Analytical Paper: Obama and the 2012 Election
Due March 4
For this assignment you are
to write a 3-4 page analytical paper (12 point font, double spaced, normal 1”
margins) evaluating the Obama Presidency up to this point. In addition you
are required to add a works cited page based on your outside research. Over the
next two weeks we will gain a greater understanding about the roles, powers,
goals, and limitations of the presidency as well as the personal
characteristics of President Obama and some of the strategies he has used. This
is a reflection paper where you share your thoughts and opinions (defended by
research) in a well thought out, concise paper. You are required
to use a minimum of three sources for your research, which should be
cited in the text and in a works cited page not included in the 3-4 page
requirement (please ask about appropriate sources of information if you have
questions about this and start with the political news links on the course website, I highly recommend the NY Times,
Washington Post, Real Clear Politics, and Politico.com). You are to pick a
specific area of his presidency to evaluate. Some suggestions may include:
- His handling of the economy (or specific areas of the economy)
- His handling of the War in Iraq
- His handling of the War in Afghanistan
- His relationship with the media
- How “transparent” his administration has been (Is most of the work being done behind closed doors or does the public have access to it?)
- His relationships with his party or bipartisanship
- His foreign policy
- His use of technology
- Whether he has followed up on campaign promises or not
- His effect on the Judicial Branch/Supreme Court
- His decision making style
- His public speaking
- His management of the executive bureaucracy
- How he relates or does not relate to the American public
- His handling of the health care reform
You are not limited to these choices and if you have other ideas
please e-mail them to me. The main point is that you should pick some specific aspect
of his presidency so far. Regardless of what
topic you choose you should discuss the following questions in your paper:
- What has he accomplished/failed to accomplish so far during his first term relating to your topic of choice?
- What does this suggest about his overall effectiveness as a president?
Although I will need to do much further and extensive research to formulate an analysis on how President Obama has done so far, a few things come to mind when I think about the changes he has made to our political society.
ReplyDeleteThe way he communicates with his supporters/public has changed political campaigns. He is deeply engaged in social media, tapping into young supporters and starting movements on the web. I believe this also coincides with his relationship with the media and how they portray him.
His transparency to the public seemed relatively okay until the death of Christopher Stevens and when he failed to call the riot a terrorist attack right off the bat.
Overall I think some important things to touch on would be hot topics to the public, the ones that get supporters/competitors revved up like health care and taxes. Those are the 'major' controversies in the eyes of Americans right now and would be the best opportunity to analyze President Obama's track record.
As we discussed in class, people tend to vote based on political party, the issues, and the candidates "character". In the case of Barack Obama, his style of public speaking-- and by extension, the way in which he presents himself, is very distinctive and engaging, and I think it's one of the major reasons why he was elected (and then re-elected). One of Obama's "selling points" is that he understands the every-day American, while his opponents are portrayed as out of touch with the middle class.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor had a significant impact on the politics of the Supreme Court.
One of the biggest criticisms of Obama is his handling of the war in Afghanistan. During his first election campaign (as I recall), he made big promises about the rate at which he would remove troops from Afghanistan, but various circumstances (which I would have to research to understand or be able to name) forced him to follow a different plan than the one promised.
Obama has also taken a lot of heat over the state of the economy. Some say that the economy's current state is (or was) a result of George W. Bush's economic policies, others say the fault is his own. In reality, it is probably a combination of factors, including previous and current policies, as well as events occurring outside of the United States.
I think the correlation between Obama's charismatic persona, the promises he makes, and whether he follows through on them, would be a very interesting topic to explore
Overall, I think Obama has done a great job in addressing issues that affect those that are underrepresented and political outsiders. He definitely has tried to make politics inclusive for everyone and that has brought him much of his support.
ReplyDeleteFor example, he passed “ObamaCare” in order to provide affordable health insurance for all Americans. The elderly and women benefited from this because it decreased the average cost of health insurance for seniors and provides women with access to preventive health services. He has also repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” which was received well by the LGBTQA community and recently passed DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) which prevents immigrants who were brought here as children from getting deported for two years and allows them to legally work in the U.S.
