With the 2018 midterm elections coming soon, former President Barack Obama made a rare appearance at the University of Chicago on Friday, where he spoke about the current political climate. At one point he asked the crowd, "What happened to the Republican party?" Indicating the obvious dysfunction the current administration is having. However, the most surprising part of the speech was not his advice to vote, but his demure way of dissing the current President. The former President stated, "It did not start with Donald Trump, he is a symptom, not the cause. He is just capitalizing on resentment that politicians have been fanning for years." Claiming that Trump is harping on the American people to create a divided nation and more problems. By dividing the country nothing will be done, and it makes it harder for the people to work the government. So, Obama urged the audience to go and vote during the next midterm elections, saying, "You've got to vote. When you vote, you've got the power." By urging the college students in the audience go out and vote, Obama claims that it will, "restore some semblance of sanity to our politics." The White House came back with a statement, and claims that Obama was coming back into the political light to, "case that our country is on the wrong track ." Obama will continue his rally campaign throughout the next two months.
2) Do you think Obama's speech will have an impact on the number of youth voting?
3) Obama got a lot of criticism for his comments about the Republican party, do you think it was justified? Why or why not?
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dramatic-change-obama-hits-campaign-trail-swinging-trump/story?id=57675836
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/barack-obama-illinois-midterms-speech/index.html
Having more voter turnout could help craft a nation more representative of what its citizens would want. With so many young citizens revering Obama and generally liberal in political perspective, it would be a major booster to the Democratic Party in this midterm elections if they could leverage this massive group of people. While this could help get more things done if Democrats take control of Congress, I don't think it would alleviate the divide between the two parties. Perhaps it might even aggravate relations as it might intensify the competitive atmosphere that leaves no room for compromise. That being said, I don't think it is right to just blame the nation's current polarized state onto the Republican party. Even though the Republican party has and is standing for a multitude of highly questionable and even immoral beliefs, the current political gridlock, just like every other conflict, is the fault of BOTH parties (though one more than the other) and their inability to come to a compromise with each other.
ReplyDeleteThe judicial branch is already on its way to becoming more Conservative since Andrew Kennedy is retiring. Now Trump has the opportunity to name the successor of Kennedy, he will most likely appoint a Conservative successor. With that, the Supreme Court will be extremely a Conservative majority, making it more difficult for legislators in the midterm elections to set forth policies. Additionally, I think youth in general are becoming more and more involved in politics, so it will be interesting to see what the voter turnout is for the midterm elections. At the same time, there are many policies which effect the younger population such as education issues and the juvenile justice system so this may also lead to a higher voter turnout/
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with Obama that voting in the Midterm elections will bring about changes. However, I don't necessarily agree that the changes will always be towards a positive direction. Maybe the government will lean more conservative after the elections, which would make many liberals unhappy. However, I do believe these downsides are minor compared to the positive effects. I agree with encouraging an increase in voter turnout, which has been relatively low in recent years. More people voicing their preferences would, as Helen said, result in a government more representative of its citizens. Hopefully satisfying more citizens will lessen the schism between the two rival political parties, but that may just be false optimism.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is unclear whether simply voting in the Midterm elections will create positive changes, I do believe a general increase in political involvement yields positive results in regards to the progress of our country. Our class previously insinuated that hyperpluralism characterizes our politics the most. This is due to the fact that opposing viewpoints between democrats and republicans remain so strong, that they ultimately prevent our government from achieving significant changes. By urging more people to participate in politics, Obama is helping our government become more illustrative of society’s political needs and desires as a whole. In regards to his influence on the youth, I agree that Obama’s presence at a prestigious college would help bring more attention towards the importance of political involvement in younger generations. He articulates the significance of each person’s vote, by claiming that it pulls political power away from small but notably involved groups and equalizes representation to the interests of the youth along with society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteVoting is extremely important especially during the midterm elections when people have direct power to enact change. The biggest problem here is that people don't realize the power of their votes since the electoral college in 2016 and other years did not represent the popular opinion which was to have Hillary as president. I think that Obama's speech was extremely powerful since he has always been a influencial force in getting more voters.
ReplyDeleteMary Entoma
DeleteI do believe that voting is always critical to achieve political change, but better is relative, but personally, yes more democrat voting will most definitely improve our situation. I do not believe that Obama´s speech will improve youth voting, which is already pretty high, but it might entice more Democrats to vote in the future, even if they are cynical about their candidates. Furthermore, Obama is entirely justified in attacking the republican party now that he´s left the presidency. For years in office he has suffered through their insults, and political blocking and now he should be free to voice his opinions and entirely justifiable criticisms. Why should he not be able to voice his opinions?
