Scott Taylor, a Republican from Virginia who is running for reelection to the House of Representatives, has recently been a part of an election scandal. Taylor’s campaign has been threatened due to accusations of him helping an independent candidate get on the ballot in order to take away votes from his Democratic opponent, Elaine Luria. His allegations include using the names of dead people or voters who do not live in the district on signature petitions. Currently, a prosecutor is investigating the case and the independent candidate, Shaun Brown, has been removed from the ballot. Taylor’s scandal is an example of one of several that the Republicans have recently been involved in, which could mean that the Democrats could gain a few more seats in the House or try to tip the majority in their favor. The Democrats have been using these scandals to label the Republican leadership as promoting a “culture of corruption.” However, despite the scandal, the winner of the election is still a toss-up. While some claim that Taylor’s actions convey dishonesty and a lack of integrity, other voters still continue to side with Taylor due to his respect gained from being a Navy SEAL and his past experience as being a representative in the House.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think this scandal will have a major impact on the reputation of the Republicans? If so, will this scandal have a major impact on the Republican majority in the House?
2. What should the punishment be for candidates who engage in unfair election practices?
3. Do you think Scott Taylor still has a chance of winning even though he is involved in this scandal?
I do not think this scandal will have a major impact on the reputation of the Republicans. There have been so many scandals among the Republican party yet they are still a majority in the House as well as the force in the White House. Thus, this may unfortunately be simply one added scandal onto the Republican "rap sheet." If Taylor is found guilty, punishment should definitely be executed as engaging in such election practices can influence the election results. However, removing his name from the ballot may be too excessive as it tips the balance greatly in the Democrats' favor. Thus, a possible form of punishment that is not too excessive may be to limit the amount of spending he has on campaign advertising. This scandal should have at least some negative effect already (as a candidate's image is very important nowadays), and the addition of a limit to campaign advertising would be an extra punishment. When it comes to Taylor's chances of winning despite the scandal, he definitely still has a chance. Virginia is relatively equally split in terms of political party. Thus, despite this scandal, he is not out of this election.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it may taint the reputation of some republicans, I agree with Kathryn in saying that the scandal will not have a major impact on the reputation of the Republican party as a whole. Moreover, there are many other scandals that would push Republicans out of the House, and this minor scandal revolving around one candidate is not one of those scandals because it only regards a certain group of people who are to vote in the reelection for Taylor. Nonetheless, I believe that Taylor still has a shot in this election because of his past credibility of being the representative in the House. Virginia has been a blue state for the last three elections now meaning that this scandal may lead to more democratic voters voting against Taylor. Thus, there is a slight chance that Taylor will lose some of his voters; however, in the big picture, he will most likely retain the majority of voters and possibly win the election because of his trustworthy past. Ultimately, this may be one scandal, but if Taylor is only all of a sudden contributing to scandals, he should be questioned for other possible acts of corruption. Then, if he is convicted of participating in more scandals, he should face major punishments such as being taken off of the ballot.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that this scandal will have little to no affect on public perception of the Republican party and might only affect the local communities involved in the issue. However in terms of punishment for involving in unfair election practices I believe the candidate at the very least should be removed from the race or kept from running in the future. Especially with recent attempts at corrupting democratic election processes, fair and democratic conduct must be promoted and held to a high standard to avoid further corruption.
ReplyDeleteI do not think this scandal will have a major impact on the reputation of republicans or their majority in the house. This one candidate does not represent the whole of the party, and I can almost guarantee any voter in a neighboring state will not suddenly decide to vote democrat because of a poor choice by a candidate that has very little to do with them. At most this will affect only the Virginia election. I agree that the punishment for candidates that engage in malpractice should be some form of handicap during the rest of the campaign, but the candidate should not be stricken from the ballot as such a move would greatly affect the outcome of the election and produce a result that may not have happened even in a cheating-free scenario. I think Scott Taylor has a fine chance of winning. If someone strongly intended to vote for him before, they likely will not decide to change their vote because of this. If one does decide to change, there is no guarantee they will vote for his most dangerous opponent.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that this scandal will significantly affect the Republican party reputation mainly because the party has a strong, loyal following. The Republicans will still garner a lot of support. For instance, despite the ongoing Russian investigation on the current administration, many people still choose to support the President despite any suspicions. I think that Taylor should receive a lot more criticism than what he's gotten so far. If Taylor is proven to be guilty of the accusations, he should be taken out of the ballot as well. Considering the political climate in Virginia, Taylor winning this election is very possible. But it is also very likely he will lose due to this scandal.
ReplyDeletePolitical parties, including the current Republican party have a long history of vote manipulation, and it is fairly unlikely that this particular scandal will be the straw that breaks that camel's back. Gerrymandering has long been a popular tactic implemented by the Republicans in order to secure party favor in regions that may not be primarily Republican. Back in the 2000 election, the close election between Al Gore and George Bush was lost due to Florida's vote for George Bush, likely due to their use of the butterfly ballot that caused many individuals to vote for the Reform party candidates rather than the Democratic party candidates. In the end, the most likely effect this particular scandal will have on the party system is that Democrats will be even more distrustful of the Republicans, and that Republicans will interpret the rise of this scandal as a nefarious attempt by the Democrats to grasp for power even after they have lost.
ReplyDelete