How to Talk
About Elections
Written By Kevin Markey
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With the presidential campaign in full gear, talk of swing states, economic plans, and exit strategies fills the air. The deluge trickles down to our smallest citizens, who have more questions than Wolf Blitzer at a press conference. Wherever you fall along the political spectrum, the election offers an opportunity to explain how we choose a president and why every vote matters — even in Florida. In the words of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "A healthy democracy depends on the participation of citizens, and that participation is learned behavior; it doesn't just happen."
To facilitate the conversation, we turned to Su Hickenbottom, elementary school representative of the National Council for the Social Studies. Here, she tackles a few questions kids might have about the upcoming presidential election.
Why are there so many elections this year?
Younger kids: Lots of people believed they'd make good leaders for our country and ran for president. To narrow down our choices, states held early elections called primaries. They're like the baseball playoffs that lead to the World Series. John McCain and Barack Obama did the best in this year's primaries and will run in the final presidential election.
Older kids: In statewide contests, or primaries, Republican candidates run against each other and Democrats run against other Democrats. Primaries help voters find out what the candidates stand for, and each party figures out who its best candidate is — the winner of the most primaries. Each party then has a national convention to officially choose its presidential candidate.
Who are the Democrats and Republicans?
Younger kids: In the U.S., the Democrats and Republicans are the two biggest political parties, but not the eating-cake-and- cracking-open-piñatas kind. They're political groups who have different ideas about what's best for our country. They each choose a candidate who has similar beliefs. A citizen joins the party whose ideas they like best.
Older kids: The Democrats and Republicans are the U.S.'s dominant political parties. "Party" describes a group of people who share beliefs about how to govern the country. Democrats and Republicans tend to take different approaches on issues like creating jobs, caring for poor or sick people, and education. The two big parties have been slugging it out for so long that some people believe there should be a third major party with a fresh set of ideas.
If we don't like a president, why do we have to wait four years to choose a new one?
Younger kids: It takes time to put ideas into action. Back when our country was just starting, our leaders decided that the president should get four years to make his ideas work.
Older kids: The president and the people of the U.S. are governed by a collection of laws called the Constitution, which sets a president's term at four years. When the men who founded this country wrote the Constitution more than 200 years ago, they wanted to give the country stability and make sure the president had enough time to get things done. But they didn't want him (or her) to stay in office endlessly, like a king. (They'd just fought against a king in the Revolutionary War.) They figured four years was the right amount of time. Two terms of four years is the limit. After eight years, it's time for change.
Party Animals
Our two major parties have different ideas about lots of things, including what makes a good mascot. Interestingly, their zoological representatives — elephant for Republicans, donkey for Democrats — were born as insults.
Next: The birth of the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey
Click here for books and DVDs for kids of all ages that explain the political process
