Major Party Nominations: Getting on the November ballot 1. Self announcement Candidate feel entitled Must raise own funds Organize own campaign Michelle Bachman runs despite party leaders urging her to stay out

2. Petition – even incumbents must gather signatures Thadeus McCotter 1,000 valid signatures required

3.Direct primary Let the voters choose Dem v Dem, Rep v Rep Typical low turnout (15%) Freezes out independents Closed vs. Open primary Blanket Primary 2010 Bernero vs. Dillon Splits the Democratic Party Sets up Snyder victory Closed Primary – Must register your party loyalty Dillon Bernero

Non-Partisan Elected Office School board, city council, judges

4. Party Conventions Voting Delegates determined by the party Select State of Michigan candidates for Supreme Court, Attorney General, Secretary of State… 2010 Michigan Republican Convention

5. Party Caucus *Iowa presidential caucus is the most famous *Participants must sign a statement about party loyalty *Limited number of motivated voters (10%) *Must physically stand up for their candidate

Elections and Voter eligibility left to the states BUT Federal control of elections has increased Constitutional guarantees – 15th-19 th -23 rd -24 th – 26 th amendments Time, place, and manner of federal elections set by congress Elections actually conducted by local and state government

Absentee Ballots – On the rise What will be the consequence of more early voting? Straight ticket voting

Australian Ballot “THAT’S WHAT’S THE MATTER” Boss Tweed “As long as I count the ballots, what are you going to do about it?”

Bedsheet ballots lead to ballot fatigue.

Voting Techniques Punch card voting Optical Scan Voting Internet voting still not accepted

Election Results Mandate – LBJ 1964 election – Permit to act

Coattails Effect Obama’s victory helped Dems all the way down the ticket

Other Voting Terms Ferndale, MI Precincts Polling Place Poll watchers or challengers

The Rising Cost of Campaigns

Why do campaigns cost SO MUCH!? Radio and TV ads Hiring campaign pros Mailings.33-$1.00 each Printing Office – phones – equipment Logistics – Travel Length of American campaigns

$ources of Funding Small donors – 10% normally – Internet explosion 2008 Fat Cats PAC s Fundraisers Candidate self financing Meg Whitman – EBAY founder Donated nearly $100 m to her own campaign for governor of CA in 2010

Access to candidates and officials Really care about issues Have some agenda or special need/request Loyal to the party Want a job/appointment WHY Donate?

Campaign Finance Rules 1 st attempt 1907 during the Progressive Era – bars corporate/bank donations to candidates Major campaign finance laws passed in ’74-’76 and 2002 (McCain – Feingold Act) Hard to muster political will Donations are the lifeblood of politicians

What Restrictions are still in place? Federal Election Commission (FEC) monitors rules Campaign finance reports Contribution limits: – $2,500 for federal elections – $43,100 to a regular PAC Hard money vs. soft money

PAC’s serve as the voice of many special interest groups Examples: NRA, AARP, UAW, Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute… Political Action Committees (PACs)

Citizens United Case – moyers 3:15 start moyers The 2010 Citizens United case overturned the restriction on corporate donations to issue ads super-pac---mitt-romney-attack-ad Hillary the Movie Trailer Corporations have the same rights as people.

Super PAC’s Anonymous and unlimited donations “Issue ads” (mostly negative ads)  Coordination with the campaign New Rules

Who are these anonymous billionaire donors? John Paulson, a hedge-fund manager who made billions when he bet against the sub-prime mortgage market, donated $1 million to Restore Our Future, a pro-Mitt Romney PAC, in January. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson donated $5 million to the pro- Gingrich super PAC "Winning Our Future." The Service Employees International Union has donated more than $1 million to Majority PAC, House Majority PAC, Priorities USA Actions, and American Bridge 21st Century—all of which support Democrats.

2 weeks after Obama was inaugurated, the Tea Party was funded by Charles and David Koch --Newsroom clip --Pro-Romney Add JY5LuDM2wzN8cd5ubvRsg&index=19&feature=plcphttp:// JY5LuDM2wzN8cd5ubvRsg&index=19&feature=plcp --Power of the Purse

–Man from Bloomfield Hills --Trailer for “Man from Bloomfield Hills” –Mr. 1% --Republican war on women

What is Public Opinion? Attitudes – opinions – beliefs-private thoughts on Public Affairs

How is public opinion formed? What is the influence and weight of each of the following? School – lessons learned and socialization Peers Family Gender Racial/ethnic background Religion Social class (wealth) Education level Mass media (news, sports, and entertainment – 4.5 hours daily) Opinion leaders (Oprah, Rush Linbaugh) Historic events you’ve experienced (9/11, the Great Recession) Contact with and message of special interest groups Membership in associations (unions, business, professional

Measuring Public Opinion Voting – in the end, it’s what counts, but not a true measure – why? Referendum – direct measure, but… Press and media – but do they reflect what we think or manipulate our thinking? Letters to the editor – but which ones get published?

