School Project
During the last weeks wethe students of class E1,  took part in a project organised by the US embassy and the LISUM concerning the US election 2008.Within this project 50 schools in Berlin and Brandenburg were asked to gain knowledge about the US election in general, the candidates and to make a prediction for which candidate one specific state was going to vote. our part was to find out more about the state of Alabama and it’s voters. On election day, 4th November 2008, representatives of every school were invited to the Rote Rathaus in Berlin to exchange their results. It was a great experience to exchange our newly gained knowledge about the US election with other students. It was impressive to see the coloured map of the USA where our predictions were fixated by the colours red (=Republicans) and blue (= Democrats). We will see in the morning of NNovember 5th, whether our predictions were right or wrong.

Let's see what will happen

 Getting readythe results

to learn more about this project, click here.

go to: The New York Times: Campaign 2008   go to: BBC News: US elections 2008

School Project US Election 2008

The state of Alabama

Thomas- Mann- Oberschule

Representing the state of Alabama we come to the conclusion that Alabama is going to vote for McCain in the US election of 2008.

History shows that Alabama has always voted for the Republicans since 1964.

In this southern state race still is a major issue for the voters. Even though slavery has been abolished for a very long time, it was the reason why African American people were brought to Alabama in the first place.

Alabama has got a long history of racial conflicts. Compared to other states of the USA  Alabama has a large population of African Americans. Therefore, it is not surprising that major events of the civil rights movement such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the first Freedom Marches, organised by Martin Luther King, took place in Alabama. Because of the success of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s the African Americans have now, the same rights as every other American.

However, the white population of Alabama still is quite conservative and sticks to their old ideas. This group forms the majority (69%) in the state. It is not just that they probably would not elect a black president but also that they do not support the politics of the Democratic Party.

It is very likely that the majority of the group of African Americans in Alabama is going to vote for Obama. Not only because he is black. Traditionally African Americans don’t feel supported by the republican government and want to change their situation. This was already shown during the last election when 91% of the African American population of Alabama voted for John Kerry. However, in total this makes just 30 % of the votes for the state of Alabama.

Thus, the white majority will decide which candidate will win the state of Alabama. The present economic situation in the USA might convince some republicans to vote for Obama. However, we still think that in this very conservative state it is very unlikely for the Democrats to gain the majority of votes.