Spring Break
Red, white and blue jay: political science professors talk 2008 election
Professor Benjamin Ginsberg
Issue date: 10/16/08
News-Letter (N-L): What are your thoughts on the historical significance of this particular election?
Professor Benjamin Ginsberg (BG): Well, what makes this election especially significant is that Barack Obama, who is likely to be the winner, is African-American, and this will obviously be an incredible first for the United States.
When I was in college, people were still debating black voting rights and the civil rights movement was still struggling to ensure the right to vote for African-Americans, and now only 45 years later, we're about to elect a black president.
It's not that all the nation's racial problems have been solved, but obviously this is a big step in terms of closing the racial gap in our country.
N-L: What are the main reasons you believe that Barack Obama is going to win the election?
BG: The Bush administration is extremely unpopular. President Bush's public poll rating is the lowest in polling history. The war in Iraq is unpopular, and we're in the middle of a severe financial crisis.
Normally, the party in power would be swept from office. The only reason that Republicans might have had a chance was the issue of race and the fact that many white voters would have been reluctant to cast their votes for a black man.
However, Obama did much to reassure people during the debates and to calm the concerns of potentially racist voters.
If not for the issue that Obama was black, no one would ever have doubted that a Democrat was going to win. There would have been no question.
Adding to that, the Republican ticket is weak. John McCain is a very able and experienced individual, but he's not a strong campaigner.
Sarah Palin is amusing; I love it when she says "You betcha," but she turns out to be very weak as a potential vice president.
N-L: What are your own hopes for the election and its impact?
BG: Well, personally, I wish we didn't have to have a president. They only get us into trouble! Every one is worse than the one before.
One of the things that I'm concerned about is the rise in presidential power that we have seen in recent decades. We've shifted from a separation of power system to a presidentialist power system, and we simply put too much power in the hands of the president.
[The American people] hope and hope that the next president will be wonderful and save us. Well, the world doesn't work that way, and I think we would be better off as a country if we put less faith in the White House, focus more on our power as citizens, on the congress, on the courts and if we move away from presidentialism.
Professor Benjamin Ginsberg (BG): Well, what makes this election especially significant is that Barack Obama, who is likely to be the winner, is African-American, and this will obviously be an incredible first for the United States.
When I was in college, people were still debating black voting rights and the civil rights movement was still struggling to ensure the right to vote for African-Americans, and now only 45 years later, we're about to elect a black president.
It's not that all the nation's racial problems have been solved, but obviously this is a big step in terms of closing the racial gap in our country.
N-L: What are the main reasons you believe that Barack Obama is going to win the election?
BG: The Bush administration is extremely unpopular. President Bush's public poll rating is the lowest in polling history. The war in Iraq is unpopular, and we're in the middle of a severe financial crisis.
Normally, the party in power would be swept from office. The only reason that Republicans might have had a chance was the issue of race and the fact that many white voters would have been reluctant to cast their votes for a black man.
However, Obama did much to reassure people during the debates and to calm the concerns of potentially racist voters.
If not for the issue that Obama was black, no one would ever have doubted that a Democrat was going to win. There would have been no question.
Adding to that, the Republican ticket is weak. John McCain is a very able and experienced individual, but he's not a strong campaigner.
Sarah Palin is amusing; I love it when she says "You betcha," but she turns out to be very weak as a potential vice president.
N-L: What are your own hopes for the election and its impact?
BG: Well, personally, I wish we didn't have to have a president. They only get us into trouble! Every one is worse than the one before.
One of the things that I'm concerned about is the rise in presidential power that we have seen in recent decades. We've shifted from a separation of power system to a presidentialist power system, and we simply put too much power in the hands of the president.
[The American people] hope and hope that the next president will be wonderful and save us. Well, the world doesn't work that way, and I think we would be better off as a country if we put less faith in the White House, focus more on our power as citizens, on the congress, on the courts and if we move away from presidentialism.
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