Selecting a President 2016:
Primaries & Caucuses
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/presidentialelections/videos/primaries-caucuses-and-conventions
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?
Stage 1: Caucuses



Closed meeting of party members in each state
Delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate
Currently, six states offer party caucuses selecting
presidential nominees.
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:
Senator Marco Rubio campaigning in New
Hampshire
 Closed Primaries
 Open Primaries
Closed Primary
• Voters may vote in a party's primary only if
they are registered members of that party
Open Primary
• A registered
voter may vote
in any party
primary
regardless of
his or her own
party
affiliation.
Map of 2012 Primary & Caucus Dates
States with split colors have different systems for Democrats and Republicans. The color on
the left represents the Democratic method, the color on the right represents the Republican
method.
www.centerforpolitics.org
Hajo De Reijger- www.caglecartoons.com
What advantage does the democratic party have in the
2012 election process?
So Let’s Review
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_95I
_1rZiIs
• http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201
6/us/elections/primary-calendar-andresults.html?_r=1
Selecting a President:
Nominating Conventions
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?
Presidential Nominating Conventions:
The Nuts & Bolts
Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
Nominating Conventions
• An assembly held by
political parties every
four years
• Usually held in late
summer before the
general election in
November
• The Democratic and
Republican parties
hold nominating
conventions as do
third parties [ex:
Green Party,
Libertarian Party]
George W. and Laura Bush at the
2000 Republican Convention
Purposes of Nominating Conventions
1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan
1. Delegates at the convention adopt a party platform.
2. Delegates to the convention elect that party’s
nominees for President and Vice-president.
What’s a Party Platform?
• Party Platform - a
statement of principles
and objectives a
political party and a
candidate supports in
order to win the general
election.
• Plank - Individual
topics in a party’s
platform (ex: abortion,
war in Iraq)
Cartoon satirizing the 1896
Democratic Party Platform
2004 Platform Themes
Democratic Party:
“Strong at Home,
Respected in the
World”
Republican Party:
“A Safer World and
a More Hopeful
America”
How are these themes similar?
Different?
Who are Delegates?
Delegate - A voting representative to the party
nominating convention
Delegate Selection
Proportional System
 Primary system used by
the Democratic Party
 Candidates are allocated
the same percentage of a
state’s delegates as they
received in popular votes
 Pro’s & con’s of the
proportional system?
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
 Pro’s & con’s of the
winner-take-all system?
Democratic Party Rules:
Two Types of Delegates
Pledged Delegates v. Superdelegates
Pledged Delegates
 Each state allotted
certain
number of
delegates who
vote at
the party’s
convention
 Pledged delegates are
chosen at state &
local
level
 Pledged delegates are
required to cast a vote
Pledged delegates count during the 2008 Democratic primaries
at the convention
based on the results
of the primary or caucus in their state
Superdelegates
 Members of the
Democratic Party
establishment who
serve as unpledged
delegates at the
party convention
 Include members
of Congress,
governors, and
members of the
D.N.C.
 They are free to vote for any candidate at the
convention
Convention Speeches:
The Keynote Address
Senator Barrack Obama gives the
2004 DNC Keynote Address
 The speech given at the convention that embodies that
party’s core message
 Why do you think Democrats choose Barrack Obama to
deliver the 2004 Keynote Addresses?
Convention Speeches:
The Acceptance Address
1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver their
Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention
 The speech given at the final day of the convention in which
the winning candidate formally accepts the party’s
nomination for president
 The Acceptance Address is always televised by the major
networks