The fact that he has tried to help many social groups in one way or another hints at his style of leadership and makes him appear like a very effective leader. Like Mila mentioned one of Obama’s big selling points is that he is very relatable to the every-day American unlike Romney who was portrayed in the 2012 Election as a rich, business man who was out of touch with the majority of Americans.
I think part of the strategy of his campaign was to try to address an issue that mattered to a particular social group in order to get as much support as possible for the re-election. Therefore, it would be interesting to analyze one issue that the Obama administration has tackled and show its progression from the time he ran for President in 2008 up to now.
-Erik Martinez
When I think about President Obama’s time in office, I think of his efficiency with connecting to the American public and his public speaking skills. I recall his first inauguration speech in 2008. It brought a lot of emotions to the people who were watching. He has maintained this personal effect on many Americans thus his reelection into presidency. Like Mila mentions, President Obama has a connection with the everyday American that not all candidates for President can uphold. This is not to say that he can connect with every American. There are many Americans who disagree with President Obama and wish he was not in office. This does not make him ineffective. As we discussed in class it is impossible to keep every single person in this country happy.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama’s health care reform has brought a lot of negative and positive feedback. I think this would be an interesting topic to research more. Obama care provides support to a lot of people who could not go to the hospital because it was too expensive. So exploring his time in office will be interesting, especially focusing in on a specific topic.
I believe that President Obama has done an exemplary job in relating to people. He engages his supporters, and even non supporters, in every speech. He has a way of addressing an audience that I believe is special. His power in the words that he speaks and the tone he uses allows a certain familiarity that others do no often attain.
ReplyDeleteAs for his accomplishments, I would have to do more in depth research into his accomplishments. From what I know, his health care reform has brought on a bundle of mixed feelings from the public. I, for one, believe that he has completely good intentions.
I have heard many things about the promises Obama made in his campaigns. As I have said before, I do not know much about his time in office, but I do know that many people are unhappy with the progress he had made in the previous four years. Even though I do not know much, I do know that it would be completely impossible to undo decades of years building debt in a short four year time span. People have had unreasonable expectations regarding changes, but that just goes to show that people are becoming increasingly more impatient as the years drag on. It would be interesting to go into his campaign promises and progress with them.
Obama is a clear voice for the American people, I think his character and his faith in the people of our nation has made him relatable in the eyes of most Americans, no matter your political party. The way he utilizes social media, has gained him support from the younger generations, as well as his relationships with our generations athletes, and pop stars.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the Health Care reform, I need to do more research, but I am not in support of ObamaCare, I think its a huge issue, that will take years to tackle, and I think that his approach is trying to be a quick fix, which it should not be. I also think that he put all his time and focus into this new reform after his 2008 election, which cost him other HUGE issues, like the economy and the Wars in Iraq and Afganistan.
I know this topic is not listed, but would we be able to discuss education, and how Obama is handling that major topic, especially after the strikes in his hometown Chicago? What about Michelle Obama and what role she plays in his presidency, and what she stands for alone?
I'll be the first to say I'm not a huge fan of president Obama's first term, to put it lightly. The two main issues to point out in his first term are:
ReplyDelete1) The economy. Yes, George W. Bush racked up $10 trillion in eight years due to the wars overseas, and Obama inherited that. But he knew that going in, and promised us it would be a problem fixed under his administration. What is frustrating to me is that not only has the president seemed to ignore the issue, he's added to it. In four years, he's added $7 trillion to the debt (half of the time of Bush yet double the rate), and he doesn't have the military excuse. No, the reckless spending is strictly due to entitlements. If we continue to spend at such a rate, the US dollar will collapse and our economy will experience another great depression. For this reason alone should the economy be the number one issue in this country, and it's not. Instead the president plays champion of the entitlement state and social justice, such as immigration reform and gun control. After Obama's first four years, unemployed Americans, the unemployment rate, long-term unemployment, gas prices, worker health insurance costs, college tuition, the amount of Americans in poverty, food stamp recipients, the consumer price index, federal debt, and debt per person has all gone up, while middle class income and US global competitiveness have all gone down. It doesn't matter how well you can give a speech or how cool you are to the country's youth, all of the above simply isn't acceptable.
