November 17, 2009

• Objectives: To develop an understanding of the Election Process

• Question: Would allowing ex-felons to vote lead us closer to the democratic ideal? Explain your answer.

• AGENDA: Notes, and yes, I highlighted what you need to write down.

• Review for Test tomorrow, Test on Thursday!!!!

The Election Process

“Running for President”

The formal campaign has 3 stages:

1. The Nomination

2. The Convention

3. The General Election

How to get on the Ballot

• Primary or Caucus– Major Parties

• Petition– Independents and

third parties

The Nomination

• Nomination by Petition– -It is possible to get on the ballots without a party

backing you. – As few as 200 signatures to get on the ballot.– As much as 3% of registered voters

• In Washington State, that meant 72,784 voters.

MAJOR NOMINATION

• When running for President, you must first win the nomination of your party before you can get on the ballot.

• The decision of when to start campaigning varies. Early decisions are increasingly necessary.

To Get a Major Nomination

Primary Campaign… • Build a personal organization - Networking,

serving in civic causes and on committees, helping other candidates.

• Hire Managers - buy TV ads, conduct polls, raise money.

• Visibility is #1- Mentioned in the media, public appearances, hand shaking and door-to-door campaigning.

The Nomination The Nomination • Primaries- elections within the party to choose

favorite candidate from that party.• Open primary- any registered voter can vote

Texas has an open primary system (it doesn’t matter what party you belong to)

• Closed primary- only declared party members can vote - it discourages “raiding”.

• Wide open primary-no parties are listed on the ballot.

The NominationThe Nomination • Caucuses- “Town Hall” meeting format.

Candidates and issues are discussed and voted on in private until the group determines an individual nominee at that time it is announced publicly.

Caucus

• Definition.

• Early days used by the parties to select their candidates for president. – Congressional Caucuses

• Still used in some local elections• Still used by some states for presidential

nomination.

The Direct Primary

• Election held within the party to pick the party’s candidates for the general election.

• Every state has some form today.

• Most states requires major parties to use for important office.

• Closely regulated in most states so that state controls them.

Open v. Closed Primary

• What is the difference between open and closed primary?

• How many states closed? Open?• Advantages of Closed Primary

– It prevents one party from raiding the other’s primary– It helps make candidates more responsive to the

party and its platform – It makes voters more thoughtful because they have to

choose between the parties in order to vote

Open v. Closed Primary

• Disadvantages of Closed Primary– Compromises the secrecy of the ballot

because voters have to make the party preference known

– tends to exclude independent voters from the nomination process

Primaries, Cont.

• Run-Off Primary --10 states • Non-Partisan Primary—usually city

elections• Evaluating Primaries

– Can be confusing– Turnout is low– Primary voters are more extreme and partisan– Expensive– Divide the party

Nomination by Petition

• Candidates for public office are nominated by petitions signed by a required number of people.

• Used most widely at the local level

• Also used by independent candidates to get on the ballot.

• State sets the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot.

The Nomination Voters in Iowa (caucus) and New

Hampshire (primary) bask in media attention because they cast their ballots first this has the effect of limiting choices of other voters in states who hold their primaries later in the process.

Against the Primary SystemKnow at least 2 of these

Disproportionate attention goes to the early caucuses and primaries– Rural, low minority numbers, more liberal

Causes disunity & competition within the party Time Required Money plays a gigantic role - early quitters were

unable to raise money quick enough. Participation is low and unrepresentative

– 50% in November, 20% in primaries, 5% in caucus

Too much power given to the media– Influence who has the momentum at any given moment– The press labels candidates “winners and losers”.

In Favor of the PrimariesKnow 2 of these

• Opens the nominating process to more voters than do the caucus or convention methods.

• Opportunity to judge candidates abilities to– Organize a campaign, – Communicate through the media, – Stand up against pressure, – Public speaking and crisis control– Appeal to the needs of different regions and groups

The Nomination • How do they determine who wins the

primaries?• Winner-Takes-All – the candidate with the most

votes wins. The winner doesn’t necessarily need a majority.

• In a multi-candidate race, the winner may have only a plurality, (simply more than the other candidates.

