Selecting a President: Nominating Conventions

 Stage 1: Caucuses & Primaries The Battle for the Party Faithful  Stage 2: Nominating Conventions “Glorified Infomercials?”  Stage 3: General Election The Fight for the Center  Stage 4: Electoral College Power to the People? Presidential Selection

Presidential Nominating Conventions: The Nuts & Bolts Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

Stage 1: Caucuses  Closed meeting of party members in each state  Delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate  Currently, six states, including Nevada in 2008, offer party caucuses selecting presidential nominees. Barrack Obama campaigns in Iowa

Stage 1: Caucuses Hilary Clinton (D) and Rudy Guilliani (R) campaigning in Iowa Questions for Discussion: 1.The Iowa Caucus is on January 3, Why is it so important? 2.Brainstorm pros and cons to the caucus format.

Stage 1: Primaries  Primary Season - January - June  Who Decides? - State party organizations for the most part decide the rules for the primaries in a particular state.  Types of Primaries: Closed Primaries Open Primaries Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election. Mitt Romney campaigning in New Hampshire

Closed Primary Voters may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party

Open Primary A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation.

Methods of Selecting Presidential Delegates by State

2008 Open & Closed Primaries

Map of 2008 Primary & Caucus Dates

Nominating Conventions An assembly held by political parties every four years Usually held in late summer before the general election in November The Democratic and Republican parties hold nominating conventions as do third parties [ex: Green Party, Libertarian Party] George W. and Laura Bush at the 2000 Republican Convention

Purposes of Nominating Conventions 1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan 1.Delegates at the convention adopt a party platform. 2.Delegates to the convention elect that party’s nominees for President and Vice-president.

What’s a Party Platform? Party Platform - a statement of principles and objectives a political party and a candidate supports in order to win the general election. Plank - Individual topics in a party ’ s platform (ex: abortion, war in Iraq) Cartoon satirizing the 1896 Democratic Party Platform

2004 Platform Themes Democratic Party: “ Strong at Home, Respected in the World ” Republican Party: “ A Safer World and a More Hopeful America ” How are these themes similar?Different?

Who are Delegates? Delegate - A voting representative to the party nominating convention

Delegate Selection Proportional System  Primary system used by the Democratic Party  Candidates are allocated the same percentage of a state ’ s delegates as they received in popular votes  Pro ’ s & con ’ s of the proportional system? Winner-take-all System  System used in most Republican primaries  The winner of the popular vote in that state receives all that state ’ s delegates  Pro ’ s & con ’ s of the winner-take-all system?

Democratic Party Rules: Two Types of Delegates Pledged Delegates v. Superdelegates

Pledged Delegates Pledged delegates count during the 2008 Democratic primaries  Each state allotted certain number of delegates who vote at the party ’ s convention  Pledged delegates are chosen at state & local level  Pledged delegates are required to cast a vote at the convention based on the results of the primary or caucus in their state

 Members of the Democratic Party establishment who serve as unpledged delegates at the party convention  Include members of Congress, governors, and members of the D.N.C.  They are free to vote for any candidate at the convention Superdelegates

Brokered Convention  A situation in which no one candidate in a political party has received enough delegates in the primaries and caucuses to obtain a majority  After the first ballot at the party ’ s convention, nominee decided through horse-trading and further ballots  Thomas Dewey (R) in 1948 and Adlai Stevenson (D) in 1952 last two candidates selected through brokered conventions; neither won the general election Brainstorm potential positive and negative consequences of a brokered convention. Democrats avoided a brokered convention in 2008

Minor Parties in the United States Ideological Parties Example: Libertarian Party Single-issue Parties Example: Free Soil Party Economic Protest Parties Example: The Greenback Party Splinter Party Example: “Bull Moose” Progressive Party

Minor Parties in the United States

Why Are Minor Parties Important? Minor parties play several important roles: “ Spoiler Role” Minor party candidates can pull decisive votes away from one of the major parties’ candidates, especially if the minor party candidate is from a splinter party. Critic Minor parties, especially single-issue parties, often take stands on and draw attention to controversial issues that the major parties would prefer to ignore. Innovator Often, minor parties will draw attention to important issues and propose innovative solutions to problems. If these proposals gain popular support, they are often integrated into the platforms of the two major parties.

Convention Speeches: The Keynote Address  The speech given at the convention that embodies that party ’ s core message  Why do you think Democrats choose Barrack Obama and Republicans Zell Miller to deliver the 2004 Keynote Addresses? Democrat Zell Miller delivers the 2004 RNC Keynote Address Senator Barrack Obama gives the 2004 DNC Keynote Address

Convention Speeches: The Acceptance Address  The speech given at the final day of the convention in which the winning candidate formally accepts the party ’ s nomination for president  The Acceptance Address is always televised by the major networks 1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver their Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention

Critics say that party nominating conventions have become no more than infomercials Democratic National Convention in New York City What do you think?

Republican Convention Today candidates secure their party’s nomination during the primaries But in 1920 there was no clear nominee going into the Republican Convention

By Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune 09/21/ Schwarzenegger Rocks Republican Convention

By Paresh Nath, National Herald, New Delhi, India 3/17/ The Final Three

Superdelegates By John Trever, The Albuquerque Journal 03/30/2008