Week 5/Article: New Hampshire Primary 2012: Mitt Romney's Rivals Pile On The Pejoratives

Date: January 6, 2012

Author: Brian Bakst, Philip Elliott, Shannon McCaffrey, Holly Ramer and Jim Davenport

Summary:

Expecting to win New Hampshire, candidate Mitt Romney reached out to South Carolina voters and criticized President Barack Obama’s "inexcusable, unthinkable" plan to shrink the U.S. military.

"If Mitt Romney wins here, he will be the next president of the United States," said McCain

Whilst Rick Santorum, in New Hampshire, managed to claim some more popularity as a Republican. Santorum, also harshly criticizes Obama on the economy.

Newt Gingrich dismissed the job gains as inadequate, saying there are still 1.7 million fewer Americans going to work than when Obama was inaugurated.

Romney's GOP rivals are working overtime to get ahead of him and are trying to gain favor by stating that a more conservative standard-bearer offering a sharper contrast to Obama should be nominated. "The only way Republicans lose is if we screw this up and nominate another moderate who has taken multiple positions on every major issue of our time,"

Gingrich argued that Romney can't win the nomination and that he would simply draw a laugh from the president and that one of Romney’s GOP rivals "will eventually emerge as the conservative alternative and will beat Romney."

However, Romney is still favored to win Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. "It's going to come down, as it always does, to South Carolina," he said.

Also still in the race is still Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry who finished fifth in Iowa and Ron Paul who placed third in Iowa.

I. The main problem that is proposed here is the ever-so heated competition among the GOP candidates.

II. To win the race, the candidates need to appeal to the voters. This will affect public policy in how they choose to express their ideas and what proposals they’re coming up with that would make then a better president than each other and Obama.

III. Romney, who just won the Iowa caucus is still leading and as of now is most likely to win New Hampshire as well.

IV. The information doesn't affect me and can't be used by me.

V. The author seems to take a neutral position on all the candidates. Although the article simply elaborates on the current success and progress of all the candidates, it also shows how the candidates are either targeting each other or Obama. There isn’t any statements in the article of what good the candidates are trying to accomplish or what they can do for voters, only what their rivals or Obama can’t do.

VI. The information from this article will affect all the candidates in the political arena. The confidence of voters in each of the candidates will each increase of decrease. For example, since voters see that Huntsman is not doing so well right now, voters will lose confidence in him and give their support to another candidates.

Work Cited: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/new-hampshire-primary-2012_n_1189071.html?ref=elections-2012

Week 5/Article: Des Moines Register Poll Shows Mitt Romney In Lead Ahead Of Iowa Caucus

Date: December 31, 2011

Author: Jon Ward and Elise Foley

Summary:

The final Des Moines Register Iowa poll shows Mitt Romney and Ron Paul leading with 24 and 22 percent, followed by 15 percent for Rick Santorum, 12 percent for Newt Gingrich, 11 percent for Rick Perry and 7 percent for Michele Bachmann.

In the final two days of polling, Romney still held with 24 percent, but Santorum moved up to 21 percent. Santorum said in Ottumwa, Iowa, that he's pleased with the poll results and said, "I feel very comfortable that the momentum is in our favor and we're going to surprise a lot of people,".

Santorum his success is from being more confident that he can beat Romney, whom he said many conservatives do not want to win in Iowa. He said he won't do anything differently in the next two days and will continue to be accessible to voters and reporters. "I'm a tortoise," Santorum said. "I just keep moving."

"People are realizing that I can win this," he added. "Probably earlier in the polls, they didn't know that we were doing as well. And I think the fact is that people are now saying, 'Hey, this is a guy that can actually win. We always wanted to be for him, but we weren't because we didn't think he could win.'"

Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond said, "If this is the Super Bowl, then we just saw the pre-game show," said Hammond. "But everyone knows the real action happens after kickoff."

The sample included 302 likely caucus-goers. The chart, like the Register poll, shows Romney leading Paul, with Santorum moving ahead of Gingrich into third place. However, 41 percent of likely caucus-goers said they could still change their minds about which candidate to support.

I. The main problem that is proposed here is Romney's declining popularity. 

II. N/A

III. I learned about how much the polls meant and how well they depicted how well candidates are doing in the election race.

IV. The information doesn't affect me and can't be used by me.

V. The author seems to take a neutral position and simply cites what the polls are and how the candidates feel and and what they're said about them.

VI. The information from this video will affect all the candidates in the public arena because it displays how well they are doing in the election race.

Work Cited: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/31/des-moines-register-poll-mitt-romney-lead_n_1178045.html?ref=mostpopular,iowa-caucus-2012