Name ______Date ______

ELECTIONS NOTEBOOK

My candidate ______

·  Clip or print out a minimum of six articles over the next two weeks about your candidate of choice; write a commentary about the article (half page or more). 60 pts

·  On the page across from your candidate record information, labeled clearly, about the candidate to include:

o  What you found most interesting about him or her. 5 pts

o  Where your candidate stands on issues. 5 pts

o  How your candidate is showing himself/herself as a conservative, liberal, centrist, libertarian or statist (refer www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html and/or www.balancedpolitics.org/ideology.htm). 5 pts

o  Your candidate’s campaign strategies (see Ch. 17 of textbook). 5 pts

o  How your candidate is demonstrating the informal qualifications for becoming president (see pp. 215-216 of textbook). 5 pts

o  How your candidate is demonstrating how he/she will play his/her roles (see textbook 9-2). 5 pts

o  How your candidate is displaying his/her leadership style (see text section 9-3). 5 pts

·  BE PREPARED TO REPORT ON YOUR CANDIDATE. 10 pts

______/105_____

Extra credit:

·  Track a columnist and his/her views about one of the candidates. Choose one columnist or switch around. Print-out five articles from the last few months and your response to them. Include a summary of each article, write down any questions and comments you might have about them. 15pts

______/15_____

Suggested resources:

·  Candidates coverage:

o  Politico.com www.politico.com Click on “Elections ‘08” and then “Meet and Track the Candidates” to find a profile of your candidate, track your candidate through myspace, youtube or other venues, etc.

o  MSNBC.com www.msnbc.msn.com click on “politics”: has candidates, streamed debates, much more

o  Fox News www.foxnews.com click on “politics”: You Decide / Issues 2008 – where the candidates stand on five “hot topics”

o  CNN.com Politics http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/ - excellent coverage

o  Plus all from previous “Current Events Sharing” list

·  Columnists

o  www.blueagle.com – over 700 online columnists

o  www.washingtonpost.com – click on “Opinion,” then “Columns & Blogs” for a long list of op-ed columnists and bloggers. You can also click on “Columnist Biographies” under “About our Columnists” (near the bottom) to read their bios and select someone that sounds good to you.