The state of the U.S. economy will play the critical role in the 2012 election. Thanks to continuing technological advances in the early 21st century, the foundation of the national economy has shifted – moving us away from agriculture and manufacturing to a knowledge based economy. At the same time, the last three years has seen the U.S. suffer one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression. UNM’s political experts discuss what can be done to strengthen the U.S. economy and debate how this issue will impact the 2012 election.
What role will the Hispanic vote play in the 2012 election? How will it impact New Mexico’s local elections this year? Has New Mexico lost its cache as a “Swing State” this year? Is Speaker John Boehner correct in that Republicans have a chance to lose the House of Representatives in 2012? And have the Republicans abandoned the NM-01 Congressional District in 2012? And what about New Mexico’s film subsidies? Have they had the economic impact that was expected? UNM political experts tackle these and other breaking issues throughout this election season.
The Hispanic vote is expected to have a big impact on the 2012 presidential election with immigration and the economy as important issues to Hispanics. According to UNM political science associate professor Gabriel Sanchez, 25% of the Hispanic voting public personally know someone who has been deported. Border security has traditionally been an important issue to Republicans. Does this alienate the Hispanic vote and has President Obama disenfranchised Hispanic voters by deporting more undocumented immigrants than Bush did?
Education is key for many people to move out of poverty. Both political parties have offered divergent policies on the best way to enhance America’s educational foundation. UNM political experts tackle the tricky issues of a Congress gridlocked on federal loan interest rates, school districts concerned about continued budget cuts, and fears that American children continue to fall behind other nations in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – training.
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In keeping with a commitment to the community and the media, the University of New Mexico provides a “2012 Election Experts” page accessible throughout election season. Through it, we showcase UNM professors' and graduate students' expertise in issues relevant to the 2012 election: economy, environment, immigration and other emerging topics. Media members interested in interviewing UNM’s election experts may contact the expert directly via each expert's profile page, or contact Benson Hendrix, University Communication and Marketing, bhendrix@unm.edu, 505-277-1816.
With more information than ever being thrown at voters, and it mattering less and less to how they vote, David Weiss, assistant professor in Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico and UNM Election 2012 Media Expert, looks at the impact this has on the voting public.