2) ObamaCare. ObamaCare has mandated that everyone have health insurance, and if you don't, you're penalized by paying a fine. The penalty is such for some small businesses and certain individuals, that they'd rather pay the fine then pay for health insurance because of cost - which was already previously covered before ObamaCare was implemented. In hindsight, it's a possibility that more people won't have health insurance under ObamaCare than did before. I find it rather humorous because the whole point was so that everyone could have ensured health care. Unlike what I said on the economy, my thoughts on ObamaCare above are speculation, because it hasn't been fully mandated yet. But mark my words, that will happen. There is a reason people from different countries come to the US to have operations done. In Europe, for example, you could be in a 6 month line for a simple operation because they have socialized healthcare. Well, because of ObamaCare, we too are in that boat.
Obama has a lot of things going for him in the public eye and mainstream media, but his policies so far are failures in my opinion, and the country will pay for it in the future.
Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, right? A lot of Americans have their own opinions about the President and some are saying that he hasn’t done much to improve our country. Instead made it worse. Well, in my case, I’d like to think our country has been improving. If we step back and look at the whole of Obama's first term we can see he’s really tried to put money into the economy, keep a cap on unemployment, bring down taxes, and generally, keep our country from hitting rock bottom even more. These things, without a doubt, have been successful. I’d like to think even the Republicans like to see where we are heading; they would want to get out of this depression too
ReplyDeleteObama has made America energy independent, every president that has ran for the oval office in the past 50 years has promised to do so. And it looks like President Obama was the only one to accomplish that. Right now I believe the U.S. is the second biggest oil producer.
I think Obama is very smart and capable and has overall done a great job. I liked Romney as well... some of the people behind him though- yeah they just wouldn't work for me. My advice for the next election... pretend the electorate is intelligent and talk to Americans like they are real people, yes bore us with the details. It's not bad to say he did some good things here; this is where I would improve it.
I am the first to admit that I do not know as much about politics as I would like. However I have been paying attention to certain aspects of Obama's presidency such as his approach to wars. My dad is in the military and I have always found this topic extremely interesting so I plan to focus my paper on the War in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteI am a supporter of Obama because I feel that he truly does care about Americans. When I first heard that Obama was making plans to withdraw troops from the middle east I was thrilled. As a daughter of someone in the military I do not want anyone to have to go through losing someone in battle or even the pain of being separated during deployment. However I am also aware that Obama did initially send more troops in and that this is something that is necessary during war.
In my paper I plan to look into when Obama sent more troops overseas, when he began to pull them back and his overall plan for the war. I also want to examine his motives for these actions and the public's reaction since the War in Afghanistan has been an issue for so many years.
I think Obama has done a great job when addressing the issues he presented in his campaign. Obviously the first term had a lot to do with the health reform. During the first term of president Obama he passed the Obama care which brought many Americans together to support this candidate. Obama also talked about immigration during his first term, thus he also managed to pass the dream Act for immigrant students. Although the dream act, does not guarantee citizenship, it allows student to attain a work permit.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama is able to relate to the everyday American life. He is respectful towards people who agree and disagree with him. The fact that he takes constructive criticism so well helps him gain admiration. He addresses issues that are common in every day life, unlike other politicians. Most of all, Obama supports the middle class, which makes part for our largest group in America. I believe Obama really takes into consideration the concerns and issues of the people. He also has shown to have the characteristics of a president by being so formal, and educated.
