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Primaries & Caucuses Campaigning Voting Patterns Electoral College

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Presentation on theme: "Primaries & Caucuses Campaigning Voting Patterns Electoral College"— Presentation transcript:

1 Primaries & Caucuses Campaigning Voting Patterns Electoral College
The Election Process Primaries & Caucuses Campaigning Voting Patterns Electoral College

2 The Election Process Nomination Process
Nomination: the party’s endorsement of a candidate for office. Develop a campaign strategy to help win Delegates: States select delegates to send to national conventions where they select presidential nominees Primaries: Direct elections for the presidential nominee Caucuses: Instead of direct elections, party members hold closed meetings to poll the group on who they want to choose. The Election Process Primaries & Caucuses Due to federalism, some states have different laws governing the use of primaries or caucuses. There is no unified federal law over this type of election.

3 The Election Process Nomination Process
Open Primary: Any registered voter can vote Closed Primary: Must register in advance with that political party to vote Problems with the system Too much media attention can distort campaigns and candidates early Lengthy process = too much $$$ Proposals to “Fix” the system National Primary: all held on same day Regional Primary: Shift around the US The Election Process Primaries & Caucuses Primaries primarily focus on the prime primed candidate as his primeness facilitates prime-time primehood.

4 The Election Process National Convention Process
National Convention: Delegates selected from each state primary cast their vote for their nominee Superdelegates: the democrats use this practice more, allowing a pre-determined group of delegates to cast their votes early. Typically wealthy, powerful party members. What Happens There? Scripted media event Outlines “party platform” of issues the party will focus on in the next 4 years. The Election Process Convention Send-Off Party platforms originally started out as an actual structural platform to have a party on.

5 The Election Process Post-Nomination
National Campaign: After nominations, the nominee focuses attention on the national arena to win general election votes. Television ads, public appearances, mailings Problems with Campaigning? Less about ideas, more about image Too much $$$ needed. The Election Process Film producer Joseph Levine was quoted as saying, “You can fool all of the people all of the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough.” The Campaign Game

6 The Election Process The Law of Campaigning
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA): 1974, created Federal Election Commission to enforce campaign finance laws. Created the Presidential Election Campaign Fund which allows taxpayers to donate $3 on their income taxes to be divided amongst presidential candidates. What did FECA do? Limits for spending if you take public funds Report all campaign contributions and how money is spent Limits individual contributions to $2000. The Election Process Money & Campaigning Yes, you can “choose” to give more money in your income taxes to the people who will arrest you if you don’t pay your income tax.

7 The Election Process Problems with FECA
Soft Money: Loophole where businesses and wealthy people to donate unlimited amounts of money. Suppose to be for “party use” instead of donated to a specific person; typically held for presidential races Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold) Attempted to ban soft money Allowed for the formation of “527” groups Raise unlimited money if spent on advertising not tied to a candidate Political Action Committees (PACS): Created under FECA, interest groups can now raise money and donate without limits Interest groups donate to a PAC, PAC registers with the FEC, works independently Candidates rely heavily on PAC money The Election Process Stephen Colbert, star of the Colbert Report, created a SuperPAC to show how easy it is to skirt around the lax campaign finance laws in the US. Money & Campaigning

8 The Election Process Voting Rights Suffrage: your right to vote.
Originally restricted to white, male, land owners. Almost all citizens over 18 can vote now Problems with Voting? Registration is often inconvenient Motor-Voter Act: Register to vote when you get your drivers license Why People Vote Political Efficacy: Votes make a difference Civic Duty: Uphold ideas of democracy The Election Process Voting Patterns The 28th amendment would extend voting rights to Feline-Americans, Canine-Americans and Avian- Americans.

9 The Election Process More Likely to Vote?
College Educated > Lower Education Older > Young African American & Hispanic Educated > Educated Caucasians Women > Men Union Members > Non-Union Members Married > Single Studies show that if turnout increased, democrats would win more often. Reforms stall because Republicans would lose advantage The Election Process Voting Patterns One of my favorite political jokes: I don't approve of political jokes...I've seen too many of them get elected.

10 The Election Process Explaining Citizens’ Decisions
Mandate Theory of Elections: the winning candidate must follow the ideas of their platform that got them elected Some vote based upon party identification. Some based upon candidates’ personalities. Policy Preference: voting based upon policy ideas that closely match your own ideas Must be knowledgeable about candidates Retrospective Voting: voting based upon past decisions (either good or bad) The Election Process How We Vote Benjamin Franklin could have said, “My favorite mythical creature? The honest politician.”

11 The Election Process Electoral College Key Concepts
You don’t directly vote for the President Each state’s electors is equal to the number of house reps and senators they have. Most states are winner-take-all; the candidate with the most votes wins all the electoral votes Battleground states: states who could likely change the outcome of the election. Meet in Nov, cast vote with Senate, Announced in Jan. The Election Process Electoral College “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” – Joseph Stalin

12 The Election Process Problems with the Electoral College
Large State Advantage: Most votes, candidates don’t focus on smaller states at all Only a few states really matter. Big cities have more attention than rural areas because that’s where the votes live. You can win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote, just ask Al Gore or Hillary Clinton. The Election Process Electoral College “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” – Winston Churchill


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