Introduction:
It is an election year. You and your team have been asked by your political party to help them elect the next President of the United States. There is no incumbent running in this election and the Vice President is not seeking the nomination of the party. This is a special year. This is the year that you can make a difference!

Top

The Task:
Your mission is to create a presidential candidate for your political party. This mission is not easy and there will be much sacrifice involved. You will have to travel to the far reaches of the country. You will be required to find the best person for the job. Candidates do not grow on trees. They are created! And you, you are Dr. Frankenstein!

There will be a primary and a general election after all of the campaign materials have been completed. The more persuasive and convincing your candidate is, the greater their potential is for becoming elected!

Top

The Process:
Your campaign team will consist of four people. Each will have a job and all positions are necessary to fulfill the project.

1. The Campaign Manager. This is the person who is most directly responsible for the success or failure of a campaign. It is your job to ensure that everyone else does his/hers. If there are any problems, you need to solve them. The political life of your candidate is at stake. Maybe even your appointment to a high level cabinet position!

2. The Policy Writer. The political platform is the cornerstone of any great campaign. Your candidate must find a happy medium between the platform of the party and what the American public is looking for in a candidate. Character only goes so far. Where your candidate stands on the issues could attract people to your campaign, or drive them away in herds.

3. The Speechwriter. Every candidate needs some eloquent person to compose his or her public addresses. This is an important role in the campaign. If the candidate, your candidate, says the wrong thing at the wrong time, the campaign may be over. Wouldn't you like to be the presidential speechwriter?

4. The Advertising Executive. Where would a candidate be without a great advertising campaign? It is impossible for him/her to be in every town and city across the nation, but through an effective ad campaign, he/she can be everywhere! Not only can a great campaign net you huge financial rewards, but give you that national recognition that will put you at the top of the "Who's Who" of advertising!

As a group, you must:

• Invent a candidate. This person is fictitious, but should be real enough to actually have a shot at being elected by the American people.
• Chose a party to be affiliated with. Please stick to the mainstream parties. There has never been a Socialist, Independent, or a Communist president. Be realistic!

After the candidate is created and political affiliation is established, the real task of starting a campaign begins. Each member has chosen a position in the candidate's campaign and will complete one of the following segments of the project:

• Campaign Manager
• Policy Writer
• Speechwriter
• Advertising Executive

Top

Resources:
Your textbook is always a good resource for historical information on the Presidency.

• Political Parties in the United States: This is an Encarta article citing some of the history behind the two-party system in the United States.
• Campaigning: This is an article written by Hugh Sidney. It discusses what it takes to run a successful presidential campaign today. Good starting resource.
• Electability: This is another article written by Hugh Sidney. It discusses what makes a presidential candidate electable. Good starting resource.
• Presidential Character: Another Hugh Sidney article.
• Life of the Campaign Trail and in the White House: This article is written by Steven Goodin who has covered political campaigns since 1991.
• CNN's Election 2000: If you're looking for information on the current Presidential election, this would be the place to look.

  For the Campaign Manager:

  • The Campaign Commander: This article by Dan Sanders talks about campaign managers and what makes a successful campaign. Start here first!
  • Biographies of Candidates and Elected Officials by State: This is a Project Vote Smart site. They have links to basic biographies of any public officials in every state, including those who are currently running for office.
  • Biographies of Past Presidents: This is the White House's official link to presidential biographies.
  • More Biographies of Past Presidents: This site is part of the American President series from CSPAN and PBS. These biographies are brief, but contain good information.
  • Life Before They Were President: This site gives biographical information about all of the US Presidents before they became President.

  For the Policy Writer:

  • Democratic National Committee (DNC): This is the Official Democratic Party Website.
  • Democratic Party Platform: The DNC has provided a web-based platform, one that is in PDF format and another in streaming audio format.
  • Republican National Committee (RNC): This is the Official Republican Party Website.
  • Reform Party: This is the Official Website of the Reform Party.
  • Reform Party Platform: This is the 1997 Reform Party Platform that has been ammended at three different party conventions, 1998, 1999 and 2001.

