Selecting a President 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 College Power to the People? Presidential Selection

Stage 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: Caucuses Rick Santorum and Ron Paul campaign for Iowa. Questions for Discussion: 1.The Iowa Caucus is on January 3, 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.

Hajo De Reijger- 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 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 Conventions 1980 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? 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 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 Delegates? Delegate - A voting representative to the party nominating convention

Delegate 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: Two Types of Delegates Pledged Delegates v. Superdelegates

Pledged 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

Brokered 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/ The Final Three

Convention Speeches: The 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: The 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 conventions have become no more than infomercials Democratic National Convention in New York City What do you think?

By Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune 09/21/ Schwarzenegger Rocks Republican Convention