Thursday, October 23, 2014

North Carolina Senate Race: It's a close one

Respond to the article we went over in class and post your responses to the questions here.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

1.) Hagans bashing Tillis could be effective by making him seem like he is the boogeyman; however that tactic gets tiring. Therefore at the end of the day showing the best of your policies without undermining the opponent so much. Also Hagans should try and focus on the younger demographic because they show up less. Plus the younger demographic tends to be more open-minded and liberal or democratic with ideas.
2.) I think Hagans is still ahead because of the swinging of North Carolina to possibly be more democratic. Possibly the young people or showing up more in the polls, and becoming more active in politics because they want to see change.
3.)The most important policy issue global terror. America seems to be going through quite a bit of global problems, especially with ISIS. Countries continue to attack or make possible threats against America, or their surrounding countries.
4.) Yes, I believe Hagans has the advantages that go with incumbency because she already has an established crowd. She will also be able to get funding better because she has the credibility and security that people need when it comes to their money.
5.) I think democratic incumbents may have a slightly better due to the fact that it seems that the world as a whole is sliding towards the middle on the political spectrum. Also with the new possible democratic turning of North Carolina, the democrats may have a slightly better advantage.

Unknown said...

Tabitha Raskiewicz (1B)
1. The effective strategy for Senator Hagan will be trying to encourage the African American and women Democrats to get out and vote mid election. This will help bring her votes which could help her win over Tillis by getting Democrats who do not usually vote in mid elections. Tillis should keep bashing Hagan on backing Obama in the Ebola response since Ebola is a hot topic right now and since Obama is not exactly liked to most American either at the moment.
2. I think Hagan is still ahead in the polls because of how she bashed Tillis about his educational spending because this probably has got voters unsure of who to vote for since education is such a big deal in North Carolina. Most republicans care a lot about education as well and this could make them rethink about voting for Tillis.
3. The most important issue in the North Carolina Senate race is hands down education. Education will play a huge role in voter turn out because of how highly it is looked at in North Carolina but I also think the Ebola outbreak will get voters because of how serious of an issue it is in the US right now. Also because of how much controversy there is about how the Obama administration has handled the problem.
4. I do not think Hagan has the typically advantage that goes with incumbency because since she is a Democrat and Obama has been putting a bad name on the Democrats lately as well as since North Carolina is a red state anyway. So her being a Democrat is going to make it harder for her to win in North Carolina.
5. Republican incumbents have way more of an advantage during this election because of how unpopular Obama is around the country. Lots of voters will just look at if who they are voting for is a Republican or Democrat and decide that Democrats must agree with Obama and will lean toward voting Republican.

Unknown said...

1.The effective strategy for Senator Hagan would be bringing new ideas to the table and getting her point across without just bashing Tillis. By reaching out to minority groups will be an effective tactic to help gain supporters and potential voters as well.
2. Hagan is still ahead in the polls because she reaches out to smaller pockets of people gaining more supporters that way. It was stated "women voters will be the key to her victory in November..." With Hagan being a woman herself this may turn out to work in her favor.
3 By far the most important policy issue of NC Senate race is by far eduction. Due to the fact that education plays a large role in basically anyone's success, it is especially becuause education plays a role in voters turn out.
4. Yes I think Hagan has an advantage because she is reaching out to smaller groups of people, it will be a challenge because North Carolina is primarily republican and she is a democrat.
5. I think that democratic incumbents have the same advantages that Republican incumbents have during this election cycle because people tend to agree more with being liberal, but because Obama has such a bad name related to the word democrats, people might lean more with being republican. But North Carolina might turn to become democratic with Hagans ideas and views.

Unknown said...

1. The most effective strategy for each campaign I think is having negative attacks towards Tillis. And Tillis also uses negative attacks. However, Hagan is gaining woman support with contraceptives and education. She can actually relate to the problems since she is a woman. She is bringing new ideas to the table, and reaching out to the minority rather the the popular public.
2. I believe that Hagan is still ahead of the poll because of woman voters. Also, she is an incumbent so she will most likely win again. She is trying to take over the votes in North Carolina by mentioning education.
3.The most important policy in NC senate race is education. It is a huge part in North Carolina because it plans someone's future and there success so it will have a bigger voter turnout. I also believe that Ebola is playing because it is a major concern in the U.S.
4.I don't think that Hagan has the typical advantages that go with incumbency because she is a democrat and Obama is not doing anything to get right now, and hurting the democrats so it will make it more difficult to win, although it is only her first term.
5. I think that the Republican incumbents have a better advantage because they are conservative so they will stick to the way things are to get things passed. Whereas Democratic incumbents are more liberal and they will not have a better advantage since Obama is a democrat.

