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| | Tonight, September 6, 2012, President Barack Obama will accept the nomination by the Democratic Party for his candidacy to be reelected as president of the United States. As is customary, he will deliver an acceptance speech that tries to persuade millions of Americans to reelect him. A week earlier, on August 30th, Mitt Romney accepted the nomination by the Republican Party to be elected to this same position. In every year divisible by four, including this 2012, the United States elects (or reelects) a president. At the same time, officially the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November ("Election Day"), American voters also elect the entire House of Representatives (435 officers) and one-third of the U.S. Senate. (One third of the U.S. Senate is elected every two years, such that by every six years the entire Senate has been elected.) Many state offices are also on the ballot on Election Day. | | Tonight, September 6, 2012, President Barack Obama will accept the nomination by the Democratic Party for his candidacy to be reelected as president of the United States. As is customary, he will deliver an acceptance speech that tries to persuade millions of Americans to reelect him. A week earlier, on August 30th, Mitt Romney accepted the nomination by the Republican Party to be elected to this same position. In every year divisible by four, including this 2012, the United States elects (or reelects) a president. At the same time, officially the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November ("Election Day"), American voters also elect the entire House of Representatives (435 officers) and one-third of the U.S. Senate. (One third of the U.S. Senate is elected every two years, such that by every six years the entire Senate has been elected.) Many state offices are also on the ballot on Election Day. |
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| − | Every political leader is thinking about who will win on Election Day, and millions of other other Americans are thinking about it also. It's like the Super Bowl or World Series. Billions of dollars in political advertisements are being spent to try to influence voters before they vote.
| + | Unlike most nations, American government is run by persons who stand for election or reelection on fixed days determined by law, and every political leader focuses on that election the way that sports stars and fans focus on the Super Bowl, the World Series, or the Olympics. Billions of dollars are spent in political advertisements on television, radio and the internet, and in mailings sent to nearly every household in American. in attempts by political campaigns to win. This is more exciting than sports contests, and the outcomes of political struggles make an enormous difference in which direction our Nation goes in the future. |
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| − | There are many other election days in addition to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. There are "primary" election days, on which each political party selects its "nominee" or candidate to represent the party in the November (general) election. | + | There are three branches of government, and at the national ("federal") level only the first two stand for election: |
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| − | Politicians think about their moment of reelection nearly every day, and it influences much of what they do.
| + | *Executive branch (president, the military, and nearly all federal government agencies) |
| | + | *Legislative branch (Congress and its staff) |
| | + | *Judicial branch (federal courts, including hundreds of federal judges and their staff and the U.S. Supreme Court) |
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| − | We will discuss this in more detail later, but it is worth mentioning here too. There are three branches of federal government: legislative (Congress), executive (President and numerous agencies under his supervision), and the judiciary (the courts). In addition, there is state government, which is completely independent of the federal government in our unique system of dual sovereigns. There is also free enterprise (the free market), which is regulated by government but has an independent influence on Elections, as the economy has good times and bad and thereby affects how people vote.
| + | In addition, there is state government, which is completely independent of the federal government in our unique system of dual sovereigns. There is also free enterprise (the free market), which is regulated by government but has an independent influence on Elections, as the economy has good times and bad and thereby affects how people vote. |
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| | == Difference Between Politics and History == | | == Difference Between Politics and History == |