Presidential Election Preview 1. What are the 2 major political parties in the

United States?___________________________________

2. Who ran against President Obama in the general

election in 2008 on the Republican side?__________________________

3. What is the difference between partisan, bipartisan, and nonpartisan? This is review! Think about the pictures we drew to show!

Partisan BipartisanNonpartisan

• Announce Candidacy

• Primaries and Caucuses

• Campaign Trail• National Convention• General Election

1. Announce Candidacy=make it public that you are running for President

President Obama announced his candidacy in his home state of Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln made a famous speech about ending slavery.

John Edwards

Joe Biden

Chris Dodd

John McCain Mike Huckabee

Mitt Romney

Ron PaulRudy Guiliani

2. Primaries or Caucuses=the elections where people choose the BEST Democrat candidate and the BEST Republican candidate separately

What you are deciding…

Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama

Mitt Romney or John McCain

Caucuses=MEETING where you TALK with others face-to-face to decide your choice Primaries=ELECTION where you VOTE for your choice

_________ _ ___________

Caucus

=MEETING where you DECIDE who should represent the party in the general election

PrimariesELECTION where you VOTE for your choice to represent the party in the general election (can be open or closed)

Democratic Primary Debate

Republican Primary Debate

Primaries can either be OPEN or CLOSED

OPEN=ALL registered voters -Ex: Republicans and Democrats can vote for a Republican in an Open Republican

Primary in their state

CLOSED=ONLY party members can vote Ex: Only Republicans can vote for a Republican in a Closed

Republican Primary in their state

4. Put C for Caucus or P for Primary for the descriptions below.Session where you vote- Session that meets-Private- Public-Face-to-face- Just you-Representative democracy- Direct democracy- Alabama - Open Primary (2/5).

Alaska - Caucuses (2/5). Arizona - Closed PPE (2/5). Arkansas - Open Primary (2/5). California - Primary (2/5). Colorado - Caucuses (2/5). Connecticut - Closed Primary (2/5). Delaware - Primary (2/5). District of Columbia - Primary (2/12). Florida - Primary (1/29). Georgia - Open Primary (2/5). Hawaii - Open Caucuses (3/2). Idaho - Open Primary (5/27). Illinois - Primary (2/5). Indiana - Open Primary (5/6).Indiana - Open Primary (5/6). Iowa - Caucus (1/3). Kansas - Caucuses (2/9)Kentucky - Closed Primary (5/20) Louisiana - Caucus (2/9). Deadline (1/11).

Maine - Caucuses (February 1 through February 3). Maryland - Closed Primary (2/12). Massachusetts - Semi-Closed Primary (2/5). Michigan - Open Primary (1/15). Minnesota - Open Caucuses (2/5 *). Mississippi - Open Primary (3/11). Missouri - Open Primary (2/5). Montana - Open Primary (6/3). Nebraska - Primary (5/13 *).Nevada - Caucuses (1/19). New Hampshire - Semi-Open Primary (1/8)New Jersey - Primary (2/5). . New Mexico - Republican Primary (6/3). Democrat closed caucus 2/5/08 New York - Closed Primary (2/5). North Carolina - Primary (5/6 *). North Dakota - Open Caucuses (2/5). Ohio - Semi-Open Primary (3/4). Oklahoma - Closed Primary (2/5).

Oregon - Closed Primary (5/20). Pennsylvania - Primary (4/22). Rhode Island - Primary (3/4). . South Carolina - Open Primary (1/19-R) (1/26-D). South Dakota - Closed Primary (6/3). Tennessee - Open Primary (2/5). Texas - Semi-Open Primary (3/4) & Closed Caucus (begins 3/4, schedule based on party rules). Utah - Closed Primary (2/5). Vermont - Open Primary (3/4). Virginia - Open Primary (2/12). Washington - Open Caucus (2/9) & Primary (2/19). This is a two step process. West Virginia -Closed Primary (18 Delegates at the State Convention on 2/5 (ask the state party for details), 12 Delegates for the 5/13 Primary). Wisconsin - Open Primary (2/19).Wyoming - Caucus (3/8)

5. Examples of OPEN and CLOSED primaries. Circle all of the people who can vote. OPEN: New Hampshire’s Republican Primary

a. Republicans b. Democratsc. Independents d. Anybody can vote

CLOSED: North Carolina’s Democratic Primary

a. Republicans b. Democratsc. Independents d. Anybody can vote

OPEN: Georgia’s Democratic Primary

a. Republicans b. Democratsc. Independents d. Anybody can vote

CLOSED: Colorado’s Republican Primary

a. Republicans b. Democratsc. Independents d. Anybody can vote

3. Campaign Trail=where the Presidential candidates for each political party travel around America and try to convince voters to vote for them

6. What do candidates need to do on the campaign trail to try and get votes?

Use your plain folks appeal!

4. National Convention=an event where each political party officially announces their BEST presidential candidate and has a celebration

RNC 2008

Debates: held during primaries and during the general election

What political party are both of these candidates from?

So was this debate during the primaries or the general election?

What political parties are represented here?

