1. Selecting a President:
The Presidential Nomination and Election Process

2. Presidential Selection
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?

3. Announcing candidacy & organizing
Candidates officially enter the “race” to the Presidency
Campaign is organized for upcoming events:
Network of workers/volunteers (phone calls, publicity, planners, etc.)
Accounts created for future fundraising
abcnews.go.com

4. Pre-primary fundraising, campaigning, and debating
Candidates begin fundraising for the upcoming spring primary/caucus season
Campaigning for the party primary/caucus is in full swing during this time
Debates will be held between the main contenders
washingtonpost.com

5. Stage 1: Caucuses Closed meeting of party members in each state
Barrack Obama campaigns in Iowa
Closed meeting of party members in each state
Delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate
Currently used in only six states

6. Stage 1: Caucuses
Hilary Clinton (D) and Rudy Guilliani (R) campaigning in Iowa
The Iowa Caucus is the first primary/caucus and is normally held on January 3, 2008.
Considering Iowa is a relatively small state, why are the Iowa caucuses so important??

7. Stage 1: Primaries
Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election.
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
Mitt Romney campaigning in New Hampshire

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

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

10. Methods of Selecting Presidential Delegates by State
Which is most popular? Why??

11. 2008 Open & Closed Primaries
Virginia has a “modified open primary”

12. Iowa Caucus First major electoral event in the election process.
Nationaljournal.com
Iowa Caucus
First major electoral event
in the election process.
Candidates campaign in Iowa months before the caucus
Ads, paid staffers, and publicity is centered around the many precincts in Iowa
The winner of the Iowa caucus has served as an indication of the person who will win their parties nomination

13. New Hampshire Primary First primary of election year
Focused upon by candidates
Media attention
Early success in contests / must perform well to continue in race
nhhistory.org

14. Importance of Early Caucuses and Primaries
These states are small but play a big role
They do not decide who IS the nominee for each party
They decide who ISN’T the nominee.
They significantly narrow the field of candidates
Iowa
New Hampshire
Nevada
South Carolina

15. SUPER TUESDAY
In 2008, states realized that the sooner they go, the more say they have in who gets nominated.
Both the Democrat and Republican Parties the earliest date for which a state can have its primary.
Many states had their primaries on this date

16. SUPER TUESDAY This became known as SUPER TUESDAY.
Most experts predicted that this date would decide the nominee early.
This was not the case
2008: Hilary vs. Obama
2012: Romney vs. Santorum

17. Stage 2: Presidential Nominating Conventions
Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

18. Nominating Conventions
An assembly held by political parties every four years
Usually held in late summer before the general election in November
George W. and Laura Bush at the Republican Convention

19. Purposes of Nominating Conventions
1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan
At the convention the party adopts a platform to unify support behind common goals.
Delegates to the convention elect that party’s nominees for President and Vice-president.

20. What is a Party Platform?
Platform - a statement of principles and objectives a political party and a candidate support
Plank - Individual topics in a party’s platform (ex: abortion, war in Iraq)

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

22. Winner-take-all System
Delegate Selection
Proportional System
Primary system used by the Democratic Party
Candidates get a % of delegates based on the popular vote
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
Similar to electoral college

23. Convention Speeches: The Keynote Address
The speech given at the convention that embodies that party’s core message
Extremely important event – can propel a politicians career
Do you know who gave the 2004 Keynote Address at the Democratic Convention???

24. Current President, (Then a Senator) Barrack Obama gives the 2004 DNC Keynote Address

25. The Acceptance Address
1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver their Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention
Given at the final day of the convention - winning candidate formally accepts the party’s nomination for president
Huge media event - Acceptance Address is always televised by the major networks

26. 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City
Critics say that party nominating conventions have become nothing more than infomercials.
What do you think?

27. Stage 3: General Election
Candidates ACTIVELY campaign by…
(Basically do ANYTHING that they think will get them more voters)

28. Raise money
In the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama raised over $600 million dollars – more than any other candidate ever—most of it through small, single online donations

29. Run ads (TV, radio, mail, internet etc)

30. Participate in Debates

31. Hold rallies and give speeches

32. Fall Campaign After convention to Election Day
Candidates travel from state to state (speaking, rallies fundraising, etc.)
Focus on swing states (states that are contested)
Run TV ads to increase name recognition, spread ideas, “mud-sling”
Debates held against opponent (media attention, show “likeability”, appear presidential, etc.)
thesoundsofhistory.com

33. Campaign Finance
The McCain-Feingold Act (2002) sought to limit campaign corruption by limiting the amount of money that could be donated by individuals and organizations.
Citizen’s United Decision (2010) struck down key limitations in McCain-Feingold allowing corporations and organizations to spend and donate unlimited money.

34. Campaign Finance
At the beginning of the 2012 election season, many experts estimated that a candidate would need to raise $1 billion in order to run a successful campaign for the presidency.
So far:
Romney: $771.7 million
Obama: $834.7 million

35. General Election
Held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November
November 2-8
Eligible citizens of the U.S. cast votes for the candidate of their choice for President.
Popular vote winner in each state helps determine the electors who will cast the official vote in the Electoral College
Time.com

36. Stage 4: Electoral College December – After General Election
Distributes votes to states based upon # of senators & representatives
State’s popular vote winner earns all Electoral votes of state
Must earn majority (270) of Electoral votes to win election
Map: 2012 distribution
Used originally to
“check” voters (uneducated
& uniformed)
census.gov

37. 2012 Electoral College Numbers by state