Presidential
Nominations
Chapter 13 Section 4
National Conventions
• The nomination process is dictated by the two
major parties
• Each state sends delegates according to the
electoral votes of that state… plus bonus delegates
for people who support the party
• Republicans typically leave nominations to state
delegates, Democrats adopt more of a national
approach
Presidential Primaries
• Presidential primary is an election in which the
party’s voters:
o Choose some or all of state delegates for the national convention
o Express a preference for their presidential candidate
• Front-loading refers to the efforts by many States to
move their primary contests to earlier dates in the
primary schedule
o Multiplies the importance of name recognition and money
o Forces contenders to mount and pay for campaigns in a number of
widely separated States
• Winner-take-all contests are awarded all the
support of the delegate, while proportional
representation receive support equivalent to their
amount of supporters
Primary Appraisal
• For the party out of power, the primaries are often
“knock-down, drag-out” affairs
• Top personalities and factions in the party vie with
one another for the presidential nomination.
• For the party in power, the contest is generally not
as hard-fought, because either the President himself
is seeking reelection or has given his backing to
someone he favors for the nomination.
Primary Reform
• One proposal is to hold a single, nationwide primary
and have both parties choose their presidential
candidates in those contests.
o National conventions would be done away with or would be used only to
pick the vice-presidential nominees and/or write party platforms.
• Another proposal is the regional primary plan, in
which a series of primaries would be held at two- or
three-week intervals across the country.
• Significant reform would require joint action by
Congress, the several States, and both major
parties.
• Also, neither party wants to abandon the national
convention, which is a unifying device.
Caucuses
• In state that do not have conventions, delegates to
the national convention are selected by a system of
local caucuses and district and/or State
conventions.
• A party’s voters gather in a closed meeting in local
caucuses, most often at the precinct level.
• There they express a preference among the
contenders and select delegates to a local or
district convention, where delegates to a State
convention are elected.
• Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses get the most
attention because they take place so early
Securing the Nomination
• Three things happen here:
o naming the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates
o bring the various factions and the leading personalities in the party
together in one place for a common purpose
o adopting the party’s platform
• Party hopes to:
o promote party unity
o capture the attention and interest of the country at large
o generate support for the party’s ticket
Who is Nominated?
• Most have substantial, well-known records in public
office
• Most have served in elective offices
• Many have been governors
• Most are Protestants
• Most have come from the larger States (although
television and the Internet have made this less
important)
• Most have a pleasant, healthy appearance, seem to be
happily married, and have an attractive family; few
have been divorced;
• A well-developed speaking ability and the ability to
project well over television are also very important.
Historic Race of 2008
• For first time, both major parties selected sitting
members of the U.S. Senate as their candidates.
• Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be
seriously considered as the presidential candidate
of a major party.
• Barack Obama became the first African American
presidential candidate of a major party (and then
the first African American President).
• John McCain was the oldest major party
presidential candidate in history.