USFSP Road to the White House RTWH2020 -- Class Photo -- USFSP Bull

After our presentation at the Campus Board meeting in the University Student Center (USC) Ballrooms

(see  https://rtwh2020.blogspot.com/2020/01/usfsp-campus-board-meeting-rtwh-2020.html _

we were able to take a quick photo by the USFSP bull on our way to our classroom in Heller Hall.

Soon we'll be trading palm trees and sunshine for snowy New England.
 

USFSP Campus Board Meeting, RTWH 2020 Presentation, January 23, 2020

We were honored to make a brief presentation before our USF St. Petersburg Campus Board (like our Board of Trustees): https://www.usfsp.edu/campus-board/

Our class presentation came AFTER one of our students -- Jazzy Duarte -- who is the Student Government Association President and member of the Board -- gave an impressive update on SGA programs.

After I gave a brief overview about our RTHWH2020 class, Campus Board Members asked the students about their expectations for their presidential campaign internships and for the NH trip for the first-in-the-nation primary.

I am confident this group will be outstanding ambassadors for USFSP and for their respective campaigns!

 

 

 

2020 Presidential Candidate Student Presentations, Part 1

Before embarking on our New Hampshire Presidential Campaign adventure, all students learn about all of the candidates running.  

In addition to their own research about each of the candidates, students draft short seminar papers about  one of the presidential candidates (including a brief biography, a brief review of policy initiatives/platform, a brief summary of his/her campaign strategy, and current standing in the polls (national, IA, NH, and FL).  Students are encouraged to consult the campaign website and candidate’s book, look at videos of campaign events and speeches (using the websites included in the Syllabus for the RTWH seminar), and consult news sources to learn more about the campaign strategy and current polling numbers (again, there are sites included in the Syllabus).

In addition to the written paper, students make a presentation to the class. These are typically multi-media presentations (e.g., we may watch and discuss the candidate’s TV ads, or the campaign website, or a short excerpt form a campaign event to illustrate a point about the candidate’s message/strategy).  

I assign the candidates for the papers, to ensure that we have a paper/presentation about each of the candidates running. 

In 2020, students prepared papers and presentations about 14 presidential candidates:

Democrats

1)     BENNET                                                                    7) KLOBUCHAR

Campbell                                                                                Carter

Rodriguez-Campos                                                                 Castle

2)     BIDEN                                                                       8) SANDERS

Collins                                                                                    Duarte

Crowley                                                                                  Etheridge

3)     BLOOMBERG                                                         9)STEYER

Fiore                                                                                        Hall

Gregory                                                                                   Hobbs

        4) BUTTIGIEG                                                         10)WARREN                                                Manning                                                                        Lopez

Martindale                                                                  Maechtle

             5) DELANEY                                                            11)YANG                                                            Mitchell                                                          Medero

            Nero                                                                            Miller

6) PATRICK                                                                       12) GABBARD

            Snyder                                                                                     Ortner

            Jimenez                                                                                   Rodriguez-Moreno                      

                                                                                                                                                       Republicans

13)     TRUMP                                                                     14) WELD                                   

Starr                                                                                        Terrell

Stephens                                                                                  Pasierb

Johnson

Here are some pics of my students presenting, part 1:  Bennet, Biden, Bloomberg, Delaney, Klobuchar, Steyer, and Yang.

 We will hear the rest of the candidate presentations next week.

 

 

 

 

 

Why Iowa?!? A Conversation with Prof. David Redlawsk about the Iowa Caucuses

One of the  benefits of the way our New Hampshire trip is designed:  we arrive in New Hampshire (and the students begin work at their campaign placements) prior to the Iowa Caucuses.  And we are able to watch and discuss the Iowa Caucus results over dinner together in New Hampshire.

In order to get the most out of this experience, I want the students to learn about the Iowa Caucuses (what is the difference between a caucus and a primary? how are the caucuses run? what are the differences in rules between the Republican and Democratic parties' caucuses in Iowa?), the role of Iowa in the sequential nature of our presidential nominating process, etc.

Students were assigned to read a few chapters in

David P. Redlawsk, Caroline J. Tolbert, and Todd Donovan, Why Iowa?How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process 

and to draft a seminar paper summarizing and critiquing the authors’ framework of understanding the Iowa Caucuses and to apply that framework to the 2020 Democratic contest. 

 

While Dr. Redlawsk is now the James R. Soles Professor and Chair of Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware, he is currently on research sabbatical in Iowa.

We appreciated Prof. Redlawsk taking time out of his busy schedule in Iowa to meet with us (via skype) and to answer students' questions about the caucuses.

You can follow Prof. Redlawsk in Iowa on Twitter:  @davidredlawsk