1. Presidential Nomination (Delegates)
Number of Delegates Needed
Democrats (2,025 of 4,049)
Republicans (1,191 of 2,381)

2. Role of National Parties:
-- Whether delegates are selected by a “winner-
take-all” or a “proportional representation” system
-- Determine how many delegates each state party will
be given (for candidates to then earn):
(i) Primary basis is how populated the state is
(ii) Less important is how that state has voted
for the party’s previous presidential candidate (e.g.,
Texas Democrats will get fewer delegates because Obama
lost to McCain & Romney in Texas in 2008/2012)

3. Role of State Parties as ratified by the State Legislatures:
-- Determine if primary or caucus
-- Determine if primary/caucus is open,
closed, or semi-closed
-- Determine Date or Dates of primary or
caucus (except first four states)
-- “Front-loading” may occur here

4. How Delegates are acquired:
-- Republican Party -- Democratic Party
(i) Primaries (i) Primaries
(most common method for both parties)
(ii) Caucuses (ii) Caucuses
(iii) Super Delegates (iii) Super Delegates
(but very few)

5. Super Delegates- How are these individuals selected and why does the Democratic Party use them more so than the Republican Party?

6. Presidential Nomination Process
Stage 1: Pre-Primary Positioning Stage
-- Preparing the Candidate
-- Assemble the Campaign Team
(Critical Role: Campaign Manager)
-- Establish campaign organizations
in key primary/caucus states
-- Raise Money
-- Collect Endorsements
-- Build Name Recognition

7. Stage 2: Iowa and New Hampshire –
Narrowing the Field (but don’t forget
“South Carolina” and “Nevada”!)
-- Hugely important because they’re “first”
-- If expectations are not met for second-
tier candidates, they usually quit
-- For top tier candidates, meeting/exceeding
expectations is virtually a must
(In 2012, Santorum wins Iowa, Romney wins
New Hampshire, Gingrich wins in South Carolina)

8. Stage 3: Super Tuesday (Early March this year)
-- Because so many states involved,
candidates must by now have high
name ID and lots of money to
compete successfully (which could be
helped by good results from earlier
primaries/caucuses)
-- Usually, the race is over after early March
(True for the Republicans in 2008, but not the
Democrats in 2008 or the Republicans in 2012)

9. Stage 4: The Post Super Tuesday Contests (Early March-July)
- Usually not important unless race is very close
If relevant, organization and money are very important predictors as to who wins these (Obama vs. Hillary in ‘08)

10. Stage 5: The Transition
-- From March to August, the two
presumptive presidential nominees
usually start to emphasize “general
election” themes
(e.g., Romney- a greater emphasis on
the economy, and a lesser emphasis on social
and foreign policy issues)
-- Both nominees try to unite the party

11. Stage 6: The National Party Conventions
-- President and Vice-President nominated
(Balance the Ticket)
-- Party Platform is adopted
-- Public Relations is very important
(Get popular speakers: Obama gets
Bill Clinton while Romney gets Clint Eastwood)
-- Keynote speech by presidential nominees are
very important!
(Kerry is seen “sweating” while giving his
speech in this is not good!)