THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Unit 5

Lesson 1

ELECTION The people of the United States of American choose a

President every four years. An election takes place on the first Tuesday of November.

WHO CAN RUN FOR PRESIDENT?

Constitution: Article II Section I To be the President you must: 1.  Be born in the United States 2.  Be at 35 years old 3.  Lived in the U.S. for 14 years or more.

TERM LIMITS

¢  You can be President for eight years (that’s two four-year terms)

¢  Trivia: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only person to be President for more than two terms. He was elected four times.

¢  Passed by Congress in 1947, and ratified by the states on February 27, 1951, the Twenty-Second Amendment limits an

elected president to two terms in office, a total of eight years.

PRESIDENTIAL SELECTION PROCESS Ø Stage 1: Caucuses & Primaries

The Battle for the Party Faithful

Ø Stage 2: Nominating Conventions “Glorified Infomercials?”

Ø Stage 3: General Election The Fight for the Center

Ø Stage 4: Electoral College

Power to the People?

STAGE 1: CAUCUSES

¢ Closed meeting of party members in each state. ¢ Delegates select the party’s choice for

presidential candidate.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC

¢ Republican �  Voters gather �  Hear Speeches �  Write their choice on a

paper

¢ Democratic �  Asked to gather in

sections for the candidates

�  If one candidate fails to get at least 15% they are released

�  Caucus captains lobby enticing them to join up.

�  After that, delegates are assigned based on support.

Hajo De Reijger- www.caglecartoons.com

What advantage did the democratic party have in the 2012 election process? What was different this year?

PRIMARIES

¢ Presidential Primary Elections – special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election.

¢ Primary Season �  January to 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

OPEN PRIMARY ¢  A registered voter

may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation.

CLOSED PRIMARY ¢ Voters may vote in a party’s primary only if they

are registered members of that party.

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TRUMP LEADS THE FIELD NATIONALLY

Source: WSJ/NBC News Poll 10/22

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AND IN THE EARLY STATES

Source: RCP Polling Average/ NV=CNN/ORC 10/3-10/2015

Early state tracker – GOP Primary

(+/-) From Aug. 2, 2015

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CLINTON POLL NUMBERS CONTINUE TO DECLINE IN EARLY STATES

Early State Tracker – Democratic Primary

Source: RCP Polling Average/ NV=CNN/ORC 10/3-10/2015

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HILLARY AND JEB LEAD WITH ENDORSEMENTS

Source: FiveThirtyEight

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2016 PRIMARY DEBATE SCHEDULE G

OP

D

EM

Aug. 2015

Sept. 2015

Oct. 2015 Nov. 2015

Dec. 2015 Jan. 2016 Feb. 2016 Mar. 2016

8/6/2015 Fox News Cleveland,

OH

9/16/2015 CNN Salem

Radio Simi Valley, CA

10/28/2015 CNBC

Boulder, CO

11/10/2015 Fox Business Milwaukee,

WI

12/15/2015 CNN

Las Vegas, NV

Jan. 2016 Fox News

IA

2/6/2016 ABC

Manchester, NH

2/13/2016 CBS

Greenville, SC

2/26/2016 NBC/

Telemundo TX

3/10/2016 CNN FL

Mar. 2016 Fox News

TBD

10/13/2015 CNN

Las Vegas, NV

11/14/2015 CBS

Des Moines, IA

12/19/2015 ABC/

WMUR Manchester,

NH

1/17/2015 NBC

Charleston, SC

2/11/2016 PBS WI

3/9/2016 Univision Miami, FL

Source: Hamilton Place Strategies

¢ http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/delegate-count-tracker

STAGE 2 – NOMINATING CONVENTIONS

¢ An assembly held by political parties every four years.

¢ Usually held in late summer before the general election in November.

PURPOSES OF NOMINATING CONVENTIONS

¢ Delegates at the convention adopt a party platform.

¢ Delegates to the conventions elect the party’s nominees for President and Vice-president.

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.

WHO ARE DELEGATES?

Delegate - A voting representative to the party nominating convention

DELEGATE SELECTION

Proportional System

v Primary system used by the Democratic Party

v Candidates get a % of delegates based on the popular vote

Winner-take-all

System v  System used in most

Republican primaries v  The winner of the popular

vote in that state receives all that state’s delegates

v  Similar to electoral college

PLEDGE DELEGATES VS. SUPER DELEGATES

¢ Pledged delegates are required to vote at the convention based on the popular vote in their state.

¢ They have to listen to the people.

¢ Members of the Democratic Party establishment who serve as unpledged delegates at the party convention.

¢ They are free to vote for any candidate at the convention.

THE ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS

v  Given at the final day of the convention - winning candidate formally accepts the party’s nomination for president .

v  Huge media event - 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

STAGE 3: GENERAL ELECTION

• Candidates ACTIVELY campaign by… • ANYTHING that they think will get

them more voters.

RAISING MONEY

¢ http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-presidential-campaign-fundraising/

RUN ADS (TV, RADIO, MAIL, INTERNET ETC)

PARTICIPATE IN DEBATES