1.5 Did the Media Make Trump?????

1. What do people who do blame the media for Trump argue that they did? Those people believed that the media gave Trump too much coverage, and that the media's tone certainly influenced the voters in the Republican contest. 

2. What did Berelson and Lazarsfeld find in their study of media impact? They found little evidence that the media influenced whom the people voted for. They found that their choices were usually made because of the voter's partisan predisposition, socioeconomic standing, and familial influences. 

3. What aspects of the election does the media tend to focus on? Primaries and caucuses because they have more impact on whom the voters will vote for than the general election itself. The preparation is a little more important than the election itself in influencing how the people will vote. 

4. What does "priming" mean? It refers to the way the press can influence the standards by which the audience evaluate the candidate. 

5. What does the article claim is the main thing the media did that impacted Trump's success? The coverage he received definitely helped his numbers as most were in "agenda-setting positions." He got more coverage than any of his other Republican rivals. One study finds that Trump got almost a billion dollars' worth of free media coverage. 

6. What impacts did this (#5) have exactly? It signaled that Trump's candidacy was something serious, and the amount of time the media spend on issues such as trade and immigration means the audience will more likely consider these issues when choosing a candidate. 

7. What evidence does this author use to refute the claims that Trump has benefited from the coverage?  He points out that now about 70 percent of voters view him in a bad light, and he would lose to Clinton by 12 points if we were to have the election today. Media coverage does not necessarily bring positive attention. 

8. When does the author claim that media coverage is most important to a candidate? Patterson claims that the best indicators of a successful invisible primary is where the media is most important/present. 

9. How does the article characterize the media coverage of Trump during the primaries? Patterson also says that Trump receives more positive and neutral coverage than any other Republican primaries. 

10. Why does the author claim that the "media is the effect, not the cause?" He says the media was just noting that there were more and more Republican primary voters becoming receptive of Trump. Instead of blindly following the news, journalists attempt to understand the trends that come with this election. 

1.4 Polls and Predictions

1. What has changed since Clinton's high point in Mid-August? Since her peak, some key states were being competitive again, as she may lose them to Trump. This may be caused by her pneumonia and her fainting spell.

2. Looking at the graph, when was the largest lead for Clinton over Trump in the polls? The week of August 7th. 

3.  About how big is the gap between the candidates now? Three percentage points.

4. What arguments can Clinton's opponents make because of her new health issues? People can now say she's secretive and manipulative as she hid her pneumonia for a few days before coming out about it. 

5. Which swing states are mentioned and how does Clinton fare in those places? Her leads in swing states have gotten smaller: Virginia 11 points to 6, Wisconsin 11 points to 5, New Hampshire 9 points to 5, Pennsylvania 9 points to 6, Florida 5 points tie. 

6. What 3 reasons does the author give for the recent tightening in the polls? Trump started spending more money on TV ads, changed his campaign team and strategy, and has avoided controversies in the past month. In addition, Clinton had her email scandal and the Clinton Foundation issues, and she has pneumonia. 

7. What specific changes has the Trump campaign made since mid August? He has a new campaign team and also started investing in ads in swing states, and he has stopped doing constant terrible interviews. 

8. How has the Trump campaign changed its spending habits? He put more money into the swing state ads. 

9. What did the Clinton campaign change up in August? Clinton focused more so on fundraising instead of campaigning.

10. How does Vox author Jeff Stein account for some changes in the polls? He discussed the changes in the likelihood of someone replying to polls. They usually respond when they are totally in favor of the person they are supporting. 

11.  What is Obama's criticism of the way the media is handling Clinton and Trump? Obama criticizes the media's attempt to equalize the two candidates, and he advocates for Clinton's transparency. The Clinton Foundation is for a good cause, whereas Trump's buys paintings of himself. He says we cannot treat this like a reality show. He says that we can't act like there is equivalence in the two candidates. 

1.3 Independent Voters

1. What is the general understanding of the term "independent voter”? Many people call themselves independent voters to feel special. A special definition of an independent is a person who does not affiliate with the Democratic or Republican Party. However, an independent is anyone who says she is an independent. 

2. How do these researchers characterize voters who call themselves independent?

Independents are nothing more than partisans in disguise.

3. How do independent political preferences compare to those of democrats and republicans?Political scientists often find that independents have political preferences that are almost identical to their counterparts. 

4. What are "leaners"?   How are leaners different from party members? Leaners are those who identify as independent but still lean a certain way. It blurs the definition of being an independent. Political scientists consider then partisans in hiding rather than actually independents. 

5. What % of Americans call themselves independent?  Democrats?  Republicans?

42% call themselves independent, 29% Democrat, and 26% Republican. 

6. What % of Americans actually don't lean towards one of the parties? Out of the 42% who call themselves independent, only 13% are actually independent. 

7. Why are people likely to call themselves independent instead of identifying themselves with a party? Some people don’t want to present themselves  as “aggressive or stubborn” as many party activists seem. Independents appear calm and reasonable and trustworthy, because people think they are unbiased and have no aggressive standpoint. 

8. What prevents independents from forming a real third party challenge to democrats & republicans?For this to happen, two things must occur: first, people must truly believe that neither party can accurately represent them. They also must have to have coherent similar interests for them to choose a candidate. However some are more liberal, others conservative. 

9. Why don't independents actually impacct the outcome of elections that much? They are rarely real independents. Once they decide on a candidate it is hard to sway them from it. Besides, if they voted for the candidate, it would seem like they were part of that party all along. 

10. How are moderate voters different than "independents”? Moderates can be those who place themselves in the middle of the continuum. They can be moderate conservative or moderate liberal. And independents are not moderate at all, while moderates associate themselves with a party. 

11. How are "swing voters" and "undecided voters" different?Swing voters are usually undecided. They can be swayed either way. They aren’t independent or moderate, really, they can be manipulated. Undecided voters usually wait till the last minute to make their decision because they have no clue who they want to vote for until the last minute. 

1.2 Polarization

1.  What was unique about Hillary's response to a question about political polarization?

She kept her response very reality-oriented and acknowledged how much work it would take to get ideas through in such levels of polarization. She was straight forward and didn't dilly dally.

2. What does Hillary Clinton feel motivates her political opponents?

She feels that the major motivation for her opponents is spite and the will to bring her down.

3. How does she characterize those that make grand speeches about bringing the people together?

She thinks they're too optimistic and have illusions about America. She knows that unification of America is nearly impossible since it is so polarized.

4. What will be her strategy for dealing with political opponents if she wins office?

Even though she thinks of them strictly as enemies, she is completely willing to find a common ground and work toward a treaty, no matter how hard it would be.

5. What does she think will change about the public's perception of her if she wins?  Why does she think this?

She thinks the public's opinion of her is going to go up because they will see all her hard work and her achievement of earning the presidency.

6. What is the trend in approval ratings of recent presidents by both major parties?

The trend in approval ratings has gotten more separate; both parties give the other's presidents low ratings and they give their own presidents high ratings.

7. Which presidents since Eisenhower were the least polarizing?

Carter, Ford, Johnson

8. Which presidents have had the lowest approval rating among their own party?

Ford and Carter for the Republicans, and Johnson for the Democrats

9. Which presidents have had the lowest approval rating among the opposition party?

Obama for the Republicans and young Bush for the Democrats