Midterm Election Research

-Why are Republicans hopeful their party will gain Congressional seats during the
2010 midterm elections? What factors might disrupt these hopes for the Republicans?

Republicans are hopeful that they will gain senate seats because many Americans have grown restless with president Obama and the Democrats who promised change when they were elected. Their hopes are that people will want to vote Republican because after two years of the Democrats struggling to make change, the public does not see enough result to be appeased. In California at least, the Republicans may be at a disadvantage mainly because the candidate, Carly Fiorina, is a business woman and many people don't like the idea of a non-politician whose reputation from her former company is outsourcing jobs being the representative of the state.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16486078?nclick_check=1

-Explain the reasons the Tea Party formed and what message this sends to both Republican and Democratic parties. What impact do you think the Tea Party will have on the 2010 midterm elections?

The Tea Party formed in 2008 after the economic crisis in response to the bailouts of big banks by the Bush and Obama administration. They are conservative and libertarian who are against big government spending, recent economic reform, and the recent health care bill. The message it sends to both the Republicans and the Democrats is that many people feel like they are not represented in government, and that many people believe that America needs to get back to its original principles. They want to make a statement that the people won't sit back and take what the government is doing if they don't agree with it, just like the Boston Tea Party when our founders protested in extreme ways because of things the government was doing that the people didn't agree with. The Tea Party will definitely have an impact on who is elected into office and how politicians present themselves in their campaigns for the upcoming midterm elections.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement

Latest Governor Polls

The latest polls of the two candidates for California's governor are now up. Republican candidate Meg Whitman has 44% and Democrat Jerry Brown has 50%. The other 2% said they would vote for someone else and another 4% are undecided. In the past weeks, Whitman has gone from 48% to 44%, many think is attributed to the illegal immigrant housekeeper scandal that occurred several weeks ago. In the beginning of the month, Jerry Brown had a 49% lead, and now his lead is increasing even more. In addition, his polls has raised since the beginning of the summer where he was at only 40% in the polls.

I was somewhat surprised when I saw the results of these latest polls. I understand that Whitman's polls have gone down due to her illegal worker scandal, but I also would have thought that Brown's polls would have gone down due to his "whore" calling scandal. I would have thought his polls would have gone down also especially since Whitman has been pushing his slip up to the extreme trying to get the female demographic enraged. But I can't say that I am unhappy with this, I think that Brown would be a better candidate because he has more experience and I trust his political view as opposed to an outsider who doesn't know what she is doing. Whitman presses so hard that her advantage is that she's an outsider, but the governor we have now was an outsider and how well did that work out for us?

Meg Whitman Called a "Whore"

When Jerry Brown called a union official and left a message, he forgot to hang up the phone, and the conversation between Brown and his aides that followed would made quite a turning point in the race for governor. Brown was discussing how unions will turn to Whitman because she will promise to protect their pensions. He says he won't cut people deals like her. Then someone says "What about saying she's a whore?" Then Brown says that he will say she's cutting secret deals to protect the pensions in an ad. Whitman seized the opportunity to smear Brown in her own way. She said that the term was derogatory to her and all the women of California. Brown's people apologized, but didn't say much more.

In my opinion, I understand why Brown is used the term "whore." He meant that she was going around to different groups and promising them things so that they would support her campaign. I don't agree with what she is doing, but I also cannot condone what Brown said. IN a short amount of time, bad things form both candidates have been the talk of the media, so at this point I would say that the two are even. Between Whitman's illegal worker fiasco, and now Brown's phone call mishap, the tow ahve both had their share of trivial bad publicity, and I think it would be wise for us all to go back to the real issues here, which are their policies and stances on issues that will need addressing when one is elected governor.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/meg-whitman-called-whore-jerry-brown-phone-message/story?id=11833112

Meg Whitman Hired Illegal Housekeeper

Meg Whitman reportedly hired an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan, for over nine years. Whitman claims that she had no idea that she was an illegal, but the housekeeper says otherwise. Santillan claims that Whitman did not pay her fairly and that she refused to help her find an immigration lawyer. The housekeeper's lawyer, Gloria Allred, said that the worker was "exploited, disrespected, humiliated, and emotionally and financially abused." Whitman has since fired the worker and cut off communications with her. Whitman is down in the polls, and one can only guess if it has anything to do with this latest scandal.

I think that Whitman most likely had full knowledge that her housekeeper was an illegal immigrant. However I also think that the woman is now exploiting this as a way to get publicity, and possibly could be getting help to become a citizen by Whitman's opposition as incentive to go through this publicity stunt. I wouldn't really mind about Whitman having an illegal as an employee if it weren't for the fact that during her campaign she has been saying how against illegals she is. I highly doubt that Whitman was as horrible as this woman is saying she was, but then again, I may never know.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20018062-503544.html