Chapter 13 Notes: “The Presidency”

Part A: Section 13.1: The President’s Roles Write the underlined words on the extra spaces in your packet.

1. Chief of State: The President reigns and rules The President’s Roles 1. Chief of State: The President reigns and rules

The President’s Roles 2. Chief Executive: executive orders and presidential appointments

The President’s Roles 3. Chief Administrator: directs the FBI and CIA.

The President’s Roles 4.The Chief Diplomat: the power to recognize a country’s existence.

Problems President Obama has as “Chief Diplomat”

The President’s Roles 5. Commander in Chief: Directs military action

The President’s Roles 6. Chief Legislator: The State of the Union Address.

The President’s Roles 7. Chief of Party: The President is head of his party

The President’s Roles 8. Chief Citizen: The President represents his constituents over special interests

Issues when the President attempts to act as “Chief Citizen”

Problems with the 22nd Amendment and “The Lame Duck Period”

Part B: Nominating and Electing the President

Do you know what this is? A Hillbilly!!!

-- Electorate vs. Constituents Electorate: all of the persons entitled to vote Constituents: all persons represented by a legislator or other elected office holder.

I. Nominating The President

Nominating Presidential Candidates A. Presidential Primaries: Contest where a party’s voters express a preference among various contenders for the party’s presidential nomination. 1. Primary season: Lasts from January to June 2. Used by three-fourths of the states -- usually it is a open primary 3. The First Presidential Primary: The New Hampshire Primary – January 2012

4. “Proportional Representation Rule:” Primary delegates’ votes in the National Convention correspond with the popular vote in each state’s primary

Candidate   Votes    %   Delegates   John McCain 88,466 37.09% 7 Mitt Romney 75,343 31.58% 4 Mike Huckabee 26,768 11.22% 1 Rudy Giuliani 20,395 8.55% Ron Paul 18,303 7.67% Fred Thompson 2,886 1.21% Duncan Hunter 1,220 0.51% Tom Tancredo* 68 0.03% Others 5,099 2.14% Total 238,548 100% 12 The New Hampshire Primary and the Proportional Representation Rule: The Republican Primary (2008)

Candidate   Votes    %   Delegates   Hillary Clinton 112,251 39.07% 9 Barack Obama 104,772 36.47% John Edwards 48,681 16.94% 4 Bill Richardson 13,249 4.61% Dennis Kucinich 3,919 1.36% Joe Biden* 628 0.22% Mike Gravel 402 0.14% Chris Dodd* 202 0.07% Others 3,218 1.12% Total 287,322 100% 22 The New Hampshire Primary and the Proportional Representation Rule: The Democratic Primary (2008)

5. Recent Trend: The primary schedule has been “front loaded” – states have moved their primaries closer to January.

Front Loading and the Primary Season (2012 Primaries)

Democratic Nomination Magic Number (Delegates needed): 2,025 FYI Democratic Nomination Magic Number (Delegates needed): 2,025 Republican Nomination Magic Number (Delegates needed): 1,191

B. Front loading has been an advantage to the challenging party because it has lengthened the general election campaigns 1. Super Tuesday: First Tuesday in February or March when approximately 24 states hold primaries and caucuses to determine who their nominee is: The Next Super Tuesday is March 2012

Super Tuesday States during the 2012 Primary

C. After Super Tuesday, the remaining states’ primaries are usually of little importance 1. Primary campaigns are usually not evident in the party in power (i.e. Obama is unopposed during the 2012 Primary Season)

What states primaries were not as meaningful because they fall later in the 2012 primary season?

First Presidential Caucus: Iowa Caucus: D. Presidential Caucus: Held when local party officials or delegates gather to vote on behalf of all the registered voters in that state to select a winner. First Presidential Caucus: Iowa Caucus: ****** Disadvantage of the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire: Iowa is 94% white and New Hampshire is 96% white – minorities are not represented adequately

E. The National Convention: Held every four years – three purposes 1. adopt the party’s platform 2. formally nominate a party’s Presidential candidate 3. Unify the party behind those candidates for the upcoming election.

F. What type of people are nominated for president? Usually held previous or current positions as Governor or Senator Usually a white, Protestant male who is married Usually is able to achieve favorable media coverage a. Recent Trend: Presidential conventions are usually held in swing states instead of safe states.

4. Swing states: voters can go one way or another when choosing a President Presidential campaigns often concentrate their efforts in swing states

5. Safe States: a more accurate prediction of how voters will choose the president is evident: a. red state: safe Republican b. blue state: safe Democrat

2012 Presidential Election: Looking at the map below, which states are swing states and which states are safe states?

Super Tuesday: February 5                   2004 Election: The imporortance of Swing States as “battleground states” At left: each waiving hand represents the amount of visits each Presidential candidate made in the 2004 Election At right: each $ represents the amount of money the candidates spent in Election 2004 (each dollar sign represents one million dollars)

II. Electing the President A. The Electoral College: Group of persons (presidential electors) chosen in each state and the District of Columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the President and Vice President

Presidential electors: person elected by the voters to represent them in making a formal selection of the President and Vice President a. often referred to as rubber-stamps

2. Each state’s presidential electors is equal to the number of people who represent each state in Congress 538 Total Electors: 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 Electors for the District of Columbia Pennsylvania: 20 Electors Winner-take all approach: Forty-eight states combine the popular vote to total and award the winner all of the electoral votes ++++ 270 Electoral Votes are needed to win!

2012 Presidential Election: The Electoral Votes for each state

(d) Election 2000: President Bush received 271 electoral votes and Al Gore received 266 Electoral Votes (1) Gore won the popular vote by over 500,000 votes but Bush won the election by 437 votes

Election 2000: Bush defeats Gore

(e) If neither candidate wins the 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives then choose who is President (1) Representatives within a state count as one vote, and 26 votes are needed for an individual to become President

FYI: Examples where the House has decided an election Election 1800: Jefferson defeated Burr Election 1824: John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson

3. Flaws of the Electoral College The winner of the popular vote may not win the Presidency (1) winner-takes-all approach can cause this to occur (2) Disproportionate distribution of electors can cause this to occur i.e. North Dakota and New York

Super Tuesday: February 5                   The Electoral College: Winning the popular vote, but losing the electoral vote

FYI: Elections where the winner of the popular vote lost the election Election 1876: Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden Election 1888: Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland Election 2000: George W. Bush defeated Al Gore

Disproportionate representation in the Electoral College Wyoming: 1 elector for every 165,000 (3 total electors) California: 1 elector for every 616,000 (55 total electors)

(b) Electors can, if they wish, vote against the candidate who wins their state (1) this rarely occurs, and has not impacted the outcome of an election

4. Advantages of the Electoral College Gives smaller states a larger voice Gives populated regions in populated states more of a voice because of the winner-takes all feature

Since Pennsylvania is a swing state, what populated counties are especially important for a Presidential candidate?

What is the following cartoon stating about the nomination process?