Selecting a President Selecting a President 2012:2012:

Primaries & Caucuses

Stage 1: Caucuses & Primaries The Battle for the Party Faithful

Stage 2: Nominating Conventions “Glorified Infomercials?”

Stage 3: General Election The Fight for the Center

Stage 4: Electoral CollegePower to the People?

Presidential SelectionPresidential Selection

Stage 1: CaucusesStage 1: Caucuses

Closed meeting of party members in each state First time party members declare support for a candidate Later, delegates select the party’s choice for presidential

candidate Currently, six states offer party caucuses selecting

presidential nominees.

Stage 1: CaucusesStage 1: Caucuses

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul campaign for Iowa.

Questions for Discussion:

1. The Iowa Caucus is on January 3, 2012. Why is it so important?

2. Brainstorm pros and cons to the caucus format.

Stage 1: Primaries

Primary Season - January - June

Who Decides? - State party organizations for the most part decide the rules for the primaries in a particular state.

Types of Primaries: Closed Primaries Open Primaries

Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election.

Mitt Romney campaigning in New Hampshire

Closed Primary• Voters may vote in a party's primary only if

they are registered members of that party

Open Primary

• A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation.

2008 Open & Closed Primaries

Map of 2012 Primary & Caucus Dates

States with split colors have different systems for Democrats and Republicans. The color on the left represents the Democratic method, the color on the right represents the Republican method.

www.centerforpolitics.org

Hajo De Reijger- www.caglecartoons.com

What advantage did the democratic party have in the 2012 election process?

Presidential Nominating Conventions:

The Nuts & Bolts

Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

Nominating ConventionsNominating Conventions•An assembly held by

political parties every four years

•Usually held in late summer before the general election in November

•The Democratic and Republican parties hold nominating conventions as do third parties [ex: Green Party, Libertarian Party]

George W. and Laura Bush at the 2000 Republican

Convention

Purposes of Nominating Purposes of Nominating ConventionsConventions

1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan

1. Delegates at the convention adopt a party platform.

2. Delegates to the convention elect that party’s nominees for President and Vice-president.

What’s a Party Platform?What’s a Party Platform?

• Party Platform - a statement of principles and objectives a political party and a candidate supports in order to win the general election.

• Plank - Individual topics in a party’s platform (ex: abortion, war in Iraq)

2004 Platform Themes2004 Platform Themes

Democratic Party:

“Strong at Home, Respected in the World”

Republican Party:“A Safer World

and a More Hopeful America”

How are these themes similar? Different?

Who are Who are DelegatesDelegates??

Delegate - A voting representative to the party nominating convention

Delegate SelectionDelegate Selection

Proportional System Primary system used by

the Democratic Party Candidates are allocated

the same percentage of a state’s delegates as they received in popular votes

Winner-take-all System

System used in most Republican primaries

The winner of the popular vote in that state receives all that state’s delegates

Democratic Party Rules:Democratic Party Rules:Two Types of DelegatesTwo Types of Delegates

Pledged Delegates Pledged Delegates v. v. SuperdelegatesSuperdelegates

Pledged DelegatesPledged Delegates Each state is allotted a certain

number of delegates who vote at the party’s convention

Pledged delegates are chosen at state & local level

Pledged delegates are required to cast a vote at the convention based on the results of the primary or caucus in their state

Pledged delegates count during the 2008 Democratic primaries

Superdelegates Members of the

Democratic Party establishment who serve as unpledged delegates at the party convention

Include members of Congress, governors, and members of the D.N.C.

They are free to vote for any candidate at the convention

Super Delegates

By John Trever, The Albuquerque Journal 03/30/2008 http://www.politicalcartoons.com/

Brokered ConventionBrokered Convention A situation in which no one

candidate in a political party has received enough delegates in the primaries and caucuses to obtain a majority

After the first ballot at the party’s convention, nominee decided through horse-trading and further ballots

Brainstorm potential positive and negative

consequences of a brokered convention.

Democrats avoided a brokered convention in 2008

By Paresh Nath, National Herald, New Delhi, India 3/17/08 http://cagle.msnbc.com

2008 -- The Final Three

Convention Speeches: Convention Speeches: The Keynote AddressThe Keynote Address

The speech given at the convention that embodies that party’s core message

Democrat Zell Miller delivers the 2004 RNC Keynote Address

Senator Barrack Obama gives the 2004 DNC Keynote Address

Convention Speeches: Convention Speeches: The Acceptance AddressThe Acceptance Address

The speech given at the final day of the convention in which the winning candidate formally accepts the party’s nomination for president

The Acceptance Address is always televised by the major networks

1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver their Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention

Critics say that party nominating Critics say that party nominating conventions have become no more than conventions have become no more than

infomercials.infomercials.

1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City

What do you think?What do you think?

By Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune  09/21/2004 http://www.politicalcartoons.com/

Schwarzenegger Rocks Republican Convention