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The Making of the
President
a.k.a,
The Steps to Electing the President
There are 7 steps involved
in electing the President…
• All campaigns have the basic 5 steps, but
Presidential elections, since they are for
such an important office, have a few
extras…
The basic steps are…
1. Self-nomination
2. Campaign to win party nomination
- “Win Primaries and Caucuses”
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
National Nominating Convention
Campaign to win General Election
General Election
Electoral College meets and votes
Inauguration
Step 1: Self-Nomination
• Candidates for the
presidency usually
nominate themselves
• This occurs up to 2 years
before the General Election
• They may form an
“exploratory
committee” to find out
if they have what it
takes to be president
•
This committee really exists to find out the answer to 2
questions:
1. Do people like the candidate?
2. Will they contribute $$ to the campaign?
Some examples of those who
threw their “hat in the ring” in
2008…
John Edwards,
Barack Obama,
Hillary Clinton for
the Democrats…
Mitt Romney, John
McCain, and Rudy
Guiliani for the
Republicans…
Step 2: Campaign to Win Your
Party’s Nomination for Prez
•Occurs winter and spring before the General Election (of
2012)
• Both fields of Democratic and
Republican candidates
campaign across the country.
– They are trying to win votes in
each state.
• Each state has a part in
choosing the candidates from
each party
Step 2: Campaign to Win Your
Party’s Nomination for Prez
• Each state uses 1 of 2 methods to select its
citizens’ preferred candidate from each
party
• Primaries – voters in a state choose candidate
they like the best
• Open – anyone in state can vote
• Closed - only party members can vote to choose from their
party’s candidates (**most states use this primary method)
• Caucuses –
– a set of meetings, at the local, county and then state
levels, where party delegates choose a candidate
Democratic Party
Primaries/Caucuses
for the 2008 election
•
•
•
•
•
January 14th, 2008 - Iowa caucus
January 15th – Michigan (most candidates boycotted; won by Clinton)
January 19th - Nevada caucus
January 22nd - New Hampshire primary (1st in nation)
January 29th – South Carolina
– Florida (most candidates boycotted; won by Clinton)
• February 5 (SUPER TUESDAY)
– Alabama, Alaska caucus, Arizona, California, Colorado caucus,
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho caucus, Illinois, Kansas
caucus, Minnesota caucus, Missouri , New Jersey, New Mexico
caucus, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
• **April 22nd - Pennsylvania
• June 3 – South Dakota, Montana
Republican Primaries/
Caucuses for the 2008
election
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
January 3rd, 2008 – Iowa caucus
January 5th – Wyoming (half of delegates to NNC; others “unbound”)
January 15th – Michigan
January 19th – South Carolina, Nevada
January 22nd - New Hampshire primary (used to be first)
January 29th - Florida
February 5 (SUPER TUESDAY)– Alabama, Alaska , Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado ,
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas , Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana , New Jersey, New York, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia
• **April 22nd – Pennsylvania
• June 3rd – South Dakota (last)
Super
Tuesday
Name for the day in a
presidential campaign
when many states hold
their primaries.
In the 2008 campaign,
Super Tuesday fell on
February 5th (usually in
February)
– Many states had both their 2008 Democratic
and Republican primaries on that day….
• Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey,
New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah,
West Virginia
– Candidates can take a huge lead, become a frontrunner, or find out they may not have “the right stuff”
The goal of all of these primaries and
caucuses is for the field of candidates to be
narrowed down…
– Each state can send a certain number of
delegates to the Republican and Democratic
National Nominating Conventions
• (…to choose their party’s candidate officially)
• If a candidate wins a state’s Primary or
Caucus, supporters of the candidate
become that state’s delegates to the NNC.
Step 3: The National
Nominating Convention
• Held in the mid/late summer of the
election year (August/September 2008)
• Delegates from the states decide 2
issues
– Candidate to run in the General Election
– Party Platform (party’s stance on the
issues)
The National Nominating
Conventions
• Republican National Convention –
– August 27 – 30th, 2012 in Tampa, FL
• Democratic National Convention –
– September 3rd to 6th, 2012 in a location TBA
Which candidate do you think gains an advantage due
to this order?
Step 4: The
Presidential
Campaign Trail
September thru November of the election year
• Many different methods are used
to sway voters for one candidate
or the other…
– Political Ads
– Televised debates
– Travel/campaigning/ “stumping”
• As you can imagine, these
campaigns can get pricey…
The Co$ts of Running
• The 2008 campaign was one of the most
expensive in history
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have
spent hundreds of millions of dollars to run for
the highest office in the land…
Obama = $450m
McCain = $370m
Step 5: The General
Election
• Takes place on the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in
Nov.
• Voters turn out to cast their ballots for
President/VP and for many other offices as well
– But…when voting for President, they are NOT actually
casting their ballots for the candidates.
Step 5: The General Election
Takes place on the same day every year
1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in Nov.
Next presidential general election?
Voters turn out to cast their ballots for
President/VP and for many other offices as well
– But…when voting for
President, they are NOT
actually casting their
ballots for the candidates.
•Here is where the Electoral College comes in…
Step 5: The General Election
(Electoral College)
• When voters in each state cast
their votes for Prez/VP, they are
actually voting for a political
party’s slate of electors
– This is a group of “electors”
(people who will cast a ballot) from
a political party in each state
• THESE PEOPLE actually get to cast
the “REAL” votes for President and VP
• These votes are known as Electoral
Votes, since they actually elect the
president.
Each state has a certain number of Electoral
Votes
# of EV’s = # of Sens + # of Reps
Projected Electoral Map - 2012
The Electoral
College – How
does it work?
• The winner of each state’s popular vote
(the vote of the people) has all of their
electors chosen to cast their votes for
President and VP.
– This is called the “winner-take-all” method
(**ME, NE)
For example:
• In 2008, the popular vote in PA turned out this
way:
John
McCain
2,655,855 (44%)
Barack
Obama
3,276,363 (56%)
•Who won PA’s electoral votes?
•Whose electors would be chosen?
The Electoral College
• The number of electoral votes each state
has can change…
– As each census changes the # of Reps., it also
impacts the # of electoral votes
But…the total number of electoral votes is
always…
538
Why this #?
Changes after the 2000 Census
Step 6:
Electoral College
meets and votes
• Where do the electors gather to cast their
votes?
– How many does the candidate need to win?
– What if there is a tie?
The
Electoral
College
• Must all electors vote for the popular vote
winner in their state?
– Give a reason why they would be very likely to
vote for the popular vote winner in their
state…
• **Most electors do vote for the popular vote
winner…but a few have not…
Step 7: The Inauguration
• Occurs on January 20th of
the year following the
election
– Sworn in by the Chief
Justice of the Supreme
Court
The oath of office…
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."