Campaigns and Elections
First Time Ever…
• Election of 1800: The transition from Adams to
Jefferson marked the first peaceful transfer of
power between parties via the electoral process
in the history of the world.
– No primaries, conventions, or speeches.
– Campaigns focused not on voters but on state
legislatures who chose electors.
– Very uncivil campaign
– Newspapers were partisan, rather than unbiased.
– After many votes in the House, the presidency was
transferred to Jefferson peacefully.
Function of the Election
• Choose over 500,000 public roles
• Contest between political parties
• Winner-take-all – the person with the most
votes wins (don’t need over 50%)
– Plurality – win with the highest total of votes
– Single-member districts – one representative
per district
EXCEPTION: Presidential candidates MUST
get 270 electoral votes to win (a Majority)
Function of the Election
(continued)
• Institutionalize political activity – Make
it possible for most political participation to
be channeled through the electoral
process.
• Regular access to political power –
Leaders can be replaced.
• Legitimacy – Fair and free way of
selecting political leaders.
Compared to Others
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U.S. Presidential Elections
Unofficially start up to two years
before the actual election
Debates are scheduled in the fall
preceding the primary season
“Primary Season” begins in
January of the election year, runs
through June
Conventions are held in late
summer, followed by the
campaign, and finally the election
Most Other
Democracies
• Elections usually
last no more than
two months as
determined by
law or custom.
3 Kinds of Elections
• Primary elections or Caucuses–
Voters select party nominees.
• General elections – Between the
nominees of the parties.
• Elections on specific policy
questions – Voters make (initiative
petition) or ratify (referendum)
legislation.
Primary Elections
• Presidential primaries are elections in which a
state’s voters go to the polls to express their
preference for a party’s nominee for president.
• Frontloading – Recent tendency of states to
hold primaries early in the calendar to
capitalize on media attention.
– money plays too big a role
– participation is low and unrepresentative of the mainstream
electorate
– too much power goes to the media
Types of Primaries
• Open Primary – Voters can decide on
election day whether they want to vote for
Democratic or Republican candidates
• Closed Primary – Voters must decide which
party candidates they will vote for by a set
time prior to the primary
– (Pennsylvania, for example)
• Blanket Primary – Voters can split tickets,
declared unconstitutional in this form.
Caucuses
• At one time, all states selected their delegates to
the national convention in a meeting of state party
leaders, called a caucus.
• Today, caucuses are open to all voters who are
registered with the party.
• Voters must show up at a set time and attend an
open meeting to express their presidential
preference.
• Only a minority of states hold caucuses today, and
the earliest caucus is traditionally held in Iowa.
• Caucuses are usually organized like a pyramid.
Campaigns
• Deciding to Run
– A presidential candidacy in the United States
needs to be either announced or an “open
secret” for at least a year before the election.
– Barack Obama made clear his intention to run
for president in January 2007.
– A “national presence” is important.
Campaigns
• Organizing the Campaign
– Get a campaign manager, a fund-raiser, and
a campaign counsel.
– Hire media and campaign consultants.
– Assemble staff, plan logistics, and get
research staff, policy advisors, pollsters, and
a good press secretary.
– Establish a website.
Campaigns
• The High-Tech Media Campaign
– Direct mail used to generate support and
money for candidate.
– Get media attention through ad budget and free
news coverage.
– The emphasis is on marketing a candidate
because news stories focus more on the horse
race than substantive policy issues.
– Recent developments in very narrowly targeted
ad buys to reach specific voter groups.
Campaigns
• Campaigns have three effects on
voters.
– Reinforcement – Reinforce voters’
preferences for candidates.
– Activation – Voters contribute money or ring
doorbells.
– Conversion – Convert, changing voters’
minds.
Campaigns
• Some factors tend to weaken
campaigns’ impact on voters.
– Selective perception – Most people pay
attention to things they agree with and
interpret events according to predispositions.
– Party identification influences voting behavior.
Federal Election Reform
Act of 1974
• Created Federal Election Commission
• Provided public financing for major
party presidential candidates in
primaries and general elections
• Required full disclosure of campaign
contributions
• Limited individual contributions to
$1000 to candidates
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
• Struck down the limits placed on the
amount of money individuals could
contribute to his/her own campaign by
the Federal Election Reform Act of
1974
• Established that contributing to one’s
own campaign is a form of protected
free speech.
Bipartisan Campaign
Reform Act of 2002
• a.k.a. McCain-Feingold Act (2002)
• Bans soft money
• Increased amount of individual contributions to
$2000 (increases every year – inflation index)
• Prohibited ads that mentioned candidates within 30
days of a primary and 60 days of a general election
• This part was overturned by Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission (2010)
• Soft Money – Contributions to political parties for
party building expenses or generic party advertising;
was not subject to contribution limits prior to BCRA.
PACs
• Political Action Committees are funding vehicles
(created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms) that
may give up to $5000 to a candidate in both primary
and general elections and $15,000 to a political party
each year.
• A corporation, union, or some other interest group can
create a political action committee (PAC) and register it
with the Federal Election Commission.
• PACs donate to candidates who support their issues.
• PACs do not buy candidates, but give to candidates
who support them in the first place.
Loopholes, of course…
• 527 Groups – They ARE NOT regulated
• Independent, tax exempt groups that seek to
influence the political process, but are not
subject to contribution limits because they do
not directly contribute to or coordinate with
specific candidates or political parties.
