Chapter 9 Questions

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 3: The General Election--General

--Starts once the nominees are known --Hopefully the nominee has: 1. Not had to move too far to the extreme (and if so, run for the middle!) 2. Come out of the primary relatively unscathed 3. Money left --Goal: define yourself, define your opponent --Goal: fire up your base, persuade independents

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 1: The Nomination--Caucuses and Conventions

--50+ mini elections/caucuses 1. Some primaries are open, some are closed a. Closed primaries--people can only vote for the candidate for the party in which they are registered b. Open primaries--people can vote any candidate 2. Parties run them (in conjunction with states) 3. Republicans have different rules than Democrats 4. Each party can also change the rules every election 5. Each party also gets to decide how many delegates states/territories get 6. Basically, it's a complete mess

Trace the history of campaign finance reform. --Political Action Committees (PAC's)

--Allow corporations, labor unions and other interest groups to donate money to campaigns --Regulated by the FEC 1. Most money PACs receive is given to incumbents because PACs already have a network with them

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 3: The General Election--Contact with People

--Campaign stops (resulting in media coverage)--swing states get most votes --Direct mail/contact (Internet, phone, etc.) --Television commercials --Debates--two main candidates and any candidate who can get more than fifteen percent in the polling --Media 1. Famous people endorse candidates because it catches people's attention.

Trace the history of campaign finance reform. Federal Election Campaign Act (1971)

--Created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) --Provided partial public financing (matching funds) for presidential primaries--helps third party candidates --Provided full public financing for major party candidates in the general election --Required full disclosure and limited contributions

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 2: The National Party Convention--Party Platform

--Delegates to the national party conventions decide on the platform.

Analyze the flaws in our electoral system, and the remedies that have been proposed to address those flaws. --Reforming the Electoral College

--Direct popular election—presidents would be elected directly by the voters, just as governors are, and the electoral college and individual electors would be abolished. 1. If no candidate receives at least 40 percent of the total popular vote, a runoff election would be held between the two contenders with the most votes. --National Bonus Plan—add another 102 electoral members to the current 538. 1. 102 members would be awarded on a winner-take-all basis to the candidates with the most votes, so long as that candidate received more than 40 percent of the popular vote. --Quasi-proportional system—candidate who carries each congressional district gets the electoral vote and the candidate who carries the state gets the state's two additional electoral votes (Maine and Nebraska).

Analyze the flaws in our electoral system, and the remedies that have been proposed to address those flaws. --Problems with the Nominating Process

--Early primaries and caucuses too influential (and in states that are not representative) --Running for President is too time-consuming 1. And things can get dirty --Campaign is too long--shorter processes cost less, annoy people less, and make decisions more efficient --Money plays too big a role --Voter participation in the primaries is atrociously low --Too much power given to the media.

Analyze the differences between running for Senate and running for House. --Running for House--Mounting a Primary Campaign

--First step for would-be-challengers is to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars (or even more) to mount a serious campaign --Next step is to build a personal organization --Candidate's main hurdle is gaining visibility.

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 2: The National Party Convention--The Value of Conventions

--For the parties—a time of "coming together" to endorse a party program and to build unity and enthusiasm for the fall campaign. --For candidates/other party leaders—a chance to capture the national spotlight and further their political ambitions. --For nominees—an opportunity to define themselves in positive ways. --Potential exists to heal wounds festering from the primary campaign and move into the general election united, but it is not always achieved.

Analyze the differences between running for Senate and running for House. --Running for Senate

--Generally more high-profile than running for the House—the six-year term, the fact that there are only two senators per state, and the national exposure that senators enjoy make a Senate seat a more glittering prize, leading to more intense competition. --Individual Senate campaigns cost more than individual House races and are more likely to be seriously contested. --Essential tactics are to raise large amounts of money, hire a professional and experienced campaign staff, make as many personal contacts as possible (especially in states with smaller populations), avoid giving the opposition any positive publicity, and have a clear and consistent campaign theme.

Analyze the reasons that incumbents have such an advantage in congressional elections.

--Incumbents are generally better known than challengers, something called name recognition, and benefit from years of media coverage of their generally positive efforts on behalf of the district. --Able to outspend challengers in campaigns by approximately 3 to 1 in the House and 2.37 to 1 in the Senate. --Most challengers run campaigns that are much less visible than incumbents, contact fewer voters, and lose badly. --Many potential challengers are scared away by the prospect of having to raise more than $1 million in campaign funds, and some do not want to face the media scrutiny that comes with a serious race for Congress. --Incumbent's district boundaries have been drawn to be made up of voters who favor their party.

