1. Nominations and Campaigns
Chapter 9

2. The Nomination Game Nomination:
The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party.

3. The Nomination Game The Long Campaign
Other countries have short campaigns- generally less than 2 months.
U.S. campaigns (especially for President) can last 18 months or more.
And it seems to be getting longer each year!

4. The Paradox of Campaigns
Candidates must appeal to people further from the political center in the primaries and caucuses, but must later appeal to the center in the general election.

5. The Nomination Game: Competing for Delegates
Some states use the caucus method of sending delegates to national convention.
Caucus: Formerly meetings of party leaders, these are now meetings of party members used to select delegates and nominees.
Now organized like a pyramid from local precincts to the state’s convention.
Local caucuses --- > district convention ---> state convention ---> national convention. Each level selects delegates to attend higher level.
Iowa’s is first and is considered the most important.

6. The Nomination Game: Competing for Delegates
Primary: Elections in which voters choose the nominee or delegates pledged to the nominee.
3 Types of Primaries
Open
Closed
Blanket
New Hampshire is the first primary

7. choosing Delegates
The McGovern Fraser Commission in 1968 wrote new rules to increase the number of female and minority delegates in the Democratic Party
Superdelegates are awarded seats based on the office they hold, such as being a member of Congress. They bring experience and represent the elite.

8. Types of Primaries
Open primaries allow party members and non affiliated voters to vote.
Independents may vote, voters get ballot of any one party they wish crossing of party lines allowed --> danger of 'raiding.’
Closed primaries allow only party members to vote.
Used in most states.
Only registered party members can vote for partisan offices, no crossing of party lines.
Blanket (“free love"): Independents may vote, voters can "mix and match” their votes (vote for candidates of different parties for different offices)

9. The Nomination Game: Criticisms (but the candidates will defend the system)
1. Marathon Campaigns
Disproportionate attention to the early ones.(Iowa and NH).
Money plays too big a role.
Participation in primaries and caucuses is low and voters are more extreme.
2. Frontloading
a state holds its primary early to capitalize on media attention.
Politicians can’t do their duties when running
Money plays too big of a role
Regional factors are exaggerated and participation is low- leads to extreme voters
3. Super Tuesday
Southern states moved their primaries to same day in March
Lots of media attention and money too big of a role

10. Analysis of presidential nominating system.
Pro
Highly participatory.- caucuses, primaries, conventions.
Highly representative.
Weeds out weaker candidates.
Con
Low rates of turnout.
Costly.
Too lengthy.
Does not test candidates for qualities they need as President. Too much emphasis on media game.
Delegates at caucuses and conventions tend to be unrepresentative: more ideological, more activist, more educated, less moderate, much more wealthy.

11. Front-Loading in the Delegate Selection Process

12. The Nomination Game: Suggestions to fix the system
National Primary
Primary on same day
A run off between the top two in each party would then be held shortly thereafter
Regional Primary
States in each time zone would vote once a week for a month
Advantage goes to the time zone that goes first

13. Conventions Have lost their drama. Winner is known beforehand.
emphasis on ‘image' instead of 'scrimmage,' 'ratification rather than nomination.'
Selection of VP nominee.
Chosen by pres. nominee and rubber stamped by convention.
'Balancing the ticket.'
Have lost their viewers.
Networks aren’t showing as much.
Viewers of 2004 convention: 22 million (covered by all major broadcast and cable news channels)
Viewers of a single episode of Survivor: 58 million (covered by CBS)
1964 Democratic Convention
2004 Democratic Convention 13

14. Conventions
Are still important to the party to get the base organized and motivated (Pep Rally).
Conventions are carefully scripted and they develop positions and promote political representation.
Day 1: Keynote speech
Day 2: Party platform: Statement of its goals and policies and general beliefs.
Day 3: Official nominations and candidate speeches.
Goal: Reconciliation and unification of party by end of convention.

