PS470G: The Nominating Process in America

Raiding

A conscious effort to weaken the other party by voting for its least attractive candidates.

Strategy Rules Changes for 2012 and 2016

After Obama beat McCain in the 2008 general election, Republican leaders began to question the wisdom of having chosen a nominee so early. To slow down the party's next nomination race, the RNC broke with its usual states' rights policy and mandated that state Republican Parties holding primaries and caucuses before April 1, 2012, must use some form of PR in allocating delegates to presidential candidates. Only states holding later nominating events could use winner-take-all rules. The use of PR in the earlier contests would help candidates other than the front-runner to stay in the race longer, and the new rule would give states a reason not to front-load their caucuses and primaries. However, this did not work as Romney failed to win the general election. The RNC concluded that the reformed nominating season took too long and dropped the PR requirement for 2016.

Superdelegates

All democratic governors and members of Congress, current and former presidents and vice presidents, and all members of the DNC, meant to be a large, uncommitted bloc now totaling about 15% of all delegates, with the party's interests in mind.

General Election

All voters can choose between the parties' nominees for each office.

Runoffs: When Too Many Candidates Get on the Ballot

Almost all southern and border states hold a runoff between the top two candidates if one candidate does not win at least 50% of the vote. During the long period of one-party Democratic rule of the South, Democratic factionalism often produced three, four, or five serious candidates for a single office in a primary. The runoff was used to ensure a majority winner in order to present a unified face to the electorate and to ward of any challenges in the general election from blacks and other Republicans. Thus, the southern runoff primary has long been controversial as studies show that runoffs disadvantage minority groups.

The Current Mix of Primaries and Conventions

Although conventions are no longer common, they are still used most visibly in the contest for presidency as well as to nominate candidates in a few states. Because states have the legal right to design their own nominating systems, the result is a mixture of primaries and conventions for choosing candidates for state offices.

Nominations by Convention

As pressure for popular democracy spread, the caucuses came to be seen as an aristocratic elite that ignored public opinion. In the 1830s and on through the rest of the century, conventions were the main means of nominating presidential candidates. These conventions were composed of delegates chosen by the state and local party leaders, often at their own lower-level nominating conventions. Were just as autocratic as Caucuses, and thus reformed.

Do Voters Make Informed Choices?

Compared with voters in the general election, primary voters seem to pay less attention to the campaign and to have less knowledge about the candidates. Especially in early contests where voters hop bandwagons based on mere popularity. It's debatable.

What Parties Don't Like About Primaries

Difficulties in Recruiting Candidates: The direct primary makes the challenge to recruit candidates more difficult. If an ambitious candidate can challenge the party favorite in the dominant party's primary, he or she is less likely to consider running for office under the minority party's label. So, some argue, that the minority party will find it even harder to recruit good candidates for races that it is not likely to win. Little by little, the majority party becomes the only viable means of exerting political influence.

What Parties Don't Like About Primaries III

Divisive Primaries: Primaries Provide an opportunity for internal party conflict to become public. Activists who had campaigned for the candidate who lost the primary may sit out the general election rather than work for their party's nominee.

How the Nomination Process Evolved

For the first 110 years of the American republic, candidates for office were nominated by party caucuses and, later, by party conventions. In both cases, it was the leaders and activists of the party organizations who chose the party's nominees, not the rest of the voting public.

Blanket Primaries

Gives voters even greater freedom. The names of candidates from all parties appear on a single ballot in the primary, just as they do in the general election, so that in contrast to an open primary, a voter can choose a Democrat for one office and a Republican for another. Seeks to bring more voters to the polls and encourage the choice of more moderate candidates.

How a Presidential Candidate is Chosen I: Assessing Their Chances

Governors, senators, House members, people well known in the field consider running for president. They take private polls to see how they are viewed by prospective voters. To assess their prospects of getting the resources they'd need, they contact fund-raisers and potential donors and try to get well-respected consultants to commit to their candidacy. They visit states with early primaries and caucuses to gain support from local officials. Typically several years before the presidential election

Presidential Candidate Strategies

How much effort and money should a candidate put into each state? Which of their issue stands and personal qualities will be most persuasive to which voters? An early front-runner normally has to demonstrate overwhelming support in the first delegate section events, or his or her supporters' and contributors get shaken and the candidate's chances fade. The Democrats' rules differ from those of the Republicans. Democrats' nomination reforms require the use of proportional representation, so that candidates with significant support will not be shut out in any state. Republican parties used the winner take-all system: The candidate who gets the most votes in a state primary or caucus wins all or most of the state's delegates.

