It is the middle of March and we are less than eight months away from the general election. Around Brown there are mixed feelings about what there is to expect in November. The Students for Barack Obama group around campus consists of many of the members of Brown Democrats and anyone else that is truly interested about the election. As much as I would like to think that our generation is politically involved, that is not the case. Most people I know or talk to seem to not know anything about the Republican candidates and the primary elections. Then I go to a Brown Democrats meeting and my political science classes and there is a complete 180 on how informed the students are. In these two particular instances, students seem to be more than just informed. They can tell you the winner of last night’s debate, who won how many delegates and the predictions for the next primary caucus debate. However, this population is very small so I thought it is important to give you a must know list for this election cycle.
- Barack Obama and Joe Biden are running for re-election and polls predict there will a very close election so Obama and Biden have to really work to win.
- There are currently 4 presidential nominee hopefuls: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
- There are two nominee hopefuls that are in the lead: Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.
- Romney is expected to be the Republican Presidential Nominee and has the higher chance of defeating Obama.
- In order for Mitt Romney to get the nomination he is required to get 1,144 delegates throughout the primary/ caucus season.
- If no hopeful gets enough delegates then the decision will be made at the Republican National Convention. This, however, is unlikely but would be very interesting to see.
- The Republican debates have no actual influence on voting decisions for the average voter because they do not follow the election as in depth as well educated and political science people.
- In a caucus, precincts decide to whom they will give their delegates to
- A primary is an election where a state votes for the nominee hopeful they think is the best.
- Delegate proportions are set beforehand and a state can be either winner take all or proportional to voter outcomes
There has to be a way for the college generation to be involved. The main issue at hand is letting everyone make decisions on their own and not assuming that every college student is a liberal. In addition, it is essential to realize that the college student vote needs to be tapped into by politicians because they are a growing force that can have some influence. Students, especially at Brown, are always supporting man causes and although social issues are more important on campus it will inevitably lead to students holding politicians accountable. Finally, just because college students are not currently informed about what is going on in the primaries they will become informed for the general election.