[Posts labeled as 'most important' at the end of their title are for class credit in the Political Science Department at Cleveland State University, and a class taught by Dr. Justin S. Vaughn.

Dempsey declaration of possible force in Syria most important

The most important political event of the last week was chairman of the joint chief's of staff General Martin Demsey's declaration that if force is needed in Syria, the U.S. is ready.

Reported yesterday, here by the Guardian, Dempsey was quoted as saying to FOX News the U.S. would act militarily in Syria "if it was asked to do so."

This is significant in the U.S. because American citizens continue to lose when it comes to these small military situations.

The Syrian problem is being likened to the Libya situation, in which the U.S. eventually was part of a coalition to support rebel's with the firepower needed to take down it's leader Moammar Ghaddafi. The result of that I liken to 20 years ago when U.S. led a similar effort with Afghan citizens who became the Taliban, in their fight to push Russia out of the poppy fields.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown will retain his seat in Congress this November because he is a better politician.

I truly believe Brown is an excellent lawman and Senator, but it's his political savvy that will earn him the right to stay in the Senate for six more years.

He consistently gets in front of cameras on cable news shows on social and spending issues and seems to make all the right moves, or non-moves, against his opponent, Ohio state treasurer Josh Mandel.

Mandel is reaching high with his run for the Senate. His resume, while impressive and stocked with citizenship and honor, such as his service in military, has recently been updated with an FBI investigation regarding campaign contributions.

FBI investigations for campaign spending are a dime a dozen for political figures, but it's never a good thing to be associated with them. The end result can certainly exonerate Mandel form wrong doing, but there must have been something there in the first place, which isn't good for a first time run for the Senate. Those are the tricks reserved for old dogs.

And even more recently, Mandel has been associated with cronyism. The hiring of friends from the service and those persons missing resumes has once again clouded the political landscape with bad weather.

Also recently, Mandel is down six points, 46 - 40, in a poll completed by Quinnipiac University on May 10.

You won't see these continued missteps from Senator Brown. He has too much experience and started with too large a lead in the polls. He's and old dog, yeah, but he'll hunt - and win - the Senate seat again.

Barack Obama will win the 2012 presidency.

Here's why. Historically, the 2008 November election was significant because hordes of black voters joined the political conversation and shook off voter malaise to elect Obama. The reason is simple: he and his team of advisors were able to keep the issues in the media largely about all voters - not just black/white issues, and were able to squelch divisive talk about voter intimidation and disenfranchisement. The turnout was so overwhelming, numbers like what was measured in Minnesota make reporting on them seem like a misprint: Some precincts in Minnesota saw an increase of black voters from the 2004 election of 268%.

Notice the media killing the 'vetting' from Breitbart.com and any other media portrayal of Barack Obama as squarely in front of issues of race and class.

Notice also, too, the White House's reluctance to get involved with the Trayvon Martin shooting.

The only way Mitt Romney wins the election in November is if somehow voter apathy returns to the black voting bloc and they do not - for the very first time - support a black candidate in overwhelming numbers.