  For the Speechwriter:

  • Ronald Reagan This site has links to some of Ronald Reagan's most famous speeches.
  • Jimmy Carter Although this is not part of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, it does contain links to his four State of the Union addresses as well as his Inagural Address.
  • John F. Kennedy This is part of the JFK Presidential Library. There is an extensive list of speeches here. Some are in text form, other can be heard in audio form.

  For the Advertising Executive:

  • Political Buttons: This is actually a commercial site, but it has pictures of campaign buttons used by many presidential candidates. Good source for advertising executives!
  • Presidential Campaign Memorabilia: Duke University Library has a special collection of campaign memorabilia. There are pictures examples of materials presidential candidates have used during their campaigns.
  • Political Ad Campaigns: This CNN site requires QuickTime to view the ads. This site includes famous commercial ads from elections in 1952 to 1988. 

Top

Evaluation:
Each group will be given two grades: a group grade and an individual grade. Individual grades are based upon your portion of the election campaign (i.e., biography, platform, speech, commercials) and a reflection paper. Group grades are based upon teamwork, cooperation, and overall effectiveness of the campaign.

To view the rubrics, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have Acrobat Reader. you may down load it for free.

Click here to see the Product Rubric.
Click here to see the Process Rubric.

Top

Conclusion:
The electoral process is one of the most important and the most difficult aspects of a democratic society. The United States has been a model to the rest of the world for its extensive participation in representative government. The fact that our leaders are chosen by the people, for the people, and from the people sets us apart from many other nations.

This project is meant to show you the process that a candidate for president goes through to become elected. I hope that through the study of political platforms and issues, you have gained a better understanding of what you personally believe in. Just because someone belongs to a political party, that does not mean that they will always believe everything the party stands for.

Top

Reflection:
In order to evaluate what you learned from this project, each group member will write a one page paper on what they learned during this process. Your paper will include the following:

• How was my role important in the overall campaign of the candidate?
• What was the most vital part of my job?
• Was it necessary to coordinate and cooperate with my team members? Why? How was this accomplished?
• What five things did you learn about the role of President during this project that you did not already know? Why are these five things important to know?
• How would you describe this project to someone outside of this school?
• How do you think this project will make you a better voter when you are an adult?

Top

Standards:
National Education Technology Standards

3. Technology productivity tools

• Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
• Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

4. Technology communications tools

• Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.

5. Technology research tools

• Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
• Students use technology tools to process data and report results.

6. Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools.

• Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions.
• Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real work.

Arizona State Social Studies Standards

• Standard 1: History
  • 1SS-E8. Demonstrate and apply the basic tools of historical research, including how to construct timelines, frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research, and analyze and evaluate historical materials offering varied perspectives, with emphasis on:
    • PO 5. assessing the credibility of primary and secondary sources and drawing sound conclusions from them.

      PO 6. analyzing a historical source and identifying the author's main points, purpose, opinions versus facts, and what other authors say about the same topic.

• Standard 2: Civics/Government
  • 2SS-E6. Describe the structure, functions, and powers of the Arizona state and local governments and their relationship to the federal government, with emphasis on:
    • PO 4. the election process, including primaries and general elections
  • 2SS-E7. Explain the obligations and responsibilities of citizenship, with emphasis on:
    • PO 2. involvement in political decision-making, including voting, petitioning public officials, and analyzing issues
  • 2SS-P5. Analyze the structure, powers, and roles of the executive branch of the United States government, with emphasis on:
    • PO 3. election of the president through the nomination process, national conventions, and electoral college.
  • 2SS-P10. Demonstrate skills related to the duties and obligations of citizenship needed to participate in America's government, with emphasis on:
    • PO 3. analyzing public issues, policy making, and evaluating candidates and their positions.

Top

The Animated Flag and Presidential Seal are from The White House Website.
Uncle Sam is from the National Archives.

These materials are © copyrighted, 2000, by Ms. Sheryl Horgeshimer.
You may link to this page, but any other use must be by permission of the author.

Updated June 15, 2002

| Home | Autobiography | Favorite Links | Multimedia Resources |
| WebQuests | Photo Album | AUP | Why Technology |