INTRODUCTION

The 1998 mid-term election is the last chance the voters of America have to determine the direction of their government before the close of the century and the millennium. There are numerous issues that the voters must consider as they go to the polls. Many experts see this election as a referendum on the President and his scandals. The voters may want to send a message to the Democratic Party that they will not tolerate scandal in the White House by supporting Republican candidates. Conversely, Republicans may get the message that a majority of Americans oppose impeachment of the President, and that as the ruling party, they should get on with the business of dealing with the nation's problems.

Discussion Questions on the Results of the 1998 Election

• Which issue do you feel was the defining idea behind the election of 1998?
• Do you feel negative campaigning is effective or is it self-defeating for candidates who use it?
• Do you consider yourself "conservative," "liberal," or "radical?" What aspects of your views leads you to define yourself this way?

• Is there a way to avoid gridlock that results from "divided government"?
• MARYLAND VIEWERS: Do you think it was a good idea for kids to vote along with their parents in the Kids Voting Program? Can you tell us why?
• Why did traditionally Republican States vote for Democratic when they normally vote for Republican candidates?
• What is your opinion about the election results in your local area? Please share with us the results of the Congressional and local races as well as your opinion on those results.

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Vocabulary Terms Related To US Elections and Political Parties

Clicking on the term will take you to a definition.

1. Commander-in-chief
2. Pardon
3. Agenda
4. Incumbent
5. Republicans
6. Democrats
7. Economy
8. Deficit
9. Presidential succession
10. Executive priviledge
11. Executive agreements
12. Conservative
13. Liberal

WWW Links on The 1998 US mid-term elections

National Races:

   Web, White, & Blue
This web site contains links to all of the major news organizations. It is a complete resource for following the election results. Links to individual state races are lower on the Web, White & Blue web page.

Yahoo.com
Yahoo is a web directory with a complete set of links to a variety of political and election resources.

The League of Women Voters
These women are on top of the election news. Their web site has a variety of election and political web sites for your bookmarks file.

MTV's Rock The Vote
Need a hipper view of the election? Visit MTV's Rock The Vote site.

PBS: The Democracy Project
The Public Broadcasting Service provides election results, media analysis, discussion areas, and an early look at the 2000 presidential race. Mr. Cassutto wrote two lesson plans for the Democracy Project:

• Project Vote-Smart
• Learning About the Electoral Process

Project Vote-Smart's Election Returns
Project Vote-Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan watchdog group that tracks the activities of Congress and its constituent members. Their Election 1998 web page contains links to many local news organizations as well as state-by-state coverage. A visit to their web site is well worth the time to investigate.

Maryland Races

Sailor's Maryland Election Page

The Maryland Library Information system, called Sailor, maintains a page dealing with all the races in the state of Maryland.

Western Maryland Races

WHAG-TV
NBC Affiliate WHAG maintains a web site with full local election coverage

The Herald-Mail
The local newspaper of the Hagerstown area, the Herald Mail will have all the local results.

Frederick News-Post
Howdy neighbor! If you are visiting from our neighbor to the east in Frederick County, Maryland, you may want to check races at the Frederick News-Post!

Have a resource we should know about? Have something to say? Send us an e-mail at nhhs@fred.net. Just place the words "election 1998" in the subject line. We'll be posting a discussion area on the election in several days. Please check back with us often, and thanks for visiting!

Politics Now One of the most complete political resources on the Web (In Our Humble Opinion).
Part of the History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers If this site doesn't have it, it does not exist!
Third Part Time Huge resources!
Here is an imagemap that will keep you up to date on all the Congressional races in the country. It is published by the Congressional watchdog Roll Call.
Election Nexus Cool info!.
Republican Presidential Candidate NPAT Responses
Republican National Information
Republican National Committee Learn about the GOP Convention and platform.
The Democratic Party Home Page
The Democracy Project of the Public Broadcasting System
Allpolitics.com

 
  This page updated by Joe J. in November, 1998