ReplyDeleteI think that voting is extremely important especially with the youth. With very little voter turnouts in America, Obama is right in saying that every vote counts, including youth voters. I do not think that Obama’s speech will greatly affect the number of youth votes because not all youth pays attention to politics. While Obama raises good points about the importance of voting, I still don’t think that it will create larger voter turnout. Addressing your first question, before you can say anything about how voting will change political direction, you have to understand that it is hard to define what a positive direction would be. For everyone, a positive change is different so I don’t think that more voters in the midterm elections will necessarily guarantee a positive change.
ReplyDeleteBecause the midterm elections will affect party influence in Congress and thus the decisions that Congress makes, it is highly possible that the midterm elections could lead to changes in the positive direction. For example, although Republicans currently have majority power in both the Senate and House right now, the midterm elections (while may not completing turn the tables) will definitely have some impact on Congress. Thus, Obama's speech in hopes of increasing voter participation, especially within youth, was a sensible action. However, its actual effect on how many young adults will be voting still seems low to me. Compared to the presidential election, news on midterm election (who the candidates are, what they support, etc.) does not seem as popular for youth. Therefore, I am unsure how much of an effect Obama will actually have.
ReplyDeleteI agree that voting in the midterm will start change. If voters elect Democratic representatives, the Republican Party would lose power in Congress; therefore, losing their ability to pass bills and reforms without big opposition. I believe that Obama's speech will have somewhat of an impact on youth turnout as many people see Obama in a positive way as many people saw his presidency as a historic moment in American history. I think that the criticism he got is typically as insulting anyone is bound to have repercussions; however, it was justified as he was publicly stating a majority's thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI believe that due to the actions and shortcomings of the current administration, we will see a slightly higher voter turnout rate as compared to previous mid-term elections. With more and more youth being able to vote every election cycle, Obama is doing the right thing by trying to engage more voters. It seems that Obama did not straight up say anything demeaning about the Republican party that was not true, and it is obvious that there has been changes in the party as a result of the new administration. He was only speaking the truth.
ReplyDeleteEverything Obama says is only relative to his political affiliation. By positive changes he clearly means less conservative/republican control of the government. I think that it is definitely possible that many people will decide to vote in the midterms, especially those who didn't vote in 2016, in order to "restore balance" through their eyes. There are no positive changes, only changes that will inevitably result in the unhappiness of some portion of the population since we are so split. I doubt this speech will have any effect on the number of youth voting because I it most likely that they have already decided whether or not to vote in the midterm elections, and Obama is either reaffirming existing beliefs or opposing other existing beliefs. If Obama's statements are justified then his criticisms are also justified. In this case, due to the first amendment, they both are.
ReplyDeleteWhile voting is already so important, it becomes much more crucial during the midterms. Many people don’t recognize the strength of their votes, as shown in the amount of people that did not vote in the 2016 election. I think that Obama’s speech will have quite an impact on youth voting, as he is very influential.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Obama is justified in voicing his opinions against the Republican party; however, it seems to be contributing to animosity between the two parties, which is not what the nation needs right now during this era of political polarization. It is unlikely that Obama's speech will significantly effect voter turnout rates, but if he is able to mobilize a large demographic of young people to vote at the midterm elections, that could help sway the results democratic.
ReplyDelete^ Emma Madgic
DeleteI'm not sure if Obama's speech is going to influence voter turnout that much. I think that the people who planned on voting are still going to vote and those who weren't are probably still not going to. There may be a few people influenced to go to the polls, but again I don't think there are going to be as many. However, I honestly believe that there is going to be so much more voter turnout this year, especially on the liberal side. Many people believe that there needs to be a change in the government and voting this November would greatly affect that. If the democrats take the House and Senate, there is a good chance that there could be an impeachment. As for the criticism of the Republican party, I think Obama should be allowed to voice his opinion.
ReplyDelete^Maia
DeleteI think Obama's speaking out will create more change. Many college students may not have the desire, think about, or realize the importance of voting, but with encouragement they might do so. So if a large number of them vote, it could incite some real change. In regards to him speaking on his opinions and somewhat dissing the president, I think that is justified. Now he is no longer president and doesn't represent the US as a whole, meaning all different types of peoples, Democrat and Republican alike. So now that he isn't trying to please that many people, he can really voice his opinion, even if that means many people will disagree. He is now on his own terms and can do/speak as he pleases.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama will make a difference because he has a lot of influence on the country and society. Many people think that they shouldn't vote, or they don't think that they will make a difference because states are always going to sway to one side or not. But every vote counts and with more people saying their opinion, there could be real change. Many people are also confused with the different parties and how their beliefs fit in with each of them, but people don't need to stick with party loyalty and they can express their opinion with every aspect, not just party bias. I think that Obama speaking out will make an impact, but probably not enough to make a giant change because the people that will probably listen to him already think they should be voting.
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