2. Decision: 2012  Primaries and caucuses choose delegates to the national party conventions  Delegates choose the party candidates or nominee  Caucuses: people assemble in groups to support their candidate  They try to sway others to join their group  Primaries: people vote for their favorite candidate

3. Primary Elections  Two types of primaries:  Open Primaries: EVERYONE CAN VOTE!!!  Closed Primaries: ONLY party members vote (registered Democrats vote in Democratic primaries, while Republicans vote in Republican primaries)

5. First in the Nation  January: Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primaries  Iowa and New Hampshire are important for building momentum  They are the “first in the nation” primary and caucus elections  The problem with these states is that they aren’t representative of America  Other states HATE the fact that Iowa and New Hampshire always go first

6. Frontloading and Compression  States like Florida and Michigan try to leapfrog Iowa and New Hampshire, who will move their primary earlier and earlier to stay first!  Frontloading: the act of a state moving its primary earlier and earlier in a calendar year  1976: Primaries STARTED in February  2008: The Republican primaries were OVER by March 2

7. Frontloading and Compression  Compression: The act of states moving their primaries closer and closer together!  Compression means primaries are generally over very fast!  1976: Jimmy Carter won Iowa on January 27. New Hampshire: February 24  2000: Al Gore won Iowa on January 24. His second win came on February 1, then February 5, and then February 29  2004: John Kerry won Iowa on January 19. His second win came on January 27, then February 3, then February 7, 8, 10, 14, 17, 24, 26 and March 2  2008: 6 primaries in January and 23 by February 5!

8. Super Tuesday  Super Tuesday: the date in which the most number of states hold primary elections.  This is the BEST opportunity to defeat your primary election opponents  Super Tuesday is the day where the most convention delegates can be won  Super Tuesday is MOST LIKELY the day Americans find out who the two candidates for president will be

9. Thought on Life  Please respond to the following prompt in your civics notebook:  Many people argue that we should do away with primary elections and caucuses altogether and move to a national primary. Some people argue that Super Tuesday is already a de facto national primary.  Should we eliminate primary elections and have a national primary?