Polling – The Truest Measure Straw poll – internet, call in, Scientific polling – a deliberate attempt to accurately measure – first tried in the 1940’s

5 Steps to Scientific Polling 1Define the group (universe to be polled) 2Construct a representative sample 3Prepare valid, neutral questions 4Select and control the means – how the poll will be conducted 5Tabulate and report the results

Polling Project Minimum 20 interviews per group Demographic profile 5 freshman, 5 sophomores… 10 male, 10 female 1 African American, 1 Asian American 2 less affluent 5 AP students Obama v Romney, plus follow-up question – Why? One other race – for example Congress Dr Syed Taj vs. Kerry Bentivolio, plus follow-up Would knowing that Dr Taj was born in India and is a Muslim change their opinion? Would knowing that Kerry Bentivolio asked to resign from his teaching job after telling his students that,”You are only a paycheck to me”, change your opinion Now who would you support for congress

Ballot Proposals 1.Support the emergency manager law 2.CA Supporting the right to collective bargaining 3.CA Supporting 25% renewable energy by CA Support government oversight and right to bargain for home health care workers 5.CA All tax increases must have a 2/3rds support in the legislature 6.CA Any international bridge must be approved by the voters

Problem areas with modern polling Intensity of beliefs – stable v fluid Loaded wording that distorts results Cell phones replacing land lines Bandwagon effect Relevance – How important are the results? Are politicians overusing polling? Some polling is used to shape public opinion

Mass Media -Medium -Shaping the Public Agenda

How does each of these media sources affect you? Try to come up with a specific example for each. Which source(s) offer more in-depth news? Which source(s) offer unfiltered information? TV programming that you watch – comedies, dramas Newspapers and magazines Internet news sources (Huffington Post, Yahoo…) Talk radio (Rush Limbaugh…) Bands/songs that you listen to (with a message) Network television news watched (evening news) 24 hour cable news YouTube videos Social Media – Twitter, FaceBook, etc.

Special Interest Groups – The factions that our founders dreaded? or the voice of the people? Private/nongovernmental Protected under the 1 st amendment Try to influence public policy – promote policies that effect a defined group in society 36,000 K Street lobbyists – an explosion of special interest groups and money spent

Special interest Groups v Political Parties Parties Nominate candidates Win election and govern Broad inclusive platform – positions on 100’s of issues Special Interest Groups Influence elections – help get officials elected favorable to their cause May support either party or some candidates in either party Lobby for their cause – promote the narrow interest of their group

Classifications of special Interest Groups 1.Economic interest – business, trade associations, and unions. Agricultural 2.Professions (ie. doctors, lawyers, etc) 3.Causes (ie environmental, civil rights, right to life) 4.Those which promote a segment of the population (AARP) 5.Citizen/consumer 6.Religious

Methods of Special Interest Groups 1.Lobbyists offer - Expertise advice Testimony Language for bills Campaign $ Alternative view Looking at this Chart – who has Influence over laws Governing global Warming?

Restrictions and Problems with lobbyists Restrictions “95 Disclosure Act No tax deduction Disclosure – register and report spending – ID who they represent Gift limit $50 Honorariums ban Travel (loophole) Revolving door Politicians who cash in and become lobbyists My K Street date.

The Iron Triangle Example: Nuclear power plant Defense contractors

Special Interest Methods 2. Litigation – lawsuits Environmental groups – force government enforcement Consumer protection Anit-fracking lawsuit filed in PAProtection from unsafe products

3. Going public – new lobbying tactic – used by consumer, environmental, and political cause groups Mass protest Grass roots letter writing/ campaigns Media Tourism

4. PAC – effecting elections Donations to candidates – hard money Donations to issue ads/superPACS – corporations are people (Citizens United) NRA anti-Obama ad

Are corporate special interests out of control after the Citizen’s United ruling ? Are they so powerful that they control Washington politics?

The Good and the Bad Good Points Bad Points

The Good and the Bad Good Points Give a voice to the people Add to checks and balances Expert specialized information Demonstrates issues people care about Bad Points Special Interests not concerned about the whole picture Free rider problem Low income – less powerful underrepresented

Review of some key media terms Sound bytes Agenda setting 24 hour news cycle Investigative journalism Photo ops Image maker Opinion leader Framing an issue

Agenda Setting Which stories get covered? -Casey Anthony Trial Coverage -Tornadoes in Joplin kill nearly 200 -Day of verdict, earthquake in New Zealand -Anthony Weiner

Photo Ops

Image Makers David Gergen with Ronald ReaganDavid Gergen with Bill Clinton -hired by candidates to help shape public perception of the candidate -PR experts

Framing an Issue I stand by record on job creation. Look back to my days at Bain Capital. I created tons of jobs. Chauffer, butler, pool boy, personal trainer, tennis instructor, dog therapist…the list goes on and on Estate Tax  “Death Tax” “Job Creating Class” Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice Are opponents anti-life? Anti-choice?

FCC Regulations and Leasing of the Airwaves Radio, TV, and cell phone airwaves are leased from the government Last year Congress considered giving the FCC more power to regulate the Internet