What are we talking about?
Critical Analysis
The data from the visuals above comes from Brookings research on all 2360 candidates (that’s a whole lot!) who ran for House or Senate in the 2022 primaries (from March 1 to September 13). Data was complied by looking at candidates’ official website, Facebook page, tweets, press interviews, skywriting campaigns, and their votes (in the case of incumbents). Of all the Democratic candidates what was the most discussed issue?
Based on the data above, of all the Republican candidates what was the most discussed issue?
What is the big story that the data from the visuals tells about political division in America?
Based on the data above, what two topics did both Democratic and Republican candidates discuss most frequently?
Why do you think that candidates from both parties focused on the issue of abortion?
Why do you think there was so little overlap between candidates from the different parties?
In primary elections candidates face off against other candidates from their own party. In general elections (which will take place between now and November 8) candidates face off against candidates from other parties (typically Democrats versus Republicans). What type of voter is more likely to vote in a general election than a primary election?
Candidates can either talk about an issue and spin it in their favor or they can just not talk about an issue. There were lots of issues which were perceived to advantage one party or another and were thus not discussed. Not surprisingly, Democrats shied away from discussing the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, while the Republicans who did mention it used the issue to criticize President Biden. Republicans stayed away from discussing the high cost of prescription drugs, and from discussing Biden’s infrastructure bill—two issues popular with the public. Legalization of cannabis was largely ignored by candidates in both parties, but Democratic candidates spoke more favorably about it than did Republican candidates. And the January 6 uprising at the Capitol was ignored by more Republican candidates (83%) than by Democratic candidates (65%.) Explain why it will be hard to ignore certain topics in the general election?
What do you think will be the top issues discussed in the general elections and what topic are you most interested in hearing about in the general election?
In general, do you think politicians are more likely to talk about issues or do something about issues; and do you think this is any different than it was during the early years of the American Republic?
Learning Extension
Read more from Brookings about the most popular topics in the primary elections.
Action Extension
If you will be 18 years old by Tuesday, November 8 then take two minutes and register to vote online. If you are too young to vote this year then find someone who is old enough and convince them to register.