I think that Obama handled his first term very well, there were many issues in which he did address, but there were many that i personally think he could have handled better, for example, The war in Afghanistan. American troops have been stationed in Afghanistan since October of 2001, shortly after 9/11. In Obama's State of the Union Address he stated that he does not plan to pull troops from Afghanistan, 32.000 troops will remain there.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he has stated that more than half the troops stationed there will be pulled out, which is always good news, but the bigger question is when will American troops be pulled from Afghanistan completely? What will he do to try and prevent us from entering another war in the Middle East, and how will he prevent Al Qaeda from launching missiles in the Middle East?
I think that over all he will pay more attention to this in his second term and will come to a conclusion that will better the US as a whole.
I agree with Maggie that further, extensive research should be done before being critical of the Obama Admistration. I only know what I know from the bits and pieces that I hear and read from the media, which is what Chapter 5 mentions. The infomation that is taken from the media is a lazy shortcut of being informed on issues. Real issues have many different and complicated dynamics that the media condenses into 60 minutes and even a 30 minutes broadcast. To be fully aware of topics and/or issues takes a lot of time/investment which brings more weight onto busy adulthood. And so I'm only aware of reforms and/or new policy proposals during campaign season, after that politics become a blur. I'm very concerned with the direction that the country is taking but I'm not a heavy political junkie. Because of that I don't know how effective the presidency has been. I don't see a major difference in the Obama Admistration to any other admistration. I haven't seen a distinctive change in office that will make me say "Obama really made changes."
ReplyDeletePresident Obama's election was one of the only things that got me interested in politics. I know that I'm obviously not and expert on all the happenings in the White House, but I'd like to think I have a good idea. I think that Obama's first term went well; he tackled large projects that have needed fixing or attention. I do feel though that his power was "limited" in a sense during his first term, but now since re-election is off the table, it will change.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama definitely has the characteristics of someone I'd consider "presidential." He handles the younger generations well, and has quickly adapted to the new technologies and networking opportunities that are available- such as Faceboook and Twitter. Although I do not personally agree with all of the things he's proposed (which is normal), I do still think that he is an integral part of creating the change we have been hoping for.
I want to specifically focus on the war in Iraq for my paper. I feel as if people (myself included) knew little about it, and much less about Obama's role in it, and think that is alone a great place to start.
I really don't keep up with what is going on in the political scene. I obviously hear about the really big issues/debates but don't hear too much about the "smaller" issues that could one day effect our everyday lives. I would have to agree with Stephanie about our current deployment overseas. Fighting against Al Qaeda and helping the Afgani armed forces hold resistance has proven to be a tedious task. I believe that Obama knows what he's doing and has intelligent people advising him on current and future issues. It would be great to see all troops return home and hopefully resume their everyday lives, therefore when Barack deems it viable, he will do so.
ReplyDeleteSomething I would like to focus based on Barack Obama Presidency is his decision making style. I would like to learn more in depth about his views and decisions he intends to make concerning Americans. I believe a decision making style sets the tone for how things are done in our society and since President Obama plays a huge part in it; I think it is a vital quality to understand. President Obama decision making skills shape many aspects and can affect the USA in various ways like in military and economical perspectives. I believe that through rigorous research will allow me to go more in dept of his decision making style to understand more of his intentions while in presidency. His decision making style exemplifies him as a leader and reflects his effectiveness as President. --Tiffany Ryan
ReplyDeleteTruthfully I dont know much about Obama. I have recently started to pay attention to his presidency and what he has done for our country or what he has promised he is going to do. I plan on writing my paper on the economy and what he has done for it. I plan on doing it on this topic is because it effects me directly and the people around me. I know he has done some improvement to our country from what it was after Bush`s final term. He defiantly is doing a better job then Bush did. I am choosing the economy ,because it is the most interesting for me.
ReplyDeleteFor my paper, a topic I am thinking about focusing on is the way he has been handling both the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. How he has taken on the task from the Bush administration and his plans on taking the troops out. Also, I may want to focus on his decision making styles. He has had to make some big decisions for our country so it would be interesting to look at how he goes about it. Decision making can go hand in hand with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for it has been a major event in recent US history.
