Transcript chapter-13-campaign-process - Wayne Early/Middle College

CHAPTER 14
The Campaign Process
Nomination Process
Once a candidate declares his/her
intention to run their focus is on winning
the nomination of their party
 A candidate needs to be mindful of not
pandering to the extremists in the party to
win the nomination.

Nominating a President
1st Iowa Caucus – Party leaders meet
to select candidate
 Caucus may pick more ideological
candidates.
 2nd New Hampshire Primary – Voters
choose favorite candidate
 Almost all states have primaries

Primary
The party not in power typically holds a
primary election in order to select a
candidate.
 These are in-party elections

 Typically
candidates move to the extreme to
pander to party patronages.

Types of Primary
 Closed:
Only voters registered with that party
can vote; Only registered republicans can
vote in republican primary
 Open: Anyone can vote in the primary
National Convention
Most primaries end well before the national
convention but sometimes they go on right up to
it.
 The formal purpose of the convention is to
choose the candidate and running mate, but this
is usually determine well in advance
 Used to bring the party base back together after
the primary in preperation for the general
election.

National CONVENTION
Every 4 years receive delegates to make it official.
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National chair- controls party convention.
Rising stars in the party are introduced as key note speakers
Each convention sets party platform for upcoming four years.
 Platform is a set of planks (individual political stance on
specific issues; i.e. immigration or taxes) that the party
will support or pursue the next four years.
 A platform is the parties basic ideology specified to current
issues
 The party agenda is the platforms put into policies that
they will promote and campaign for and against
General Election
Winners of the primaries move on to the
general election
 Candidates have an incentive to move
their positions on political issues to the
ideological center.
 The length of time between the
nomination process and general election
varies depending on the state.

General Election
Registration Process
 Early Voting
 Types of Voting
 Election Day
 Recall Election

Electoral College
Winner take all in each state – you receive
more votes in a state, you win all the
electoral votes for that state.
 You need a majority of electoral votes to win
the presidency.
 Total electoral votes is 538, but 270 would
be the majority.
 The electoral college vote makes the margin
of victory seem larger than it really is.

No Electoral Winner
12th Amendment – creates separate
elections for the president and vice
president.
 If no candidate wins 270 votes
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Presidential race goes to House, each state gets
a vote, 26 votes wins.
Vice President races goes to Senate, each
senator gets a vote, 51 votes wins.
MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Presidential races are much more
competitive than House races, the
winning margins are more narrow.
 Midterm Election is an election that
occurs every two years in a nonpresidential election year.
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Turnout much lower
All Congressmen up for reelection (435 seats)
1/3 of Senators up for reelection
President coattails not as great
DRAWING DISTRICTS
The State Legislature is responsible for
redrawing the district lines if the census
causes a state to gain or lose a seat in the
House.
 Gerrymandering – boundaries drawn to
favor one party rather than another
resulting in odd-shaped districts. This is
unconstitutional.
 Malapportionment- districts are drawn w/
very different populations. Illegal. Baker v
Carr (1962)

Constitutional and Federal
Election Protections
14th
 15th
 19th
 Voting Rights Acts
 Executive Orders

Campaign Staff
Campaign manager-travels with the
candidate and coordinates the campaign
 Communications director-develops the
overall media strategy for the campaign
 Numerous volunteers throughout the
district, state, and/or nation.
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Polls
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Pollster- consultant who conducts public opinion surveys
Public opinion polls are polls used to guage publics
feeling about a particular issue and/or potential law or
policy
 may persuade congress to act or may prevent political
action;
 not always a part of the election process; used any
time a major issues is being debated
Exit Polls are polls taken as a voter leaves the polls
 It asks them whom they voted for and why
 Helps media project winners
Raising Money
FECA (1974)- Federal Election Campaign
Act: 1st broad attempt at campaign
finance regulation.
 Established:
 1) disclosure requirements (hard $)
 2) Presidential Public Funding Program
 3) Federal Election Commission (FEC)agency that enforces election laws

FECA Amendments
Soft or Hard
Soft Money
Hard Money
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
 (McCain Feingold)

Banned soft money directly to a candidate
*unlimited amounts of money that can be given to a
political party so long as that candidate is not named.
Sharply restricted independent expenditures- corporations,
unions and other groups can’t advertise referring to a
candidate by name 30 days before a primary and 60 days
before a general election.

Citizens United v FEC (2010)
Struck down the restrictions on
independent expenditures as a violation of
the 1st amendment.
 This led to record spending in the 2010
election cycle by corporations and special
interests.

Money in Electoral Campaigns
President gets money from private and
public funds from general tax
revenues during the nomination
process.
 Congress gets private money.
 Federal restrictions:
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$2400 limit for individual contributions
$5000 limit for PAC contribution
Political Action Committees
(PACS)
PAC Requirements
 1) At least 50 voluntary members
 2) Give to at least 5 federal candidates
 3) limited to $5000 per election per
candidate.

Buckley v Valeo (1976)
The government cannot limit the amount
of money candidates spend on their own
family’s resources.
 This decision was based on a candidates
1st Amendment right of free speech.

Campaigns
Campaign is dominated by television.
 Debates really don’t make a difference
unless a candidate really screws up.
 This is referred to as the gaffe
problem- President Ford

Propaganda
Glittering Generalities

Using words so strongly positive in
emotional content that just hearing them
makes you feel good. The words express a
positive meaning without actually giving a
guarantee.
Stacked Cards

only showing the things you
want people to see – leaving
out important facts (i.e. listing
all of someone’s good points –
leaving out anything negative)
Bandwagon
 To convince the audience
to do or believe
something because
everyone else is doing it.
Name Calling

saying bad/derogatory things
about the other candidate (i.e.
Candidate B didn’t pay his
taxes last year, is this who we
want running our country?)
Propaganda
Just Plain Folks
 Suggesting something is
practical and a good
value for ordinary
people.

Endorsments
 Where a famous person
endorses a candidate;
sometimes they are not
relative politicians but
people from the
entertainment industry
In general, propaganda is used to manipulate the
voters and distract our minds from the real issues. It
always presents only one side of the issue and does
not utilize fact. It is mostly used in political ads.
WHO WINS AND WHY
The most recognized with the most
money raised and is an incumbent wins.
• Party affiliation still #1 reason why you
vote for someone.
• Democrats have larger numbers, should
win, but Republicans have higher
turnout and get more independent voters.
•
WHO DECIDES ELECTIONS?
Party ID still #1
 Democrats have more registered voters
 Republicans have higher turnout.
 GOP does better among independents
 People change parties when their interests
change.
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What decides elections?
1) strength of economy.
 2) popularity of candidate.
 3) party loyalty and ideology.
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In Congressional campaigns:
 District lines and who is included and
excluded in the district.
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WHY INCUMBENTS WIN?
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Name recognition
Constituent service
Easier to raise money
Assignments on committees that serve their
constituents
Free Press
Take credit for anything positive that has
happened. Blame Washington (or prez) for
anything bad that has occurred.
FRANKING PRIVILEGE