Trace the history of campaign finance reform. --527's

--Independent (not for a particular candidate, CAN be against!) --No limits

Analyze the differences between running for Senate and running for House. --Running for House--Campaigning for the General Election

--Many more voters turn out in general elections, especially less-committed partisans and Independents. --Partisanship is more important in a general election. --Focus on candidate appeal.

Trace the history of campaign finance reform. --Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

--Money is free speech--you are allowed to give money to campaigns because it is a First Amendment right --But CAN be regulated--an individual running for president can spend as much money on their campaigns as they would like, but individuals have limited contributions

Analyze the flaws in our electoral system, and the remedies that have been proposed to address those flaws. --Reforming the Nominating Process

--National presidential primary—would take the form of a single nationwide election, probably held in May or September, or separate state primaries held in all states on the same day. --Regional primaries—would be held at two- or three- week intervals across the country. --Drastically reduce the presidential primaries and make more use of the caucus system.

Analyze the flaws in our electoral system, and the remedies that have been proposed to address those flaws. --Problems with the Electoral College

--Not exactly democratic --Small states have the advantage (overrepresentation) --Strongly Democratic or Republican areas tend to be ignored --Small states get less attention --Different voting laws

Describe the ways our various elections are organized and conducted.

--Regularly scheduled elections—elections are held at fixed intervals that the party in power cannot change. --Fixed, staggered, and sometimes limited terms—our system is based on fixed terms (length of a term in office is specified) and has staggered terms for some offices (not all offices are up for election at the same time). --Term limits—presidents are limited to two terms --Winner-Take-All—there is a winner-take-all system in most U.S. electoral settings, and most U.S. electoral districts are single-member districts. --The Electoral College—we elect our president and vice president by the electoral college.

Trace the history of campaign finance reform. --Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

--Reiterated that money is speech --Weakened rules (for corporations and unions) --Full implications still unclear... --Start to see creation and regulations for Super PAC's 1. Super PAC's--may not make contributions to candidate's campaigns or parties but can engage in unlimited political spending independent of campaign

Analyze the current campaign finance rules, and the implications of those rules. --Implications of Those Rules

--Rising costs of campaigns—federal elections have become increasingly expensive, and they mean that incumbents spend more time raising funds and therefore less time legislating and representing their districts. --Declining competition—Incumbents will continue to have the advantage in seeking reelection (nothing in BCRA addresses this problem). --Increasing dependence on PACS for congressional incumbents—for most House incumbents, campaign money comes from PACs (challengers receive little because PACs do not want to offend politicians in power). 1. Candidate's personal wealth—campaign finance legislation cannot constitutionally restrict rich candidates from spending heavily on their own campaign. 2. Growth in individual contributions and use of the Internet to fund campaigns—BCRA made individuals more important as sources of money to candidates—increased amount they could give and indexed limits to inflation.

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 1: The Nomination--Presidential Primaries

--State presidential primaries—main method of choosing delegates to national convention. --State primaries allocate delegates using following system: 1. Proportional representation—delegates to national convention are allocated on basis of percentage of votes candidates win in primary (typically used by Democrats). 2. Winner take all—whoever gets the most votes wins all of that state's delegates (typically used by Republicans). 3.. Superdelegates and delegate selection without a commitment to a candidate. 4. Delegate selection and presidential poll—in several states, voters decide twice: once to indicate choice president and again to choose delegates pledged, or at least favorable, to presidential candidate.

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 1: The Nomination--Strategies

--To win general election, candidates have to win support from moderate and pragmatic voters, many of whom do not vote in the primaries. --Strategies for securing nomination have changed throughout the years.

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 2: The National Party Convention--The Vice Presidential Nominee

--What to look for when picking a VP: 1. BALANCE a. Age, gender, ethnicities, policies, etc. b. Presidents choose VP from swing state or state that has large influence in election. 2. Attack Dog a. Being on the offense/attack opponent

Describe each stage of the presidential campaign, analyzing the dynamics the factors that can affect the success of a campaign. --Stage 3: The General Election--The Outcome

--Whether the nation is prospering—probably has the most to do with who wins a presidential election, but most voters vote on the basis of party and candidate appeal. --Who wins depends on voter turnout—here the strength of party organization and allied groups is important. --After votes are cast, they must be counted.

Trace the history of campaign finance reform. --McCain-Feingold Act/Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) (2002)

-Banned soft money--the idea that you could give unlimited amounts of money to a political party for party-building purposes