LESSON PLAN: HOT ISSUES OF THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
By Greg Timmons, teacher and Executive Director of the Constitution Project in Portland, Oregon

Subjects: Government, civics, social studies, current issues

Time: 2 to 3 class periods

Lesson Objectives:

• Students will gain an understanding of the important facts and circumstances surrounding important issues of the 2004 Presidential Election.
• Students will discover the lack of substantive information contained in campaign speeches and political media ads.
• Students will analyze the presidential candidates' positions on and proposals for major issues surrounding the 2004 Presidential Election.
• Students will determine which candidate they feel best addresses the issues they explore surrounding the 2004 Presidential Election.

Overview:

These three activities are intended to help students get beyond the rhetoric of campaign ads, slogans, media "sound bites," and even most of the speeches presented by the presidential candidates. Students will identify and review some of the major issues facing voters in this election and discover important history and background information on these issues. Students will also research the candidates' policy positions on these issues and, using an analysis tool, will determine which candidate has the best solution to the issues they examine.

Correlation to National Standards

Materials Needed

• Computer hooked up to Internet (access to computer lab is preferred).
• HANDOUT #1 "Speech and Political Ad Review"
• HANDOUT #2 "Issue History and Recent Developments Analysis Guide"
• HANDOUT #3 "Issue Analysis Grid"
• Paper, pencil or pen

Part I: Warm-up Activity

Procedure:

1. Divide students into groups of three or four. Write on the blackboard the following statement: "What do you feel are the most important issues in this presidential election?" Give students a few minutes to individually write at least five on a piece of paper. Make sure students focus on the issues facing the nation and not on the personalities of the candidates.

2. Have students briefly review their topics with their small groups and tell them to arrive at a consensus of five in each group, in priority order.

3. Write up these topics from each group at the front of the class. Then have each group pick one of the topics they want to explore. Ideally, each group will have a different topic. If two groups are similar, have one group choose another one from their priority list.

4. Distribute HANDOUT #1 "Speech and Political Ad Review" to all students and ask them to follow the directions on the handout. Students will go to each candidate's Web site to examine speeches and/or television ads. They will then review several speeches and make a list of statements made by each candidate on their topic. If students don't have access to their own computers, you can download and print off the speeches for them at:
George Bush
http://www.georgewbush.com/News
John Kerry
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/

At these sites they will find links to campaign ads and speeches. Tell students that each Web site is unique in its structure and some of the topics they are looking for might be found in several of the speeches listed. The speeches are presented to general audiences and contain a variety of topics, though there may be a main theme. Tell students that they can skim the speeches to find the topic they are exploring. If they are examining the speech on the computer they can use the "FIND" command (control F) to locate the topic faster.

5. Have students record what the candidates say about the topics they have chosen on HANDOUT #1's chart. Ask then to address the following questions:

• What is the issue you reviewed?
• How did each candidate define or explain the issue?
• What solutions did each candidate offer or comments did they make in their speech or media ad to address the issue?
• Do you feel the statement made in the speech or ad adequately addresses the issue?

6. In most cases, students will find the speech/media ad information falls short of clearly defining and addressing the solution. Tell students that the speeches and political ads are constructed more for the purpose of raising the emotions or a "live" audience or structured in a quick media ad format and are not intended to offer a forum for analysis and discussion. Tell students that to not only understand a candidate's position on an issue but to also feel confident in the candidate's position, they must examine the candidate's policy statements and put these through a process of analysis. The next activity has students do just that.

Part II - Analyze the Candidates' Positions on the Issues

In this next section, students will have the opportunity to utilize an analysis tool that helps identify, define, and examine complex issues in an easy and organized way. Patterned after analysis models used in business and industry, students will follow five basic steps of analysis for each candidate on selected issues. The five steps are:
A. Identify the Problem
B. Explain why it is a problem
C. Propose a solution
D. Explain the expected results of the solution
E. Determine what might be the consequence or negative effect of the solution

These steps can be used in other areas of study when trying to problem solve, project manage or analyze complex issues. The first activity here is structured to provide informational background for the students on the different issues they are examining.

