Presidential Campaign Presentations x 15

On the first day of our seminar, students presented papers about each of the 15 presidential candidates.  I pre-assigned the papers to be sure that as a class we learned about each of these candidates. 

Students' presentations included 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).

These were multi-media presentations that included video clips of TV ads and excerpts of speeches/rallies/interviews.

Democrats

Clinton                                   O’Malley                               Sanders                                 

WARD                                    BATEMAN                             KENDALL

DOAN                                                                                     LEGAC

Republicans

Bush                                       Carson                                    Christie

SONESTROM                       RUIZ                                        HUGHES

PERMUY                               FORNOF                      

Cruz                                       Fiorina                                   Gilmore

ENCINAS                               WINSTON                          

LATIMER                               HAPPEL        

Huckabee                               Kasich                                     Paul

THATCHER                           McENTEE                              PEVY 

                                                WINEGART

Rubio                                      Santorum                               Trump

ZYGALDO                             THOMPSON                          MARINI

ADAMS                                                                                  SIMS

 

First Day of Class Group Pictures, RTWH 2016

After months of planning, the Road to the White House 2016 class began with the Spring 2016 semester on Monday, January 11th.

As is tradition, we took our group photo with the sailboats. This year we also took group pics by the USC and the Bull statue:

 

Back in the days of the front-loaded primaries, our class started before the Spring semester -- even before the new year began. In 2008 one of our class dinners was on New Year's Eve!
 


RTWH 2004 Group Picture by the Sailboats

RTWH 2008 Group Picture  by the Sailboats

RTWH 2012 Group Picture by the Sailboats

USFSP website article about RTWH 2016

Click here to see the USFSP web article about Road to the White House 2016

Here is a copy of the text:
 
"On Jan. 31, students at USF St. Petersburg will head north as part of the Road to the White House class. During the quadrennial class, which has been offered every four years since 2004, they will visit New Hampshire and participate in the presidential campaigns for seven Democratic and Republication candidates.

Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan will hit the road with a class of 23 students. As part of the 10-day trip, the students will serve as interns for the campaigns of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders, as well Republican candidates Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump, leading up to the first-in-the-nation primary on Feb. 9. The course allows students to learn about the history and politics of U.S. presidential campaigns and the election process through an intensive internship and seminar.

USFSP student Richard Marini

“We want them to be enthusiastic about their candidate and to try to have every campaign covered,” said McLauchlan, who allows students to select the candidates’ campaigns for which they want to work by only steering them within their conservative or democratic political preferences.
“It’s not just an internship,” said McLauchlan, who describes the class as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a presidential political campaign up close. In addition to their internships, students will have daily class meetings and seminars with guest speakers, and will go on area field trips. Each student also will write blog entries about their experiences while in New Hampshire, and the general course blog also will feature a photo gallery.

USFSP student Miranda Latimer

Each student has his or her own goals and reasons for enrolling in the class and choosing to represent a specific candidate.
Mass Communication sophomore Richard “Richie” Marini, 20, who has volunteered to work for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign, said he was excited about the course and knew he would regret it if he didn’t take the class.
“This election has a lot of wild cards,” Marini said about the presidential candidates in both major parties. “I like Sen. Sanders’ social and domestic viewpoints, as they may help him identify with more Americans.”

USFSP student Victor Sims

Mass Communications major Miranda Latimer, 18, whose interest is in Advertising, said she hopes to learn about how candidates sell themselves to the public during the campaign process.  She hopes to work as an intern for Marco Rubio’s campaign during the class.
Psychology major Victor Sims, 20, said he was a fan of Hillary Clinton until the attack on Benghazi occurred. Sims said he has elected to work for her campaign for this class because he wants to give her a second chance.
“Her being a family woman is a good value,” he said about Clinton, who added that she has been pushing for foster care system reform for many years. Having grown up in the Florida foster care system, Sims said he thinks she can make a difference for future kids whose experiences are similar to his as a child growing up in the system.

23 Students working on 7 Campaigns

I started planning for this course back in June of 2015, visited the campaign and party headquarters in NH in September 2015, and started recruiting students for the course in October 2015.

This poster was crafted with materials I brought back from my planning trip in September. (Thanks Siarra!) It traveled around campus to relevant events (this photo was taken at the Political Questions Club Mock Presidential Debate) and was displayed outside my office in the SLC.

While I am sorry that we could not accept all students who were interested in traveling with us to New Hampshire for the #FITN primary, our roster is complete.

In fact, this 2016 group is the largest of my Road to the White House seminars.

