Chapter 8 Campaigns and Elections

Elections Local – ISDs, County, and City State – Governor (executive branch), Legislative, and Judges National – Pres. / VP (Congress) Primary Elections Bond and Constitutional Elections Some people believe America has too many elections

Participation Voting – minimum Volunteering Financial Gift

Who Participates? More Educated Older Wealthier Party affiliations Religious affiliations In Presidential Election years 49% to 60% voter turnout in last 30 years, for state and local elections a much smaller turnout percentage

Voter Registration Supposed to deter fraught Really deters participation Texas 30 days ahead of time Motor Voter Act passed by the Dems to increase participation States who do not require it have higher percentages of voter turnout

Compare voter turnout on Table 8.1

Political Campaigns At best Political Campaigns are organized chaos They can be well planned, but end up being very reactionary Presidential campaigns are based upon a strategy of first winning the party nomination, and then winning 270 electoral college votes

Primary vs. General Election General Election – the nominees of each party square off against each other on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November every even numbered year Primary Elections – system used to nominate the party’s candidate Presidential Primary – system that goes from State to State in a process to nominate the Democratic and Republican party candidate

Types of Primaries Know pages 168 and 169 Closed Primary Open Primary (Texas is semi-open) Blanket Primary Runoff Primary Presidential Primary

Media Mass Media is used to get the campaign’s message out to a wider audience Campaigns use a mixture of paid and free media Tarmac Stops are used to maximize free media The cost of TV ads is what has given so much power to special interest groups that contribute

How To Win Elections? Political Party Affiliation – this connection gives you money and a build-in group of voters and workers The State of The Economy – you have to be on the right side of it good or bad Character – people care about character, especially in our President (Charlie Wilson could be a Rep., but not President

Ballots (2 Types) Party Column - all members of the party are listed below each other on the ballot Office Ballot – Candidates from each party are blocked together by office Split Ticket – more and more people today are voting for candidates from both parties Coattail Voting – candidates further down on the ballot are elected because of the popularity of a candidate high up on the ballot

Winning Coalitions Candidates must bring together different types of people together to win elections Example: President Obama’s coalition included organized labor, ethnic minorities, and disenchanted independents

Modern Technology and Elections Cable TV, and talk radio has allowed the political debate to happen all the time, both allow niche access to political base groups Internet and other inexpensive electronic communication (Twitter) has allowed more self coverage by campaigns

Negative Campaigns More and more campaigns are based on showing the negative side of the opposition candidate as opposed to getting out the message of a campaign Mudslinging – advertising aimed at attacking the character of a candidate or message of another candidates campaign Most attack ads are paid for by groups outside of a campaign, but on behalf of them Many Americans have been turned off by these

Money and Campaigns Hundreds of millions of dollars are required to be a legitimate candidate for President Millions are required to run for Senate and House seats Thousands required for local elections The more money, the more mass media (TV) you can afford, the more likely you are to win