Goal: How do you pick a good candidate for President? Based on pp (Wilson) Quiet Reading Time: Please read “How Obama Won the Nomination” by Jay Cost. Why does Cost feel that the rules behind primaries and caucuses made a difference for Obama? ( Discuss with a team: in what ways did the delegate allocation system help Obama win his nomination? What does this tell us about the parties in our nation? Are they straying from their original purpose?

Delegates v. Voters Why do delegates have different views from voters and even elected officials? Rules for selecting delegates: The increasing importance of primaries (since 1972) and caucuses. – Definitions: Primary election: an election prior to the general election in which voters select the candidates who will run on each party’s ticket. Caucus: a meeting of party followers “held in the dead of winter in a schoolhouse miles from home.” (179) How are these two ways of selecting candidates changing the face of delegates?

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved Table 7.6: Political Opinions of Delegates and Voters

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. What do you notice happening as time passes? Table 7.5: How Party Delegates and Party Voters Differ in Liberal Ideology

Why are these changes creating a larger gap between Electoral and Policy Objectives? Electoral Objectives Compare John McCain to View McCain’s political advertisement. What strategy is being used to gain voters? How might his views be different from those held by the party’s activists? Why does it make sense that McCain was rejected as the Presidential candidate in earlier primary elections? Policy Objectives Barry Goldwater. His views are “well to the right of most voters.” View Johnson’s political ad for the 1964 election. How did Johnson take advantage of his opponents extreme views?

Why is it difficult for parties to choose good candidates?