Blog #5: Polling

Read this article about the polling for the 2016 election: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-fivethirtyeight-gave-trump-a-better-chance-than-almost-anyone-else/

Then, find and discuss some 2016 election polls of your choosing from around the election. What did pollsters get right about your candidate? What did they miss? How could the polling have been better, in your informed opinion? If you were conducting a poll to better understand your candidate's chances and impressions, what kinds of questions would you want to ask? What is important about polling -- why does it matter? What are its limitations? (Here's an optional retrospective that might be a useful resource, also from fivethirtyeight.com: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polls-missed-trump-we-asked-pollsters-why/)

Your blog posts should be approx. 500 words. They should include links, images, multimedia, etc. More information is provided in an assignment sheet on Blackboard.

Blog #4: Debates

Find a video of your candidate participating in a debate. Try to pick a 10-minute segment of a debate that features your candidate as prominently as possible. (Post a clip on your blog so your audience can familiarize themselves with this part of the debate you have chosen.)

Critique/analyze your candidate's performance. What did s/he do well? What did s/he do poorly? If you were a campaign advisor giving advice to the candidate, what things would you suggest s/he do differently? In the 2016 campaign, what issues would you suggest your candidate emphasize and choose to talk about most during the debates?

Your blog posts should be approx. 500 words. They should include links, images, multimedia, etc. More information is provided in an assignment sheet on Blackboard.

Blog #3: Political Speeches

Find a video of your candidate giving a political speech. This could be an announcement speech, a rally speech, or an issue speech. (Include the video of the speech in your blog, if possible, so your audience can familiarize themselves with the speech.)

Critique/analyze your candidate's speech. What did s/he do well? What did s/he do poorly? If you were a campaign advisor giving advice to the candidate, what things would you suggest s/he do differently? In the 2016 campaign, what issues would you suggest your candidate emphasize and choose to talk about most during his/her speeches?

Your blog posts should be approx. 500 words. They should include links, images, multimedia, etc. More information is provided in an assignment sheet on Blackboard.

Blog #2: 2016 Campaign & Campaign Team

Do a quick SWOT analysis for your candidate. What are his/her major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? How did the campaign try to highlight and/or conceal these issues throughout the campaign?

Secondly, describe the issue positions of your candidate. What issues do you think your candidate highlighted most? What issues should they have highlighted in 2016? What are they running on? What issues are focal?

Finally, discuss your candidate's campaign team. You don't have to know who everyone is, but based on your knowledge of the campaign and the functions of the campaign team members, give a little information on 2-3 of the key players in the campaign. Feel free to include brief career/biographical information. How did they get connected to your candidate? What is their relationship? Why do you think your candidate trusts and wants to work with them?

Your blog posts should be approx. 500 words. They should include links, images, multimedia, etc. More information is provided in an assignment sheet on Blackboard.