“The Senate and the country need Senators of courage who are prepared to make their mark on history by standing with past profiles in courage, and defending not party, not partisanship, but defending principle and democracy itself” (Congressional Record 151:8 p.10442). These words, said by the former senator of Massachusetts John Kerry, encompass the idea of an American senator. In the modern world that we live in, the government has morphed into a different institution than it was even fifty years ago; people have started to lose trust, faith, and adoration of government officials. Senators are one of the few main source links between individual states and the federal government. The lives of senators have soured substantially leaving them in the negative opinions of people. Senators are often portrayed as sneaky, underhanded, or aggressive people; they can be viewed in a positive light but these characteristics are exaggerated in ways that don’t mirror the actual careers at all. The media often portrays senator’s daily lives as stressful, shady, and full of critical issues that can change the country with one word. Every media portrayal has some drop of truth to it but some sources stand to prove what senators are truly like. In a lot of major media sources the common idea surrounding senators is that they are powerful, well-known, and often times engage in illegal deals. In the films Bobby, as well as The Candidate, these themes are used. Both of these films base their main character off well-known persons who were already involved in politics of some sort before becoming, or running for a seat as, a senator. 14 Women is an amazing documentary about the fourteen female senators that were active in 2007; the entire movie gives ... ... middle of paper ... ... of them disliking their officials a greater chance. There is hope in our future that the American people will begin to understand the differences between the real senators and the popular media version of them. Works Cited 14 Women. Dir. Mary Lambert. Vertical Films, 2007. Film. Bobby. Dir. Emilio Estevez. The Weinstein Company, 2006. Film. The Candidate. Dir. Michael Ritchie. Warner Brothers, 1972. Film. Franken, Al. Telephone Interview. 29 Sep. 2013. Gregg, Judd. Interview by Ken Strickland. The Exit Interviews: Sen. Judd Gregg 13 Sept 2010. NBC News, New York City. 13 Sept 2010. Web. 29 Oct 2013. Klobuchar, Amy. Personal Interview. 13 Oct 2013. Power. Dir. Sidney Lumet. 20th Century Fox, 1986. Film. Representative Kerry (MA). Congressional Record 151:8 (June 6, 2002) p. 10442. Available from: LexisNexis Congressional; Accessed: 10/30/13.
Keso, Edward E.. The senatorial career of Robert Latham Owen,. Gardenvale, P.Q., Can.: Garden city press, 1938.
Running for a position of power is a tough thing to do. There are many things to worry about: your image, your policies, and, especially, your voters. While running for Congress is not as stressful as running for president, it has it own set of obstacles: making a “home style,” representing the people well, and making useful public policy. Listening to the words of Richard Fenno, John Ellwood, and Eric Patashnik can make doing these things a whole lot easier.
However, Senator Smith was determined to introduce his bill despite the grim prospects of its ratification, and refused to step back and take a passive role in the Senate. Historically, however, Senators in Smith’s time and position would not have taken on such an ambitious project as a new Senator.
In this essay I will explore whether or not members of congress are still doing their job or just trying to keep their good reputation with their constituents for re-election time. The question of whether or not members of congress are doing their job effectively has been a great topic of controversy. Being a member of congress has turned into a long term struggle of constantly working towards reelection and trying to balance keeping their districts happy and still being a part of major legislature. Is there a way for members of congress to keep their district happy and still manage the bigger issues they are expected to deal with? Most Americans will complain that they are not happy and that their representatives are not doing their job in
Senate Historical Office. “About the Senate Committee System”. Senate.gov, September, 2002. Web. Feb. 25, 2012.
Mr. Smith was appointed to be a Senator on a whim. He was the leader of the Boy Rangers with no political experience. He was principled with a clear view on right and wrong. Mr. Smith took his ideals as far as risking his career when he did not compromise in order to maintain his beliefs. In addition, special interest groups did not impact Mr. Smith's decisions. He was untouched by the corruption that he learned existed in the legislature. Yet upon discovering it, he did not change himself. Mr. Smith did not place any emphasis on re-election and did not care if people thought negatively about him as long as he remained with his values.
