The American Election 2012: Contexts and Consequences

Front Matter....Pages i-xvi
Introduction: The American Election 2012—Contexts and Consequences....Pages 1-5
Front Matter....Pages 7-7
The Consequences of Party Reform in the Twenty-First Century....Pages 9-20
Closed for Repairs so It Can Reengage with the World: Prospects for Reforming the Republican Party....Pages 21-35
The 2012 Elections and the Southern Roots of Polarized Politics: The Continuing Power of Southern Conservatives after Obama’s Reelection....Pages 37-47
The Ever-Widening Gap: Gender and the 2012 Presidential Election....Pages 49-58
Data, America’s Shifting Landscape, and the Meaning of 2012....Pages 59-66
Front Matter....Pages 67-67
Are Super PACs Arms of Political Parties? A Study of Coordination....Pages 69-80
Economic Appeals in Unequal Communities: Stump Speeches in the 2012 Presidential Election....Pages 81-95
Casualties of the Ground War: Personal Contacting and Its Discontents....Pages 97-113
Unfriendly to Women? Female Politicians, Rape Comments, and the GOP in 2012....Pages 115-128
Weighing in or Waiting: When, Whether, and Whom Republican Officeholders Endorsed in 2012....Pages 129-142
Front Matter....Pages 143-143
The Past as Prologue: Obama, Health Care, and the Election of 2012....Pages 145-157
Healthcare Spending and Prevention within the Affordable Care Act: Contrasting the Public Health and Medical Models of Prevention....Pages 159-170
Natural Uncertainty: Reconciling the Contrasting Environmental Goals of America’s First Natural Security President—Barack Obama....Pages 171-185
Federal Judicial Vacancies: Obama’s Record and Prospects....Pages 187-198
The Politics of Presidential Foreign Policy: Unilateral Authority and the Role of Congress....Pages 199-213
Decline or Not: America’s Continued Primacy in the Persian Gulf....Pages 215-227
Front Matter....Pages 229-229
Courting the Catholic Vote: Obama, Romney, and the US Catholic Bishops in the 2012 Presidential Election....Pages 231-248
Catholic Vice Presidential Candidates and the Politics of Abortion: The 2012 Debate in Context....Pages 249-258
What Romney’s Nomination Means for Mormons and the Presidency....Pages 259-268
Front Matter....Pages 229-229
The Liberal State and the Gay Marriage Debate: Lessons from American Catholic Thought....Pages 269-278
Obama and the Common Good....Pages 279-289
The Rise of the Liberal Protestant? Faith and Politics in the Obama Administration....Pages 291-300
Back Matter....Pages 301-362