Nominations, Campaigns,
& Elections
Elections
► Elections
are the
process through
which power in
government
changes hands.
► Elections
bestow
legitimacy on the
process and on
the incoming
officials.
Understanding Nominations
& Campaigns
► Throughout
the history of American politics,
election campaigns have become longer and
longer as the system has become
increasingly open to public participation.
Types of Elections
1.
Primary elections
a. Run-offs
2.
3.
4.
5.
General elections
Special elections
Referendums
Initiative petitions
General Election
► Regularly
scheduled elections at which
voters make the final selection of
officeholders
General Election
Primaries
Nomination
The Nomination Game
► Two
types of campaigns in American
politics:
 For a party’s nomination
 Between the two nominees
Nomination
►A
party’s official endorsement of a candidate
for office.
► Campaign
Strategy – the master game
plan candidates lay out to guide their
electoral campaign
Nomination
The Nomination Game
► Success
generally requires money, media
attention, and momentum
Money
Media
The
Machine
The Nomination Game
► Many
qualified candidates decide not to run
b/c of the stress involved
► Campaigns
are much longer in the U.S. than
in most other countries; many other nations
limit their campaigns by law to no more
than 2 months – those in the U.S. often last
18 months or longer.
Competing for Delegates
► Goal
is to win a majority of delegates’
support at the national party convention.
► Delegates
are chosen through either
primaries or caucuses from January through
June of election year.
Primaries and Caucuses
► During
this time, candidates compete in
primaries (elections within states) and
caucuses (private party meetings) against
candidates WITHIN THEIR OWN POLITICAL
PARTY throughout the US. New Hampshire
has the first primary and Iowa has the first
caucus. Fundraising and self-promotion
continue.
Party Caucuses
►A
meeting of all state party leaders and
members for selecting delegates to the
national party convention (usually organized
as a pyramid).
► Start
a local/neighborhood level, move to
county, then state, then national
Party Caucuses
► Caucuses
pyramid.
are usually organized like a
National Convention
State caucuses
Congressional district caucuses
County caucuses
Small, neighborhood precinct-level caucuses held initially
Presidential Primaries
► Elections
in which voters in a state vote for
a candidate (or delegates pledged to him or
her).
► Most delegates to the national party
convention are chosen this way.
► In most states, state law requires that the
major parties use the primary to choose
their candidates to elect people to most
local offices.
The Direct Primary
► Election
held within a party to pick that
party’s candidate for the general election.
 Closed Primary – only declared party members
can vote (party membership typically
established by registration)
 Open Primary – any qualified voter can cast a
ballot (public vs. private choice)
Presidential Primaries
►A
delegate selection process and/or a
candidate preference election.
► Held in 40 states in 2008.
► Name recognition and $$$
► “Front-loaded”
► Guided by State law and party rules
► Winner-take-all vs. Proportional
Front-loading
► The
recent tendency of states to hold
primaries early in the calendar in order to
capitalize on media attention. 70% of all
delegates to both party conventions are
now chosen before the end of February.
► Iowa
holds the nation’s first nominating
caucus  major implications.
► The
first primary is held in New Hampshire.
Super Tuesday
► Refers
to the Tuesday in February or March
of an election year in which the greatest
number of states hold their primary
elections.
► March
6th for the 2012 Election (10 states,
including GA)
Evaluating the Primary
and Caucus System
► Criticisms
include:
 Disproportionate attention goes to the early
events
 Prominent politicians find it difficult to take time
out from their duties to run
 Money plays too big a role
 Participation is low and unrepresentative
 Gives too much power to the media
The National Convention
► Usually,
in late summer, Democrats and
Republicans hold their national party
conventions where presidential and vice
presidential candidates are officially
nominated, various factions and leading
personalities in the party are brought
together, and the party’s platform (views on
the issues) is adopted. Fundraising and
self-promotion continue.
The Convention Send-off
► Conventions
have changed dramatically
over the years
► Now,
mainly just a media event to energize
the party; pretty much just a rubber-stamp
on primary/caucus results
1968 Democratic National
Convention
► Chaos
and conflict led party to reform it’s delegate
selection procedures.