• In Texas, and ONLY IN PRIMARIES, we have a run-off election when no candidate gets a clear majority.

• (two top vote getters run against each other to find the majority winner)!

Party Unification

• Primaries tend to be a fierce political battle between opponents from the same party.

• To bring about party unity, losers from the primary speak during the convention, putting their support to the winning candidate.

Party Unity…

Reunification after the Primaries

The Ballot • Every state now requires a secret ballot

• Constitution does not require

• Why is it considered important?

• Australian Ballot. Four Features:– Printed at public expense– Lists the names of all candidates in an

election– Given out at the polls– Voted in secret

Money and the Election Process

• The great paradox of modern elections: Money is a corrupting influence but candidates can’t do without it.

Campaign Spending Amounts

• In 2004 the cost of all elections was 2 Billion

• House and Senate Campaigns cost 1 billion in 2000

• Money is required for mailings, campaign staff, radio ads, web sites, buttons, etc.

• Biggest single item?– TV advertising—Runs approximately 150,000

for 30 seconds in prime time.

Sources of Campaign Funding

• Private Givers—have always been the major source of funding.– Small Contributors– Wealthier persons – Candidates themselves – Special interest groups/Political Action Committees

(PACs). – Temporary organizations

• Fund-raising activities by candidates and parties

• Public funding—State and Federal funds given to candidates under certain circumstances.

Regulating Campaign Finance

• Federal Election Campaign Act

• Federal Election Commission

• Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

Federal Election Commission

• The agency set up in 1974 by Congress to administer federal election laws.

• Is an independent agency in the executive department. – President can’t fire members – Members appointed by president and

confirmed by congress.

Final 5

• What is the most important part of being in an election? (In order to win.)

November 18, 2009

• No first 5

• Objectives: To develop a better understanding of the Election Process

• Agenda: Finish notes

• Review for Test

• PPTs are on Staff Pages.

Federal Election Commission

• Laws overseen fall into four areas:– Timely disclosure of campaign

finance data– limits on contributions– limits on expenditures– public funding for several parts of

the Presidential election process

Disclosure RequirementsKnow 3 of these

• No gifts in the name of another.• Cash gifts limited to $100.• No gifts from foreign sources.• All advertising must bear the name of the candidate.• All contributions must be made through a single

committee.• Only the committee can spend the money.• All contributions above $200 must be identified by

source and accounted for.• All spending over $200 must be accounted for.• All contributes above $5000 must be reported to FEC

within 48 hours. Also contributions over $1000 in the last 20 days of campaign.

• Any independent committee spending more than $250 on behalf of a candidate must also file with FEC

Limits on Contributions

• Individuals limited to $2000 to any one candidate in the primary and the same in the general election.

• Limited to $5000 a year to single PAC and $25,000 to a national party.

• Total contribution limit to candidates and PACs is 95,000, during any election cycle (the two years from one general election to the next one).

The Role of PACs

• Neither corporations nor labor unions can contribute to any candidate running for a federal office.

• PACs are the political arms of special-interest groups—business, labor, professional, cause, and other organizations that try to influence government policies.

• Clout of PACs comes primarily from their ability to raise campaign money and their willingness to give it out.

• Are more than 4400 PACs today—

The Role of PACs

• PACs get money from contributors and members of the sponsoring organization.

• Are usually focused on narrow issues.• Distribute money to candidates

sympathetic to their views OR have a good chance of winning.

• Spent more than $600 Mil. in 2004.• PACs are limited to $5000 to any single

federal candidate in an election, but they can contribute to as many candidates as they want. $15000 limit to parties.

Limits on Expenditures

• Buckley v. Valeo-- limits on spending abridge free speech.

• Thus cannot limit:– how much candidates spend– how much of their own money candidates spend– how much third parties spend to promote a candidate.

• However, Presidential contenders who accept federal subsidies ARE subject to limits on their campaign spending. That is part of the deal.

Public Funding of Presidential Campaigns

• Fed. Election Campaign Act set up the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

• Money is used every four years to finance 1) the preconvention campaigns, 2) the national conventions and 3) the presidential election campaigns.

