interns from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Over lunch we engaged in a number of great conversations, chief among them regarding the 2008 presidential elections.

I was very pleased and surprised by their extensive knowledge of the current dynamics of the presidential race, as well as their ability to reference and draw parallels from past U.S. elections.

One question they had, as have many Europeans I have met since my arrival in London, was why the United States has a system whereby a presidential candidate could potentially win a majority of the votes nationwide and still lose the election.

Such was the case in the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, as well as during the presidential elections of 1876 and 1888.

The reason why such an event can occur, albeit very rarely, is that U.S. presidents are not elected by popular vote; they are elected by the members of the Electoral College.

When Americans cast their votes, as millions will this November, they are only competing against voters within their own states to determine which candidate will receive their state’s portion of the 538 “electors” nationwide.

The presidential candidate who receives the largest number of votes in each state wins all of the allocated electors who are apportioned to it in the Electoral College.

This is the reason why many U.S. presidential candidates only campaign in “swing states,” where voters are heavily split between support for the two candidates and both stand a good chance of victory.

A large majority of votes for a presidential candidate in a state makes no difference than if that candidate were to receive a small majority of votes.

In addition to this winner-take-all process, the manner in which electors are apportioned among the states is another factor that may cause a discrepancy between the popular vote and the Electoral College.

Rather than allocating electors to each state based upon their population count, they are allocated in accordance with the total number of Senators and Representatives serving from that state in the United States Congress.

So, while California has the largest population (over 36.5 million residents) and Wyoming has the smallest in the union (roughly half a million residents), the number of electors allocated between them is 55 and 3, respectively.

This example shows that while California has a population 73 times larger than Wyoming, the Golden State is only allocated 18 times the number of presidential electors.

The Electoral College is a process that dates back to America’s founding, rooted in the country’s emphasis on federalism and serving as an equalizer among states in choosing the next Commander-and-Chief.

On Saturday, July 26th Senator Barack Obama will arrive in London, his final stop on a tour of the Middle East and Europe since securing the Democratic Party’s nomination for President.

Prior to his arrival in the UK, the Senator also made stops in Paris and Berlin to meet with their countries’ leaders, as well as to deliver a speech in Germany regarding the future of U.S.-European relations.

Obama is expected to meet with Prime Minister Brown while in London to discuss such matters as climate change, terrorism, trade and the economy.

In mid-March, after securing the Republican Party’s nomination for President, Senator John McCain also made a similar trip to Europe.

During his tour, which also included the Middle East, he met with the leaders of the UK and France to discuss many of these same subjects.

Since my arrival to London in early June, I have had a number of British citizens, as well as Spanish, French and Germans express their concern to me that America no longer seems to care much about Europe, both in terms of what happens on the continent and European opinion on crucial matters.

While in each case I attempted to convince them otherwise, there can be no stronger evidence to the contrary than the recent visits of both Senator McCain and Senator Obama.

Both McCain and Obama, regardless of their vast political differences, made their visit to European capitals a priority because Americans do care about our allies across the Atlantic.

Both men also know that in order to convince the American public that they can be trusted with the future of American foreign policy, they must have a good showing with European leaders and the public.

My name is Andrew Blasi, the 2008 Pamela Harriman Foreign Service Fellow at the United States Embassy in London, serving in the Ambassador’s Office. I am a current public policy and finance major at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. I hope that through this blog, “Politics & the U.S. Presidential Elections 2008,” we will be able to explore some of the major themes in this year’s historic election.

Living in South Florida during the vote recount of the presidential election in 2000 sparked my interest in this subject. Following that event, I launched a grassroots campaign in my hometown that registered over 1,000 new youth voters. Since then, I worked for a number of organizations in Washington, DC, to improve my understanding of the legislative and diplomatic process.

I hope to use what I have learned through these experiences to offer an explanation why many things happen the way they do in America’s electoral process. I encourage you to contact me with any questions or opinions you have along the way.

U.S. Embassy Panel Discussion, “Politics and Pundits: The Influence of the Media on Elections and Democracy”

On July 16, 2008, the Embassy held a panel on the subject of media influence in the U.S. electoral process. Four well-known pundits, from both the U.S. and the UK, presented their insights and opinions to a large audience which also included thousands from around the world via live webcast.

While the partisan polarity and wit of the panelists made for great entertainment, this comical panel discussion truly demonstrated the strong influence media can have on the electoral process. To watch the panel discussion or read more about it, visit here: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/webtv/pundits2.html

Many in the U.S. refer to the media as the fourth branch of government. Serving as a diverse institution in its own right, the media can check the power that politicians extend through their influence over what the general public sees. As in most nations that enjoy free press, the influence extended by news outlets on television, radio, and the Internet in America is substantial and growing.

This year’s long election campaign has been no exception, with the media playing a central role in the manner that both Democrats and Republicans choose to present themselves and their positions to the American public. Unlike in past generations, the American electoral process now solidly includes who can play the public relations game best and win over the support of major media outlets. This will continue to be the case for the U.S. presidential campaigns until November, as well as for all foreseeable elections in the years ahead.

Our 04 March webchat with Ambassador Tuttle was a success and featured many interesting questions. We have just finished the transcript which you can view here !

It seems like whenever an American and a Briton meet these days, the U.S. Presidential election is topic number one. Everyone has questions about it, not least of which is who the next man or woman in the Oval Office will be. Well, we can’t answer that one, but perhaps you have other questions we can answer. Like “How much tax money are candidates entitled to use in their campaigns?” or “How does the electoral college work?” or “What the heck is a caucus anyway?” Oh, and “super-delegates”?

The Embassy invites you to participate in our on-line discussion on the U.S. elections. You are welcome to post your views (this is a moderated chat and good etiquette rules apply), and to ask questions about the American political system. The good folks in our Information Resource Center will be happy to track down the answers for you