Presidential Election
Campaigns
Congressional vs. Presidential Elections
Congressional
(Midterm)
 Turnout: Lower
 Reasons:
 Less competitive
 Less media coverage
 Perceived lower stakes
 Other differences:
 No term limits
 High % re-elected
Presidential
 Turnout: Higher
 Reasons:
 More competitive
 President gets blame
or credit for everything
that happens in
America
 More advertising and
media excitement
 Two term limit
Presidential Election Process
 Step 1: Nomination
 Each state has either:
 Caucus
 Primary
 Early voting states matter most; candidates concentrate their
efforts there in the year before voting begins
 Early voting states:
 Iowa (Caucus)
New Hampshire (Primary)
 South Carolina (Primary)
 Candidates accrue delegates to the National Convention
 Candidate must win a majority of all delegates to secure the
nomination
Presidential Elections
 Step 2: The Convention
 Select nominee (but winner is already known)
 Select VP nominee (chosen by president; rubber
stamped by convention)
 Choice is often intended to “ balance the ticket”
 Tell the candidate’s story; “re-introduction” to the country
 Unify and motivate party by end of convention
 Step 3: The Campaign
Candidate-Centered Campaigns
 Nominations: Party insiders have lost their power to
control who is nominated
 Primary voters and caucus goers now determine a
party’s nominee
 Political Organization: Parties’ monopoly of political
organization has been destroyed by the rise of countless
special interest groups and mass media.
 Mass Media: Party control of the media has vanished
under a blizzard of competition.
 Voters get most of their information from the electronic
mass media in 6-second sound bites on the network
news and in 30-second spot commercials during
campaigns.
Campaign Strategy
Tone
 Positive—build yourself up
 Negative—denunciate the opponent
Theme— “Yes We Can!”
Timing—unknown candidates campaign
early
Target—who is most likely to change their
vote?
Coalition Building
Mobilize the Base
Campaign Advertising
Political ads affect how one feels about a
candidate, can cause a greater interest in
the election, and can change voters’
opinions
Voters with less political knowledge are
more likely to be influenced by political
advertising
Negative Advertising (“Attack Ads”)
Political advertising can often be negative.
Research has shown that most voters
dislike ads that attack another candidate
and that most topics in these ads are unfair.
Most voters do not trust political ads
BUT: It has been found that those who
watch or hear political ads remember more
about the negative ads than the positive
ads
Effects of Negative Advertising
A voter is most likely going to believe a
negative ad, even if it may be false, if he or
she dislikes the targeted candidate.
These ads reinforce what the voter thinks
about his or her preferred candidate.
The Electoral College
Allotment of Electoral votes
Votes = # of members of congress for
a state
Minimum is 3
Amendment #23 = DC gets 3
538 total votes- 270 needed to win
CA has highest total (55)
Allocation of Electors
 Candidate with most popular votes (only
need a plurality) wins all of that state’s votes
 Campaigns concentrate on large, competitive
states
*Swing States*
Alternatives to the Electoral
College
Direct election: every person’s vote counts
as much as every other person’s
District system: candidate who wins
congressional district wins the district’s
electoral vote
Proportional system: candidate gets same
percentage of electoral votes as popular
votes in each state
Electoral vote “bump” to popular vote
winner