fandomhigh | Political Campaigning (Tuesday, January 17, 4th Period)

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political campaigning

Political Campaigning (Tuesday, January 17, 4th Period)

Josh was snickering at what passed for political coverage in the local Montana papers when his political campaigning class came in.

"Hey guys," he said. "First of all, congratulations to those of you who are now duly elected members of the Student Council." He might be smirking just a little bit as he looked at Angel. "I look forward to napping through all of your meetings as your advisor." He cleared his throat. "Anyway. Today we're talking about how to write a campaign outline." He pointed to his inbox. "Please turn in your preliminary research about your candidates here. And, um," he pointed at random to his class list, then read off the name, "Alanna, how many days do we have until the election?"

He looked around the room. "Okay. Last class I rattled off a whole list of factors that have to be remembered in a campaign. And written down because if it's not on paper it doesn't exist. We've already discussed a bit about the political environment, both nationally and in Montana. Now that you've done a bit more research about your candidates, it's time for you to start coming up with answers to some critical decisions. Break into your groups, and given what you've learned about your guys, please answer me the following questions." He pointed to the board where he'd scrawled:

1. Will you debate your opponent? If you have a primary, will you debate your primary opponent?
2. Will you appear with other members of your party? Montana officials only, or national-level party members as well? Are there certain members in particular you would not invite to help you?
3. How will your candidate address gun-control issues, abortion, prayer in school, the war in Iraq and general thoughts on making Montana safe from terrorism?

Josh sat back down at his desk. "If you have questions, ask. If not, talk amongst yourselves."

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...

Alanna signed in.

Angel signed in.

Jake signed in.

Rory signed in.

Callisto signed in.

Parker signed in.

Jessica signed in.

Logan signed in.

Elizabeth signed in ~~late~~

...

After calculating something on her fingers, Alanna looked up. "288 days, sir."

Angel quietly took notes. He was still coming down off the espresso-bean buzz.

...

Angel moved to sit near his two partners.

Alanna took out a notebook, and began the never ending battle to take legible notes. "So, will our guy debate?"

"He's ahead, he doesn't have to," Angel murmured. He then looked like he regretted having spoken.

Alanna shrugged. "But he may loose that advantage if he doesn't make a public appearance and defend himself."

Rory nodded. "He doesn't have to, but doesn't he have the option?"

Alanna nodded. "I'm really heavey on the yes side here. I think keeping him in the public eye as much as possible is a very good thing. And he seems articulate enough not to make a fool of himself."

Angel didn't look up from his notebook. "I'm not saying he won't, I'm saying he doesn't have to. He's in the lead. Let the other guy come begging for a debate if he wants one."

...

Logan sat down with his group.

"Hey, Logan," Elizabeth said, collapsing into her seat. "I personally think that he should debate. How about you?"

"Yeah, I agree," Logan said. He looked over the list of questions, and his eyes caught the last word. "What the hell does Montana have to worry about from terrorism?"

Elizabeth skimmed the list herself. "Well, they've not had any past history with terrorist attacks directly, but any hit on the USA affects the entire United States."

...

Jake sipped his coffee and looked at his notes (http://pics.livejournal.com/courier_gavin/pic/000se5ce).

"Why does out guy have to be such a dink?" Parke sighed. "At least he gave back the campaign contribution."

"At least we already know," Jake pointed out. "So we can work around it, and we won't get a major shock in, like, 250 days."

"True," Parker said. "And normally I'd be happy that we got a guy who was elected to record terms of office, but why did he have to win by such a narrow margin last time?" She sighed. "Okay. What do you guys think, debate, or not debate?"

"Considering his habit of putting his foot in his mouth, I'd go with not debate, unless absolutely necessary."

"I was kind of thinking that. His record, good and bad, speaks for itself. Changing his opinions at this point would only be seen as catering to fringe voters. It's all been said somewhere already."

Jake nodded in agreement.

"By that token, we should still prep him. Because there will be impromptu questions, and we may want to change our minds later, if the public gets too demanding-- the opposition would certainly only benefit from a debate."

"Yeah, good point, but we definitely don't want to go looking for a debate." Jake poked his notes. "He needs some work in the PC department..."

"A lot of work. Okay. Montana politicians, and national-level party members. Given the President's approval rating is hovering around, oh, 30, I don't think we want to identify with Bush too much. He's on the opposite side of our candidate's environmental policies anyway, which is about the only thing I like about him."

...

"Sir? Professor Lyman? Can I have a moment?" Alanna fiddled with the strap of her bag.

"Absolutely," Josh said. "What can I do for you?"

"As you mentioned at the beginning of class, you are in fact the current sponsor for Student Council, which I am going to be part of the second semester running. Last term, the Council sponsored a Self-Defense Club that I ran. Will you be willing to sponsor it this term as well or do I need to find a new teacher?"

Josh ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure I'm really qualified to help out there, Alanna. I'm not big on the whole 'exercise' thing." He figured mentioning that he had gotten shot would probably not be a good idea. He tried to think of some of the other teachers he had met and was coming up kind of blank. "Maybe the gym teacher would be interested?" He smiled. "If you can't find someone else, though, I'd be glad to help you out."

Alanna forced a smile on to her face. "Thank you anyway Professor Lyman. I'll ask around and see who I can find."

"If you haven't found someone before Student Council meets," Josh said, "let me know, okay?"

"Thank you, sir. And um, when will we be meeting? Because last term it was Monday nights and I know that quite a few members of Student Council are in Tactics of War which meets Monday's at six."

"I was thinking during lunchtime myself. Gives people a definite end time--stops meetings from running on forever. Maybe Thursdays?"

"Lunch time would be good, and I think any day would work, sir."

...

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Political Campaigning (Tuesday, January 17, 4th Period)

Sign in (January 17)

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General class discussion

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Group discussion: Angel, Rory, Alanna

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Group discussion: Logan, Jessica, Elizabeth

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Group discussion: Parker, Callisto, Jake

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After class...

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OOC