Becoming an Informed Voter - Essay Example

Becoming an Informed Voter Name Tutor Unit Code Date Introduction The American political administration is based on a presidential system. There are two levels of government: the national and the county governments. Representatives are elected to each level of government according to the constitutional provisions. In general, there are 435 electoral districts and 50 states. Each vote represents a district. Members elected to represent the district for the lower House of Representatives. The representatives are elected for two-year terms. Each state is represented at the Senate by senators. The main political parties in the U.S are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The American constitution also allows for independent candidates to run for the various vacant electoral seats. This paper is based on the politics of Bradenton City, Florida. In particular, I review the political background of Bradenton City and its U.S Representative. The analysis involves a look at the current Bradenton City’s representative score as provided by various interest groups that include ADA, ACLU, ACU, CC and FRC. Bradenton City is in the state of Florida. I shall also review the political background of Florida as well as the state’s representative at the Senate. This analysis shall also extend to the senator’s score as provided by various interest groups listed above. Political Background of Bradenton City Bradenton is a City in Manatee County. The city is named after Joseph Braden, a renowned sugarcane farmer. Bradenton has a population of about 53,000. Bradenton has shown steady support for the Republican Party. From the 1980’s Bradenton has largely voted for the Republican candidates. In 2000 the city voted for George W. Bush. They also voted largely for Bush in 2004. In 2008 Bradenton voted for John McCain by over 53 per cent. In 2012 the City voted largely for Mitt Romney. Table 1 below indicates the presidential voting pattern in the past two elections; Table 1: Bradenton Presidential Voting Pattern 2008 and 2012 Party 2008 2012 Summary Democratic 46.1% 43.3% 44.7% Republican 53.1% 55.8% 54.5% Independent 0.8% 0.9% 0.8% Source: Homefacts.com (2015). Political Background of Vern Buchanan Vern Buchanan is the current U.S Representative for the larger part of the City of Bradenton. He is a republican. Buchanan took over office in January 2013 and was re-elected in January 2015. His current term will end in January 2017. Buchanan is a renowned self-made businessman in Florida. He first attempted to become a congressman in 2006 and managed to capture the seat by injecting a lot of money into his campaign due to the stiff competition from Jennings. Buchanan is among the top five richest people in the current House of Representatives. He sits in the House Budget Committee and was recently appointed as the chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee, which deals with welfare issues, international trade as well as tax policies. This provides him the opportunity to advance reforms to what he considers to be a very complicated tax regime in America. His intention is to promote a simpler and fairer tax code that caters for the small businesses that employ over 38 million people in the U.S. Moreover, Buchanan is known to be bi-partisan. He sometimes faults his party’s position so as to support bipartisan solutions regarding greater national issues (Bradenton.com (2015). Interest Group Scores for Vern Buchanan Interest group ratings indicate that Vern Buchanan is very much a conservative person. In 2014, the American Conservative Union (ACU) gave Vern Buchanan a positions and lifetime scores of 71 per cent and 77 per cent respectively. Besides, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – Positions gave Vern Buchanan a rating of 0 per cent in 2013/14. Also in 2013, the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) – Positions gave Marco Rubio a rating of 5 per cent. This figures are indicated in table 2 below: Table 2: Vern Buchanan Interest Group Ratings Interest Group Rating American Conservative Union (ACU) – Lifetime Score 77% American Conservative Union (ACU) – Positions 71% American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 25% Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) 5% Source: Votesmart.com (2015) Political Background of Florida State Florida State is located at the southern part of United States. The state has 27 out of the 435 electoral votes. For a long time Florida has largely supported the Republican Party. The state has generally supported republican presidential candidates apart from a few instances where democrats won but on a narrow margin. In recent times, the Democratic Party has gained some support in Florida. In both 2008 and 2012 Florida voted for Barrack Obama by 51 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. In 2000 and 2004 Florida voted for Bush at 49 per cent and 52 per cent respectively (Homefacts.com, 2015). Political Background of Marco Rubio Marco Rubio is a republican senator of the state of Florida. He considered a young senator considering his age of 44 years. He is a son of a Cuban migrant. Marco Rubio served on the West Miami City Commission between 1998 and 2000, making his first entry into the political scene. In 2000 to 2008, Marco Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives. In 2003 he became a majority leader. He also served as a Speaker of the Florida House. As a resident of Miami, Marco Rubio studied in Miami. He holds a law degree from the University of Miami. Though considered an underdog, Rubio managed to capture the Florida senatorial seat in 2010. He assumed office in January 5, 2011 following his victory (Biography.com, 2015). In the senate he has served in various committees including the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Marco Rubio is considered an ambitious person. In April this year, 2015, Rubio announced his candidature for the 2016 presidential elections under the Republican Party. He, however, faces competition from fellow republicans such as Dr Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, and Rand Paul, among others in the party nomination race. Interest Group Scores for Marco Rubio Marco Rubio has been rated on various issues by various interest groups. However, this analysis is limited to the candidate’s conservative versus liberal standing. In 2014, the American Conservative Union (ACU) gave Marco Rubio a positions and lifetime scores of 96 per cent and 98 per cent respectively. Besides, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – Positions gave Marco Rubio a rating of 25 per cent in 2013/14. Also in 2013, the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) – Positions gave Marco Rubio a rating of 5 per cent. From the statistics it is clear that Marco Rubio is a conservative. This figures are indicated in table 3 below: Table 3: Marco Rubio Interest Group Ratings Interest Group Rating American Conservative Union (ACU) – Lifetime Scores 98% American Conservative Union (ACU) – Positions 96% American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 25% Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) 5% Source: Votesmart.com (2015b) Sources Biography.com (2015). Marco Rubio Biography. Retrieved 26 November, 2015: http://www.biography.com/people/marco-rubio-20840041 Bradenton.com (2015). Bradenton Herald recommends Vern Buchanan for U.S. House District 16. Bradenton Herald October 19, 2014. Retrieved 26 November, 2015: http://www.bradenton.com/opinion/editorials/article34739250.html Homefacts.com (2015). Bradenton Politics and Election Data. Retrieved 26 November, 2015: http://www.homefacts.com/politics/Florida/Manatee-County/Bradenton/34208.html Votesmart.com (2015a). Vern Buchanan's Ratings and Endorsements. Retrieved 26 November, 2015: http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/66247/vern-buchanan#.VlffgnYrLIU Votesmart.com (2015a). Marco Rubio's Ratings and Endorsements. Retrieved 26 November, 2015: http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/1601/marco-rubio#.VlfhY3YrLIU Read More