E7 classwork

a) The fundamental goal of interest groups in the political process is to influence public policy and government/Congress.
b) The fundamental goal of the political parties in the political process is to elect people to office.
c) Interest groups support the fundamental goal of political parties, to elect people to office, by collecting money contributions and encouraging people behind a certain candidate.
d) Encouraging people behind a certain candidate helps interest groups to influence policymakers and

E6

1)

• Collective good = something of value that can't be withheld from a member of a group.
• Free-rider program = problem faced by unions and groups when people don't join because they can benefit from the group's activities without officially joining -- why should potential members work for something if they could get it for free?
• Selective benefits = goods (information publications, travel discounts, group insurance rates) that a group can restrict to those who pay their annual dues

2)

• a) Got 2 Live 
• b) The goal will be to inform teenagers, and everyone, about the intense dangers of texting and driving. 

• c) The potential group will be mostly youth: teenagers who have experienced the dangers of texting and driving firsthand and those who know and care about it all. The potential group can also include other people who want to inform everyone of the perils of texting and driving.
• d) The collective good will be that less people will be injured and less deaths will occur due to people texting while driving.
• e) Some selective benefits will be travel discounts, gas cards, t-shirts/merchandise.
• f) The group will hold assemblies and rallies in which they talk about the dangers of texting and driving, as well as create days of awareness in which people persuade (as well as inform) others to stay away from their phones while operating a vehicle.

E2

1. I visited dailykos.com
2. The site is definitely more liberal than some other news sites, functioning mostly as a group blog, so there is a lot of opinion. In an article about the election, the author called Romney's efforts to undermine Obama as "so transparent it's kind of laughable." There's also an article entirely about the 'Republican's war on women', stating "there's a war to win and no time to waste." Both of these examples are loaded with opinion. Using an adjective like "transparent" to describe Romney's efforts to undermine Obama is a direct opinion of the author of the piece, for obviously not everyone feels that way. The Republican 'war on women' is a term coined by liberals/the democratic party, and therefore is already displaying a one-sided opinion.
3. Quotes from candidates in the articles are all fact, like Obama's comment about "No, no, no, Don't boo. Vote. Voting is the best revenge," and Romney saying "It's time we lead America to a better place."
4. The site is a discussion forum, comprised of blogs from various democratic activists. The activists/bloggers write pieces for the site, and they are published in the form of an advanced blog.
5. Dailykos.com is definitely democratic. The articles highlight "the war on women," "the war on voting," and other topics that bash the Republican party and strengthen the Democratic party. The articles present a strictly liberal-minded side of the arguments. For example, a recent article entitled "Mitch McConnell's fake congratulations, or fake hysteria" bashes McConnell's, a Republican, supposedly fake congratulations to president Obama on being re-instated as President.
6. This site is very left-leaning, and presents information in a liberal way. However, the information is not distorted, it's just very opinionated because it's written in a blog form. So, if people realize that this site is very liberal and opinionated, then they can take it how they will. But the democratic display of information could affect the way Americans receive information. If an average citizen where to randomly search for information about current news, and his/her found this one site and only read the articles on this site, they would not know the other side of the arguments (the Republican side), and this could definitely influence they way they perceive American politics and the way they vote.

E4

1. Connecticut, House

2. Elizabeth Esty (D) and Andrew Roraback (R)

3.  Elizabeth Esty Andrew Roraback4. A poll conducted by Roraback's campaign showed Roraback ahead of Esty, 45-39 percent. However, a previous poll conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee showed Esty ahead of Roraback by 9 points. These are the only poll results I could find, and they don't seem very sound...5. The big issues in this race reflect the issues that are prominent in most races across the country: economic growth and job creation, women's rights, health care. I noticed though that on each candidate's website, the issues are listed in a different order, which may allude to which issues each candidate is most concerned with. On Esty's page, "Job creation and economic growth," "women's rights," "protecting seniors," and "clean and affordable energy" were at the top of the issues list. On Roraback's page, "Economic growth and job creation," "federal deficit reduction," "tax reform, and "women's rights" were at the top, whereas environment and energy were at the bottom of the list. I'm sure both candidates are concerned with all the issues, but it's interesting how they chose to present them on the site. 6. Recently, Esty was endorsed by the New York Times, Hartford Courant, and other Connecticut newspapers, along with former president Bill Clinton. These endorsements will definitely strengthen the support among democrats for Esty, along with perhaps sway some independent or undecided voters in her favor, those who are proponents of the New York Times and/or Bill Clinton. The Roraback campaign has been busy raising money. In 17 days the campaign committee raised over $240,000 in campaign funds. Roraback said "I am proud that so many people across the 5th District and Connecticut are support me and helping my campaign with the resources we need..." This grand amount of money may give Roraback an edge of Esty, for he can create more ads and more literature aimed at recruiting the voters of undecided voters in Connecticut. Roraback also created a radio ad in Spanish, obviously trying to appeal to the Spanish-speaking population of Connecticut, therefore trying to get more supporters. 
7. An article in the Hartford Courant noted how "The generic lean of this seat may ultimately give Esty a tiny edge, but socially liberal GOP state Sen. Andrew Roraback is a good fit for this district's upscale voters...this race a place in the Toss Up column." This Connecticut race is one of the closest races in the nation. 8. In Esty's most recent ad, "Answers," she enforces how she will protect the middle class, because the middle class is the "backbone of our society." I thought this was interesting, because all the candidates across the country seem to be illuminating the middle class topic. In such a close race, perhaps Esty should be highlighting some other aspects of her platform that will convince voters to vote for her. Roraback's "Move out" video ad has a quote from Esty about people moving to neighboring towns, takes it out of context, and attacks Esty. The ad claims that this quote is proof that Esty does not care about seniors and families, and therefore does not care about Connecticut. This is a classic example of an attack ad that manipulates quotes by opposing candidates in order to make them look bad.