English Language Blog

Throughout the American presidential election campaign the presidential candidates hold debates*.  This election season there are three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate (the vice presidential debate is tonight!).  In these debates the candidates are asked questions, which are sometimes posed by a journalist or sometimes by members of the audience watching the debate.  The questions the candidates are ask are usually about domestic** or foreign policy, and are relate to issues that are important to the American public.  During the debate each candidate is given a chance to answer the same question, and then the person who answered the question first is sometimes allowed to make follow-up comments.  The amount of time each candidate has to answer each question is limited in order to get in as many questions as possible and to keep the candidates from straying off topic.

In these debates the two candidates try to show how they are different (and better) from one another and they try to make their positions on policy known.  This is a way for voters to get to know the candidates so the voters can make an informed choice when they vote.  These debates are televised and now streamed live on the internet.  Upwards of 60 million American’s watch these debates live, so it is important for the candidates to present a good image and try to convince the viewers to vote for them.

Tonight the two vice presidential candidates will debate for the one and only time during the election season.  One reason the voters are interested in hearing from the vice presidential candidates is because if anything were to happen to the president, the vice president automatically becomes the president.   Many people, including many Americans, wonder what exactly the Vice President does other than fill in for the president if something were to happen to him.  Well, the vice president of the United States has many responsibilities including:

• voting in the Senate when it is necessary to break a tie
• acting as a spokesperson for the administration’s policies
• advising to the President
• taking over some ceremonial duties for the President in terms of meeting with foreign dignitaries and traveling abroad

The two vice presidential candidates in the current election are Joe Biden (Democrat) and Paul Ryan (Republican), who will be debating tonight.

*debate = a formal discussion on a particular topic in which opposing arguments are put forward
**domestic = of or relating to the home, home region, or home country

The American political system is considered a two-party system, because we essentially have only two political parties, the Republicans and Democrats.  There are independents within the system and politicians from minor political parties, like the Green Party, but when it comes to electing a president there are almost always only two candidates, a Republican and Democrat.  The one major exception to this was in the 1992 presidential election when a man named Ross Perot successfully ran a campaign as a third party option for president.  It is very rare for a third party candidate to be elected in any major election in the United States.

So, who are the two presidential candidates, from the two political parties, who are running this year for the most important job in the United States?  Below are brief and simplified outlines of the two current American presidential candidates.  I hope this information helps you better understand more about these two men. I am sure you hear about this campaign, at least from time to time, where you are.  So, hopefully this information will help contextualize some of the information you hear.  We here in America are hearing about this campaign every day, but even so many American’s don’t know a whole lot about these candidates.

The candidates:

The incumbent*, Barack Obama, is a democrat.  He was born in 1961 in the state of Hawaii.  Before attending college he spent a number of years in his youth living in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather.  After high school, Obama went to Occidental College, Columbia University, and Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard, Obama worked as a civil rights attorney and law school professor while serving in the state of Illinois Senate from 1997-2004.  He was then elected to represent the state of Illinois in the United States Senate in 2004.   Obama was elected to be the 44th American president in 2008 and currently serves in this role.  Obama is married and the father of two children.

The challenger, Mitt Romney, is a republican.  He was born in 1947 in the state of Michigan.  Before attending college he spent thirty months living in France as a Mormon missionary.  After this time Romney then went to college at Brigham Young University and then Harvard University.  After graduating from Harvard he went into business.  He is known for being a successful businessman who has worked in the area of business that helps companies in financial crisis.  Romney was also in charge of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.  Romney was the Governor of the state of Massachusetts from 2003-2007. Romney is married, the father of five children and has 16 grandchildren.

*incumbent = the existing holder of a political office

Although the American presidential season can drag on for many months, we are now truly entering the presidential election season in the USA, which will culminate in Americans voting for their next president on Tuesday, November 6th.  The reason I say that the presidential election season is now truly beginning is because over the next two weeks both the Democrats and Republicans (the two political parties in the United States) will have their national conventions*.

This week thousands of members of the Republican political party are meeting Tampa, Florida at the Republican National Convention and next week members of the Democratic political party will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina for their convention.  It is at these conventions that the political parties nominate their candidates for president.  Until these convention take place the candidates running for president are called ‘presumed** presidential candidates’ because their nomination as a candidate has not been made official.  These conventions are formalities***, but they are also a time for each political party to make their case to the America people for why their candidate should be elected president.

At the conventions there are many speeches, small group talks, and parties.  People generally have a good time.  But not everyone can attend these conventions.  In order to attend the Republican or Democratic National Convention a person has to be invited.  The people who are invited are usually: current and former politicians and current delegates****.  (Also media personnel, people who work with special interest groups, and sponsors are invited.)  The delegates to the convention are average Americans who have been elected in their home state (all 50 states are present) to represent their state and cast their vote for the political party’s candidate for president.  As I mentioned before, these national conventions are formalities, at this point the Republican Party already has backed a candidate for president (Mitt Romney), as has the Democratic Party (Barack Obama).  None-the-less each political party meets at their convention to make this decision official.

Over the next few months leading up to the American presidential election I will be writing a few posts about the American election process, the current presidential candidates, and culturally important news that comes up around these topics.  If you have a topic or question about the current presidential election that you would like me to address, please let me know by leaving a comment on this post.  The presidential election process is different around the world and I hope to shed some light on the American presidential election to help you better understand this.

*convention = a formal meeting of members, representatives, or delegates of a political party, society, profession, or industry
**presumed = supposed, assumed; something that is taken for granted or already understood to be true
***formality = the observance of rules often because of tradition
****delegate = a person sent or authorized to represent others