For Class on 11/2: Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street is a movement that has been growing nationwide over the past several weeks. While some criticize this growing movement as having no definitive policy agenda or organized platform, the activists involved are generally organized  against corporate greed, social inequality and other disparities between rich and poor.

These protests have continued to attract support from many around the nation as well as increasing media attention. Take a look at a good summary of this protest movement from the NY Times here and, if you are interested, you can look at the movement's main website here or livestream of events here. Also I suggest you look through a very interesting photo blog running of hundreds of supporters of the movement (identified as "the other 99 percent, as opposed to the top 1% of extremely wealthy Americans) sharing their stories here. Finally there is a very interesting visual description of why these protesters are so upset that gives some good data, which you can find here.

After reading and perusing through this information the growing movement (and there is much much more out there) please start a discussion using the following prompts as a starting point:

1. To what extend to you support the protests?
2. Do you believe that this movement is going to affect the political agenda of the President or GOP candidates? If yes, in what way? If no, why not?

For Class on Oct. 26: Becoming a Campaign Advisor (DOUBLE BLOG OPPORTUNITY)

For the blog this week we are going to take on the role of campaign advisor to president Obama and/or his Republican challengers. First, take a look at the major issues that have dominated recent political headlines. The President (and Congress) have many issues that they are dealing with while always positioning themselves for the upcoming 2012 election (even though its 13 months away!). Whether President Obama, and his Republican challengers, effectively address the issues most important to Americans could go a long way in changing how people feel and who will win the upcoming election. Remember, most don't follow politics too closely and have relatively short memories in terms of political and economic issues. 

Start by taking a survey similar to those conducted by polling companies and news organizations regarding what issues are most important to you. You can find the survey here.

Next take a look at how your responses and the responses of your classmates compare to national polls here. 

Then please post a comment describing your reactions and offering advice to the President Obama (regardless of whether you support him in real life) or his Republican challengers. You can use any or all of the following prompts as a starting point if you wish.

1. What are your reactions in general to taking our class survey (results will be available in class), or the professional survey results?
2. Based on the polls and the news, what issue(s) should President Obama and/or the Republic challengers focus on in terms of his reelection bid?
3. How should President Obama address these issues? What rhetorical/leadership style do you think would be most persuasive? Is this the same or different from how Republican candidates should address these issues?

Note: This is a double blog opportunity, meaning that if you post more than one comment (leaving a few days and comments between your entries, you can earn two blog credits for this week. As the blog discussion evolves feel free to allow the conversation to move away from the original prompts.