Kelly Walker AP US Government Elections and Campaigns
Slide 2
Election Campaign An organized effort to persuade voters to
choose one candidate over others competing for the same office.
Candidates dont use parties to conduct their campaigns-
Polls/hiring consultants/media advisors Parties now support
candidates Candidates campaign for nominations as well as political
office.
Slide 3
Nominations Primary Elections: A preliminary election conducted
within a political party to select candidates who will run for
public office in a subsequent election. Rules determined by the
state. Highly decentralized. 1. Closed: voters must declare their
party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot
containing that partys potential nominees. 2. Open: Voters need not
declare their party affiliation and can choose one partys primary
ballot to take into the voting booth. 3. Modified Closed: Allows
individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents
to vote in their primaries and for which offices. 4. Modified Open:
Entitles independent voters to vote in a partys primary. Those
registered to a party must vote on their partys ballot.
http://www.fairvote.org/congressional-and-presidential-primaries-open-closed-semi-closed-and-top-two
Slide 4
National Party Machinery National Convention: Partys national
voice-summer of every presidential election year- nominates their
candidate, writes platform, rules National Committee: handles
partys affairs between conventions (2 from each state, important
institutions, and territories) National Chairperson: Leader of the
National Committee. Strengthen the party, $$$ Congressional
Campaign Committee: Reelect incumbents, retain seats left by
retiring members
http://stgapgov.pbworks.com/w/page/7199024/Media-in-Elections-and-Campaigns
Slide 5
Nomination for President Chosen at a National Convention every
four years in the summer prior to the November general election
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)_presid
ential_primaries,_2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)_presid
ential_primaries,_2008 http://www.demconvention.com/
http://www.gopconvention.com/
Slide 6
Selecting Convention Delegates Delegates are selected by each
party, go to the national convention, and cast votes for their
candidate. Presidential Primary- Democrats attend the Presidential
Primary Convention and cast votes proportionally. Republicans-
winner take all system
http://www.cfr.org/publication/15414/role_of_delegates_in_th
e_us_presidential_nominating_process.html
http://www.cfr.org/publication/15414/role_of_delegates_in_th
e_us_presidential_nominating_process.html
Slide 7
Selecting Convention Delegates Caucus/Convention: A method used
to select delegates to attend a partys national convention.
Generally, a local meeting selects delegates for a county-level
meeting, which in turn selects delegates for the higher level
meeting: the process culminates in a state convention that actually
selects the national convention delegates.
Slide 8
Which states use a Caucus? Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas,
Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nevada, Nebraska, Washington, Maine,
Wyoming, Texas, Utah***.Texas Texas has both a primary and a
caucus, giving democratic voters the opportunity to legally vote
twice. 2/3 of the delegates in Texas are determined by primary
results and 1/3 of the delegates in Texas are determined by the
caucus results. Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_
states_use_a_caucus_for_presidential_ nominations#ixzz18qbMbvdI
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_
states_use_a_caucus_for_presidential_
nominations#ixzz18qbMbvdI
Slide 9
The Primary Election Frontloading: A states practice of moving
delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar
year to gain media and candidate attention. New Hampshire Envy
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/frontload.html
Slide 10
Campaigning for the Nomination Invisible Primary- Likely
candidates silently begin lining up political and financial support
for their race 4 years later. Iowa Caucuses (7% participate) and
New Hampshire Primaries (40% vote)- testing ground for public
opinion- narrows down the competition- Frontloading.
