POL 344, CRITICAL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, FALL 2011

The 1912 ELECTION, DAY TWO

Questions for Chace, chapters 9-end

Wednesday, October 19

1. How did each of the major candidates view race and racial equality?  Did their actions match up with their beliefs?  How was the election affected by racial issues?

2. Is it possible these days that an incumbent president could receive his/her party's nomination and finish as abysmally as Taft?

3. Debs was such a passionate speaker that neither Wilson nor TR would publicly debate him. TR even noted the close relationship of the competitors’ beliefs. Have we seen a third party candidate in any recent elections who has aligned closely to another candidate?

4. Did TR's exceptional oration and speech-writing abilities literally save his life by producing a 50-page speed bump for the bullet?

5. Chase mentions that both the Progressive and Socialist parties were effectively cults of personality for their presidential candidates. Was either Debs' or Roosevelt's mistake not focusing on creating a more stable base of congressional candidates to shift the influence of their personality into a long-term political party?

6. For TR and Debs the votes cast in their favor(s) were not votes for their respective parties, but votes for the men themselves.  Has this idea of voting for someone (or even against someone) changed due to the increase in partisanship amongst voters? In modern politics, is a vote for a candidate an endorsement for her/his party and/or that party's ideals?

7. “Are the people interested in personalities rather than principles?" Woodrow Wilson pondered this while concerned with how he would beat TR in the election. What do voters hold to be more important, policy or personality? Is one more important than the other? Or is it more important to have a good balance between the two?

8. Chace seems to be emphasizing the role of class in the election of 1912. Taft had the support of the wealthy, Roosevelt the middle class, Debs the working class, and Wilson was a mix of all three. How important to the outcome was each candidate’s appeal to the various classes? Did Wilson win because he appealed to all three?

9. Chase contends that the 1912 election changed the face of the Republican and Democratic parties for the next 100 years. In particular, he points to the falling out of Taft and TR's friendship as a major factor in this change. Do you agree? How was one ruined friendship enough to change the face of the United States?

9A. So what is the legacy of the 1912 election? Ponder, discuss.

10. Chapter 10 discusses Roosevelt's celebrity status at the Bull Moose Party's circus-like national convention. Since the current Republican field is swamped with several candidates, do you see the possibility of one breaking off to a third party? If so, would that convention be as big of a deal as TR’s?