Drexel Votes: Super Tuesday -- What it is and Why it Matters
 |
| Currently 24 states, American Samoa and Democrats Abroad are scheduled to hold caucuses or primary elections on Super Tuesday, 2008. Blue denotes Democratic-only caucuses, Red denotes Republican-only state conventions, and Purple represents states holding elections for both parties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Duper_Tuesday |
Super Tuesday has reflected different political needs and goals over the years. In 1988, Democrats in the South were upset by the party’s tendency to nominate liberal candidates from the North or Midwest who had little appeal to conservative voters in Georgia or Tennessee. The Southerners responded by organizing a regional primary designed to boost the chances of a moderate candidate. As so often happens in politics, things did not turn out as the experts expected. Three of the strongest candidates, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson and Michael Dukakis each won some of the Super Tuesday primaries and Dukakis became the Democratic nominee. In the fall general election, the Governor of Massachusetts failed to carry a single state south of West Virginia. However, this Democratic “Southern Strategy” did work in 1992, when Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton became the leading candidate for the party’s nomination by winning primary contests in several southern states on Super Tuesday.
By 2008, Super Tuesday had become an expression of very different concerns. Traditionally, some of the largest and most diverse states in the country held late presidential primaries, only to discover that everything had been decided by the time their citizens actually had a chance to vote. In Pennsylvania, voters went to the polls toward the end of April, which was often too late in the process to make a difference. In addition, the media attention showered on such early voting states as Iowa and New Hampshire made the feelings of irritation and resentment even more intense in the rest of the nation. As political scientists and ordinary voters in other states pointed out, neither Iowa nor New Hampshire are really representative of the U.S. as a whole. Both are too small, too rural and have few African-Americans or Latinos among their residents. The resentment described above also had an economic component. A hotly contested presidential primary has the potential to attract armies of journalists, bloggers, campaign consultants and volunteers. This in turn can translate into an economic bonanza for the state in question. Why, voters in other states asked, should we be left out? For all these reasons, legislatures in a multitude of states passed laws moving up the dates of their presidential primaries. As a result, Super Tuesday, which began as a regional event has truly become national in character.
Both major political parties had their own reasons for embracing the Super Tuesday concept. If Democrats and Republicans often disagree about issues and programs, professionals in both parties often agree on practical matters like strategy and tactics. The pros on both sides felt that if presidential nominating contests were allowed to drag on too long, the respective candidates would burn through vast sums of money that could be better spent in the fall. In addition, a long primary season would increase the risk of nasty campaigns that would leave key elements of the party’s base angry, embittered and more likely to stay home in November. At this moment, a national Super Tuesday primary seems to have a bright future because it benefits so many different interest groups.
Dick Levinson, Public Relations - Drexel University Libraries
January 31, 2008
COS Funding Opportunities 
Coffee, snacks, beverages, sandwiches, salads and more! 
The Coffee/Snack bar in Hagerty Library's Bookmark Café is now open for business. Operated by Sodexho, the café will be open 11 am to 9 pm Monday through Friday, and 4 to 9 pm on Sundays. "Turbo oven" facilities allow fast heating of pizza slices and other tummy-warming goodies.
Also beginning tonight, the Bookmark Café will remain open all night, every night, providing 24/7 study space throughout the term. After the 
Browse the December 
Bookmark Café
Compact Shelving Installation on Lower Level
New Locker Locations
Students using the public computers in Hagerty Library will be pleased to find that Office 2007 applications are now available, as well as Office 2003.
University Archivist Rob Sieczkiewicz has announced, on the new 
Business Librarian Emily Missner is pleased to announce the availability of Mergent WebReports Digital Corporate Manuals, the electronic form of the old Moody’s Manuals in a digitized TIFF format. This database spans from 1909 to the most current year. You'll find the Mergent WebReports at 
Engineering Librarian Jay Bhatt announces the addition of the Merck Manual to the Knovel collection of e-books: 
