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Selecting a President Selecting a President 2012:2012:
Primaries & Caucuses
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Stage 1: Caucuses & Primaries The Battle for the Party Faithful
Stage 2: Nominating Conventions “Glorified Infomercials?”
Stage 3: General Election The Fight for the Center
Stage 4: Electoral CollegePower to the People?
Presidential SelectionPresidential Selection
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Stage 1: CaucusesStage 1: Caucuses
Closed meeting of party members in each state First time party members declare support for a candidate Later, delegates select the party’s choice for presidential
candidate Currently, six states offer party caucuses selecting
presidential nominees.
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Stage 1: CaucusesStage 1: Caucuses
Rick Santorum and Ron Paul campaign for Iowa.
Questions for Discussion:
1. The Iowa Caucus is on January 3, 2012. Why is it so important?
2. Brainstorm pros and cons to the caucus format.
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Stage 1: Primaries
Primary Season - January - June
Who Decides? - State party organizations for the most part decide the rules for the primaries in a particular state.
Types of Primaries: Closed Primaries Open Primaries
Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election.
Mitt Romney campaigning in New Hampshire
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Closed Primary• Voters may vote in a party's primary only if
they are registered members of that party
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Open Primary
• A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation.
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2008 Open & Closed Primaries
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Map of 2012 Primary & Caucus Dates
States with split colors have different systems for Democrats and Republicans. The color on the left represents the Democratic method, the color on the right represents the Republican method.
www.centerforpolitics.org
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Hajo De Reijger- www.caglecartoons.com
What advantage did the democratic party have in the 2012 election process?
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Presidential Nominating Conventions:
The Nuts & Bolts
Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
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Nominating ConventionsNominating Conventions•An assembly held by
political parties every four years
•Usually held in late summer before the general election in November
•The Democratic and Republican parties hold nominating conventions as do third parties [ex: Green Party, Libertarian Party]
George W. and Laura Bush at the 2000 Republican
Convention
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Purposes of Nominating Purposes of Nominating ConventionsConventions
1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan
1. Delegates at the convention adopt a party platform.
2. Delegates to the convention elect that party’s nominees for President and Vice-president.
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What’s a Party Platform?What’s a Party Platform?
• Party Platform - a statement of principles and objectives a political party and a candidate supports in order to win the general election.
• Plank - Individual topics in a party’s platform (ex: abortion, war in Iraq)
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2004 Platform Themes2004 Platform Themes
Democratic Party:
“Strong at Home, Respected in the World”
Republican Party:“A Safer World
and a More Hopeful America”
How are these themes similar? Different?
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Who are Who are DelegatesDelegates??
Delegate - A voting representative to the party nominating convention
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Delegate SelectionDelegate Selection
Proportional System Primary system used by
the Democratic Party Candidates are allocated
the same percentage of a state’s delegates as they received in popular votes
Winner-take-all System
System used in most Republican primaries
The winner of the popular vote in that state receives all that state’s delegates
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Democratic Party Rules:Democratic Party Rules:Two Types of DelegatesTwo Types of Delegates
Pledged Delegates Pledged Delegates v. v. SuperdelegatesSuperdelegates
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Pledged DelegatesPledged Delegates Each state is allotted a certain
number of delegates who vote at the party’s convention
Pledged delegates are chosen at state & local level
Pledged delegates are required to cast a vote at the convention based on the results of the primary or caucus in their state
Pledged delegates count during the 2008 Democratic primaries
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Superdelegates Members of the
Democratic Party establishment who serve as unpledged delegates at the party convention
Include members of Congress, governors, and members of the D.N.C.
They are free to vote for any candidate at the convention
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Super Delegates
By John Trever, The Albuquerque Journal 03/30/2008 http://www.politicalcartoons.com/
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Brokered ConventionBrokered Convention A situation in which no one
candidate in a political party has received enough delegates in the primaries and caucuses to obtain a majority
After the first ballot at the party’s convention, nominee decided through horse-trading and further ballots
Brainstorm potential positive and negative
consequences of a brokered convention.
Democrats avoided a brokered convention in 2008
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By Paresh Nath, National Herald, New Delhi, India 3/17/08 http://cagle.msnbc.com
2008 -- The Final Three
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Convention Speeches: Convention Speeches: The Keynote AddressThe Keynote Address
The speech given at the convention that embodies that party’s core message
Democrat Zell Miller delivers the 2004 RNC Keynote Address
Senator Barrack Obama gives the 2004 DNC Keynote Address
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Convention Speeches: Convention Speeches: The Acceptance AddressThe Acceptance Address
The speech given at the final day of the convention in which the winning candidate formally accepts the party’s nomination for president
The Acceptance Address is always televised by the major networks
1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver their Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention
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Critics say that party nominating Critics say that party nominating conventions have become no more than conventions have become no more than
infomercials.infomercials.
1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City
What do you think?What do you think?
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By Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune 09/21/2004 http://www.politicalcartoons.com/
Schwarzenegger Rocks Republican Convention