Post #2: Campaign Simulation

Describe the activity we did in class today, and what your role was.

1. The activity we did in class was a simulated fundraiser for two campaigns, the Nation party and the America party. My group and I had to run against the America party because we were the Nation party. Like any election, we needed the most votes and the most money to support and win the campaign. We had to make our decisions on what the groups wanted so that way we would win the most votes and money. There was the youth voting group, the women’s rights group, big businesses and little businesses that we had to do well in. These groups held the power over the parties because they had votes and money that they could spend on the campaign, but to get to these the parties my group and I had to pass or refuse certain laws or issues so we would get those votes and/or money.

What did you learn about campaign fundraising?

2. What I learned about campaign fundraising is that you don’t have to appeal to everybody to win a campaign and that the campaign is greatly influenced by the candidates own opinion, because if they choose too many things that the voters don’t agree with, that might drive away more groups and businesses than attract them. I also learned that you need to take input from some groups because you need their votes and those can clash with some of the other groups and that you need to compromise so that you can do the most for most of the groups. That way you get the most voters and money. My group chose too many issues that many groups, mainly big businesses, didn’t like so we lost. You also have to get some of the smaller businesses too because if you only go for the big groups you can still lose.

How do you think this system impacts our government? What are the pros and cons to this system?

3. I think this system impacts our government by ruling by the majority. That’s why all the politicians are trying to appeal to the average person so that they get more votes because they know that by doing that they can get more votes while still appealing to all the big businesses. You can also get the issues from the candidates and decide who you want to vote for. They can make two groups happy by splitting some of the issues and that way they get both groups. It’s not just white and black there’s some gray shades in there. Some of the pros of this is that the candidate really gets to choose his or hers position on the issues and laws they chose. Some of the cons are that they really can drive away people if you don’t get the right balance of appeasing the people and choosing for the good of the people.

Who wins and loses in this system? Why?

4. I think that the people that lose is the party that doesn’t cater to most of the people because without the people they don’t have money or votes and then they can’t cover campaign costs and without campaigning they don’t get votes so they cant run. The people who pay for the campaign also lose because there goes their money. The person who gives the most consideration to the people wins because they get the most votes and money so they can run a successful campaign.