IRC Rome's List: Elections2012

October 26, 2012 -- "Many countries around the world invite election observers from American nongovernmental organizations like The Carter Center and the International Republican Institute to help verify that the process is free and fair. But when it is the United States’ turn, who assesses whether the American electoral process has met international standards?"

October 25, 2012 -- "U.S. political polling on how Americans are likely to vote November 6, particularly in hotly contested swing states, has generated many predictions that the contest between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is going to be very close."

October 23, 2012 -- "In their last debate before the November 6 election, President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney agreed on the goal of transferring full security responsibility in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by 2014 and on continuing international sanctions against Iran in response to its nuclear activities."

October 12, 2012 -- "The sole vice presidential debate for the 2012 presidential election covered a surprising array of U.S. foreign policy topics, despite the fact that most Americans usually base their votes on domestic issues, particularly the U.S. economy."

October 10, 2012 -- "U.S. presidential candidates spend much of their campaigns discussing plans for entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and the American health system for a very important reason: U.S. seniors, who are most immediately affected by these types of government assistance, are paying close attention, and they are the most likely people to vote."

October 4, 2012 -- "On October 3, with fewer than 1,000 people in attendance, the Republican and Democratic nominees to the U.S. presidency faced off in the first of three scheduled debates.

The true audience for the 90-minute discussion at the University of Denver in Colorado was much larger, with television viewership estimated at 60 million in the United States and 200 million worldwide."

October 3, 2012 -- "Americans serving their nation overseas will have the resources they need to exercise their right to vote, U.S. military officials affirm.

In an October 2 press briefing, Pentagon spokesman George Little outlined the measures in place to ensure U.S. military personnel and other Americans can cast their ballots regardless of where in the world they are stationed."

October 2, 2012 -- "In the hours leading up to the first debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees to the U.S. presidency, pundits and political analysts are themselves debating whether the matchup will change minds."

October 1, 2012 -- "Up to 50 million viewers are expected to tune in October 3 to the first of three debates between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney."

September 10, 2012 -- "President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will face off in three 90-minute debates this October, giving still-undecided voters their best chance to compare the two side by side, and allowing all viewers to watch the candidates as they respond to tough questions and react to unscripted moments on live television."

"In the run-up to their first presidential debate on October 3, President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will be sparring with members of their own political parties in practice sessions, and Ohio Senator Rob Portman and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry have won the roles to impersonate Obama and Romney, respectively, as both candidates seek realistic stand-ins to pose as their rivals."

July 11, 2012 -- "As President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney work the campaign trail between now and November, some paths will be more heavily traveled than others."

June 13, 2012 -- "As with many aspects of U.S. politics, national party conventions and their roles in the race to the White House have evolved over time to serve the changing needs of the electorate. The U.S. Constitution does not reference political parties and is equally silent on how to select candidates to the nation’s highest office, but mechanisms arose and adapted to fill that vacuum."

June 13, 2012 -- "Republicans and Democrats typically differ on a wide range of issues, so many people might be surprised to learn that the two major U.S. political parties are following nearly identical approaches as they prepare to launch their presidential nominating conventions."

May 31, 2012 -- "The final sprint to the U.S. presidential election begins when the two major political parties throw two major parties: the Republican and the Democratic national conventions.

When Republicans gather in Tampa, Florida, the week of August 27 and Democrats in Charlotte, North Carolina, the week of September 3, each party will rally around its nominee in the final run-up to the November election. But what do the conventions mean for the cities that host them?"

March 19, 2012 -- "Although Americans running for political office need money, and lots of it, to pay for campaigns, political expert Sam Garrett says successful fundraising alone cannot determine a candidate’s outcome at the polls.

“By no means is money a guarantee to success in an election,” Garrett said March 16 in remarks on campaign finance at the Foreign Press Center in Washington."

February 29, 2012 -- "When Virginia college student Emily Dallas voted for the first time in 2008, the experience prompted her to become more involved in her community.

Nearly four years later, she was one of almost 30 would-be election officers in an afternoon training class, one of several that Fairfax County, Virginia, scheduled in spring 2012."