Chapter 10

1. Read Bush v. Gore in the text.  Do you agree with the majority or the dissenting opinion?  Why?

I can't really say which I agree with because I don't understand the case at all. We know that George W. Bush lost the popular vote. In the 2000 presidential election, Florida had twenty-five electoral votes. How hard can it really be to re-count twenty-five votes? Or were they counting the votes to elect the representatives in the electoral college? This entire case makes absolutely no sense to me, and I can't really seem to find anything that clarifies what went on for me.

2. Is the ability to fundraise too important in elections?  In other words, are good candidates prevented from running because they cannot raise the needed funds?  Can/should something be done to correct this if it is a problem?

I don't think it is too important. If candidates are truly good and have good ideas then I believe they will get enough financial support to be able to run. Marketing yourself is part of being a politician too, and if you can't do that or get support from someone who can do it for you then you probably shouldn't be the president. 

3. Why is there such voter apathy - in other words, why is there often such low voter turnout for elections?  Is there a way to rectify this problem?

I think there is such a low turnout for elections because politics just aren't very entertaining. The majority of people aren't going to be willing to sit through a thirty minute speech full of flowery words they only half understand. This is why I think there are so many negative ads today. A lot of people are more interested in the gossip about candidates than their policies. There isn't really much else you can do spice up politics. It's just a boring subject.