eCommEd™ E-Lection Connection Lesson Plan Preview

Subject: On-line coverage of political campaigns and elections

Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students are introduced to the techniques of campaigning for a political office on-line and learn how media organizations use Web sites to cover those campaigns. Upon the completion of this lesson, students will have the opportunity to apply these techniques to a mock election they organize and manage inside their schools.

Objectives:
Students will:

1. Examine both partisan and non-partisan Web sites that are providing coverage of the same election to understand how the two differ.
2. Learn techniques that are used to increase voter registration
3. Learn techniques that are used to increase voter turnout.
4. Learn how to become a better-informed voter
5. Be introduced to the ScoresUp.com E-Lection Connection Web site and learn how they will be organizing and managing a mock 2004 Presidential Election within your High School.

Resources:
Prior to beginning this lesson plan, prepare by reviewing the information found at the following URLs.

http://www.georgewbush.com - This is the official 2004 Presidential campaign site for George W. Bush. Note how every piece of content at this site praises and promotes the President or criticizes his opponent. You'll find no objectivity evident here.

http://www.johnkerry.com - This is the official 2004 Presidential campaign site for John Kerry. Again, during your pre-lesson review of this site, you'll find no objectivity.

As you review the two candidate's Web sites you'll find that every page of each site is designed to fulfill the following very partisan objectives:

• Make their candidate appear as appealing as possible
• Make the opposing candidate appear as unappealing as possible
• Seek financial donations for their campaigns
• Make it as easy as possible for people to perform volunteer work on behalf of the campaign

Activities:

1. Begin class by asking students for a show of hands indicating who they would vote in this year's Presidential Election if they were eligible to vote. (Note, The E-lection Connection teaching model works just as effectively for any election contest that has the interest of the majority of people in your community including elections for US Senator, House of Representatives, Governor, and Mayor).
   
   Start the vote by asking those students who are undecided and those students who would not vote for either candidate to raise their hands first. Ask those students who raise their hands to stand at the front of the room.
   
   Next ask students who would vote for President Bush to raise their hands. Ask these Bush supporters to stand at the back of the room.
   
   Those students still seated should be those who would vote for John Kerry. Ask them to sit in the desks or at the work stations on the left hand side of your class room. Ask the Bush supporters to sit on the right hand side of the room and have the undecided and no-vote students fill in the desks/work stations between the two.
   
   Quickly figure out the percentage of the class's students who are in each group and then, with the class, go to PollingReport.com at the following URL and compare your class poll results with those of the entire country.:
   
   http://www.pollingreport.com/wh2004.htm
   
   
2. Discuss with your class how the Internet has changed the way political parties and candidates campaign and communicate with their constituencies and supporters. When George Bush's father ran against Bill Clinton for President in 1992, the Internet was in its infancy and dot.com meant nothing to anyone. Now days, Web sites have become a key component of every candidate running for election for any major federal or state political office. Howard Dean proved the effectiveness of on-line campaigning this In the early stages of the race for the 2004 Democratic Nomination. His DeanforAmerica,com site was the driving force in his transformation from an unknown former governor of Vermont to the pre-primary front runner. The Dean campaign raised over $50 million in on-line campaign contributions.
   
   Take your class to the official website for President Bush's reelection campaign located at the following URL:
   
   http://www.georgewbush.com
   
   As you visit various areas of this site point out to your class that the site is not designed to be objective. Its purpose is to support the reelection campaign effort of George W. Bush and it does this by providing information and resources Bush supporters can use to attract and convince others to join the Bush bandwagon. Another important function served by this site is that it permits potential donors and potential campaign volunteers to identify themselves while at the same time providing very convenient ways to contribute their money and time to the campaign.
   
   Ask those people in your class who said they would vote for John Kerry if the type of information found at the Bush campaign's Web site would convince any of them change their vote. The majority should respond in the negative. Then ask the undecided and no-vote students groups in the middle of your classroom the same question.
   
   Then visit the official Web site of John Kerry's campaign at the following URL:
   
   http://www.johnkerry.com
   
   Tour the site quickly to show your class that the Kerry site is also a very partisan presentation with absolutely no anti-Kerry or neutral viewpoints represented. Then point out that undecided voters should never depend solely on the information found at a candidate's Web site to determine their voting choice. Voters who wish to make the most informed choice need to learn and consider the backgrounds and qualifications of all candidates and compare their positions on the key issues in the campaign.
   
