Getting The Facts About Presidential Nominees

The next presidential campaign is coming very quickly and there will be both parties looking to make their case to the American people about just why it is that they deserve to be running the country. As always the decision will not be easy, but for many the reason for the difficulty will have to do more with lack of information, rather than anythings. It’s a shame that the world is only big enough for two serious political parties, but it’s a bigger shame when the information about these two parties is not plentiful to the people.

So how do people make sure they are getting the information they need? It’s not an easy question and one that will certainly keep good minds busy. The problem is that the presidential nominee often like to play a game of illusion with their records and their stance. Getting to the presidency is about what you don’t say. It’s not about what you do say. There is nothing revealed and most candidates won’t take a hard stance on much and for that reason the American people are left to judge based on how much they like a person based on interviews.

If someone is looking into getting information about the candidates they can go on to a site like factcheck.org where there will be unbaised information about the track record of these candidates. It’s important for these people to see. What people should be looking for is a voting history. There is no better way for a person to see what another candidate believes in than by checking their voting record. It’s important to try and get the voting records from different levels of political office as well. There might have been votes on the lower level of government that will impact a person’s decision to vote for someone or not. Getting the facts could mean making a better decision on an important matter like the presidential election.

Bush Tour Setting The Record Straight

The Bush administration received a ton of criticism during their time. It was one of the more unpopular presidency’s in recent memory and so when George Bush decided to set the record straight, the whole world was willing to listen. It’s wasn’t as if they weren’t listening before but Bush was smart enough to know that telling people what he did wrong as he was still in office, or explaining what they didn’t want to see wouldn’t set anything straight. It would have only fueled the fire.

So as he’s has made the press circuit, he is setting the record straight once and for all. The first thing that he cleared up was probably the incident that got the most attention early and haunted him for the rest of his time in office. The day tragedy struck on 9/11 Bush was at a local kindergarten reading them a story. He got word during the story, but then proceeded to wait for 10 minutes before he ended up leaving the school.

This was heavily criticized to make it look like either Bush was compliant with the events of 9/11 or that he wasn’t smart enough to understand that there needed to be an immediate call to action. It was Bush who has been looking to set the events of that morning straight. Bush revealed that it wasn’t about being ok with the events or certainly not a sense of apathy that caused him to wait. It was about being presidential. It was about not panicking in a very difficult situation. It was about showing a sense of calm to a nation that was certainly anything but calm.

It’s true that Bush is going to be criticized for that and many other events that occurred during his time in office, but what Bush is trying to do is set the record straight once and for all. This book is a very good start in that direction.

Bush Talks FEMA and Katrina

When a President leaves office they often find a way to tell their story. While it’s one of the hardest jobs that anyone can have, they aren’t often met with a ton of interest for their story. After all, so much is reported on before they ever leave office that the idea of telling their story seems almost redundant. Still, when George Bush left office there was quite the buzz about his own memoirs. It might have something to do with the fact that there has been no president that has been quite as polarizing as Bush.

His time in office saw so much change and an office in complete chaos and turmoil. It was an event when he left office and the country will always have strong opinions about the way he handled his business. One of the things his time in office will be remembered for is the events that happened during Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, Tragedy struck the brave men and women of New Orleans. When the levee broke it left the city under water. Bush, then President, highly criticized for waiting far too long to act on getting people the supplies that they needed. It was one of the things he was hammered the most for publicly.

Bush had an interesting explanation for the events and it seemed to make sense if you were on the outside looking in. As the President he has some form of control or authority over what happens in each state, but unless it is a situation of being under attack he can’t go over the governors head. So when the floods happened he waiting for then New Orleans governor to make something happen, but she waited and waited. Once it as time he stepped in, but after that it was far too late and there were so many who had needlessly suffered. It was a tough part of the job and one that damaged his already sketchy reputation.

Looking Back on No Child Left Behind

During the time that President Bush was in office he made a lot of changes and did a lot of things that he thought was in the best interest of the country. There are thing he did, like invading Iraq or his handling of the Katrina disaster, that have been very polarizing to the rest of the country. It’s a strange thing being President and not everyone will like him or the things that he does, but there are usually those that will defend his moves. One move that never gets defense is the No Child Left Behind act passed very early in his presidency.