• Money is administered by the FEC

Public Funding of Presidential Campaigns

• Pre-convention Period– Primaries are funded by money raised by candidates

plus money received from the FEC.– To be eligible for the public funds and candidate must

• raise at least $100,000 in contributions from INDIVIDUALS• In lots of $5000 in each of at least 20 states• Built from donations of not more than $250

– If meet this test, FEC will match the first $250 of each individual donation up to a total of half. Does not match contributions from PACs or political organizations.

Funding Presidential Campaigns

• Each major party nominee automatically qualifies for a public subsidy-- 74.6 Mil. In 2004

• If the candidate accepts the money:– Can spend no more than the amount of the

subsidy– Can not accept campaign funds from any

other source.

Funding Presidential Campaigns

• For a minor party to qualify for public funds, the minor party must either – 1) have at least five percent of the popular

vote in the last presidential election or– 2) win at least that much of the vote in the

election itself.– Very few minor parties meet this threshold – No minor party met this requirement in 2000

or 2004.

Soft Money• Soft money is money with no limits or rules that is

raised and spent outside of federal election guidelines.

• Soft money is often used to pay for ads that do not expressly advocate the election or defeat of a particular candidate.

• As long as these ads do not use the words "vote for", "elect", "vote against" or the like, ads can be paid for with unregulated soft money.

• Many argue that the huge infusion of unregulated soft money has destroyed the federal campaign laws.

Soft Money

• Nature of the problem• Bipartisan Campaign

Reform Act of 2002 • Limits soft-money

donations to political parties

• Limits what parties can spend on campaigns

Stage 2 “THE CONVENTION”

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

National Party Conventions• State Delegates

– Commitment to a specific candidate?

• Network TV coverage– Reduced in recent years due to

lack of public interest.

• Day 1 – Keynote address & other speeches

• Day 2

THE CONVENTION

Clinton in ‘88

Obama in ‘04

The Convention• Day 2&3: Committee reports/rules and the party platform. • The Platform is made up of planks (issues) put together

that spell out where the party stands on the issues.

What are the issues?

• Abortion

• Legalizing marijuana

• Gun Control

• Health Care

• Economy

• Foreign Affairs

The Convention• Day 4

– Choosing the running mate

– Accepting the nomination• The Vice Presidential

Nominee – The choice is made before

the convention, – The announcement is timed

to enhance the media.

• Sarah Palin, McCain’s choice in ‘08 was made to energize the McCain campaign (Did it?)

The Convention• The Candidate

– Balances the ticket

• Mondale picked the 1st woman in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro -they did not win.

• Bush Sr. did poorly with women and baby boomer voters, so he picked Quayle.

• Bill Clinton and Al Gore do not represent a balanced ticket.

Stage 3: THE GENERAL ELECTION

• Most voters vote on the basis of party and candidate appeal.

• The Media and Image - Candidates devote a ton of attention to defining themselves positively and the opposition negatively. The media plays a big role in allowing this to happen.

Presidential Debates- TV debates are now a major feature of the elections. The 1960 debate of Nixon and JFK was famous because it elevated the role of TV in our politics.

• The debates of 1992 generated a large viewing audience.

• This debate did not change people’s minds though.

• Most debates usually just reinforce people’s attitudes.

The General Election• The Electoral College• Each state is free to determine how its electors

are selected and are usually long time party workers.

• They are expected to vote for their party’s candidate.

• Each state gets an electoral number based on number of representatives and senators your state gets.

• Texas has 32 representatives and 2 Senators, thus 34 electors.

• Bush Lead in 2000 Gore lead in 2000

These were the toss-up states in 2000

The General Election• The Electoral College:• The candidate, who wins a plurality of the popular vote, gets all

electoral votes of that state. • The winning electors go their state capital on the first Monday

after the second Wednesday in December to cast their vote. • The ballots are sent to Congress early in January and

Congress formally counts the ballots and declares the winner. • If no candidate gets the 270 needed, the House chooses the

President and the Senate chooses the VP

The General Election• Most electoral rules remain

matters of state law - but every 2 years there is a Congressional election, every 4 years, a Presidential election.

• Elections for members of Congress and the President occur the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November on even numbered years. (in the Constitution)