15. The Campaign game
Technology has changed the nature of political campaigns
Moving away from attending political rallies to connecting with the candidates through TV and the Internet
Goal is to use the media to get attention
Direct Mail
Locating potential supporters by sending information and a request for money to huge lists of people who have supported candidates of similar views in the past
Organizing the Campaign (Going to needs LOTS of $$$$$$$$$)
Get a campaign manager
Get a fund raiser
Get a campaign counsel
Hire media and campaign consultants
Assemble a campaign staff
Plan the logistics
Get a research staff and policy advisors
Hire a pollster
Get a good press secretary
Establish a website

16. Money and campaigning
The early 1970s represented a time when Congress attempted to take back power from the Executive Branch
Believed LBJ & Nixon had expanded the power of the Presidency too much
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (War Powers Act)
Watergate and HUGE illegal campaign contributions

17. Money and Campaigning Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
FEC: Created by law in 1974 to administer campaign finance laws for federal elections.
Public financing of presidential elections (matching funds)
Limited spending & required disclosure
Limited contributions to campaigns
Soft Money
Contributions (with no limits) used for party-building expenses or generic party advertising

18. Buckley v. valeo (1976)
The Supreme Court ruling upheld part of the act and struck down part of the act as unconstitutional.
They upheld:
Limits on individual contributions (hard money)
Disclosure and reporting of contributions requirement
They struck down:
Limits on campaign spending
Limits on using personal/family resources
Limits on independent spending (soft money)

19. The Proliferation of PACs
Definition: Created by law in 1974 to allow corporations, labor unions and others to donate money to campaigns.
Over 4200 PACs donating over $288 million to Congressional Candidates alone in 2006
Number of these has sextupled since
Contributions of these to congressional candidates have risen by more than tenfold.
Percentage of campaign money from PACs has also risen dramatically.
Donate to candidates who support their issue, regardless of party affiliation
Not sufficient data that PACs “buy” candidates

20. Bipartisan campaign finance reform act
McCain Feingold Act (2002)
Eliminated soft money
Set limits of $2000 for individual contributions and $5000 for PACs, indexed for inflation.
Banned independent ads 30 days before primaries and 60 days before a general election

21. 527s and 501(c)s
527s are independent organizations that run ads that are not sponsored by a political party or a candidate.
They can spend unlimited amounts of money.
501(c) groups allow donors to remain anonymous.
They cannot spent more than half of their funds on political activities.

22. Citizens united v. fec (2010)
527s and 501(c) groups are considered to be persons under the law, with free speech rights.
The 30 and 60 day limits on ads were ruled to be unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment.

23. Superpacs
Officially known as “independent expenditure only committees,” Super PACS may engage in unlimited spending independent of candidate and parties.
They can raise funds from corporations, unions, and other groups without limits.
com/videos/av6bvx/colber t-super-pac---coordination- resolution-with-jon-stewart

24. McCutcheon vs. FEC (2014)
Federal aggregate limit is set at $117,000 per election (total amount you can donate to all federal candidates)
McCutcheon wants to give more than $117,000
Supreme Court rules for McCutcheon
Got rid of aggregate limit but kept in place the limit on individual contributions to each candidate set under McCain/Feingold ($2600 per election)
“The government may no more restrict how many candidates or causes a donor may support than it may tell a newspaper how many candidates it may endorse”- Chief Justice John Roberts

26. Big picture of campaign finance
1974 law is still around
FEC is still around
PACs are still around
McCain/Feingold tried to limit the amount of money in politics- banned soft money
Hydraulic Theory of Money
527s
Citizens United
Super PACs
What is the role of money in politics?
Does it have a corrupting power?

27. 3 impacts of campaigns and some other stuff
Reinforcement of voters’ preferences for candidates
Activation- getting supporters to contribute money or ring doorbells
Conversion- changing the minds of voters (rarely happens)
Selective Perception- voters pay attention to what they already agree with
Party Identification still influences voters
Incumbent advantage
Campaigns are getting longer
Today they promote individualism
Campaign promises mean more government spending and programs