Arena Profile: Dewey Clayton

Dewey M. Clayton, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of two books, African Americans and the Politics of Congressional Redistricting, (2000), a new book he just recently published titled The Presidential Campaign of Barack Obama: A Critical Analysis of a Racially Transcendent Strategy (2010), and numerous publications in scholarly journals. His teaching interests are highlighted by an award-winning course that he developed titled Political Discourse which integrates public speaking with political discourse from the modern day civil rights movement. His research interests include African American politics, congressional redistricting, and race and the law. He received a B.A. degree in political science from Morehouse College. He received an M.P.A. degree from North Carolina Central University, Cum Laude, and Valedictorian. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1995 where he was a Chancellor's Gus T. Ridgel Academic Fellow.

Dewey Clayton's Recent Discussions

Could Hurricane Sandy impact Election Day?

The storm has already impacted the elections because both candidates have had to adjust their schedules and cancel campaign events.

Additionally, the storm has impacted several states that have early voting - some have had to suspend early voting. President Obama has to stay on top of the situation. Ironically, as the American people opine for less government, in times of a crisis or natural disaster, the America people look to the President for leadership and look to the federal government for aid and assistance. If the storm is especially damaging to life and property, the American people may blame President Obama.

If Gov. Romney attempts to make political hay out of something beyond the president's control, he faces a backlash from voters as well. Since we are one week out from the presidential election, both candidates need to approach Hurricane Sandy with the utmost caution.

Why is anyone still paying any attention to Donald Trump, particularly when he continues to make bizarre accusations like President Obama was not born in the US of A.?

If he is so concerned about the educational records of our presidential candidates, why has he not asked to see Romney’s transcripts from his college days? If I were the President, I would not take Trump nor his offer seriously. Why does the media continue to give Trump so much attention? Wasn’t he considering a bid for the presidency at one time?

President Obama is too busy right now (in case Romney hasn’t noticed) running the United States of America and his reelection campaign for that office. I doubt very seriously if President Obama will give this any consideration whatsoever. By choosing to ignore Romney, he is not dignifying such frivolous accusations and requests. Nothing but positive consequences will result from his decision. Most Americans see the games Trump what so he is. The president is far too busy to deal with such frivolity.

These comments will not hurt Romney because this is not his position on abortion (at least for now).

However, it will hurt Mourdock’s chances in his bid to win the Senate race in Indiana this year against Democrat Joe Donnelly. The latest polls show that race is a dead heat. This further diminishes the likelihood that the GOP will regain a majority in the U.S. Senate. And, yes, he should step down for saying something as “psychotic” as rape is something that God intended to happen.

It is hard for me to see how these comments were taken out of context.

The debates give the voters an opportunity to see the candidates for who they really are. In the second debate, I think Gov. Romney showed how he thinks and feels about women in his rather awkward comment about how he had collected “binders full of women” in search for qualified women in his administration. So, the immediate question becomes didn’t he know qualified women as a businessman in his daily professional and social contacts.

It showed a presidential candidate who is largely out of touch with women, women’s issues, and women’s concerns. His general comments about women throughout the second debate reminded me of something out of the 1950s. He made allusion to women who work and need flex time to go home at 5:00 and fix dinner for their families and to take care of their children. He also talked about women need to be married because a two-parent family will help keep their family out of poverty, he wasn’t assertive on the proposition of “equal pay for equal work” nor did he come out in favor of supporting funding for Planned Parenthood. All women are no longer stay at home moms, and although being married is a laudable goal, the reality is that many women are single, working mothers. Women are looking for answers to their current problems, not some idealistic platitudes that no longer exist.

He simply needs to remind Americans why we are better off today than we were four years ago. Moreover, he needs to remind Americans of his administration’s policies that have put this country back on sound footing after going through a severe economic recession.

He should remind Americans of our foreign policy successes under his administration and that he is a strong commander in chief Additionally, he needs to very clearly state to the America people what his priorities are for the next four years. And he needs to tell Americans why we should reelect him as the next president of the United States.

Obama showed passion when he campaigned for the presidency in 2008, and many Americans loved what they heard and were drawn to support him. He needs to recapture that passion and show Americans that he is still fighting for them and why his policies are better for America than his challenger.

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