Sanaa Belkaich said...

1) I think the most effective strategy would be making Tillis seem like a bad person. Hagans takes all his weaknesses and gets the minority he forgets about and persuades them to get them talking to other people and help spread the word out about why she is the right candidate.
2) I think Hagins is still ahead because she is a supporter for women voters and their beliefs she makes "Tillis look like a bigger bogeyman than Obama." She also distances herself from the president by backing the Keystone pipeline and opposing trade deals.
3) I think the biggest issue that will get people out there to vote is education. having a more educated population helps others create a better role in society. It is also what keeps our generation going and provides them to become better leaders themselves.
4) I think Hagans has the advantages because she is working people in by finding Tillis' weak spots and gaining people by making them see why she is the better choice. She also provides better campaigning strategies and it more motivated to get the job done.
5) I think that Democratic incumbents have the same advantages as Republican incumbents because they all have to work for their goal, which is getting voted into office. Hagans has to work to get people on a Democratic side because of the bad name Obama has put on them and Tillis has to get people that will see that his views on education and women aren't so narrow-minded.

Unknown said...

1. I think that Hagan should stray away from attacking Tillis and simply clarify her policy beliefs and support them in a way that people will understand and follow. This should work because in a primarily republican state, she must work harder than Tillis to establish the credibility that Tillis already has. Tillis is doing a great job, however, catching Hagan at her worst and presenting her as inconsistent for changing her opinions on travel-restrictions. I think that that will work for him since the Republican Party is already dominant in NC.
2. The biggest reason that Hagan is still ahead in the polls is probably because she has the right strategy in line and is implementing it. She realizes that they key to winning NC is get the African-Americans on board and gain support from the 2008 Obama fans, which she's obviously doing a fairly good job doing.
3. Judging by the article, the most prominent NC policy issue is probably that regarding containment of Ebola, specifically in travel regulations; however, Hagan is now in a agreement with Tillis as far as needing to restrict travel to and from Africa, so I believe that the NC issue that will really make a difference in voter participation is probably trade deals and other issues that people are blaming Obama for doing a poor job dealing with, which will definitely affect the results because people don't want "another Obama" in office and will probably be very hesitant to elect someone with the same policy ideas.
4. Being in a state that favors the opposing party, I don't think that Hagan has all of the advantages that come with incumbency. For one, her opponent is a strong one and his party has the majority of the state's support. We also have different issues on the table than those that were prevalent during her previous election, so there is almost a new judging criteria for candidates that she has no credibility established for.
5. I do not think that democratic incumbents have the same advantages as Republican incumbents, simply because of retrospective voting. People are judging parties based on their actions in the past. People associate Obama with the whole Democratic Party and therefore will be hesitant to elect democrats.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Period 1B
1) For Hagan, continuing to point out Tills' flaws and attacking Tillis has turned out to be extremely effective. Also focusing on education and contraceptives will help since this will increase female support. Money could be effective for both Hagan and Tillis.
2) Hagan is still ahead in the polls snce she attracts female voters and focuses on policy's core issues. Also she is an incumbent.
3) The most important policy issue would of the NC Senate race is education. Education is given a lot of importance in North Carolina right now and since it is a red state, many people focus on education. This will also attract female voters and minority groups. Education will get voters to the polls on election day and and it might be the key policy that voters focus on while voting depending on which candidate they side with. Also Ebola is a huge topic of interest right now and this will also be influential of how people vote since Obama and his administration is recieving a lot of blame for this outbreak. Many people are scared of this outbreak which might change their votes.
4) I don't think that Hagan has the typical advantages of incumbency since she has had only 1 term. If she had multiple terms then the advantages of incumbency would be a lot greater.
5) I don't think that Democratic incumbents have the same advantages that Republican incumbents have during this election cycle due to Obama. Obama has a relatively low approval rating right now and how he is widely unpopular throughout the whole country. Even many Democrats have attempted to disassociate themselves from Obama and move away from him

Unknown said...

1. Hagan should focus on republicans being old fashioned and having an outdated look on society today. Tillis should focus on Hagan's affiliation with Obamaand the negative effects of how the Ebola outbreak was taking care of. 2. Hagan is remaining ahead in the polls because of her and most of Americans viewpoint of voting more progressively on situations such as abortion and gay marriage. 3. The policy on education is the most important issue in North Carolina and will be the policy that gets voters to the polls on election day. 4. No, she does not have the advantages that come with incumbency because Tillis is the speaker of the house and has just as much money and recognition as she has. 5. No, I do not think Democrats hae the same advantages that the Republicans do. I believe this because most Demcrats are too scared to voice their own opinion and defend their beliefs in fear of stepping on someone's toes.