The act, which is good natured in the spirit of, is really about getting kids on through their education even if they are struggling just a little bit. The spirit of the idea is that no child can be kept back a grade. It stems from the idea that kids who are left behind will end up quitting their education if they are asked to repeat their grades. They also feel like that teachers and the school system should be doing their job in order to make sure that kids pass their classes and score up to grade level on the standard tests.

The problem is that this law is a completely impractical way to run the academic lives of kids. Kids are needed to be held back in some situations. What this law did was make it so that even if a kid is not ready to handle the next level of education that they had to go to the next grade. This makes a child over matched and won’t allow them to get to their full potential. It’s clear that there needs to be a certain and immediate reform to this law. If nothing happens then they will be forced to suffer the same fate. This is one thing Bush did that there is no defense for.

The Impact of the Nixon Kennedy Debate

In the quest to President there are more than a few things that you must be. You must be well educated. You have the backing of one of the two main political parties. You must have a good strategy to get into office, and up until the 1960′s that was it. However, the great debates of Nixon and Kennedy changed what it would take to win the oval office.

Nixon was the former vice president and one of the brightest political minds in the world. He was going against Kennedy who was much better known for his families name than he was for his political career. On paper there was really no reason to pick Kennedy over Nixon. Nixon seemed much more equipped to handle the needs of the Oval Office.

In was during the campaign that they decided to televise all the Presidential Debates. During the first debate Nixon had decided that he would wing it. He was on the campaign trail until hours before the debates. He had opted not to prep beforehand. He figured his innate knowledge of the American political system would be enough to get him into office.

Another thing that he decided to do was not wear make up. He was just getting over getting sick but he figured that make up wasn’t needed. The result was horrendous. While Nixon made excellent points, it was Kennedy who came off like a star and a leader. Nixon looked sick and his five o’clock shadow made him look a sinister human.

The result was that even Nixon’s mother was concerned that her soon had not gotten over his illness. This all led to a flurry about Nixon not being the right kind of person to handle the pressures of the Oval Office. It’s not clear that he would have won had the debate been different but it certainly didn’t help his chances. It was a lesson for all presidents to follow.

More Polarizing Bush Decisions

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There are few presidents who have been as unpopular as President George Bush. During his time in the White House he was very active and made many decisions that impacted the American people. These decisions were met with a lot of anger and angst and the Bush administration tried their best to do what they thought was best. Big decisions always tend to be unpopular ones and these decisions started a ground swell movement to have Bush removed from office. To understand the decisions, you must understand the full scope of the Presidency. Let’s take a look at some very unpopular decisions made by President Bush.

Invading Iraq

The nation mourned the events of 9/11. The were behind the President when he made the decision to go into Afghanastan and they were behind him when he launched a world wide assault on terror. However, when he decided to invade Iraq and go after Saddam Hussein, the American people didn’t feel so good about that. They weren’t sure that the U.S had any reason to be sending soldiers overseas to fight a dictator who wasn’t part of the fight against terror. However, the administration declared that there were weapons of Mass Destruction and those weapons were in Iraq. The decision was met with serious conflict and the American people still stand at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Partial Birth Abortion Ban

This law was not so much unpopular as it was polarizing in what it meant for the rest of the United States. The country had been as divided on abortion as any place. This ban made it impossible for women to have abortions in the second trimester. This was seen by many as a way to take away a woman’s right to choose. Bush was thought of as too religious for the Oval Office. These decisions made him one of the most unpopular presidents in the United States history, but he won’t be soon forgotten.

Winning A Local Election

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If you are interested in running for office there are ways to do it and do it for less. There is no secret that at all levels of office there is no cap on the amount of money you can spend on an election. If you are interested in running you might not have as much money as your opponent. This doesn’t mean that you are at a disadvantage. All it means is that you will have to work a little bit harder. And of course you will have to work a little bit harder.

The first thing you need to do is eliminate the fat from your payroll. You can’t afford to staff anyone unless you can guarantee that they will win you the election. You can’t so don’t worry about it. Do yourself a favor and get everyone working on a volunteer level. Have the person you know that knows the most about elections to help you and act as your campaign manager. You can usually get them to spear head things by offering a compensation if you win.

