Chapter 9
NOMINATIONS,
ELECTIONS, AND
CAMPAIGNS
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The Evolution of Campaigning
During election campaigns, political parties
help structure voting choice
 Successful campaigns need resources to
acquire, analyze, and disseminate
information

 Voter interests
 Campaign tactics
 Candidate message
 Voter turnout
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The Evolution of Campaigning
 Until 1950s, political parties ran most
campaigns
 Today’s candidates manage own
campaigns
 Races more candidate-centered
 Must campaign for nomination as well as
election
 Parties help with funding and party label
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Nominations
 American political parties use elections
to choose party nominees
 In most other countries, party leaders
choose nominees
 In America, each state has own set of laws
regarding party nominations
 America puts large burden on voters
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Compared With What?
 Image of
voter ballots for U.S. and
British elections
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Nomination for Congress
and State Offices
 All states use a primary election as all or
part of the nomination process
 Nomination process highly decentralized
 Only half of regular party voters vote in a
given primary
 Many primary races have little or no
competition
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Primary Elections
 Four types of primary elections:
 Closed primaries
 Open primaries
 Modified closed primaries
 Modified open primaries
 Most scholars believe type of primary
affects strength of party organizations
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Nomination for President
 Presidential candidates for each party
chosen at national convention
 Until 1960s, party delegates to national
convention chose nominee
 Since 1972, delegates have been chosen
by complex process that includes the
primary election and party caucuses
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Selecting Convention Delegates
 Different states and parties have different
procedures for selecting delegates
 States follow one of two basic formats:
 Presidential primary
 Presidential primary/caucus
 Democratic selection proportional;
Republicans “winner takes all”
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Selecting Convention Delegates
 Delegates selected openly back one of
the presidential candidates
 Primary elections and caucuses mean
nominees’ names usually known before
national conventions
 Early primaries and caucuses result in
“front-loading”
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Changes in the Presidential
Nominating Process
Until 1968
Since 1972
Party Dominated
Candidate Dominated
Few Primaries
Many Primaries
Short Campaigns
Long Campaigns
Easy Money
Difficult Fundraising
Limited Media Coverage
Media Focused
Late Decisions
“Front-Loaded”
Open Conventions
Closed Conventions
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Campaigning for the Nomination
 A complex, drawn-out process
 Invisible primary
 Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire
primary viewed as testing grounds
 In 2008, narrowed field to five
Republicans and seven Democrats
 “Super Tuesday” resulted in one
Republican and two Democrats with the
most support by voters
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“Only in America”
Marvels the World
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Campaigning for the Nomination
 John McCain set as Republican nominee
after Super Tuesday
 Democratic contest not settled until
June 7th
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Consequences of
Presidential Campaigns
Races with no incumbents contested in both
parties
 Incumbent presidents usually face little
opposition
 Iowa and New Hampshire do matter
 Candidates favored most by party identifiers
usually win nomination
 Winners owe little to national party
organization

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Figure 9.1
From Many to Two: Presidential
Hopefuls Starting and Dropping Out
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Elections
 By national law, all seats in House of
Representatives and 1/3 of seats in
Senate elected every two years in
general election
 State and local offices also on ballot
 President chosen every 4th year in
presidential election
 Non-presidential elections congressional,
mid-term, or off-year elections
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Presidential Elections and
the Electoral College - video
Presidency not automatically given to
person with the most votes in the general
election
 General election selects electors who then
select president
 States receive one elector for each House
and Senate seat

 Washington, D.C. also receives three electors
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The Electoral College
 Candidate must have a majority of
electoral votes (270) to win presidency
 If no candidate receives majority,
decision on president made by the
House; Senate chooses vice president
 Each state has one vote
 Has only happened in 1800 and 1824
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Figure 9.2
Populations Shifts and Political Gains
and Losses Since 1960
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The Electoral College: Politics
 Prior to 1860, most electors chosen by
state legislatures
 After 1860, electors chosen by popular
vote
 All states but Maine and Nebraska award
electors “winner takes all”
 Election in 2000 came down to Florida’s
electoral votes
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Figure 9.3
How America Votes
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The Electoral College: Abolish It?




Over 700 proposals to abolish electoral college
introduced in Congress over the years
Electoral vote system allows states to decide how
electors chosen – a federal system
Many voters appear to prefer nationwide direct
popular vote
Grover Cleveland (1888) and George W. Bush (2000)
elected despite losing popular vote
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Figure 9.4
The Popular Vote and the Electoral Vote
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Support for the Electoral College
 Generally, results from electoral vote
system magnify popular vote results
 Electoral college is a federal election
system:
 Allows small states to have more weight in
process
 Campaigns carried out via personal contact
versus the large market media
 Nationwide recounts not needed
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Congressional Elections
 Candidates for president listed at top of
ballot, with other national, state, and
local offices below
 Voters can vote straight ticket or split
ticket
 between 15% and 30% of voters choose
president from one party and congressional
candidates from the other
 Can result in divided government
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Congressional Elections
 Democrats basically in power until 1994
 Winners from single member districts
are candidates with the most votes
 “First-past-the-post” elections
 Districts drawn by the party in power and
usually benefit dominant party
 President’s party generally loses seats in
mid-term elections
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Figure 9.5
Presidential Popularity and
Party Seat Loss/Gain
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Campaigns: The Political Context

Most important structural factors in
campaign planning:
 Office sought
 Whether incumbent or challenger
Non-incumbents more successful in open
elections
 More populous and/or diverse districts mean
more expensive campaigns
 Party preference of electorate also important

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Financing

Quality of campaign organizations a function
of money
 However, money alone does not ensure success

