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During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of the presidency, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.

The course syllabus is at
http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/gov102-14.html

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Thursday, November 8, 2007

Generational test for Republicans

Politico featured this article about global warming and the Republican party. I think there are two things our class can take away from it.

The article addresses young voters and how they can sway public opinion and the election. Several Republican legislators have begun to change their minds about global warming because of the environmental movement led by our generation. Activists have used the election effectively by putting pressure on candidates to say something about the issue. The Democratic candidates have all discussed global warming , and the trend is affecting Republicans. Grassroots movements can utilize election season in this manner.

On the other hand, this issue brings to light how superficial campaigning can be. The authors mention that the candidates are trying to stay away from addressing global warming in detail because the solutions are too expensive and therefore turn off the general public. While Republicans and Democrats are starting to agree that this is a real issue, they will use traditional campaign strategy and gloss over it with vague statements. The authors believe that it will be a while before their is action on the political front.

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