How does one become president? A lesson in Elections

How do you participate?

Elections: Casting your vote You vote based upon where you live, AKA precincts. Your precinct will determine the polling places (where you are allowed to vote) You may also choose to do a mail in ballot. All ballots are considered to be “secret ballots”

Brain storm some of your ideas on how to become president

Two-Party System The U.S. Constitution doesn’t say anything about political parties George Washington didn’t belong to one and thought they were horrible and warned against them. Nevertheless, we have two major parties.

Democrats vs. Republicans Democratic Party. Named for democracy = rule by the people. Evolved from Democratic-Republican party of Thomas Jefferson. First Democratic president: Andrew Jackson Republican Party. Named for republic = rule through representatives. Emerged in the 1850s. First Republican president: Abraham Lincoln GOP = Grand Old Party

Why a two party system?

Where do they get all of this Money?

2012 election numbers Democrats: Raised: 1072.6 Million Spent: 985.7 Million Republicans: Raised: 992.5 Million Spent 992.0 Million Total Spent: 1,977,700,000.00! Source: http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance (New York Times)

Private Sources Some of the Money comes from the candidate themselves Other individuals

Political Action Committees PAC’s as they are often called Created by interest groups to influence elections

Types of elections Presidential BEFORE we vote for the president in the general elections, the parties need to decide which candidates are going to represent them. The parties hold PRIMARIES in each state to determine the candidate they are going to choose.

Primaries Each state chooses their own rules for the primary election. In the state of Colorado you may only vote in the primary election if you’re a registered member of the political party Why do you think this is?

Caucuses “Town Hall Meeting” Meeting of party leaders in a state to select a candidate.

Road to the white house Decide to run Campaign Win states primaries, or caucuses

The Conventions Each party will hold their conventions in July/August All states must have finished primary voting by this time. Used to be where the parties “officially” decided who would run Now more of a pep rally announce platform, and choose the VP as well.

Presidential Nominee’s Choice The presidential nominee chooses his own running mate (the person he or she wants to be VP) The combination of presidential and vice-presidential candidate is called the “ticket”

Party Platform Each party writes a “platform” = the document that gives their stand on each issue. Each position /issue is called a “plank” Read the platform to decide who you support

Presidential Debates A series of televised debates between the Republican and Democratic candidates for president. The first televised debate was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960.

General Election First Tuesday in November Popular vote = the vote count of the people of each state Electoral vote = the vote of “electors,” who are chosen based on the popular vote Electoral vote for each state = # of Representatives in the H of R + the 2 senators

General elections More campaigning Time for you to vote! Remember your vote tells the representatives who to vote for Electoral college chooses the president 270 to win All or nothing

Where Would You Campaign?