“There are four parts to any campaign. The
candidate, the issues of the candidate, the
campaign organization, and the money to run
the campaign with. Without money, you can
forget the other three.” -- former House
Speaker Thomas (“Tip”) O’Neill
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Regulating Campaign Financing
State and federal governments regulate
campaign financing
 Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
passed in 1971

 Amendments in 1972 created Federal Election
Commission (FEC)
 Limits on political action committee (PAC)
contributions – both soft and hard money
 After court challenges, 1974 FECA governed
elections for about 30 years
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Regulating Campaign Financing

Increases in campaign contributions and
spending led to Bipartisan Campaign Reform
Act (BCRA) in 2002
 Limits on contributions by individuals
 Banned soft money contributions to political parties
 Allowed 527 committees to spend unlimited
amounts for media, with some limits
 2007 Supreme Court ruling struck down ban on issue
ads before elections
 New committees formed – 501(c)4 social welfare organizations
 2010 Supreme Court ruling overturned ban on
corporate contributions to candidates
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Public Financing of
Presidential Campaigns

Both FECA and BCRA provided for public
financing for presidential campaigns
 Subject to spending limits
Until 1996, all eligible candidates used public
funds for primary elections
 Since 1996, more and more candidates
refusing public funds for primaries
 Funding for general election follows different
rules; most candidates used until 2004

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Private Financing of
Congressional Campaigns
 Candidates for national office raised over
$3 billion during the 2007-2008 primary
and general elections
 Obama raised almost $750 million
 McCain raised almost $370 million
 Congressional candidates raised almost $1.4
billion
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Future Trends in Campaign Finance
 Public funding faces uncertain future
 Major candidates can raise more money
on their own
 Contribution bundlers
 Internet fundraising
 BCRA limited soft money but not
amounts raised for presidential
campaigns
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Strategies and Tactics
 Strategies are broad approaches to
campaigns
 Party-centered strategies
 Issue-oriented strategies
 Candidate-oriented strategies
 Strategies must take into account
political context
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Pollsters and Political Consultants
 Well-funded campaigns buy “polling
packages”
 Benchmark poll
 Focus groups
 Trend polls
 Tracking polls
 Information
gathered then used to tailor
campaign to current political situation
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Making the News
 News coverage valuable because it’s free
and seems objective to the public
 Incumbents have advantage
 News coverage frequently limited to
“sound bites”
 Horse-race metaphors limit attention to
issues: bandwagons, losing ground, the
front-runner, and the likely loser
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Advertising the Candidate
 Main objective for campaigns ads:
name
recognition
 Voters may not recall name but recognize
on a list, such as a ballot
 Must also point out virtues of candidate
 Campaign ads also sometimes attack
opponent or play on emotions
 Majority of ads use electronic media
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Advertising the Candidate video
Recent years’ ads tend to mention personal
characteristics rather than policy
preferences
 Negative ads can be either attack ads or
contrast ads
 Media sometimes report controversial ads as
news
 Candidates must “approve” message in their
ads; independent groups do not

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Using the Internet
Use started in 1992 with e-mail to
supporters
 Democrats pioneered Internet usage in
election campaigns, both to raise funds and
mobilize supporters

 Also use social networking sites, blogs, and
YouTube

Internet inexpensive way to quickly contact
supporters, but TV still best way to reach
average voters
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Explaining Voting Choice
 Long-term forces predispose voters to
choose certain types of candidates
 Party identification most important
 Short-term forces associated with
particular elections
 Combination of candidates and policy
positions on current issues
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Party Identification
Over half of electorate decides candidate
before party conventions
 Early decisions generally vote based on
party identification

 Each candidate in 2008 received 90% of vote of
self-described partisans
 Independents generally favored Obama

Republicans have won more elections due to
lack of Democratic voter turnout and other
short-term factors
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Figure 9.6
Effect of Party Identification
on the Vote, 2008
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Hopes Fulfilled
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Issues and Policies
 Candidates exploit issues that seem to
be important to voters
 Incumbent’s record versus problems
pointed out by challenger
 Even with no incumbent, that party’s
candidate may be tied to outgoing
president
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Hopes Dashed
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Candidates’ Attributes
 Attributes important because most
voters lack information about
candidates’ past performance and policy
stands
 Stereotypical thinking may play into
some voters’ decisions
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Evaluating the Voting Choice
 Party identification and candidate
attributes not basis for voting according
to democratic theory
 Citizens should vote based on past
performance and proposed policies
 However, all are factors when developing
statistical models to explain voting
 Historically, attributes and party
identification most important
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Evaluating the Voting Choice
 Recent studies show increase in policy-
based voting
 Relationship between party
identification and voters’ positions on
issues more distinct today
 Alignment between party and ideology
almost perfect in congressional voting
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Campaign Effects
While campaign may not cause change in
party identification, can influence enough
votes to change outcome of election
 Television ads main method for transmitting
candidates’ message
 Battleground states key
 Presidential campaign in 2008 most expensive
ever

 No major candidate took federal matching funds
in primary; only McCain in general election
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The Americanization of Campaigns
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The Presidential Debates
 First televised debate in 1960 between
John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon
 In 1976, televised debates began airing
regularly
 Presidential and vice-presidential
debates in 2008 election led to rise in
support for Obama in election polls
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Campaigns, Elections, and Parties
Party organizations not central to elections
in America
 Both parties follow majoritarian model by
formulating different party platforms and
pursuing announced policies when in office

 Weak connection between party platform and
voters during campaigns and elections
 Party platforms do not play major role in
elections, especially those for House and
Senate seats
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Parties and the Pluralist Model

The way parties operate in America more
like pluralist model
 Function as two giant interest groups

Parties prefer candidates who support party
platform
 However, candidates operate as entrepreneurs,
and may vote against party leadership

Stronger parties might be able to better
coordinate government policies after
elections
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