Selecting a President:
The Presidential Nomination and
Election Process
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
Barrack Obama campaigns in Iowa
 Closed meeting of party members in each state
where party members get together to decide
who they want to represent their party in the
general election
 Currently used in only six states
Stage 1: Caucuses
Hilary Clinton (D) and Rudy Guilliani (R)
campaigning in Iowa
The Iowa Caucus is the first primary/caucus and last
year was held on January 3, 2008.
Considering Iowa is a relatively small state, why are
the Iowa caucuses so important??
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:
 Closed Primaries
 Open Primaries
Mitt Romney campaigning in New Hampshire
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.
Methods of Selecting Presidential Delegates by State
Which is most popular? Why??
2008 Open & Closed Primaries
Virginia has a “modified open primary”
Stage 2: Presidential Nominating
Conventions
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
George W. and Laura Bush at the
2000 Republican Convention
Purposes of Nominating Conventions
1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan
1. At the convention the party adopts a platform
to unify support behind common goals.
2. Delegates to the convention elect that party’s
nominees for President and Vice-president.
What is a Party Platform?
• Platform - a statement of
principles and objectives a
political party and a candidate
support
• Plank - Individual topics in a
party’s platform (ex: abortion,
war in Iraq)
Who are Delegates?
Delegate - A voting representative to
the party nominating convention
Delegate Selection
Proportional
System
Primary system used
by the Democratic
Party
Candidates get a % of
delegates based on
the popular vote
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
Similar to electoral
college
Democratic Party Rules:
Two Types of Delegates
Pledged Delegates v. Superdelegates
Pledged Delegates
 Pledged
delegates are
required to
vote at the
convention
based on the
popular vote
in their state
 (they have to
listen to the
people)
Pledged delegates count during the 2008 Democratic primaries
Superdelegates
 Members of the
Democratic Party
establishment
who serve as
unpledged (??)
delegates at the
party convention
 They are free to
vote for any
candidate at the
convention (don’t
have to listen to
the popular vote
in their state)
Superdelegates
By John Trever, The Albuquerque Journal 03/30/2008 http://www.politicalcartoons.com/
Convention Speeches:
The Keynote Address
 The speech given at the
convention that embodies that
party’s core message
 Extremely important event – can
propel a politicians career
 Do you know who gave the 2004
Keynote Address at the Democratic
Convention???
Current President, (Then a Senator)
Barrack Obama gives the 2004 DNC
Keynote Address
The Acceptance Address
1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver
their Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention
 Given at the final day of the convention winning candidate formally accepts the
party’s nomination for president
 Huge media event - Acceptance Address is always
televised by the major networks
1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City
Critics say that party nominating conventions
have become nothing more than infomercials.
What do you think?
Stage 3: General Election
• Candidates ACTIVELY campaign by…
• (Basically do ANYTHING that they think
will get them more voters)
• http://www.jibjab.com/originals/time_for_
some_campaignin
Raise money
Barack Obama raised over $600 million
dollars – more than any other candidate ever
Run ads
(TV, radio, mail, internet etc)
Participate in Debates
Hold rallies and give speeches