   
3. Inform your class that there are sites on the Internet that provide a much more objective and nonpartisan perspective of the 2004 Presidential election. As an example, take the class to the Presidential Campaign section of the popular CNN Website located at the following URL:
   
   http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/
   
   As you're reviewing content at the CNN site point out how the site is designed to make it easy for visitors to compare the backgrounds, qualifications, and positions on key issues of both candidates. Make sure students notice that the writing style used at the CNN siteto describe the candidates contains very little hype. Instead of trying to promote and excite visitors like the candidate's own Web sites do, sites like CNN are more in the business of informing and educating voters.
   
   
4. In the next stage of this lesson plan you want your class to understand some of the reasons people vote in elections and some of the reasons they do not. Some of the reasons they do include; patriotism, responsibility as a citizen, belief in a candidate's ability to lead, a belief that a candidate would best serve the voter's self interest, and concern for the future of the country. Some of the reasons cited by people who don't vote include; apathy or not caring one way or the other, belief that one vote doesn't make a difference, dislike of or lack of attraction to any of the candidates, and simply forgetting to go pull the lever on Election Day.
   
   Explain to the class that it is the ability of a candidate's organization to identify those segments of the population most inclined to vote for their candidate and then getting those identified to actually vote that dictates the results of modern elections. Offer the following example to illustrate this point.
   
   On Election Day registered voters who have not yet voted in the election often receive phone calls from a candidate's campaign organization reminding them to go vote and even offering rides to the polls if necessary. Now if you're a registered democrat who has not yet voted in the 2004 presidential election and you get one of these phone calls, who do you think will be on the other end of the phone, a Bush campaign worker or a Kerry campaign worker?
   
   Next, discuss how candidates sometimes purposely avoid taking firm stands on controversial issues because they do not want to lose the support of a group of voters over a single issue.
   
   Use Gun Control as an example. Polls indicate that a majority of Americans favor stricter gun control but the minority that opposes such legislation are better organized politically and therefore more likely to vote in elections. As a result, candidates who may favor stricter gun control don't typically make it a main theme of their campaign.
   
   Ask your class to come up with other controversial issues candidates might choose to avoid for fear of alienating active groups of probable voters. Some possible answers include abortion, gay marriages, and prayer in public schools.
   
   
5. Next, your goal is to help your students understand how political polling could influence both voter and candidate behavior in a campaign. Ask your class both questions to see what kind of responses you get.
   
   When you ask how polling could effect candidate's behavior you should be listening for the following types of answers:
   • Polls help candidates decide where to campaign and where not to campaign
   • Polls help candidates decide what they should talk about in their campaign speeches and what they shouldn't talk about.
   • Polls help candidates figure out the least favorable and most controversial aspects of their opponents' campaign.
   
   
   When you ask how polling could effect voter behavior you should be listening for the following types of answers:
   • Many people won't vote if the polls indicate the difference between two candidates is so great that their vote won't matter
   • Polls showing tight races can cause a higher level of voter interest and voter turnout
   • Many people like to back a winner and look to the polls to help them determine who that winner could be.
   For more information on polling you and your students can find an excellent article on the history of political polling at the following URL:
   
   http://www.fathom.com/feature/121774
   
   
6. Introduce your class to the E-lection Connection ScoresUp.com website. Go to the sample site set up at: http://www.scoresup.com/Votesburgh
   
   Explain to the class that as a project, they will be organizing and managing a mock 2004 Presidential Election for the students in your high school. Tell them the class will be divided up into work teams with each team responsible for managing a different aspect of the election. Tell them one team will serve as the Campaign Committee for President Bush and most of the members of that team will come from the students sitting on the right hand side of your room. Another team will serve as senator Kerry's Campaign Committee. Emphasize that these will be the only purely partisan teams involved in the project. The other teams will be responsible for making sure the web site, voter registration, student polling, and actual election are conducted in a fair and professional manner.
   
   End this lesson by touring the Votesburgh ScoresUp site with your students.
   
   At your next session your class will brainstorm ideas and suggestions for making your in-school campaign as successful as possible and develop a mission statemet for the effort.

Assignment:

1. Have students review the Class Brainstorming Supplement before attending the next class.