2020 Presidential Election

[Dill]

(05-22-2020, 03:38 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: It's an important message. One of the problems with teaching government is that I have to worry about people wanting me to "teach both sides", especially now with all of my material online. I'll do what I can to play devil's advocate and present things as "some believe this while others believe this. Use the evidence and make up your own mind".

But... what could I possibly post from Trump if I were to post Obama's graduation speech? Even on the most important occasions, he takes any oppurtunity to lie and insult people. With out fail. I guess I could find something from W? We've gotten to the point where I have to promote W's oratory skills because the GOP has normalize Donald Trump.

I sympathize with the difficulty, and would offer a suggestion--teach both sides, sure, but set up a rational framework for comparing them and evaluating claims. Let students themselves notice any differences which pop up.

E.g., if student teams had compared Hillary's campaign website with Trump's back in 2016, they'd have likely noticed that Hillary's was professional and informative, reaching deeply into policy solutions with one level for skimmers and links for wonks who wanted details.  Trump's, on the other hand, was sloppy, full of accidental repetition and misspellings, and mostly sloganizing and accusation. I'd ask students how to account for these differences, in terms of how each candidate attracts and organizes staff, and the standards and judgment implied by the candidate's "sign off" on the site. What might that imply about the candidate's ability to appoint a cabinet and staff the WH? Let the students argue about it and come to own their conclusions without "correcting" them (other than on logical consistency).

It's ok to compare speeches even if Trump lies and insults.  That's what Trump offers so that is what you have to teach.

Well, those are just suggestions. You are probably doing something like this already. I'm sure you've got all kinds of lesson plans and readings that will develop your students, and you are doing the kind of work that is critical to maintaining democracy, if that is really the kind of government we want.

Probably the situation will be the same this summer and fall, regarding websites etc.