ReplyDeleteFor me as an international student it is important not only to look at his accomplishments and failures from an American perspective, moreover I would like to write my paper from an international perspective. Of course, there are facts about what he has accomplished so far, but nevertheless it does not mean that these accomplishments were positive for other countries within Europe for example.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I am going to focus on foreign policies for sure. On the other hand, we have a complete different health care system in Germany and we do not really agree with the situation in America. In result I am going to talk about the health care issue as well.
Especially right now, the question for the American government is how to safe money in order to prevent America and other countries from a deep crisis. Therefore, I am really interested in looking for the expenses that were used for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and if it was necessary or not.
President Obama in my opinion will definitely be criticized for not having anything done. What people sometimes ignore is that Congress can barely agree on what day it is. A lot of stagnation has been due to partisan deadlock.
ReplyDeleteHis foreign policy, as mentioned in class, will become a greatly speculated highlight of his career. His usage of drones, for instance, will be questioned.
Too many of the topics have two arguments that are compelling which I think relate back to the stalemate. Personally looking at his relationship with the media interests me a lot. I've heard a lot of people say, "This is the coolest president we will ever have." At least along those lines.
He is a humorous and charismatic individual who has appealed a lot to young voters. I'd be interesting to see how in the long run this will help perceive his presidency whether in a good or bad way.
I definitely agree with Maggie and the fact that I will need to do more research before being able to access the actions of President Obama.
ReplyDeleteFor my paper, I am either going to focus on how he relates to the American public or his public speaking. The fact that he was reelected shows that he is succeeding in relating to the people of our nation. Aside from giving speeches, he also makes an effort to relate to people through different networking websites and social medias. He uses Twitter in order to relate to America's younger generation. As we discussed in a previous blog, even the Democratic website is visually appealing, just as Obama's own website is. Obviously there are more ways that Obama has good public speaking skills and is able to relate to the public, and I am interested to research about them and find out people's views on this areas of his presidency.
President Obama’s public speaking ability appeals to all audiences both positively and negatively. He is very likeable and wears his emotions on his sleeve. To many supporters this makes him more relatable. It makes it appear as though it is a friend telling us what to do and what needs to change. This conveys a sense of comfort and trust. I think back to the day he addressed the Sandy Hook shooting and remember the tears out of the corner of his eye. It was moving and heart felt. While supporters find this comforting and confident in a leader, others believe it as a sign of weakness, a sign of distrust. They may think that his public speaking and his attitude comes off as over exposed and that his relatable characteristics may blur the line between personal feelings and the task that lays ahead. I plan on doing some further investigation and research on Obama’s ability to speak before the public and how it motivates his people into supporting what he believes is right in our country. How is words, his gestures, and tone in his voice motivate Americans and even make those non-believers into new supporters. I think it would also be interesting to see how the American people have swayed between parties since his time in office and how his confident speaking skills may have attributed to that.
ReplyDeleteI will focus on transparency in his administration, and use of technology. From the manhunt of Osama Bin Laden, to his own twitter account. I believe he is the first president to have won, and he gave his first response to his re-election win from his twitter account.How the president and his administration have used the last four years to gain the public's trust by having information for its citizens and using current and new technology to do it.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that President Obama has done the presidential job in the best way he has possibly been able to do. There have been many complains that Obama has not done what he promised, yet these people ignore that our Congress has to agree on these things he promised. Obama has tried to unite the Democrats and Republicans to keep these promises. Something that I have noticed is that Obama has talked to minorities and has spoke to a greater audience. Obama has reached out to the minorities that soon will become the majority. For the paper, I am not sure what topic I will choose. But after State of the Union speech I am considering “How he relates or does not relate to the American public” or Obama’s use of technology.