5. General Election=the FINAL election where Americans vote for the BEST PRESIDENT (choose between the Democrat and Republican)

How are primaries/caucuses different from the general election?

Voting in the General Election… Straight Ticket=on your ballot, you can

check a box that votes for all candidates in ONE political party

Split Ticket=on your ballot, you can vote

for both Democrats and Republicans

12. Illustrate the difference between a straight and split ticket.

Straight Ticket

Democrat-President

Republican-Governor

Democrat- Governor

Republican-Senator

Democrat- Senator

Split Ticket

Democrat-President

Republican-Governor

Democrat-Governor

Republican-Senator

Democrat- Senator

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Electoral_map.svg

Electoral College Map

I. Electoral College Background

a. Electoral College=group of representatives who elect the President and the VP

-We vote for an ELECTOR to vote for the candidate we want

-Fill in the blanks:This means that the American public

(DOES/DOESN’T) actually vote for the President and the VP in the (PRIMARY/GENERAL) election

b. Number of Electors Per State=# of Representatives + # of Senators (from HoR)

-Note: Electors are NOT the same people as Senators and Representatives!

3.Electoral College MathState # of Reps # of

Senators# of

ElectorsNC

13 2

CO7 2

CA55

WY3

4. Why does CA have so many Electors? Why does WY have so few?

c. There are 538 total Electors…HOW? 435 + 100 +

3 = 538US Reps Senators ?Electors

d. President must get 270 electoral votes to WIN

5. Where do the 3 “extra votes” come from? Think about the 23rd amendment…

6. True or False: Electoral College members are the same people as Senators and Representatives ______________________

II. How Do Electors Choose?a. First: Regular people vote for who they want to

be President in the general election -This is called the popular vote because the

whole USA votes for who they want to be president.

7. When do American voters make the popular vote?

8. REVIEW: Fill in the chart below for each political party.

Left Right

Party

Party Animal

Liberal or Conservative?

Color

b. Second: The popular vote is calculated in each state separately and the “winner takes all” of the electoral votes for the state

-Winner takes all: The candidate who wins the majority of the votes in a state wins all of that state’s electoral college votes.

-Winner Take All: In each state, the candidate with the MOST popular votes will win (SOME/ALL) of the electoral vote*

9. Examples of Winner Take All: State Popular Vote

Obama McCainElectoral

VoteNC 50% 49%

CO 54% 45%

CA 43% 57%

SC 45% 54%

10. Quick Question: Why do the percentages NOT add up to 100% for each state above?

11. *What two states are an exception to the “winner takes all” approach? What does this mean?

NebraskaMaine

-The winner does not need a majority; he just needs a plurality of votes.

-Plurality=Receive the most

number of votes

-Majority=Receive at least 50% of vote

12. Plurality v. MajorityCandidate A Candidate B P or M: Who Wins

60% 40%

45% 20%

70% 10%

33% 32%

c. Third: The Electoral votes are added up across the country

-The candidate who gets the majority (over 50%) of the Electoral Votes becomes the President!

13. REVIEW: Fill in the chart below:How many electoral votes are there total?

How many must a presidential candidate win to get a majority?

IV. Polls-how we measure public

opinion and see what people think people fill out a survey

-Exit polls=surveys we give to people after they vote see who they voted for

14. Why do we give exit polls? 15. Does everyone take an exit poll after voting?

I. Special Interest Groupsa. Public policy=government actions to meet

society’s goals and needs BUT…Americans don’t all have similar goals,

needs, or wants so how does the government decide what actions to take??

The gov’t listens to citizens, political parties, and special interest groups

b. Special Interest Groups=people who work together for similar interests or goals

TypesEconomic/

Business=interested in making/ saving money

Ex: Labor UnionsChambers of

Commerce

3. What are labor unions?   4. What does commerce mean? 

So a Chamber of Commerce is a group of _______________

-Agricultural=interested in helping farmers and

food groups -Professional=interested in helping “professional”

careersEx: Lawyers, doctors

-Non-economic=promote a principle that is in the

“public interest”-Ex: Environmental groups, NAACP

5. Sort these special interest groups into the correct type.

Economic/Business

Agricultural

Professional Non-economic

Interest Group Box:NAACP Lawyers Poor farmers Labor Unions Doctors Chambers of Commerce American Medical Association Green Peace NRA League of Female Voters

c. Political Action Committees (PAC)= raise money for candidates & can be set up by businesses or by special interests

III. LobbyingII. Lobbying a. How do special interests get what they want?They hire LOBBYISTS

-Lobbyists=people paid to “lobby” or convince legislators to support their issues.

What do Lobbyists do?1. Meet with politicians2. Send advertisements

over the TV and in magazines to get the public on their side

3. Give money (PACs)4. Give “expert” advice

8. Why is their advice maybe not “expert” advice?

b. Criticisms of Lobbyists

1. Largest criticism: Lobbyists have too much influence over the legislative process

2. Some legislators have

broken the law by taking gifts, or money from lobbyists in exchange for votes

9. What does it mean that they would have too much power?

So…in the 1970’s people

began calling for reform of campaign finance…

…they wanted to prevent lobbyists from giving government officials too much money

10. Why did they want to prevent this?