South Carolina's second Congressional district is currently represented by Republican Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson is best known for a minor scandal that took place during President Barack Obama's speech to Congress about the health care bill in 2009. When the President stated that the bill would not provide health insurance for illegal immigrants, Representative Wilson shouted “You lie!” Liberals claimed that Wilson's remarks showed a lack of respect for the President, while some conservatives claimed that Wilson was brave for speaking his mind. A flurry of donations from across the nation poured in immediately after the speech for both Joe Wilson and his Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, a retired Marine who served in Iraq and is currently a small business owner. This is the race I have chosen to cover until the election.
This election will probably be quite competitive. When Rob Miller ran against Joe Wilson in 2008, Wilson garnered 54% of the vote to Miller's 46%. Both candidates have about 1.7 million dollars as cash on hand for their campaigns. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified this race as one of its 25 “Red To Blue” races for 2010, and will lend additional financial and volunteer support to Rob Miller's campaign.
Chapter 1 of Paul S. Herrnson's book Congressional Elections claims that congressional elections in the U.S. are generally focused on candidates, not political parties. However, this year, the media narrative has been focused on electoral difficulties for the Democratic Party. I am curious about whether this election will focus on the individual candidates, and particularly Wilson's gaffe, or on the national stances and actions of the two major parties, and what the effects of that focus would be on each candidate.
I would also like to examine how the national attention Joe Wilson has received will affect this race. I am curious about how voters in heavily Republican SC-02 view Wilson: is he a source of pride or embarrassment to them? Will they still want to support him in this election? This is the main question I would like to find an answer to between now and the election on November 2nd.
This seems like an interesting race to watch; I can't wait to find out if Wilson's comment has an affect on his reelection. Also I like how you tie in the textbook from class. I find it helpful that you give background info on the 2008 election, and on how the candidates stand now with their finances. This blog makes me want to know what is going to happen on November 2, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you chose to focus on a district outside of New England considering the majority of our class is doing so.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I found it interesting that you chose this district & I think it was a good idea to pick one with such controversy and background. This will make your blog a lot more fun to cover considering Representative Wilson's rant is well known by those who follow politics.
You did a good job of including the reading by discussing the topic of elections focusing on canidates not parties. South Carolina's 2nd District is a great example of this subject considering the controversy Representative Wilson has caused.
I will be interested in watching how Representative Wilson's rant affects his reelection. Will it hurt him, or will it help him?
I too agree with the previous statements, that because of the history of Represenative Wilsons rants, it's definetly a race that many people will be watching closely. Now what i wonder is what Representative wilson will have to say about his rant, i'm not sure if he's ever put out an official statement after it became such a hot topic in the media, but i wonder what he will say about it now that he's running. Because i'm assuming that whatever statement he puts out will be because he'll think thats what his voters will want to hear.
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