Make sure to use social media as a way of getting people to vote for you. Don’t be stupid and ignore the power of things like facebook and twitter. It’s a great way to reach a captive audience. A lot of what you do in the election will be about name recognition.

Don’t waste your time on any television commercials. If you are fortunate enough to have the money for a commercial the chances are they won’t be aired in prime time. You are better off doubling up on the posters. You need to focus your attention on hitting the people door to door. These things won’t cost you much more than time. Money won’t always win a local election. Brain power will.

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Finding A Campaign Manager

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When you take on the political process from the vantage point of the candidate. If you are going offer local office then you are probably charged with good ideas and a good reason why you are running but there comes a problem with your status as a low level candidate: you are seriously not sure how to run the campaign. This doesn’t mean you don’t understand what you have to do to win but rather how you go about executing your plan. This isn’t all the uncommon.

The biggest problem with running a local campaign is that it is usually staffed by a group of loyal family and friends. Far be it from anyone to tell your family and friends that they are unqualified but the truth is they may not know what they are doing. For that you will have to prepare to take action and be your own campaign manager and this means managing your staff and delegating responsibility.

The first thing to do is seek out the most knowledgeable, responsible, and smartest people in your team and seek them out for a leadership position. With that you will be able to lay out a strong game plan and you will be able to finally figure out how to put that plan into action.

Make sure your campaign manager is someone that you trust. You want to make sure they will be able to devote all the time that it takes to win the election. Make sure they share your vision for a successful campaign and make sure they are willing to do be there to dole out responsibilities. If they are not willing to be a part of everything it takes then don’t worry about them, thank them, and look elsewhere for a manager. You need someone who is on your side.

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Roles of the Campaign Manager

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The duties of a financial manager on a political campaign is a big deal. Many people believe that there job is simply to keep track of what is being spent and what is coming in. While this is certainly part of the equation it is only a sliver of what it is they have to do. There is more to running the money in a campaign than simple bookkeeping. Here are just some of the responsibilities that they have:

Rainy Day

The worst thing in the world that can happen to a campaign is to run out of money. This is never a good idea. In a high profile campaign there will always be a need to have money just in case. Let’s say it’s the presidential campaign and candidate A is just rolling along up in the polls and that’s good news to him because he is without money. Then just as the election is nearing, his candidate, Candidate B, comes out with an ad that effectively questions his political record. A quick look at the polls and it’s seen that the numbers are dipping and it’s up to your campaign to issue a response. You have the right angle on a commercial and you know just the time to release but since you didn’t have a good manager you are without the funds to produce it. Borrowing money can be possible but it is a problem to borrow and your opponent would love nothing more than to report that you are broke.

Not having money is a big deal. In an election you will need all the money you can, especially down the home stretch of the election. If you come up short on funds it could end up costing you the election and your job in the process.

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A One Term President

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There seems to be a big problem with the presidency these days. Once upon a time the president’s term used to be a lot different. They spent four years doing what they could to fix the nation and in the meantime they would campaign and hope to be re-elected. These days the office is much different. They spend the first two years trying to complete their parties agenda and the next two years looking to win another election.

With this is mind it has been suggested recently that the president only get one term in office. In France the president is given one six year term and they cannot be re-elected. This is a wonderful idea in the United States for a multitude of reasons.

No Election Worries

This is the biggest problem with a president. Every president in their first terms spends half the term trying to keep his office. If you are fortunate enough to catch a president in their second term that is the time when the real work begins. Having a one term and done rule would allow them to spend the entire term worrying about the issues that face the country and nothing else.

Real Work To Be Done

Don’t underestimate this as a real problem with the current structure. Presidents are always more productive in the second term because they realize there is nothing left to lose. They can offend or stand on a wall and no matter what they will be find because they weren’t coming back anyway. Let them do their thing but do it for one term and you might be surprised at the progress that can be made.

Having one term might sound like a novel concept but it has real possibility. Making it happen could provide long term solutions to the problems the country faces.

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