1. Starter  List 3 ways the Democratic and Republican Party differ.

2. Elections and Public Opinion

3. Paying for elections  Takes a great deal of money ($3 Billion every 4 years) to run a successful campaign. Campaigns convince the public to vote for a particular candidate. Campaign workers use several techniques to accomplish their goals.

4. Campaigning  Canvassing- door-to-door to solicit voters or neighborhoods.  Endorsements- Famous and popular person supports candidate  Advertising- Create an image to present to public on TV, posters, ads  Propaganda-use of emotions to convince citizens to vote a certain way

5. Financing Campaign  Public Funding: Presidential Campaign Election Fund  Private Funding: Individual citizens, party organizations, corporations, interest groups (Like NRA), soft money donations and PAC’s  Soft Money- Money given to political party and no designed for a particular candidate. Used for National TV ads.  PAC’s (Political Action Committee)- Way for labor unions, special-interest groups and corporations to donate money legally.

6. Public Opinion  Ideas and attitudes that most people hold about elected officials, candidates, gov’t and political issues  Helps shape decisions of presidents  Not uniform-everyone does not hold the same opinion

7. Influences on Public Opinion  1. Personal Background-religion, age, race, socio-economic  2. Mass Media-newspapers, TV, radio, Internet  3. Public Officials- president, senators, mayor  4. Interest Groups