Slide 11
Campaigning for the Nomination Really- There are two elections
When no incumbent in the White House is seeking re-election, the
presidential nominating process becomes contested in both parties
An incumbent president usually encounters little or no opposition
for re- nomination within the party Candidates favored by most
party identifiers usually win their partys nominations Candidates
who win the nomination do so largely on their own and owe little or
nothing to the national party organization, which usually does not
promote a candidate
Slide 12
Primary Election dates The election dates for 2008, up to and
including Super Tuesday were as follows. [1]Super Tuesday [1]
January 3Iowa caucusIowa caucus January 5Wyoming caucus (Republican
only)Wyoming caucus January 8New Hampshire primaryNew Hampshire
primary January 15Michigan primaryMichigan primary January 19Nevada
Caucus & Republican South Carolina primaryNevada
CaucusRepublican South Carolina primary January 26Democratic South
Carolina primaryDemocratic South Carolina primary January 29Florida
primaryFlorida primary February 1 - February 2 Republican Maine
caucus February 5 Super Tuesday: Primaries/caucuses for both
parties in 19 states, plus three Democratic-only caucuses and two
Republican-only primariesSuper Tuesday
Slide 13
State and Local Party Machinery Set by state law Built around a
State central committee Chairperson and central committee work to
further the partys interests in the state Find candidates, raise $$
Locally, party structure varies Party unit for each district/
ward/block/building Ward: a unit into which cities are often
divided for election of city council members Precinct: smallest
unit- voters in each precinct report to one polling place
Slide 14
Elections General Election: A national election held by law in
November of every even- numbered year. Single member district
system- Winner Take All Electoral College: Not in the
constitution-incorporated into statues, so it has assumed a legal
basis- tradition is difficult to change. Article II, section 1
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html
538 electors- 1 for each senator, 1 for each Rep and 3 for DC- need
270 to win http://www.270towin.com/http://www.270towin.com/
Slide 15
The Electoral College 2000 election- Bush won Florida with 537
popular votes Abolish? Founding fathers did not trust the peeps to
vote directly for a candidate- compromise- legislature cast the
vote or direct election? Allows the states to choose the leader
through electors- Citizens choose the electors when they vote.
Slide 16
Campaigns 4 parts: The candidate, the issues of the candidate,
the campaign organization, the money to run the campaign The
Political Context- what kind of race? Incumbent- the current office
holder Open election: Occurs when there is no incumbent- 2008
Slide 17
Campaign Strategies: 3 Types Party-centered-suited to contests
where voters have little political knowledge Issue-oriented
Image-oriented Campaign Tools: Polling Package: Benchmark
poll-issues important to voters, Focus groups- represents groups
the campaign wants to target, trend poll- candidate image, and
tracking polls. News Coverage: Free and objective Advertising: Name
recognition Internet: New, effective medium- On-line political
citizens are seven times more likely to attend politically active-
attend rallies, etc.
Slide 18
Campaigns: Financing Campaign Financing- Heavily Regulated
1971- Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) rules for reporting
campaign contributions- Federal Election Committee- watchdog Hard
money: Money given directly to a candidate running for congress or
the presidency Buckly v. Valeo 1976- upheld $1,000 limit on hard
money contributions- Individuals may however, spend as much as they
wish for a campaign. Candidates may spend as much of their own
money as they wish.
Slide 19
Reform Act of 1974 Created the 6 person Federal Election
Commission to oversee elections, an expenditures and to investigate
and prosecute violators. All contributions over $100 must be
disclosed and no cash contributions over $100 are allowed. No
foreign contributions allowed. Individual contributions are limited
to $1,000 per candidate, $20,000 to a national party committee, and
$5,000 to a political action committee. A corporation or other
association is allowed to establish a PAC, which has to register
six months in advance, have at least 50 contributors, and give to
at least five candidates. PAC contributions are limited to $5,000
per candidate and $15,000 to a national party. Federal matching
funds are provided for major candidates in primaries and all
campaign costs of major candidates in the general election were to
be paid by the government.
