(D) In a recent opinion poll, most voters stated that a candidate’s party affiliation was an insignificant factor in judging his or her fitness for office.

If the candidate's affiliation was an insignificant factor, then we would be weakening the argument. If the statement said something like the candidate's affiliation in one of the two major parties was a significant factor, then this would strengthen the argument.

@dmateer25,

what about this angle for D - if the party affiliation is insignificant, then people are basing votes only on advertising / mass media. since the two major parties spend the most money on mass media, they will get the most votes, and thus, the demise of their parties are premature.

niraj_a wrote:@dmateer25,

what about this angle for D - if the party affiliation is insignificant, then people are basing votes only on advertising / mass media. since the two major parties spend the most money on mass media, they will get the most votes, and thus, the demise of their parties are premature.

Good angle to show that this statement will weaken not strengthen the argument.

(A) The percentage of voters registered as independents is higher today than ever before.

Irrelevenat to the argument.Does not strengthen the 2 party sysstem in anyway. It could b1 1% yesterday and 1.1% today.Dont know...

(B) In a recent presidential campaign, for the first time ever, an independent candidate was invited to appear in a televised debate with the major-party candidates.

IRRELEVANT INFO. Extraneous info that can be ignored.Does not strengthen the fact that talksof the 2 major party system on the decline is premature

(C) Every current member of the U.S. Senate was elected as the candidate of one of the two major parties.

Strengthens the argument by pointing out the influence of the 2 major parties in poilitics

(D) In a recent opinion poll, most voters stated that a candidate’s party affiliation was an insignificant factor in judging his or her fitness for office.

This weakens the argument.

(E) In the last four years, the outcome of several statewide elections has been determined by the strength of the third-party vote.

They could have voted for one of the 2 major political parties. Dont know and does not strengthen the argument

p1:We have heard a good deal in recent years about the declining importance of the two major political parties. It is the mass media, we are told, that decide the outcome of elections, not the power of the parties.

p2:But it is worth noting that no independent or third-party candidate has won any important election in recent years, and in the last nationwide campaign, the two major parties raised and spent more money than ever before in support of their candidates and platforms.

conclusion: It seems clear that reports of the imminent demise of the two-party system are premature at best.


i.e conclusion: The reports of the demise of the two party system are too hasty.

How can we strengthen this?

As we can see there are two contrasting premises..

we can strengthen with options related to following:

1)media is not playing a part in the outcome(on this the conclusion depends)
2)reports of the demise are premature
3)two-major parties are stable and powerful on their own.
4)No third party has won any elections

A) The percentage of voters registered as independents is higher today than ever before.

The information doesnt help in any way.Even if the percentage of independent voters is high the results depends on who won the election.

Also ,its percentage!!so we cannot assume exact figure.

(B) In a recent presidential campaign, for the first time ever, an independent candidate was invited to appear in a televised debate with the major-party candidates.

great!!It may help for cordial relationships between the two parties !!
But for us the information is IRRELEVANT.

(C) Every current member of the U.S. Senate was elected as the candidate of one of the two major parties.

This helps to strengthen the conclusion that the reports are seriously premature and infact,all the members of US senate are in either of the two parties.

(D) In a recent opinion poll, most voters stated that a candidate’s party affiliation was an insignificant factor in judging his or her fitness for office.

This weakens the conclusion by stating that it doesnt matter if the candidate is affiliated to any of the party( either the two major parties or the third party).Thus it talks about affiliation with any of the party in general.Which weaken the conclusion.

(E) In the last four years, the outcome of several statewide elections has been determined by the strength of the third-party vote.

This infact weakens in a way stating that the third party vote is of some importance in determining the outcome.


thanks.
i hope this helps.

damn

IMO C


(D)In a recent opinion poll, most voters stated that a candidate’s party affiliation was an insignificant factor in judging his or her fitness for office.


This states that position of the party is not a consideration in the minds of the voters.. this weakens the conclusion that the parties are becoming weak.

I still feel C should be the answer.