Norman Ornstein is regarded as one of our nation's foremost experts on Congress. Mr. Ornstein received a Ph.D.. from the University of Michigan, he writes for the NewYork Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and he has a regular column in Roll Call newspaper called 'Congress Inside Out';. Mr. Ornstein is also an election analyst for CBS and appears frequently on television shows including the Today Show, Nightline and the Mac Neil/Lehre News Hour where he has been a consultant and contributor for
Many Americans in today's society will find it difficult to answer the question of what Congress exactly does and why it exists. Others simply don't care and see Congress as a failed system where nothing gets done. Lee Hamilton, in his book Why Congress Works and Why you Should Care, proves these people wrong and gives an insider's look at what Congress actually does do and how it affects every American each day.
In average, the most Senators work around 72 days per year. This is considered that they works barely three months every year and earn higher amount of salary compared to normal worker who devoted to his work every day. In fact, 14 Senators missed more than quarter of their work days last year. It is revealed that those appointed Senators do not represent the interests or values of Canadians but abuse their privileges. Instead of supporting, they also blocked bills democratically on intention. For example, in 2010, Stephen Harper asked Senators to veto the bill about climate change legislation that was passed by the House of Commons. Senators also have the authority to indirectly veto a bill on intention. Clearly, Senators do not work on the job that they are commanded to
This past summer, when I lived and worked in Washington, DC—first as a U.S. Senate Page and then as a Congressional Intern—I gained invaluable experience and insight to the American political system. It is amazing how much one can learn from simply overhearing the conversations of Members of Congress on a daily basis. Working on the floor of the Senate and then in the back rooms of a Congressional office were two entirely different experiences, each teaching me in a distinctive way about how our political system functions. While I most definitely became aware of how bureaucratic and slow our democratic system can be, I also discovered that with a commitment to unity and prosperity for the common good, great feats are attainable through government.
The Running Mate, Joe Klein’s political novel, contained a fictional candidate named Charlie Martin. In this book, Charlie Martin is democratic candidate for the U. S. Senate. Martin was a Vietnam veteran, who became a politician because of his mother who was Martin’s hometown Mayor. Four years earlier, Mr. Martin ran for President. He was defeated in the primary election by the current fictional President, Democrat Jack Stanton and at the end of novel has aspirations to run for Governor. Charlie Martin has several strengths and weakness as a political candidate. Some of his strengths are that he is a good speaker, as demonstrated in the debates, a Vietnam veteran, and has experience. His major weakness was that his mind was not on the campaign, but on a woman. Also, in this novel, there were the Lords. These characters served were Charlie Martin’s Vietnam buddies. They were his friends and some were his advisors, like Gidian Reese, who was the National Security Advisor. His role as a Senator was like that of any other Senator. He votes on bills, like the bills that were proposed by President Jack Stanton, proposes bills, and accepts illegal money from outside sources. The President, media, interest groups, committees, congressional staff and money all influence on who is appointed to office. All of these people/groups influence by giving money, influencing of a persons’ background, or on who is an important person. Policy for appointing someone to office is that, if you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. Meaning, that if someone gives you a large amount of money, then the candidate usually returns the favor by appointed him or her to a selected office.
South University Online. (2013). POL2076: American Government: Week 4: People and Politics—Interest Groups. Retrieved from http://myeclassonline.com
Senator Taylor is well-liked and seen as a “family man” by the public. He is respected by both the public and his colleagues for being fair
Across the world, ordinary people find heroes that they aspire to imitate. Comic books portray heroes as super strong men in spandex suits, and although a three-year-old child might aspire to be superman, more mature audiences hopefully find more realistic figures to idolize. Take Barack Obama, the President of the United States; he worked his entire life to attain the highest position in our government, President. Obama was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth but to a single mother in Hawaii. Through hard work and motivation, he went to college and received an education at Columbia University. He later obtained a law degree from Harvard University and began working with the Democratic Party. In 1996 he was elected to the Illinois Senate and acquired a seat in the United State’s Senate in 2004. After only 5 years of experience in the Senate, he was elected the 44th president. Obama’s exponential growth in importance and power could only have been achieved by an exemplary man. His determination, intelligence, hard work, and professionalism all made his success attainable, and he should be admired for these traits. Every country has a national hero and Barack Obama is the United State’s.
The Power of the Media in Politics The mass media possesses a great deal of influence in society and politics in the United States. Newspapers, radio, magazines and television. are able to use their own judgment when reporting current events. The The power of the mass media is an asset to the government in some instances and a stumbling block in others. Recent technology and regulations related to The media have improved the means by which the public can get information.