Adios, New Hampshire District 1!



It's been real, y'all.



            Well, blogosphere, we’ve come to the end of the semester, and the last post of my blog. As per the final assignment, I have to write about redistricting. However – because I don’t want to leave any of you fans of New Hampshire’s District 1 hanging – I’ll also give you an update on ole’ Frank and Carol, and tell you some of what I’ve learned about blogging this semester before I ride off into the big cyber sunset.

            First, a bit about redistricting. Obviously, all the newly elected politicians – soon to be sworn in after 2011 arrives – have their minds on redistricting (Well, reelection first, but redistricting somewhere after). Although redistricting can turn crooked with gerrymandering, it is supposed to keep districts compact and homogenized to preserve community interests. If YOU want to get into the seat of the Re-Districter (Alright, I just made that title up), though, here’s a link to the Redistricting Game: a game that – I kid you not – educates you about redistricting while letting you try the process for yourself. Happy Holidays, Poli-Sci nerds. Of course, I meant that in the best way possible.

            Well, enough of redistricting, and onto wrapping this all up. There’s not much of an epilogue to the saga of Frank-and-Carol. Soon to be Ex-Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter has yet (at least, when I posted this) to update her website to thank her supporters, congratulate her opponent, and/or offer some closing comments on her incumbency. I imagined that she would’ve done something to that effect by now, but I suppose her loss to Guinta is still stinging a bit. Guinta, on the other hand is inviting everyone to his Christmas party! Party at the Guinta’s! Victory is sweet I suppose. Though I thought that Shea-Porter had a good chance to win reelection when I began this blog, in retrospect I guess she was fighting a losing battle all along.

            Despite the not-so-thrilling ending to the District 1 race, I have learned quite a bit about blogging over the semester. I learned that to make a blog successful, you not only need to keep up with it consistently, but that you also need to have fun with your blog – even if it’s on a Congressional Race in a tiny corner of New Hampshire.

            Well, that’s it I suppose….but I should stop here before we all get too emotional. To everyone – from my class and elsewhere (whoever the heck you are) – who’s read this blog this semester; thanks for tuning in. And good luck to both Carol Shea-Porter and Frank Guinta as you two enter a new phase in your political careers. Who knows…maybe in a few years we’ll have Shea-Porter and Guinta Round Two. Until then…stay classy, District 1!

Change, Lattes, and Realignment

Sweet, sweet politics.

            Change is good. Whether it’s breaking out of my Venti-Americano-Steamed-Soy shell at Starbucks to get an Eggnog latte, feng shui-ing my living room, or deciding to bike to school instead of paying my tuition in parking, change is good for all of us. Our country has just gone through some big changes in the last few weeks with the Midterm Elections, and it is up to political pundits, analysts, and students like me to interpret what changes these changes will bring. Fun times!

            So in this entry, I’m going to try and decide whether we’re heading towards a realignment in the next presidential election based on the recent midterms. First I’ll give the argument for why we’re heading for a realignment, and then counter it…and you’ll just have to read on to see where my opinion lies!

            I can see how some people (Like, for example, rabid Tea Party members) might say we are heading for a realignment soon. With opposition to Obama mounting and becoming much fervent, it’s easy to see why someone might think that the next election will likely bring on a  realignment. After all, realignments occur (among many other signals or realignments and factors) during a time of heightened political interest, usually with intense party turmoil, and involve national issues with a desire for policy change. Certainly, it seems that our nation is heading towards all of these factors, and – unless public opinion of Obama changes in the next two years – it is possible we might have a realignment.

2012: The ultimate realignment.

            Even so, I’m not sure that the next presidential election is going to be Obama’s proverbial walk to the guillotine, as some of his opposition might suggest. While some may think the upcoming election is going to be a major realignment (for the reasons I just went over), I’m not so sure. I think that the 2008 Presidential election was a realignment, and – since realignments generally take a few years/incumbencies to generate another one – it’s unlikely that we’re going to have one in the 2012 election, no matter what Obama’s opposition has to say. That is, of course, if any of us are around to see the election of 2012….but that’s another story.

            Well, only time will tell whether we’re going to go through a realignment in the next few years. Goodness knows I’m not a very good fortune teller; and the most predicting I dabble in is my horoscope. Stay tuned next week for my send-off blog post on redistricting!