• The name 527 Groups comes from Section
527 of the federal tax code by which they are
governed.
• Ex – Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (2004)
Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission (2010)
• The conservative lobbying 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 (aka McCain–Feingold Act or "BCRA").
• In a 5–4 decision, the Court held that portions of BCRA
violated the First Amendment, so the Court overturned
sections of the BCRA that had prohibited corporate &
union political expenditures in political campaigns.
• The Supreme Court held that $$$ = political speech
Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission (2010)
• Citizens United made it legal for corporations &
unions to spend from their general treasuries to
finance independent expenditures related to
campaigns, but did not alter the prohibition on direct
corporate or union contributions to federal
campaigns
• Organizations seeking to contribute directly to
federal candidate campaigns or poiltical parties must
still rely on traditional PACs for that purpose
Super PACs
• Arose after Citizens United, known as
"independent-expenditure only committees"
• May not make contributions to candidate
campaigns or parties, but may engage in
unlimited political spending independent of
the campaigns (can’t coordinate efforts)
• Unlike traditional PACs, they can raise funds
from individuals, corporations, unions and
other groups, without any legal limit on
donation size
Trending Up…
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1976: $171 Million total
1884: $202 Million total
1992: $331.1 Million total
2000: $528.9 Million total
2004: $880.5 Million total
2008
– Obama: $730,000,000
– McCain: $333,000,000
• 2012
– Obama: $715,677,692
• Blue Team Total: $1,107,080,937
– Romney: $446,135,997
• Red Team Total: $1,238,072,571
Too Expensive?
• The Center for Responsive Politics estimated
in 2008 that the contests for the presidency
and Congress cost over $5 billion.
• By comparison, we spend $18 billion
dollars each year on specialty coffee 
• Doctrine of sufficiency – Spend enough
money to get a message across to compete
effectively.
Presidential Election
Process
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Each state holds a primary or caucus
between January and June to choose from
a field of candidates
State parties choose delegates to attend
the convention for each of the candidates
The delegates and super delegates will
vote at the parties’ conventions to
determine which of the candidates will be
nominated to run in the general election
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“regular” delegates are bound by the results of
their state’s primary
Delegate Selection
• The Democratic Party began to reform its
delegate selection procedures after a highly
conflicted national convention in 1968
– McGovern-Fraser Commission – In response
to demands for reform by minority groups and
others seeking better representation.
– Super-delegates – Party leaders automatically
get delegate slot at national party convention.
– Super-delegates ARE NOT bound by primary
votes…a fail safe.
The Convention
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Conventions are generally held in the
late summer
“Up and Comers” often get to speak at
conventions gaining exposure for a
future in national politics
Most years, there is no mystery as to
who the nominee will be due to the early
results of the primaries
The Convention
• Conventions serve 3 main functions:
– They formally name the party’s presidential
and vice-presidential candidates
– The adopt a party platform
• A platform is the party’s coherent set of goals and
policies for the next four years
– The convention serves a “pep rally” to unify
the party and generate positive publicity and
momentum heading into the general election
Post-Convention
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Candidates then enter into general
elections against the other political
parties.
Voters elect electors.
More people vote in general elections
than primaries. In most years, ~50% of
people voted in general elections versus
~25% in the primaries (voters are more
ideological).
Electoral College
• A unique American institution,
created by the Constitution,
providing for the selection of the
president by electors.
• Less populated states are
overrepresented.
• Winner-take-all concentrates
campaigns on close states.
How the Electoral
College Works
• Electoral votes for each state equals its
members in Congress.
• 48 states use winner-take-all system
(not Maine and Nebraska).
• State electors vote in December
following the November election.
• January – Congress counts votes.
• House of Representatives picks
president if no majority vote.
Important Electoral College
Tidbits
• The less populated states are overrepresented
because states get 2 electors for the senators
regardless of population.
• In the 2012 election, 7 states & DC had 3 electoral
votes each; California had 55…
• Winner-take-all means candidates will focus on
winning the states where the polls show that there
appears to be a close contest (Battleground
States).
• It also means that 3rd Party candidates have almost no
chance of winning.
Congressional Elections
vs. Presidential Elections
• Congress elections are regional
– Senate by state; House by district
– Gerrymandering only helps the House.
• Congressional elections every two years
(all House up for reelection and 1/3 of the
Senate)
• Fewer people vote in “off-year” or
“midterm year” (only 36%) which means
voters are more activist or ideological
Apportionment of Seats
• States gain or lose representatives based
on the census taken every ten years.
• If there is a change, then reapportionment
takes place and districts are redrawn.
• Gerrymandering is reapportionment done
to insure that one party wins the maximum
number of seats in the House.
• Malapportionment is gerrymandering that
violates the rules.
Congressional Elections vs.
Presidential Elections
• The Incumbency Advantage
• House elections are less competitive than
Senate or President
– Incumbents – (already hold office) , 80 to 90%
of representatives typically win reelection.
– We hate Congress, but love our Congressman!
– Even 75% of incumbent Senators usually win.
– We will revisit this in the Congress unit – it is the
number one, most commonly tested concept on
released AP Government exams.
Congressional Elections
vs. Presidential Elections
Coattail effect - Presidential popularity
effecting congressional elections in
midterm years
• Congress communicates with their
constituents more directly, often
personally, while President relies on media
• Congress reps can deny responsibility and
blame problems on other reps or President