1. Electing a
president
teacherweb.com/CA/.../Ponsi/8-steps-to-electing-the-president.ppt

2. Step One: Organize and Planning
Official Constitutional Requirements
Three requirements
Age: 35
Citizenship: Natural born citizen
Residency: Resident of US for last 14 years

3. STEP 2: State Caucuses and Primaries
Purpose: Small meetings, where people come together to select delegates
First state: Iowa
Importance: as we have seen, Iowa can give a huge boost to a candidate (Obama) or force people out of the race early (Biden and Dodd))
Primaries
State elections with in a party to get delegates support at the national convention
3 kinds: open, closed and binding
First state: New Hampshire
Importance: weeds out candidates, proves who can win and where

4. STEP 3: Win Nomination at Convention
Purpose of convention: Choose party’s candidate
Where do we hold the convention: Big electoral state
Why: Get media exposure for party and candidate
What is the Platform Committee: Writes rules for convention and writes the party’s stance on current issues (that is voted on by delegates)
Significance of the Keynote address: kicks off convention, sets tone and exposes an “up and coming star” of the party
Selection of the Nominee: as many ballots as it takes to get the majority support of delegates
Acceptance speeches: Accepts Picks the VP running mate
Call for unity: get the party faithful fired up for the Fall election

5. STEP 4: Campaign against other Parties
Formal start of the campaign : Kick off is the Labor Day weekend: the beginning of September; 8 weeks to package the candidate
Time constraints: Campaign needs to decide its strategy for winning the elections; where to campaign, how to spend resources; swing states are states that can “swing” the election because they have more electoral votes or independent voters that can be swayed to vote for either party
Use of Media: Decide how and where to spend money; ads, radio, talk shows, TV
Debates: A candidate has to decide if (s )he will participate; if so when, where, the format.

6. STEP 5: General Election
Day America votes: Presidential elections are always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November; every four years; always in even number years
Voting: goes on all day and polls close at 8:00pm
Exit Polls: gets info about how people voted as they exit the polling place
Media Coverage: As the east coast polls close, broadcasting the outcome can affect the west where the polls are still opened

7. STEP 6: Electoral College
Electoral System: the people who really elect the president
Number of electoral votes needed to win: 270
Electoral votes by state: number of representatives and+ 2 senators = electors
Vote: Each states sends electors from the winning party to the capitol to vote for president on the first Monday after the 2nd Wed. in December
Plurality vs. majority: Most popular vote vs 50% +1
Problems with the system: Popular vote doesn’t win; electors aren’t obligated to vote any one way; messy system if no one gets 270 electoral votes

8. STEP 7: Transition Period
Lameduck President: Outgoing president
President elect: Briefed by appropriate government agencies
Secret service protection: Full time police protection for president and family
Transition: Cabinet selected, inaugural address written; starts putting the staff in place. An office and staff is provided by the government

9. STEP 8: Inauguration When: January 20th
Oath of office: Sworn in by Supreme Court Justice; gives the inaugural speech to inspire the country, Parade, if weather permits, the president and family walks down Pennsylvania Ave., assumes the job
Inaugural Ball: There are many parties that take place that night; corporate sponsors; the president and VP and spouses go and make an appearance at all of them.