► McGovern-Fraser




Commission:
Tried to make convention more representative
No longer would party leaders have all the control
Led to primaries in most states
Also, led to the same consequences in the Republican
party b/c state law typically sets primary rules
Superdelegates
► National
party leaders who automatically get
a delegate slot at the Democratic national
party convention (unpledged delegates aren’t bound to vote a certain way)
► The
Democratic Party makes greater use of
these than the Republicans b/c Republicans
do not bind delegates to select the
candidate the party members choose during
the primary
Awarding Delegates
► Republicans
are more likely to use a winnertake all system to award their delegates to
candidates (either statewide, or by district),
but use some proportional distribution
► Democrats
have moved to proportional
representation, and divide their delegates
up b/w candidates who receive at least 15%
of a state’s vote
Media Events
► Conventions
are nearly as exciting and/or
unpredictable as they once were when
delegates weren’t bound to primary results
and last-minute events and deals could
sway votes
► The outcome of conventions today is usually
predetermined by previous primary results,
so they are mainly just media events used
to energize each party.
Party Platform
►A
political party’s statement of it’s goals and
policies for the next four years.
► Presented
at the National Convention.
Vice Presidential Nominee
► Chosen
at the convention; usually based on
the presidential nominee’s preference for a
running mate
General Campaign
► The
General Campaign goes from late
summer through early November.
Candidates continue to fundraise and selfpromote, traveling all over the U.S. to
campaign (especially swing states), doing
many TV commercials, and possibly
participating in debates with the other
candidates.
National Campaign
► To
win votes of different groups throughout
the country
► Television
advertising, televised public
appearances, direct mail campaigns, and an
official web site
Media Coverage
► Candidates
daily activities, campaign
strategies, and poll results.
► Advertisements
very important – where
voters learn the bulk of their info.
► Critics
fear that campaigns have become too
centered on candidates’ images rather than
their political beliefs/qualifications
Money and Campaigning
► Candidates
rely on TV to communicate
directly with the electorate, and airtime
often translates into votes.
► TV
is a necessity, but very expensive
► Leads
to more time fundraising than
focusing on the issues
Sources of Campaign Funding
► Individuals
contribute to specific candidates
and political parties.
► PACs – Political Action Committees
► Government Subsidies (candidates can
actually get some money from the
government to help with their campaigns)
► Candidates personal money
Federal Election Campaign Act
(FECA) - 1974
► Congress
passed law attempting to control
campaign costs and donations
► Established
the Federal Election Commission to
enforce campaign laws, and initiated public
financing for presidential primaries and general
elections.
► Forced
candidates to report all campaign
contributions (disclosure) and how they spend
money; also attempted to limit contributions
Note: Congress does not have the power to regulate the use of $
in State and local elections.
Hard Money v. Soft Money
► Hard
money is legally specified and limited
contributions that are clearly regulated by
the FECA and by the FEC.
► Soft money is the virtually unregulated
money funneled by individuals and political
committees through state and local parties.
McCain-Feingold Reform Act
► Bipartisan
Campaign Reform
Act (2002) – banned “soft
money”, which acted as a
loophole to FECA
► Soft
money – political
contributions earmarked for
party-building expenses at the
grass roots level or for generic
party advertising.
Individual Limits on Contributions
► No
person can give more than $2100 to any
federal candidate in a primary election, and
no more than $2100 in a general election
► No
person can give more than $5000 in any
year to a PAC
Political Action Committees
►
Established in 1974 by the
FECA
►
Funding vehicles; the
political arms of specialinterest and other
organizations with a stake
in electoral politics
►
Corporations, unions, and
other interest groups
►
Try to influence policy
through campaign
contributions; interest
groups must channel
donations through PACs
►
Must register with the FEC,
so they can monitor
donations; All expenditures
must be meticulously
reported to the FEC
Political Action Committees
► Approx.
4,000 PACs are registered with the
FEC
► No limit to what they can spend b/c they
can act independently of candidate, but can
only donate $5000 to a particular candidate
FEC Data –
2008 Presidential Election
► http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapA
pp.do
Some Concerns…
► That
elections and campaigns have become
so expensive that many otherwise qualified
candidates simply cannot afford to run for
office.
► That candidates spend so much money on
the primary elections that they don’t have
enough left to run a solid general campaign.
Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission (2010)
►
was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in
which the Court held that the First Amendment prohibited
the government from restricting independent political
expenditures by corporations and unions. The nonprofit
group Citizens United wanted to air a film critical of Hillary
Clinton and to advertise the film during television
broadcasts in apparent violation of the 2002 Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act (commonly known as the McCain–
Feingold Act or "BCRA"). In a 5–4 decision, the Court held
that portions of BCRA §203 violated the First Amendment.