ReplyDeleteI am still thinking about what I would like to research about, but one of the topics that has been worrying me the most is the health care reform. Speaking from someone who has no health insurance, I constantly have to take care of a simple cold as soon as possible because I do not have the "luxury" to make an appointment with a doctor for fear of being charged too much money. I oftentimes have had to pay out of pocket for an appointment itself, you can only imagine how much of a struggle this is as a college student. As many have said, medical care should not be a privilege, but a right. I would not be surprised if other college students have this problem of no health care. I have heard a bit of the Obama Care but would probably do more research and how it benefits not only college students but minorities as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI will likely focus on his foreign policy, civil liberty issues, and economic policy. It's no secret that he was met with a disaster when he took officer, but he did nothing to rectify the negative aspects of the Bush presidency, in all of the areas listed above. First, Obama issued a failed stimulus action, which was either too small or unwarranted depending on the economist you ask. This did nothing to encourage spending in the private sector, and only served to further the deficit. Real Spending hasnt decreased, and taxes have been raised on both the middle and upper classes. 60% of the jobs gained since obama took office have been low wage jobs, so the small improvements he has helped make are inflated significantly by unproductive or unsustainable jobs. Also, legality issues aside, the health mandate also will increase costs of healthcare even more. By chaining us to the already too powerful insurance industry, he gave them a free pass to raise their own prices at will. Also, if small businesses cant afford to provide insurance for their employees, they will have to let them go to prevent hefty government fines. Individuals who cannot pay will shift the prices to everyone else, raising the costs of medicine. Obamacare’s massive amount of red tape and regulations will tear apart the doctor-patient relationship. Doctors will have to focus increasingly on government rules rather than the specific needs of their patients.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more, Obama neglected to punish the investors and bankers on Wall St. after the collapse. Instead, he opted to feed the obese monster more food. Letting the financial cycle restart would have cause short term pain, but wouldve been a necessary step in fixing the economy for the long term.
In the area of foreign policy, Obama continued Bush's legacy of military interventionism and civil liberty infringements. He has defending things such as the indefinite detention provision and warrant-less wiretapping in court. He has ordered the assassinations of several American citizens without due process. He ordered the DEA to prosecute marijuana dispensaries in states that have allowed them more than Bush did, despite promising otherwise.
While it was courageous that Obama stood up for gay rights, he did nothing to help advance legislation promoting them. He "evolved" his position over several years, only to be forced by Joe Biden to admit that he supports same sex marriage. Obama should show real courage and help push forward a bill that provides equal rights at the federal level.
I argue that Obama is more dangerous than Bush on civil liberties, because the left is silent and provides no principled opposition to him. Many rightly railed against Bush for torture, but turn their backs when drone strikes frequently kill innocents. They ignore the fact that Obama has many of the exact same policies they criticized Bush for. He's even authorized wars without congressional approval, which is unconstitutional. He has also thwarted FOIA attempts, and punished whistleblowers harder than any president before him.
All of these issues need to be brought to light.
Professor Epstein made a point on Monday that I very much agreed with, he said that if Bush had done some of the things Obama did in his first term, Bush would be getting a lot more criticism than Obama is. This is so very true because the majority of America loves Obama and has put a tremendous amount of trust in him, whether it is rightly placed trust is not for me to say. For this paper I am going to tackle on how Obama handled the state that the economy was in during his first term. What promises he accomplished and what ones he didn't. Also, I would like to further look at in what aspects of the economy improved and what aspects stayed the same or decreased. I'll be the first to admit that for me, a huge challenge in writing this paper isn't going to be the actual research, but trying to be non-bias.
ReplyDeletePosted for Bisma (on time):
ReplyDeleteTruthfully I dont know much about Obama. I have recently started to pay attention to his presidency and what he has done for our country or what he has promised he is going to do. I plan on writing my paper on the economy and what he has done for it. I plan on doing it on this topic is because it effects me directly and the people around me. I know he has done some improvement to our country from what it was after Bush`s final term. He defiantly is doing a better job then Bush did. I am choosing the economy ,because it is the most interesting for me.