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Credit: realclearpolitics.com The presidential race is won by obtaining 270 of the 538 votes in the Electoral College. President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney are campaigning relentlessly, but much of their focus is on battleground/swing states. Each party has states that they can rely on to vote in their favor, but achieving 270 electoral votes requires reaching out to those undecided states. To refresh memories, the Electoral College is a process by which we select our Pr

Without exacerbating the dubious comments made by Senate candidate Todd Akin, we can see social issues resurfacing in the election debate. When GOP candidate Mitt Romney selected Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, it was made clear that economic issues were going to be their focus. With party conventions coming up, there might be more emphasis on abortion, women's issues, and possibly marriage equality. The Democratic party has already solidified their stance on social issues in their

Credit: LA Times The Republican platform committee pushed a number of anti-illegal immigration platform planks on Tuesday. On top of advocating a completed border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring employers to use a national E-Verify system when hiring new employees, the committee took a  stance against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There haven’t been too many changes made from the 2008 GOP platform. The party is moving more to the right on several issues, including i

Credit: LA Times The Republican platform committee pushed a number of anti-illegal immigration platform planks on Tuesday. On top of advocating a completed border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring employers to use a national E-Verify system when hiring new employees, the committee took a stance against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. There haven’t been too many changes made from the 2008 GOP platform. The party is moving more to the right on several issues, including im

Sen. John McCain speaks at the 2008 Republican National Convention With both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions taking place in the coming weeks, it begs the question, is it much ado about nothing? From an independent perspective, the partisan presidential conventions can seem like a gigantic echo chamber. In fact, evidence shows majority of independents will not tune in to the events and will not pay attention to the campaign messages, because in general, they ignore those thi

Credit: csmonitor.com Across the media, the headlines got it wrong when they claimed “Judge Upholds Voter ID Law in Pennsylvania,” or some variation of that assertion. Even though it took Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson some 70 pages to explain his decision, the decision did not “uphold” the law. The decision only denied the plaintiffs’ application for a preliminary injunction. The grounds were as simple as they were legalistic: Judge Simpson found no basis for suspending the law at on

Photo: ABC News The son is in and the father out. Senator Rand Paul (KY) is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention later this month in Tampa while the senator's father and Republican presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul (TX), has not been scheduled to speak, disappointing his many supporters. Getting shut out of this year's convention, just as the Texas congressman was shut out of last cycle's convention, is likely a "punishment" for not endorsing the party's presumptive nomi

Credit: purplestrategies.com Not another Paul Ryan story! Those in-tune with the political debate might be thinking that, but the selection does pose an interesting dynamic. Since he was selected as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, his work and record have been under scrutiny. Some experts say the selection has helped solidify what the Republican ticket will stand for. Some experts say the selection still confuses the partisan debate. Whether or not either is true, substantive polic

As the fastest growing social network ever, Pinterest has positioned itself nicely to become the next "big thing" in political campaigning, with candidates finally recognizing the easy-to-use nature of the platform and the number of politicians on Pinterest on the rise. While the platform is stereotypically known for it's abundance of wedding themed boards, it is evolving into a platform ample for sharing personal and political images. Paul Booth, assistant professor of new media and technology

Since Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, the media has been in a frenzy, digging up his voting records, speculating on his role in the campaign, and even reporting on his fashion faux paus. Politicos have been buzzing about his political prospects, but it's his meteoric rise in the social media ranks that's surprised most Americans. Could Paul Ryan be Romney's secret weapon in the social media battle? IVN reported on the social media clout Ryan