Slide 20
Campaigns: Financing Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act
(BCRA)- 2002 McCain- Feingold- Ban soft money contributions and
issue advocacy ads that favored a given candidate. 1. Raised the
limits to $2,000 for a contribution (2 yr cycle) 2. $5,000 per year
to each state party or political committee 3. $20,000 per yr to any
national party committee 4. $95,000 limit over 2 yr cycle based on
limits to individual candidates and committees 5. $5,000 from a PAC
to any candidates campaign 6. All limits linked to inflation
Slide 21
Presidential Campaign Financing Primaries: If you decline
matching of federal funds, you may spend as much as you wish
Slide 22
Campaigns: Financing- Loopholes Soft Money: Funds that are not
raised and spent for specific federal election campaign (Political
donations made in such a way as to avoid federal regulations or
limits, as by donating to a party organization rather than to a
particular candidate or campaign.) Soft Money banned by BCRA in
national party committees Did not extend to state parties and BCRA
allows issue- advocacy groups (527 Groups: tax exempt) to raise
unlimited amounts of soft money to spend on commercials and other
forms of advertising as long as they do not advocated a candidates
election or defeat (Moveon.org) http://moveon.org/
Slide 23
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/politics/22scotus.ht ml
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/politics/22scotus.ht ml The
government may NOT ban political spending by corporations in
candidate elections. 1 st Amendment: Government may not regulate
political speech.
Slide 24
Super PACs What is a super PAC? A super PAC is a
political-action committee that is allowed to raise and spend
unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, individuals
and associations. Some nonprofit groups are allowed to contribute
to super PACs without disclosing where their money came
from.political-action committeeallowed to contribute to super PACs
without disclosing where their money came from What's the function
of super PACs? The role of super PACs is similar to that of
traditional political-action committees. They advocate for the
election or defeat of candidates for federal office by purchasing
television, radio and print advertisements and other media. There
are conservative super PACs and liberal super PACs. conservative
super PACsliberal super PACs
Slide 25
Super PACs What's the difference between a super PAC and a
traditional political action committee? Who can contribute, and in
how much they can give? Candidates and traditional candidate
committees can accept $2,500 from individuals per election. That
means they can take in $5,000 a year - half in the primary, and
half in the general election. Candidates and traditional candidate
committees are prohibited from accepting money from corporations,
unions and associations. Federal election code prohibits those
entities from contributing directly to candidates or candidate
committees. Super PACs, though, have no limitations on who
contributes or how much they contribute. They can raise as much
money from corporations, unions and associations as they please and
spend unlimited amounts on advocating for the election or defeat of
the candidates of their choice.
Slide 26
Super PACs Are there any restrictions on super PACs? Yes. The
most important restriction prohibits super PACs from working in
conjunction with the candidates they're supporting. According to
the Federal Election Commission, super PACs cannot spend money in
concert or cooperation with, or at the request or suggestion of, a
candidate, the candidate's campaign or a political party. Restore
Our Future Priorities USA Action
Slide 27
Bundling The practice of rounding up contributions from friends
and associates to bypass campaign finance limits. San Antonio
News-Express: Welcome to the world of bundlers: a semi-secretive
though perfectly legal practice in which super-duper fundraisers
deliver bundles of campaign contributions to their favorite
candidates that they induce, entice or, some would say, strong- arm
others to make. Bundling allows candidates of both parties to
finesse the federal caps on individual political contributions and
allows the bundlers to gain more-than-ordinary access to presidents
and presidential hopefuls. San Antonio News-Express
Slide 28
Explaining Voting Choice Party Identification: Vote with your
party Issues and Policies: Candidates exploit issues that they
think are important to voters and challengers campaign by pointing
out problems, Candidates Attributes- not rational Democratic
Theory: Citizens should vote according to the candidates past
performance and proposed policies. Campaign Effects: Television:
election only in battleground states. Debates.
Slide 29
Campaigns, Elections, and Parties Majoritarian Model: Parties
link people with their government by making government responsive
to public opinion. Parties should have clear platforms. Pluralist
Model- Parties are not the basic mechanism through which citizens
control their government; instead they function as two giant
interest groups. Parties enjoy electing and reelecting candidates
and enjoy the benefits of public office.