How many states got zero presidential campaign stops in 2024?
General-election campaign events of the 2024 presidential campaign
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:tical Analysis
According to the visual above, what state got the most campaign stops by the POTUS candidates in 2024.
According to the visual above, how many states got ZERO campaign stops by POTUS candidates in 2024?
Almost All (94%) of 2024 Presidential Campaign was Concentrated on 7 States. These 7 states have a little less than 20% of the U.S. population. That is, 80% of Americans are mere spectators to the 2024 presidential election. Describe the feature of American presidential elections that causes presidential candidates to basically only visit 7 out of 50 states.
What is one consequence of this concentration of campaign activity?
What is the political science term we use to describe states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina which get the most campaign stops?
What about these states makes them so valuable to POTUS candidates?
Central to the concept of democracy is the the idea that all people are politically equal. The Declaration of Independence contains these lines regarding the value of equality. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” Does this map resemble political equality?
Nebraska is not exactly a swing state - in 2024, Donald Trump won 60% of the Nebraska vote. What about the way Nebraska divides its electoral votes explains why Nebraska got a presidential campaign visit while none of its nearby red-sates neighbors did. (Pro Tip: the answer could be the same for Maine.)
Imagine the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished the Electoral College (don’t hold your breath). How would that Constitutional change impact the data from the map?
At the time of the Constitutional Convention The Anti-Federalists were afraid of too much power being concentrated in a central national government. They preferred that power be centered at the state level. If an anti-federalist saw this map, after they stopped freaking out about how Big the U.S. had gotten, what claim would they make about this map and the power of states?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
If states with a majority of electoral votes enacted the National Popular Vote Plan, US presidential campaigns would be very different and campaign stops would be more evenly distributed. Use this handy little link to contact your state representative (they decide where your state's electoral votes go) and let them know what you think about the National Popular Vote Plan.
Get Creative
If the electoral college were a kind of animal, what would it be?
Learning Extension
Dive into the data and track every presidential campaign stop in 2024.