Could I get some help from any research-happy ENWorlders?

[Angcuru]

Ok, so I suddenly have to prepare for a Lincoln-Douglass debate as the Affirmative on the issue of changing the presidential term from a four year term with the possibility of a single re-election, to a single 6-year term without the possibility of re-election.

Now, I know how I'm going to defend my position, I'm just having HELL trying to find evidence to support it (4 hours researching the school online library and online searches with nothing to show for it).

If you feel like helping, I really need but can't find info on the following:
Presidential Campaign costs in the last 20 years.
Presidential Campaign trail time (time spent campaigning) in the last 20 years.

Anything you think might help would be welcome, but I'm focusing on the above two.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Now, I in no way intend this to be a political discussion, I just need help finding some facts. If you turn it into a political discussion, you lose cool points.

Thanks in advance!

 

[der_kluge]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2004-11-17-kerry-nest-egg_x.htm

http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/geog.asp?id=N00000245&cycle=2004

http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/summary.asp?id=N00000245&cycle=2004

http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/summary.asp?ID=N00008072

The "opensecrets.org" site seems to have a wealth of information.

http://www.4president.org

 

[Angcuru]

Lots of thanks, that is very helpful.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

If you feel like helping, I really need but can't find info on the following:
Presidential Campaign costs in the last 20 years.
Presidential Campaign trail time (time spent campaigning) in the last 20 years.

This information should easily be available for your nearest Government Depository Library. We are one here at UVA, I'm not sure where you are so I can't tell you what University Library to contact. Here is our homepage, and the page for the Federal Depository Library Program. You should be able to find out who is the closest Depository to you. Check with your library's Reference Department as well, they can probably find the info for you easily enough as well.

http://www.lib.virginia.edu/govdocs/index.html
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/index.html

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Wow. What a great topic.

Knock em dead!

 

[Torm]

Hmm, Curtis seems to have covered the research question pretty well....

I'm actually kind of against your position, but the following points occur to me in favor of it as things to look into - even if you don't want to use them as primary points, they may tie in to your primaries peripherally.

1. A (theoretical) reduction in the influence of party politics on the candidate once elected.
2. Increased time for opposition to prepare for elections, possibly allowing better fundraising for parties other than The Big Two.
3. The possible use of some of the extended time to allow for an extended actual election, which would provide more time for error-checking and possibly the implementation of more accurate, but also more complex and time-consuming, systems of election.

 

[der_kluge]

I'm all for implementing a 1 term, 6 year president.

I think President's would be more likely to introduce controversial bills without fear of losing a second term. Otherwise, the status quo is maintained too much.
I also think 8 years is too long for one person to have that much power.
You also wouldn't have the problem of president's campaigning for second term at tax-payer expense. Let's face it, we pay George Bush's salary, and whether you like him or hate him, you have to admit that we say more of him during his run for second term than we saw of him in the first three years of office. Whether you think that's a good thing or not, we were essentially paying his salary while he campaigned. Same for Kerry. The people of Mass. weren't exactly getting their moneys' worth for a senator while he campaigned.

 

[billd91]

Whoo. Challenging position to defend, especially since I don't agree with it (I'm not a term-limit supporter in general), but I do have some research ideas:

I believe the Philippines have a single-term, 6 year presidency. Focus some research on that.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cach...3/presidency.htm+single+term+presidency&hl=en is a cached document I found via google about how this has been debated before.

Nigeria also has a single-term presidency, I believe. It might be worth looking up as well.

Turkey, used to have a single-term (7 year) presidency and still might. The tried to allow 2 5-year terms but that was defeated back in 1999 or 2000. A little research into why that attempt failed might provide some arguments in favor of a single-term presidency.

 

[Angcuru]

Yeah, those were points I was going to use. I have my argument and all that planned out, I just need some supporting evidence some cross-examination time.

 

[Angcuru]

Well, did the debate about an hour ago. It went well, except for having a mind fart at the beginning of my Cross-Examination of the Negative.