Procedure:
1. Have students meet back in their earlier topic groups. Write the following list of issues on the blackboard: jobs, health care, budget deficits, gay marriage, combating al-Qaida, trade, Patriot Act, troop levels in Iraq, and Social Security. Match these new topics with the ones the groups explored in the first activity. Some will be different so try to make a close match. In other cases, some student groups might want to change their topics to one of these.

2. Have students go to the NewsHour's Vote 2004 Issues Web site at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/issues.html. If online computers are not available for students you may download and print the materials from the Web site.

3. Distribute HANDOUT #2, "Issue History and Recent Developments Analysis Guide" to all students. Tell them this first activity will provide some historical background and updates on the issues they are examining. Review the handout with students and tell them to follow the directions on the guide. As they read the Web page they can fill out the chart on the handout. After students have finished the chart, review the following questions with them:

• Do you feel you topic is a major issue in this Presidential election?
• Has this topic been a major issue in earlier elections?
• What past actions has the U.S. Government taken to address this issue?
• What are some of the challenges or problems recent developments have made on this issue?
• How has the history and recent developments created differing viewpoints on this issue? What are these different viewpoints?
• Identify the major sub-issues surrounding this topic.

If students have some difficulty identifying the major sub-issues, tell them to look in the reading at topics that affect the issue, such as costs, citizen preferences, past laws or rights protections, public opinion, etc. Be sure to have students record the sub-issues on their paper so they can use them in the next activity.
Now students are going to examine the two candidates' positions on their assigned issue and analyze the candidates proposals, asking what is the problem contained within this issue, why it a problem, what are the solutions posed by both candidates, what are the expected outcomes of these solutions, and what are the consequences of imposing each candidate's solution?

4. While students are in their same groups, pass out STUDENT HAND #3 "Issue Analysis Grid." Tell students this second activity is to help them dissect the issues and analyze the proposals of the candidates and arrive at a position where they can better determine which candidate's proposal is best suited to address the issue. Review the hand out with students and tell them to follow the directions on the guide. As they read the two candidates positions on the Web page they can fill out the chart on the handout. After students have finished the chart, review the following questions with them:

• Explain each candidate's basic position on the issue.
• In what ways are the candidates' positions on the issue similar and/or different?
• Explain what each candidate proposes to do to address the issue.
• In what ways are the candidates' proposals to address the issue similar and/or different?
• How closely do the candidates proposed actions address the issues? Refer back to your work on "History and Recent Developments Analysis Guide"?
• Which candidate do you feel offers the "best" solution to the issue?
• What other actions do you think need to be done to address this issue?

5. As a final activity combine all the groups issue analysis results in a giant grid sheet and determine which candidate is best suited for the job of President of the United States.

Extensions

1. Using the data collected on from the Issue Analysis Grid, have students develop debates on the different issues.
2. Have students create campaign media ads or campaign posters that address the issues they examined.
3. Using the Web site Public Agenda (http://www.publicagenda.org/) have students go to the "First Choice" section. There they can calculate where they want the country to go in the next four years and what it will take to get there.
4. Have students examine the positions of the third party candidates using the same handouts from the lesson plan.

Green Party
http://www.gp.org/
David Cobb and Pat LaMarche
http://www.votecobb.org/

Independent Party
Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo
http://www.votenader.org

Bibliography

Correlation to National Standards

McREL
CIVICS
Standard 19 - Understands what is meant by "the public agenda," how it is set and how it is influenced by public opinion and the media.
Standard 20 - Understands the roles of political parties, campaigns, elections, and associations sand groups in American politics.
Standard 21 - Understands the formation and implementation of public policy

About the Author Greg Timmons is a teacher, curriculum writer and Executive Director of The Constitution Project in Portland, Oregon He has taught middle school and secondary Social Studies for over 30 years, wrote lessons and directed institutes on U.S. Constitution related issues. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Council for the Social studies.

To find out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman at extra@newshour.org.