AP US GOVERNMENT
& POLITICS
UNIT 3
POLITICAL PARTIES/INTEREST GROUPS/
THE MASS MEDIA/AND ELECTIONS
POWERPOINT #7:
Campaigns and Elections
Elections
2 main types
• Primaries ‐ An election to determine which candidate will be the
sole person to represent a particular political party in a contest for
elected office.
• General Elections ‐ Candidates representing all of the different
parties (but no more than one candidate from each party)
compete against one another.
• Different states have different types of primaries:
– Closed primary: only registered members / voters of the political
party in question can vote in their party’s primary. (i.e. “It’s our team,
we pick our captain!”)
– Open primary: registered voters belonging to any political party
may pick any one of the political parties having a primary contest
to vote in.
Power of Incumbency
• Incumbents – politicians already in office; tend to have
an advantage over their challengers in an election.
Why?
– Name recognition with the public
– Ties have likely been established with interest groups, their political party,
and other prominent figures thus making campaign fundraising easier
How have elections changed over time?
• More democratic
– New and diverse
participants
– Party bosses have less
influence
Changes at the presidential level:
– Political Party conventions have less
influence in nomination process
– 12th Amendment changed the
process of selecting the president
and VP
The Process of Running for President
Deciding to Run
•
•
•
•
Is my family up for it?
Can I raise enough money?
Can I get the support I need?
Do I have any “baggage” that will hurt me?
• Potential candidates often launch exploratory
committees to see if it’s worth running.
• Due to the multiple factors involved in winning the
presidency, potential candidates are making their
decision to run sooner than in years’ past.
• Some candidates will discuss running for office “next time”
almost immediately after an election.
Winning the nomination
• To represent one’s political party in the
presidential election one must become the
“nominee” of their party.
– In previous elections political parties and “party
bosses” selected nominees with little regard for what
the people and less important members of the party
had to say.
• Today candidates must compete in primaries
and caucuses in order to become their party’s
nominee.
– Primaries: elections in which a state’s voters go to
the polls (voting booth) to express their preference
for a party’s nominee for president.
– Caucus: a less frequently used process where the
public must show up at a set time and attend an
open meeting to express their preference for their
party’s nomination.
• Primaries and caucuses reflect the will of the
individual voter and also the preference of each
state.
• Iowa Caucus: the nation’s
first caucus.
• New Hampshire Primary:
the nation’s first primary.
• Candidates put lots of
effort on winning these
early contests because it
helps attract money and
support for their
campaign.
• Many states have moved up
the dates of their primaries
in order to garner more
attention from the
candidates and also more
influence in selecting the
parties’ nominees.
(Frontloading)
• Super Tuesday:
Traditionally in the early
spring of an election year
numerous states hold
their primaries on the
same day. As a result
of this “super” day
the public finds out
which candidate is
the front runner
and which ones
ought to drop out.
• The primaries and caucuses provide candidates
with delegates who in turn go to the national
party convention to formally select the party’s
nominee.
• Therefore, candidates try to win as many
primaries as they can in order to acquire more
delegates in their favor than their opponents.
• Super delegates: national leaders (ex: they could be
members of Congress or members of the national committee for
that political party) who automatically
get a delegate
slot at the national convention, they may
choose who ever they want to be the nominee.
(A reminder of the old political boss days? Elitism theory?)
• In order to win primaries (and thus friendly delegates)
candidates must have a campaign strategy: a master game plan
to guide their electoral campaign.
• Politicians often tailor their speeches, advertisements, and
overall behavior to the people they are speaking to as a
means of winning their vote.
• This often involves having . . .
– A campaign manager
– A person in charge of fundraising
– Media consultants & a press
secretary
– Campaign staff & regional offices
– Research & policy advisors
– Pollsters
– Website
– Slogans, a “brand”
• During the primary season candidates are
competing against politicians from their own
political party.
• Although in advertisements and in debates they
may highlight their differences, at the end of the
day most politicians are good “partisans” and will
rally around who ends up with the most
delegates.
• The candidate with the most delegates is
considered the presumptive nominee, which
becomes official at his/her national party’s
convention.
• Shortly before the convention the nominee
selects his or her running mate.
• What is involved in the decision making for
choosing a VP running mate?
– Can they handle the job if I die?
– Balancing the ticket (experience, geography, etc.)
– Electoral strategy
• The National Convention: Every four years the delegates
and party officials of the major political parties officially nominate
their candidate, set party rules, and rewrite their party’s platform.
• Given the predictability of today’s conventions the major TV
networks broadcast very little of actual convention.
What else?
– The nominee and VP running mate make speeches
– Supporters give speeches advocating their party’s nominee and
often criticize the other party’s choice for president
– The party tries to appeal to undecided voters
• After the convention the presidential race
enters a new phase – the general election.
• The parties will rally their troops, interest groups
help supportive candidates (PACs), and both will
make use of direct mail and the media.
• Candidates will use interviews, formulate
sound bites, and use a variety of advertising to
attract more voters.
• Around six weeks before election day the
candidates begin to have a series of debates.
• Election Day: Americans vote for president
every four years on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in the month of November.
The elections held between the
presidential elections – 2014 – 2018,
etc. are called midterms).
The Electoral College
• The Electoral College is the group of people (electors) chosen from each state and the District of Columbia
that formally selects the President and Vice President.
• Voters do not vote directly for the President. Instead, they vote for electors in the Electoral College.
• All states, except two (Maine and Nebraska), select electors based on the winner of the popular vote in that
state.
• Electors then meet in the state capitals on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December and cast
their votes for President and Vice President.
• On January 6, the electoral votes cast are counted by the President of the Senate (Current Vice President),
and the President and Vice President are formally elected.
• If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes (270), the election is thrown into the House of
Representatives.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE FLAWS
1. Possible to win the popular vote in the presidential
election, but lose the electoral college vote.
2. Nothing in the Constitution, nor in any federal law, requires
the electors to vote for the candidate favored by the popular
vote in their state.
3. If no candidate gains a majority in the electoral college, the
election is thrown into the House…closest to this happening
in modern times was the 2000 Presidential election which
featured the Florida recount.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE VIRTUES
1. It is a known process. Each of the proposed, but
untried, reforms may very well have defects that could not
be known until they appeared in practice.
2. In most election years, the electoral college defines the
winner of the presidential election quickly and certainly.
2012 Presidential Electoral Map
Blue States
• Tend to be predictably Democratic in presidential elections
• Ex: California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon
Red States
• Tend to be predictably Republican in presidential elections
• Ex: Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas
Purple States (Swing States)
• Tend to be the most competitive states in presidential elections
• Ex: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire