The Road to the Whitehouse

The Road to the Whitehouse

Is this Any Way to Elect a President?

Nominating a Candidate

• The primary task of political parties is nominating a presidential candidate.

• Through most of our political history parties have kept this out of the hands of voters

• The process has evolved from the party bosses selecting nominees at the national convention to a more democratic primary system.

Nominating Methods

• Caucuses: Private meeting of party leaders. Caucuses are considered undemocratic. Today Republicans and Democrats in Iowa still hold a caucus to nominate a presidential candidates. However they are open to public scrutiny.

• Nominating Conventions replaced caucuses. Nominating conventions held at county level select delegates for the state convention, who in turn picked delegates for the national convention, who then nominate a candidate. This system fell under the control of party bosses.

Nominating Methods• Primary elections have replaced nominating conventions

in 46 states.• Primary elections are managed by States. Voters select

a party nominee to run in the general election.• Closed Primaries allow only members of a political party

to pick their candidate. Ex. Dems pick the Dem party candidate.

• Open Primaries allow anyone to participate, but they can only vote on one presidential candidate.

• Closed primaries are designed to prevent crossover voting. Ex. Democrats voting for a weak Republican candidate.

• In most primaries one only needs to win a plurality of votes (i.e. the most not a majority)

The Road to the Whitehouse 2008

1) Test the waters, make announcement (Summer 2006)

2) File with FEC, raise money3) Campaign to win delegates in party primary

elections (Winter –Spring 2007)4) National Party Convention. Get the nomination.5) Campaign in the General Election. Win!6) Inauguration7) Become president, regret winning for the

next four years while preparing to run for reelection.

Test the Waters

• Candidates must determine if they can win the party nomination, then the presidential election.

• Do you have a reason to run?• Is the candidate’s party interested?• Is the family ready for the media scrutiny, and

life on the campaign trail?• Are there skeletons in your closet?• Can you raise enough money to wage a media

campaign?• Can you build a campaign staff?

Announce your Candidacy for the Party Nomination

• About a 18 months before the general election

• Media event, symbolic backgrounds, family, happy supporters.

• Slogan/message• Website• Raise money!

Run for the Party Nomination

• Party primaries and caucuses are the race to win delegates to party national convention who will select the party’s nominee for the general election.

• Candidates formulate a message that appeals to “the party base” (loyalist) and also reaches out to moderate voters.

Run for the Party Nomination• Big mo’! The party primaries are a horse race.

The media focuses on missteps and reports on who is in the lead.

• Do well in the Iowa Caucus = media coverage = raise more money. (January)

• Next, show well in the New Hampshire Primary. (February)

• Frontrunners surge, losers start dropping out of the race.

• North Carolina, California, Super Tuesday• Each primary and caucus victory wins delegates

to the national convention

The Party Convention• Each party holds a

nominating convention in August before the general election.

• The convention is a giant political party pep rally full of speeches aimed at getting delegates fired up for the general election.

The Party Convention

• The candidate who wins the greatest number of delegates in the series of primaries and caucuses will receive the party nomination.

• The primary function of the convention is formally nominate and announce the party ticket.

• The convention also: hosts workshops on mobilizing support for the nominee, allows candidates to publicly make up for all the bad things they said during the primaries, adopt the party platform, etc.

The General Election

• After each party has nominated a candidate the general election begins.

• Traditionally presidential candidates do not begin to campaign against each other until the Labor Day weekend. But…

• After the national convention the campaign staff focuses on an electoral strategy to win the 270 votes required to win the presidency.

The General Election

• After each party has nominated a candidate the general election begins.

• Traditionally presidential candidates do not begin to campaign against each other until the Labor Day weekend. But…

• After the national convention the campaign staff focuses on an electoral strategy to win the 270 votes required to win the presidency.

Win 270 Electoral Votes

See Candidate Run, Run Candidate Run!

• Give stump speech 1,000 times.• Tape ads, tape more ads responding to your

opponent’s ads• Stay on message.• Raise money.• Avoid missteps- the media is always watching.• Get the base fired up.• Appeal to swing voters- moderate stump speech• Focus on battleground states- ex: Ohio,

Pennsylvania, Michigan.

Raise Money!

• Campaigns are expensive. Why?

• Bush and Kerry spent over 500 million on the 2004 presidential race.

• Money comes from individual donations, and from interest groups (Political Action Committees).

• Candidates in federal elections must file with the Federal Election Commission.

Campaign Finance Laws• The FEC limits individual donations to

candidates.• Loopholes allow donors to give without limit to a

political party (wink, wink) this is known a soft money. The McCain-Feingold Act limits these donations from wealthy donors, corporations, labor unions and PACs

• Led to the creation of 527 organizations ex. Move On and Swift Boat Veterans

• Candidates must file quarterly disclosure reports that list who contributed, how much, and how contributions were spent.

• What happens if you don’t file with the FEC?

The Original System

• The Framers originally wanted the Congress to select a president.

• Article II, Section 1 establishes the Electoral College

• The Constitution allows each State to select electors in its own way

• Until 1828 electors voted independently, electoral votes were not tied to a popular vote

The Original System• After losing the election of

1824, Andrew Jackson tried to get Congress to propose a Constitutional Amendment to abolish the Electoral College in favor of direct popular election

• He did manage to have the Electoral Vote “tied” to the popular vote. This reform remains in effect today.

Electoral System

• Election Day- we vote on a presidential candidate (actually a slate of electors pledged to the candidate).

• The candidate who wins the popular vote in a State wins all of the state’s electoral votes (except Nebraska and Maine)

• Mon. after the second Weds in Dec. electors meet in their state capitols and cast their vote for president and vice president

• January 6th, Congress counts electoral votes.• January 20th, president-elect is sworn into office.

Electoral College Issues

Electoral College Issues• Winner-take-all:

– Created four elections in which the candidate who won popular vote, lost the electoral vote and thus the presidency.

– Sense of disenfranchisement for the 3.5 million Florida voters that picked Kerry in 2004.

• Third Party Mathematics:– Strong third candidate could win a state making it

mathematically impossible for any candidate to win 270 electoral votes.

• House problems:

Electoral Reform

• Allocating a State’s electoral votes proportionally based on the percentage of the popular vote. Ex. Alabama’s 9 would be divided 5 Bush (60%) and 4 Kerry (40%).

• Direct popular election? Whoa!