Road to Presidency

STEP 1: Meet formal requirements Formal Requirements: Constitutional requirements for presidency 35 years or older Natural Born Citizen U.S. Resident for 14 years Informal Requirements: unofficial criteria that have mattered to the American voting public.

Step 2: Pre-Candidacy process Establish exploratory committees Form PACS/Super PACS

STEP 3: Register with the FEC Registration is required once a candidate has received $5000 worth of contributions.

Step 4: The Invisible Primary The period between a candidate’s announcement that they are running for president and when the first primary votes are cast. “Also known as the campaign trail” Begin building an organization team Begin fundraising and campaigning Develop “winning” strategy Town Hall Meetings Seek endorsements Debates

Invisible Primary Debates

Step 5: The Primary Season Primary season helps to narrow down list of candidates to 1 Democrat and 1 Republican in preparation for the General Election. Usually begins in late January and lasts until mid June. Calendar: Iowa caucus, New Hampshire Primary, South Carolina Primary Super Tuesday: a big group of states vote on super Tuesday.

Step 5 cont’d: Different types of elections during primary season Caucus: a meeting of voters who vote for the candidate of their choice by straw poll. Open Primary: Voters select party ballots once they arrive at the polls. Closed Primary: Voters have to pre-registered with a given party to vote. Blanket primary: Voters are not required to identify with a particular party and can make choices without regard to party lines.

Step 5 cont’d: Why do some states split electoral votes differently? It’s because of the way most Democratic primaries are structured. Elections in most Democratic systems can be: Winner-take-all: The Winner takes the entire prize Proportional: The winners proportionally share the prize Winners are then chosen by either… Plurality: the person who wins is the person who gets the most votes Majority: the person who wins is the person who gets the majority of the vote (51%) Can you guess how elections work in the United States?

Step 6: The Nominating Convention A big national pep rally for each of the base supporters. Vice-President is usually chosen by then.

Step 7: General Election Continue fundraising and campaigning Campaign Rallies Get out the vote operations TV interviews Debates: 3 presidential, 1 vice-presidential