1. Presidential Elections
Primaries
Old – 1800 – Caucus
1830s – Conventions, Party bosses dominated
1900s – primary elections to give people a greater role
Closed – only registered party
Open – choose either party on election day
40 states have primaries instead of caucuses now
Was winner take all primaries
Now – Dems – proportional
Rep – Mixed
¾ of primaries are in Feb thru mid-march
Iowa(caucus) and New Hampshire(Primary) are the best known and play a crucial role in getting media attention
Only 25% vote

2. THE PARTY CONVENTIONS Name the candidates Adopt a party platform
Attempt to unify the party and generate
positive publicity and momentum

3. CAMPAIGN SPENDING AND REFORM
Cost 1988 – $60 million in primaries
2008 – $408 million in primaries
The Federal Election Reform Act of 1974
Created a Federal Election Commission to administer and enforce campaign finance laws.
Provided partial public funding for presidential primaries. Provided full public financing for major party candidates in the general election.
Placed limitations on individual contributions to presidential candidates
Buckley v. Valeo (1976) – Struck down limits for funding your own
campaign – free speech

4. Cont.
Soft money
Soft money includes unregulated donations to political parties for party-building expenses such as grassroots activities and generic party advertising.
Reform laws failed to regulate soft money donations.
Soft money was often used to circumvent limitations on hard money contributions.
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
aimed to eliminate soft money contributions
527 groups
A 527 group is a tax-exempt organization created to influence the political process.
527 groups are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission because they do not coordinate their activities with a candidate or party.
In 2004, 527 groups spent over $420 million on political messages

5. Contribution Limitations
$2,700 per election to a federal candidate or the candidate's campaign committee.2 Notice that the limit applies separately to each election. Primaries, runoffs and general elections are considered separate elections.
$5,000 per calendar year to a PAC. This limit applies to a PAC (political action committee) that supports federal candidates. (PACs are neither party committees nor candidate committees. Some PACs are sponsored by corporations and unions--trade, industry and labor PACs. Other PACs, often ideological, do not have a corporate or labor sponsor and are therefore called nonconnected PACs.) PACs use your contributions to make their own contributions to federal candidates and to fund other election-related activities.
$10,000 per calendar year to a State or local party committee. A State party committee shares its limits with local party committees in that state unless a local committee's independence can be demonstrated.
$33,900 per calendar year to a national party committee. This limit applies separately to a party's national committee, House campaign committee and Senate campaign committee.
$100 in currency (cash) to any political committee. (Anonymous cash contributions may not exceed $50.) Contributions exceeding $100 must be made by check, money order or other written instrument.

6. THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Safeguards the presidency from direct popular election Each states electoral votes = #senators + #representatives Winner take all system effects: Get all of a states votes Candidates spend all of their time in swing states Candidates take issue positions to reflect swing states Restricts 3rd parties Why is the electoral college still around? Constitutional amendment to change Benefits small states (3 votes) Benefits interest groups and minorities in key states No consensus on how to reform

7. President - Chief Executive
Executive power Enforces federal law Administers bureaucracy ($3T, 2.7M employees) Appointment Power Cabinet, Aides, Agency heads, Ambassadors Judges, US marshals, Attorneys Subject to confirmation by a majority of the Senate Senatorial Courtesy – will not approve an appointment opposed by a Senator in the state that she will serve

8. Cont.
Removal Power Dismiss appointed positions (not federal judges or heads of regulatory agencies) Cabinet 14 department heads and Attorney general Employ 2/3 of government workers Divided loyalties between President and their department Problems: Interest groups form close ties Extended terms beyond current Pres. Congress competes for influence

9. Executive office of the President
Office of Management and Budget(OMB) 500 Career officials Assists in budget preparation National Security Council(NSC) Foreign and military advisors VP, Secretaries of State, Defense, National Security advisors, others as needed Council of Economic Advisors(CEA) 3 leading economists Prepares annual Economic Report of the President

10. White House Staff
White house staff Chief of Staff – managing the flow of people and information to President Press Secretary, etc Personal loyalty President can appoint without approval Mission – to provide Pres with policy and options

11. THE PRESIDENT AS CHIEF LEGISLATOR
Costitution Required to give State of the Union Address Bring issues to attention of Congress “from time to time” Veto Presidents Set party agenda Initiates legislation

12. Veto
Pres can sign bill or Veto it Congress overrides with 2/3 in both chambers 10 days to sign bills, if he doesn’t sign: Becomes law in 10 days if Congress is in Session Pocket Veto is Congress is out of session Less than 10% are overridden Use it as a threat to get a bill modified Vetoed bill is often modified and then passed Line Item Veto – Struck down 1966 law – cannot do it

13. Cont
Working with Congress Prefer a bipartisan relationship Assign liaisons to lobby congress Work with both leaders Use the media to focus attention Use approval ratings Bargaining with pork

14. Divided Government
President/House/Senate are not all the same party Frequent in last 100 years Heightened partisanship Harder to negotiate compromises Slowed process creating Gridlock Decline of public trust Appointments harder – character attacks, stricter scrutiny Overcome with Media for public support, threatening Veto, making deals, building coalitions Impact of divided government is a big deal

15. APPOINTING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES
President appoints
Senate confirms
Select like minded judges (how to interpret the Constitution)

16. PRESIDENT AND THE MEDIA
Public support is critical
Approval ratings (positives)
Honeymoon period
Positive media coverage
Foreign policy successes
Foreign crisis that product “rally round the flag”
Strong economic growth
Low unemployment

17. Cont. Approval (Negatives) Scandals
Gap between high expectations and poor performance
Wars that go badly
Weak growth
High unemployment

18. President and Media Media is key in influencing public perception
President is more successful than congress in using media to set the policy agenda
Leader of the free world
More powerful than individual members
1 v. 535

19. Most AP U.S. Government and Politics exams contain a multiple-choice question asking you to identify which answer choice is not a presidential role or formal power. It is important to remember that the Constitution does not allow the president to form new cabinet-level departments, raise revenue, or declare war. While the president is the leader of his or her political party, this role is not authorized by the Constitution