Anonymous said...

1. Hagans needs to try to appeal to the voters of minorities or those who feel underrepresented, such as African Americans and women (which may be slightly easier for her, seeing that she is a woman herself). Hagans does not need to continue bashing her opponent and should instead just explain and clarify her own beliefs and plans.
2. I think Hagans is still ahead in the polls because of her relationship with these minority and female voters. Her policies and beliefs are very appealing.
3.The most important issue in this senate race is the issue of education. Education has a massive affect on the generations of tomorrow. This is an issue that will attract voters.
4.I think Hagans still has the typical advantages that go with incumbency because she already has a supportive crowd of voters, already has campaign money, and has already created her reputation. A reputation is easier to uphold than to create.
5. I think democrats have slightly more political incumbency both because our current president is a democrat and also because Republicans seem to be splitting between extremely conservative and slightly more middle. This confusion cause democrats to appear slightly more stable.

Unknown said...

1) Hagan’s strategy of making Tillis the incumbent is the most effective for her campaign because it makes her ideas look fresh and new and her opponent old and outdated. This means that more young people will vote for Hagan most likely because the youth is always changing history to new ideas. And who does not want to be a part of history? Tillis’s strategy of tying Hagan to Obama and how her party has made bad decision is the most effective because the voters will think Hagan will follow this trend. This means that people who hate Obama or are fed up with him will vote against Hagan because she is tied to him and stands by his party or ideals.
2) The biggest reason Hagan is still ahead in the polls in my opinion is that she is women. Women love to see other women with success, so she gets the majority of the women votes. Women overpopulate men in the state so there vote is more powerful. “Women voters will be the key to her victory in November” as the article states.
3) I believe that the most important policy issue of the NC Senate race is education issues because it will get the voters to the polls on Election Day and will affect the outcome of the election. The article states clearly that North Carolina “prides itself on its university system” and if this is true they will have an emotional response to what the candidates have to say on educational issues. If the message is clear, and you sound like you can be trusted to lay out the plan, voters will come to the polls.
4) I think Hagan does not have the typical advantages that go with incumbency because Tillis is a strong opponent. The biggest advantage of incumbency is having a weak opponent because the audience or voters like you better because you have more money or ads and are more trusted by the public in general. Tillis presents a strong argue that ties Hagan to Obama and a lot of people did not like what Obama did in office so more voters swing towards Tillis in this way.
5) No, I do not think that Democratic incumbents have the same advantages that Republican incumbents have during this election cycle because Obama has failed the party in the public’s eyes so Republicans will be stronger opponents this election cycle.

Unknown said...

1. The most effective strategy for the campaign is bringing about new policy ideas and the encouragement of more voting reaching out to a more in depth set of voters rather than a broad out reach of voters.
2. The gender gaps Hagan is focusing on such as appealing to more women voters therefore in this case gaining more specified amount of voters outs a candidate ahead of the game
3. The most important policy revolves around education because it is the main factor in success in anyone's life and therefore when it is focused on in policy reform it shows the importance and emphasis on the good outcome of education.
4.Hagan could possibly have an advantage but it is difficult to completely gain the advantage because she is a democrat in a majority ruled republican system.
5. In a way both democrats and republicans are equal when it comes to incumbents depending on spending and strategy abilities in governing and policy making. But usually one overcomes the other in this case being the republicans.

Katoria.Alicia said...

1. The most important strategy Hagan is practicing is staying focused on core issues and distancing herself from the president through backing the pipeline and opposing trade. Whereas Tillis and the republicans undermine the democrats and calling out the democrats by referring to them as disorganized. This is important to defeating the opponent because the democrats get to focus on their policies while republicans get to make Hagan and the democrats look bad.
2. Giving the party the a playbook on how to win North Carolina is a get way too strategize which is to me a good way to keep the lead in the polls, which is probably why Hagan still got the lead.
3. The most the most important policy would be global terror. The fact that this issue is becoming so big in regards to ISIS and the president not declaring war , yet sending troops in is a problem. And ISIS militants are using gas on policemen now show how serious the problem is becoming. Affecting America as a nation in regards to terrorism will have voters coming in on election day.
4. I do think that Hagan has the advantage that comes with incumbency because she is already leading in the polls and her focus on party core issues and not just bashing her opponent on what their doing with decisions on Ebola and how they feel for views on the president.
5. The democrat incumbents may have a greater advantage than republican incumbents because with the Democrats possible lead in NC senate race and them appealing to the people. Because the republican are focused on Obama's infrastructure and not so much on their own policy goals show a side of the spectrum that is less of an incumbent than those of the democrats

Unknown said...

