Title: ★ TASK: Meet the Candidates
Course: US Election 2020-Leuphana-Copy > Section: 2. The Candidates

[fa-info-circle]  In this task, you will:

- familiarize yourself with the candidates’ personal and biographical backgrounds through online research.
- prepare and act out an interview between news journalists and so-called 'character witnesses' for the candidates.

1. Research the candidates' background   [fa-book]   [fa-comments-o]

The aim of this task is to stage a TV interview with so-called character witnesses of the candidates in a role-play. (A character witness is a person who attests to another's good reputation in a court of law; in politics, it is a person who testifies to the character and values of a candidate and provides a glimpse into the candidate's private life). You will be given one of the following roles to prepare:

[fa-users]   Roles (click on the links for detailed descriptions)

Option: The candidates' children

- You are Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump's eldest daughter.
- You are Dr. Jill Biden, Joe Biden's wife.

Option: The candidates' former classmates

- You are Donald J. Trump's former classmate (for example, Peter Ticktin).
- You are Joe Biden's former classmate (for example, Maggie C. Martins).

Start your research from here:

[fa-external-link]   Quicklinks

Background information on the candidates

- BBC candidate profiles for Joe Biden (https://bbc.in/3b7ngp6) and Donald Trump (http://bbc.in/1VK0Sqz)

Ivanka Trump

- The New York Times – Introducing Her Father, Ivanka Trump Is Character Witness (begin by watching the first two videos in the article)

Jill Biden

- Live5News – Jill Biden makes campaign stops in Lowcountry ahead of democratic primary
- ABC, The View – Dr. Jill Biden on Her Husband Joe Biden's 2020 Run
- Business Insider - The life of Jill Binden, a crucial person in 2020 campaign

Peter Ticktin

- Facebook post – Vote as You Wish, and Let Me Tell You about Trump
- WDR – Donald Trump, Milliardär ohne Tabus (watch the part from 3:57 until 7:33 where Mr. Ticktin is being interviewed)

Maggie C. Martins

- Huffington Post - Vetting Joe Biden: My Conversation With His Classmate

When browsing your candidate’s profiles, you could focus on questions like:

[fa-question-circle]   Guiding questions

- What can you learn about your candidate's biography? Their personal, educational, and professional background?
- What is the relationship between the character witness and the candidate?
- How reliable is the character witness for what he/she says about the candidate?
- What is the character witness's role in the campaign?

When completing your research, get together with the other students representing your role and brief each other on your findings. Support each other in selecting good talking points and arguments for the role-play.

2. Stage the role-play   [fa-comments-o]

Your teacher will assign each student a role and ask you to perform an interview together. This will be done spontaneously, so you do not know exactly which questions will be asked or the answers that will be given.

[fa-lightbulb-o]   Interview setup

- Interview 1: Two interviewers + character witness(es) for Joe Biden
- Interview 2: Two interviewers + character witness(es) for Donald Trump

3. Extra: Record your role play on video   [fa-eye]   [fa-comments-o]

Record your role-play on video (for example using a tablet or smartphone). Watch the recordings together and discuss how well the roles were represented. Look for the following aspects:

[fa-question-circle]   Observation questions

- How accurate and detailed was the information presented? Was it authentic or stereotypical?
- How convincing was the argumentation?
- How well did the students react to topics, arguments, and questions?
- How good was their English?
- How well were gestures and body language employed?

Think about more criteria if necessary and add them to the list.

4. Extra: Write a newspaper article   [fa-book]   [fa-comments-o]

Based on the role-play, write an article for a local newspaper in your adopted state. Make use of the following template to write your report (click at the end of the tab for the downloadable version).

Resources for this task

1 Newspaper template (handout)
Source | Date
text