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Road to the White House Mini-Lesson
TOPIC: PRIMARIES, POLLS and the PRESS
CREDIT: This lesson was written by Kent Willmann, Silver Creek High School, Longmont, CO.
STANDARD:Understands what is meant by "the public agenda," how it is set, and how it is influenced by public opinion and the media.

TOPIC: PRIMARIES, POLLS and the PRESS
Event Date: 2/7/04 | Air Date: 2/8/04 |

Watch entire program

links in the lesson |

Lesson Index

OVERVIEW
Polling has become a staple of both election coverage and campaigning. The results of polls are reported nearly everyday by virtually all media sources. But do polls help us select the best candidate? What is more important, knowing candidates' position on issues or knowing if the candidate is ahead or behind in the polls? Does the "horse race" get the headlines while the position papers get relegated to the back pages? WHILE VIEWING PDF \| Word Use a chart to keep track of how often the "horse race" (who is ahead, who won, etc) is mentioned v. how often policy issues and positions are mentioned.	Video Clip 1 - Watch CNN interview Howard Dean Clip 2 - Watch Howard Dean event Clip 3 - Watch Wesley Clark Event Clip 4 - Watch John Kerry Event
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is it interesting to hear who is ahead or behind in the polls? 2. How can knowledge about who is leading help voters who have yet to vote? 3. Why would news sources choose to cover the "horse race" more than issues? 4. What is different about C-SPAN's coverage vs. commercial news network coverage? How might advertising, or the lack of it, influence the style and content of the coverage? 5. Is the press giving the electorate what they need or what they want? What about the candidates? 6. In what ways might the primary process be described as a "popularity contest" and in what ways is it a fair and efficient means for elevating the best candidate for the office? 7. Momentum can be important in elections. Do you think people want to "join the winning team" or choose someone whose policy positions they agree with? What are the advantages to supporting a likely winner over an opponent who is likely to lose, even if you more closely agree with the "loser"? 8. Where can you look to find more issue coverage?
STUDENT ACTIVITY
Find multiple news articles or television coverage of the same campaign event. Using the chart, keep track of the type of information offered through the coverage. Compare your two charts. How do you account for the differences among the sources? APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE: Conduct a Survey Conduct an unscientific survey of your friends, adults, or classmates. Ask them: 1. How many of the Democratic candidates can you name? 2. Do you know who is leading? 3. Can you identify any of the candidates' positions on the issues? 4. Do you have a preference in the Democratic race? Do your results reflect what you discovered in comparing coverage?

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Road to the White House
C-SPAN's weekly look at the candidates, issues and events that shape the 2004 Presidential race.

2004 Vote
Information about presidential and congressional candidates running in the 2004 election.

3 Branches of Government
Learn about the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the U.S. government.

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