Reference no: EM132165295

Question: Americans will go to the polls on November 6, 2018, and elect a new Congress and, in many states (including California), a new Governor and state officers. Choose one of the following political races in the upcoming November 6 General Election:

United States Senator from Texas: Ted Cruz (R) vs. Beto O'Roarke (D)

United States Senator from Missouri: Josh Hawley (R) vs. Claire McCaskill (D)

United States Senator from Nevada: Dean Heller (R) vs. Jackie Rosen (D)

Governor of Florida: Ron DeSantis (R) vs. Andrew Gillum (D)

1. Using news sources, political blogs, press reports, and campaign websites, what are the major political issues that are being debated and discussed in your particular campaign? Be specific. State the issue with particularity and provide an overview of each candidate's position on that issue.

2. Provide a summary of the coverage that each of the two major candidates is receiving as the election approaches. Does the coverage seem biased towards one side or the other? Consider the sources of the coverage that you are looking at and determine whether these sources have a generally understood partisan orientation (e.g., the NY Times is a Democrat-oriented news service; the Wall Street Journal editorial page is Republican-oriented, etc.). Have any newspapers in the candidates' state endorsed either of the candidates? If so, which ones? Will these endorsements make any difference to voters, in your opinion? Explain why or why not.

3. Look at the polling data available on www.realclearpolitics.com. Pay particular attention to the historical polling data compiled over the past several months. Are you seeing trends in the polling results? Can you correlate any trends in the polling data to events that have occurred in the campaign, based upon the news reports you have reviewed?

4. Predict the outcome of the race, including specifically the percentage of the vote you predict each candidate will receive.