Nominations, Campaigns, and Campaign Finance “The question is not whether I can get elected. The question is whether I can be elected and not be nuts when I get there.” – Democratic Presidential Candidate Walter Mondale

The Nomination Game

The Nomination Game

The Nomination Game Why Run? Campaigns are long, exhausting, expensive Other countries have short campaigns – generally less than 2 months In U.S. (especially for President) campaigns can last 2 years

The Nomination Game How to win a delegates? The Focus for a Presidential PRIMARY Campaign: Gain enough delegates at the national convention to secure the party’s nomination Delegates: supporters from a political party at the state level Delegates from each state travel to the National Convention to cast their votes on behalf of each states’ pick for their own party How to win a delegates? Caucus Route Primary Route

The Nomination Game Caucuses meetings of party members (used to be state party leaders) to select which candidate will get delegates Today, it’s often the voters who attend meetings to make the selection, starting at local level & working up to a state convention Iowa is the first, giving it great strategic importance A caucus can last a couple of hours and you must stay the whole time. This is why there is less of a turn out than traditional primary elections.

The Nomination Game Primaries: State elections where voters select the nominee (or delegates pledged to nominee) Much more common than caucus route New Hampshire is the first: “Frontloading” State law determines how delegates are selected Establish momentum Started in response to concerns over fairness in caucus system, leading to more openness: McGovern-Frasier Commission Frontloading: moving up primary election to give state greater impact Primaries are like an elimination contest in each party

The Nomination Game

The Nomination Game Competing for Delegates: Problems with the System (Primary Election Explained- CPG Grey) Disproportionate attention to early races Time is an issue, especially for those in office Expense is enormous Voter participation low – how democratic is it? November 3, 2018…. 3 days before the election November 5, 2018… 1 day before the election Media tends to focus on the “horse race” aspect: who’s ahead or behind, rather than on the issues involved

The Nomination Game The Convention Send-Off Originally they were the critical event where the candidate was chosen (& they were started by a 3rd party!) Today, candidate effectively chosen during caucus/primary season Focus today is the platform

Superdelegates: Democratic Party Politicians who are awarded convention seats on the basis of their position (former presidents, congressmen, etc) For the Democratic Party, Superdelegates are “unbound” and make up about 10-20% of their total delegate count (depending on each election cycle) Superdelegates Explained The Democratic Party used superdelegates in the nominating process from 1984-2016 Party leaders are assured a role, no matter which candidate they support They can change their minds as the process unfolds Article 2015 Change in Superdelgate Rules 2018 Delegate- state political party supporter

Unpledged Delegates: Republican Party Unbound delegates: Same as superdelegates, this party doesn’t have as many, only worth about 5-10% of the total delegates Republican unpledged delegates, 2016 election