Semester I - WEEK OF 09/19

Presidential Race (DUE OCTOBER 6th)

You must begin the task of promoting your candidate. Your team will now be divided into two. Half of your team will work as media consultants responsible for putting together campaign literature which includes a tv ad that explains where your candidate stands on the issues. The other half will work as policy advisors and will write a political stump speech. Information about your role as well as the rubric for assessing your finished project can be found below.

Please keep in mind that the United States is a large nation, and the issues of Chicago/San Francisco are not necessarily the issues of Omaha/El Paso.

Media Consultants - Your job is to produce high-quality pieces of campaign literature to distribute during the election season to educate voters about your candidate. Your literature will be in the form of a sign, a pamphlet, poster and 20 second TV ad that conveys where your candidate stands on the issues. Decide which part of the nation you would like to target. You will be graded on the look of your campaign literature as well as its effectiveness.

Campaign Literature (20 points)

Format (10 points)

Effective use of graphics, fonts, colors (i.e. attractive, but not distracting or unreadable) (4 points)

Balance of text and visuals (3 points)

Use of bulleted key points rather than lengthy sentence structure (3 points)

Content (10 points)

Campaign literature accurately and effectively highlights candidate’s stance on the issues (5 points)

Campaign literature targets appropriate voters and issues for state selected (5 points)

Policy Advisors - Your job is to produce a political stump speech for your candidate. In your two minute speech you should highlight where your candidate stands on the issues and what he or she would do as President. The speech should also make an appeal to voters in the particular state your campaign is targeting. Make sure you research the state in order to target your audience effectively.

Stump Speech/Press Conference (20 Points)

Delivery (10 points)

Presents speech rather than reads it (3 points)

Includes attention grabber and closer (2 points)

Uses appropriate tone and speed (3 points)

Good body language (2 points)

Content (10 points)

Speech highlights candidate’s stance on the issues (5 points)

Speech targets appropriate voters and issues for state selected (5pts)

In class we will:

1. Present the campaign literature pieces.

2. Watch your team’s TV spot.

3. Hold a mock press conference, in which the candidate will define his/her platform (campaign speech, you can use cue cards to help you along, but I expect you to have most of the material memorized).

Use the official websites of the candidates to answer the following questions.

What is the candidate’s slogan? In your own words, what is his or her overarching message for the future of the United States?

What policies does each candidate propose regarding major issues facing the United States today?

List at least four of the candidate’s top issues in addition to his or her stance.

Find a segment of a debate or a speech given by your candidate concerning one political issue that is important to you. After you watch or read what the candidates have to say, record his or her stance on the issue at hand below. Then, identify the values that he or she prioritized.

Identify one case in which each candidate demonstrated successful leadership.

Who benefits from your candidate’s platform?

Identify at least one aspect about your candidate that appeals to you.

Identify one aspect of your candidate’s platform to critique and offer a suggestion for improvement.

Does your candidate’s top issue align with your own views? Why or why not?