In 2004 I had 21 students on 7 campaigns, in 2008 I had 19 students on 11 campaigns, and in 2012 I had 21 students on 6 campaigns.  (More about previous RTWH seminars can be found here  Road to the White House website  )

In 2016, we will be traveling to New Hampshire with 23 students who will be working on 7 campaigns:

Democratic Candidate Placements

(1)  Hillary Clinton

   

1.     Antonio Permuy

2.     Kristina Sonstroem

3.     Randi Doan

4.     Victor Sims

5.     Charles McEntee

(2) Bernie Sanders

1.     Emily-May Thatcher

2.     Richie Marini

3.     Kendall Legac

4.     Patrick Bateman

5.     Alyssa Winston

6.     Jack Zygadlo

7.     Samantha Kendall

 

(3) Martin O’Malley

1.      David Thompson


Republican Candidate Placements


(1) Jeb Bush

1.     Emily Hughes

2.     Sarah Adams 

(2) Ted Cruz

1.     Nick Encinas

2.     Yaite Ruiz Novoa 

(3) Marco Rubio

1.      Christopher Ward

2.      Courtney Fornof

3.      Christopher Happel

4.      Georiga Pevy

5.      Miranda Latimer

(4) Donald Trump

1.      Terran Winegart

 You can follow along with the students on their blogs here (after January 31)
  http://www.usfsp.edu/road-to-the-white-house/2016-student-blogs/

NH Presidential Primary Date Set: February 9th

I've been planning for this course since June, working on the assumption that the NH Presidential Primary would be held on Tuesday, February 9th.

The NH Secretary of State Bill Gardner announced that the date had been set and that it is Tuesday, February 9th.  

Welcome news, as we have all booked our airfare and made other arrangements based on our assumption of February 9th.

Stay tuned for more updates about our First in the Nation Primary adventures. #FITN


Union Leader article NH primary date

Crow's Nest: Courses to Keep in Mind for Spring 2016, RTWH 2016!

The Road to the White House 2016 made the short list of "Courses to Keep in Mind" in a recent Crow's Nest article by Emily Tinti:


"With the holidays upon us and the looming Spring semester just around the corner, students are beginning (or already muddled in) the registration process.
For underclassman, it’s probably just about getting your “gen-eds” and that one anthropology class everyone recommended. Juniors are usually neck-deep in their major’s courses, taking more credit hours than planned, while balancing a part-time job or internship on the side. And seniors – well, they’re just trying to graduate and contemplating post-graduation life.
If you find that your schedule is lacking, or perhaps you just want to take something interesting in the spring, check out these courses. Emphasizing specific subjects, these classes can be a good way to learn something new.

"Road to the White House (POS 3931)
CRN 17980 | 6 credits
*Must take with CRN 17433
Mondays, 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
This course includes a 3-credit seminar on presidential elections and a 3-credit, 10-day internship in New Hampshire working for one of the first primary campaigns in the nation. There will be field trips, guest speakers and political events.
Professor Judithanne McLauchlan arranged the trip and met with campaign staffs, but students can decide on which candidate they support. Course fees total about $850, which includes lodging and transportation. Airfare costs will be separate and determined at a later date. According to McLauchlan, “It will be an ambitious itinerary.”
For more information, contact Judithanne McLauchlan: dr_jsm@fulbrightmail.org

See Emily Tinti's article in the Crow's Nest here:  Crow's Nest article

RTWH 2016 Planning Trip: NHDP Convention

It was good fortune that my NH planning trip was scheduled for the same weekend of the NHDP Convention.  It was held at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.  

Thousands of enthusiastic Democrats filled the arena -- and heard from all of the Democratic Presidential candidates -- as well as from NH leaders such as US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Governor Maggie Hassan, Executive Councilors Colin Van Ostern and Chris Pappas, Congresswoman Annie McLane Kuster and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, and many others. It was electrifying.

In the interest of full disclosure perhaps I should mention that I used to work for the NHDP and have been involved in planning conventions of years past.  I must say that Chairman Ray Buckley and the NHDP staff must get a huge round of applause for pulling off such an amazing event. That has to have been the biggest and best NHDP convention - ever!

For my part, this provided an opportunity to check in with the staff of all of the presidential campaigns (and the Draft Biden movement), and with other "vendors" who were there, such as the C-SPAN Road to the White House team and the NH Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College. 

It was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with old friends and colleagues -- many of whom I will enlist to enrich this course for my students.  (I was particularly excited about the prospect of meeting with Ambassadors Dick Swett and George Bruno when we are back in January. They will be hosting a group of Ambassadors during the primary season.  I am pleased that my efforts to internationalize my courses will continue even in New Hampshire as a part of my Road to the White House class...if we can arrange a brief meeting for my students with the ambassadors to discuss topics such as US foreign policy on the presidential campaign trail.)

with Rep. Mike Rollo, Senator Bette Laske, Senator Donna Soucy, former NHDP Chair Kathy Sullivan, and Ellis Robinson (formerly of Ruth's List in Florida)

with Senator Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey Clark

with Chairman of the NHDP Raymond Buckley

with Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern and former Senator and mayoral candidate Caroline McCarley

Governor Martin O'Malley enters the arena

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders