Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by cmn32480 on Saturday November 14 2015, @04:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the coin-flip dept.

The Bern Report reports

Dr. Rick Hardy and Dr. John Hemingway have been leading Mock Presidential Elections [at Western Illinois University] since 1975. During that time, students who have participated in these mock elections have chosen the winning party with 100% accuracy and have an astonishing record in selecting presidential winners.

On the Democratic side for the Primaries Sanders won[1] by close to a 2 to 1 margin over challenger Hillary Clinton.

[...] After nominating Sanders, the student Democrats put him up against Jeb Bush, who received the Republican nomination, with Bernie winning the electoral college by nearly a 4 to 1 margin and a decisive win for the popular vote.

This simulation always takes place the year before the presidential election year, and three months before the actual Iowa caucuses. The genesis of this mock presidential election began at the University of Iowa in 1975 with two political science doctoral students, John Hemingway and Rick Hardy. In that year, students selected Jimmy Carter over Gerald Ford--long before anyone really knew of Jimmy Carter.

In the years that followed, Rick Hardy expanded the format and engaged thousands of students at the University of Missouri-Columbia where students registered a perfect record of selecting the subsequent winning presidential party. In 2007 and 2011, Hardy and Hemingway teamed up again to conduct a massive campus-wide simulation at Western Illinois University. In 2007, Western students selected Barack Obama as president at a time when no one thought he could win! And, in 2011, students narrowly re-elected President Obama.

[1] Content is behind scripts.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Saturday November 14 2015, @10:05PM

    by jmorris (4844) on Saturday November 14 2015, @10:05PM (#263473)

    There is that. I'm mixed on Carson though. One the one hand he is woefully unfit for the job. On the other, while still unready it is amazing how fast the guy has been leveling up. When he first launched he was just cringeworthy anytime he opened his mouth and in only a few months has been training up like a madman. So I have to respect his mind, but realistically there is zero chance he would be truly ready by Jan 2017 other than as somebody who picks experts. And that is where I hit the problem. I can see who Trump would pick (because he isn't ready for a lot of POTUS decisions either) as advisers bit Carson isn't dropping any clues. And who he would choose to surround himself with would be THE vital bit of info since his advisers would be wielding a lot more power than in a typical administration. His current hangers on and fundraisers do not inspire confidence.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Sunday November 15 2015, @09:30AM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Sunday November 15 2015, @09:30AM (#263601)

    A grand majority of actual lifelong politicians are unfit for the job, because they are evil scumbags who support laws and policies that violate the highest law of the land and our fundamental liberties. And I don't think either Trump or Carson would be any different, given many of their stated goals. It's just more militaristic nonsense and the same drug war we've been having.