1. The most effective strategy that each campaign is using the other opponents weakness as their strong points in thee arguments also Hagans ideas are new and appeal to the minorities while While the other opponents seems like it isn't, this is effective because it unites the minorities to go vote, just like Obama did.
2. The main reason why Hagans is still ahead of the polls is due to her being a female and trying to unite the minorities.
3. The most important policy is pertaining to education in the article it stated how Hagan has even criticized Tillis for his lack of education funding.
4. Regardless of her having a lead, Tillis is a strong opponent and NC has been proven to be a potential swing state.
5. No I don't believe so, regardless of our current president being a democrat, he has decreased popularity and due to him decreasing in popularity so has the democratic party, the fore I believe that it is harder for the democratic incumbents to this election cycle.

Unknown said...

1. The most effective strategy for each campaign would be the slamming and bashing of the candidates. Hagan made Tillis look like the incumbent in this race. It will be the most effective strategy in defeating the opponent because this way, Hagan will be able to gain even more votes over Tillis, which puts her ahead.
2. The biggest reason Hagan is still ahead in the polls is due to her connection to women. Since Tillis is currently not liked "over his unpopular legislature's policies on education and women's issues", then Hagan has a better shot.
3. The most important policy issue of the NC Senate race would be education. The article even stated that, it "will be potent in a state that prides itself on its university system". So this gains a bit of precedence because of what North Carolina is known for.
4. Hagan does have the typical advantages that go with incumbency because she has the means to attack Tillis, which moves her on up. Her support also plays a key role in this race.
5. The Democratic incumbents do not have the same advantages that the Republican incumbents have during this election cycle primarily because President Obama is becoming even more and more unpopular. They are focused on how Obama has tackled the issues during his presidency.

Monica Lozano (Period 2B)

Unknown said...

1. The most important tactic for Hagan is to appeal to minority voters by not having an archaic or outdated stance on important issues like contraception or women's rights. Although North Carolina is traditionally a Republican state, the large presence of universities lends a hand to the uprising of the more Liberal view points.
2. Hagan is clearly ahead in the polls because of her more progressive viewpoint and how she has made Tillis seem like the incumbent.
3. Education is without a doubt, the most important policy issue. North Carolina is home to some of the finest universities in the nation such as Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest. With the presence of these institutions of higher learning and the numerous students that could possibly contribute to Hagan's lead in the polls, education is at the pinnacle of policy issues in North Carolina.
4. Hagan doesn't have the typical advantages that go with incumbency because she is attacking her competitor based on his antiquated view of important issues. Hagan's perspective is refreshing for someone who is defending her seat.
5. Republican incumbents clearly have the advantage, as people are tiring of President Obama's policies. Although some Republican positions may seem radical, they appeal to more people looking for a restoring of normalcy.

Unknown said...

1. Getting a high voter turnout for both Hagan's and Tillis' campaign's would be the most effective strategy. The voters are the ones who make the decisions, so getting the demographics that support them to go out and vote will have the greatest effect.
2. Hagan is still ahead in the polls because she focuses on the party's core issues, and slams Tillis as being the outdated incumbent. She also has opened up a gender gap of 12% in her favor, making the women vote very important to her success.
3. I think the most important policy issue of the NC Senate race is education. There are many great colleges there, and so NC looks highly upon its education system. Also Ebola will get some voters to the polls because it is creating fear amongst the public, and how one handles the situation is very important.
4. Hagan does not have the typical advantages that go with incumbency because she is being tied to the democratic party (considered unorganized at the moment) and Obama (has low approval rating), and so that might turn some voters away from her.
5. No, the Democratic party's image at the moment is not as good as the Republican party's due to Obama's low approval rating. Even Hagan shows that by trying to distance herself from the democratic party by "backing the Keystone pipeline and opposing trade deals."

Unknown said...

(1B)
1. I think Hagan should keep strongly bashing Tillis about his education spending since North Carolina takes pride in it's university system. Tillis should keep trying to tie Hagan to Obama since of how unpopular Obama is to the American people at the moment.
2. Hagan is ahead in the polls since she focuses on hot topics not only in North Carolina but in the nation as well. She also is getting the women vote which is helping her in the polls.
3. Education has to be the most important topic in the NC Senate race because of how many colleges are in NC and because of how high education is seen in the state as a whole. Gender issues will probably be the deciding factor in the NC senate race because getting women voters to come vote will either make or break Hagan.
4. I do not think Hagan has the typical advantage that come with incumbency because of how unpopular Obama has made Democrats. Also since NC is not dominantly blue either at the moment.
5. Democratic incumbents do not have the same advantage as Republican incumbents because of how poorly Obama is seen to the American people and how poorly he is handling national issues as well.