The Road to the White House

Timeline: Running for the Presidency 24 months before election 6 months before election 12 months before election November election The Decision to Run Gathering support and money; testing the waters; announcing candidacies Primaries and Caucuses February to June open primaries closed primaries caucuses Winning Delegates Elimination of all candidates except one Party Convention July to August formal selection of party nominees at the national conventions party platform adopted vice presidential nomination General Stage Election August to November campaigning media appearances debates

Step 1: Win the Party Nomination

Party Caucuses Caucus - closed meeting of party members in each state Michel Bachman campaigns in Iowa Caucus - closed meeting of party members in each state Delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate Currently, six states hold party caucuses to select presidential nominees.

Presidential Primaries Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election. Primary Season: January-June of election year State party organizations decide the rules for the primaries in a particular state

Closed Primary vs. Open Primary A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation Crossover voters – voters who usually vote for one party, vote in the primary election of the other party Examples: Michigan, Texas, Virginia, Washington Voters may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party Examples: California, Florida, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania

Methods of Selecting Presidential Delegates by State

2008 Open & Closed Primaries

Step 2: Win the General Election Elections between candidates of opposing parties “The battle for the center” as candidates vie for independent, more moderate voters ?

Getting Elected The system used to elect the President is called the ELECTORAL COLLEGE Representatives from each state select the president The winner is determined by the number of electoral college votes, NOT the popular vote # of Electors = senators + representatives

So, what about the popular vote? On election day (the first Tuesday in November), the American people vote for the candidate of their choice – this is known as the POPULAR VOTE (the vote of the people) The popular votes are counted In most states, the candidate who wins the most popular votes gets all the electoral votes in the state – for example, if most of the people in California vote for Candidate X, then Candidate X gets all 55 electoral votes

Commonly Asked Questions Do electors actually cast their vote? It’s usually a formality, but in December, the electors representing the candidate who won their state’s popular vote meet in their state capital and cast their votes The results of the national election become official when the stats’ electoral ballots are counted before a joint session of Congress on January 6th The winners are sworn in on Inauguration Day, which is always January 20th Can one candidate win the popular vote and another win the electoral vote? Yes, and the electoral vote determines who will be President It happened most recently in 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush won the electoral vote and thus the White House It’s happened only three other times: 1824, 1876, 1888

(or the vote goes to the House of Representatives) 270/538 needed to win (or the vote goes to the House of Representatives)

“NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!” Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. has 3 electoral votes; however, it has no Senators or members in the House of Representatives… Why is this strange? Since DC has no senators and no members in the House, it should not have any electoral votes. However, since people living in the District do pay taxes and share the same responsibilities as other US citizens, they must be given the right to participate and have a voice in presidential elections. “NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!”

Step 3: Presidential Inauguration January 20 – Presidential inauguration