Nom, nom, nom…inationChapter 9

Get Pumped!

http://www.quia.com/quiz/768980.html?AP_rand=809913705

The pressures of running

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/mr-romney-hard-running-president-15255939

Presidential candidates tend to run out of money before they choose to stop running for President Jan 2012 : $226 millions 2008 : collectively about $2 billion

8 major candidates dropped out of the 2012 race

National Convention

National Party convention: meets every four years to determine who will run for President.

Formerly controlled by party “Bosses” Usually leaders of big cities

Determined who attended and who they voted for.

1968 Democratic Convention http://www.history.com/videos/violence-batters-

1968-democratic-convention - chicago-seven-conspiracy-trial

1968 Democratic Convention

The methods to select a presidential Candidate were considered elite, and disenfranchised common voters.

McGovern-Fraser Commission: created in response to the convention to better decide how to represent voters when selecting candidates.

The result?! Caucuses Primaries

Spicing things up

Superdelegates: delegates who are guaranteed a say in the Presidential candidate regardless of voter opinion. Surviving elitist portion of

conventionsWhy is this bad?

Undermines voter decision-making

Disconnected from public opinion.

Two Choices

Caucus: Voters must show up at a set time and express their Presidential preference. States that choose these are mostly rural

Primaries: Voters go to the polls and express their preference for President. Two types

Open Primary – don’t have to declare a party to participate

Closed Primary – have to identify with a party

All occur between Jan-June of election year

Get on up (or stay seated, whichever)

Identify possible problems that can be caused by caucuses and primaries. Hint: Think about how large our voter turnout is

You’re running for President! How would you get voters out to the polls?

Decide where you spend most of your campaign money. Slamming same party Saving for ads while President

99 ProblemsProblems with Caucuses and

Primaries Disproportionate attention goes to the

early caucuses and primaries Prominent politicians find it difficult to

take time out from their duties to run Money plays too big a role in the

caucuses and primaries Participation in primaries and

caucuses is low and unrepresentative The system gives too much power to

the media

Campaign Travels

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/2012-presidential-campaign-visits/

National primary: propose to replace current system with a nationwide primary. Pros: Directness for voters and candidates,

votes in all states of equal importance, lessen importance of media.

Cons: Americans have to vote twice in primaries, and once in November for President, nominee would only receive small margins (25% of vote)

Regional PrimaryRegional Primary: Primaries held in various

regions at different times. (Eastern, then Central, then Western etc.) Pros: more rational structure on candidate

travel, an end to focusing on states for attention in primaries.

Cons: Advantage gained by whichever region goes first