Voters are in Short Supply

If competition is scarce in primaries, so are voters. Especially in the weaker party's primary.

How Candidates Get on the Ballot

In most states, candidates get on the primary ballot by filing a petition. State election laws specify how many signatures the petition has to contain--either a specific number or a percentage of the vote for the office in the past election. States vary a lot in the difficulty of this step. Some have complicated rules requiring a lot of signatures, designed to favor party insiders. In some other states, a candidate needs only to appear before the clerk of elections and pay a small fee. A few states even put presidential candidates on the ballot if they are "generally recognized" to be running. These simple rules have consequences for parties. The easier it is for candidates to get on the ballot, the more likely it becomes that dissident, or even crackpot, candidates will enter a race and engage the party's preferred candidates in costly primary battles. In states with easy ballot access, citizens can be treated to grudge campaigns, in which people file to oppose the sheriff who arrested them, for instance, or who simply enjoy the thought of wreaking havoc in a primary.

Nominations by Caucus

In the early years, as the parties built local organizations, they held local party meetings, called caucuses, to choose candidates for county offices. Caucuses of like-minded partisans in Congress continued to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Similar party caucuses in state legislatures chose candidates for governor and other statewide offices. These caucuses were generally informal, and they did not necessarily include all the major figures of the party.

McGovern-Fraser Commission

It recommended, and the Democratic National Committee and the next Democratic convention approved, major changes to increase the influence of insurgent Democrats in the 1972 presidential nominating process.

Has the Direct Primary Made Elections More Democratic?

Many more people vote in primaries than take part in conventions or caucuses. In competitive districts, especially when no incumbent is running, voters have the opportunity for choice envisioned by the reformers. Primaries place real limits on the power of party leaders as parties can no longer award a nomination to anyone they choose.

Closed Primaries

Only voters who have formally declared their affiliation with a party can participate, making it easier for party activists and identifiers to keep their party's choice of nominees in their own hands. Essentially, voters have to register as either Democrat or a Republican prior to the election.

The Party Organization Fights Back

Parties are clearly aware of the threats posed by primary elections, but they know that a direct attempt to abolish primaries will fail, so they strategies in limiting the potential damages of primaries by: 1.) Persuading Candidates to Run (or Not to Run): A party organization can control a primary most effectively by making sure that the party's favored candidate has no opponent. IF parties have a strong organization, they may be able to convince less-desirable candidates to stay out of the race. 2.) Endorsing Candidates: Party organizations attempt to endorse candidates by influencing voters. Formal endorsement can often discourage other candidates or well-funded interest groups from challenging the party's choice in the primary. Some state laws prevent endorsing. 3.) Providing Tangible Support: If the party is not able to prevent a challenge to its preferred candidates, then it must fal l back on more conventional approaches. It may urge party activists to help the favored candidates circulate their nominating petitions or offer party money and expertise to these candidates.

Party's Role

Party's interests are not necessarily the same as those of the presidential candidates. State and local parties want a nominee who will bring voters to the polls to support the party's candidates for state and local offices.

Are Primary Voters Typical?

Primaries have a lower turnout than general elections do. People who do vote in primaries are better educated, wealthier, and older...but so are general election voters.

Nominations by Direct Primaries

Progressive thought voters should be able to select their party's candidates for each office rather than letting the party leaders make the choice. Primaries would take away the party organization's most important power--the nomination of candidates-- and give it instead to the party voters.

Presidential Caucus Process

Some states use a longer delegate selection process that begins with precinct caucuses. In these meetings, party identifiers are invited to gather, often for an hour or more, to debate which candidate for president will best represent their party and issues they believe in. Then they choose delegates to communicate their presidential preference to meetings at higher levels, typically at the county, congressional district, and then the state level. The state's final delegate slate for the national convention is determined at the higher-level conventions.

What Parties Don't Like About Primaries II

The Risk of Unappealing Nominees: Normally only about half as many voters turn out for a primary as for a general election. If this smaller group of primary voters is not representative of those who will vote later, then it may select a candidate who, because of his or her issue stands or background, may not appeal to the broader turnout in the general election.

How a Presidential Candidate is Chosen IV: National Nominating Conventions

The delegates vote in their party's convention for the presidential candidate(s) chosen by the voters in their state's primary or caucuses(step 3). Then they vote for the winning candidate's choice of a vice presidential nominee and to adopt a party platform. By tradition, the party that does not currently hold the presidency schedules its convention first, in July or August; the other party's convention is held soon after.

Direct Primary

The party electorate chooses which candidates will run for office under the party's label

Many Candidates Run Without Competition

The power of incumbency

The Invisible Primary

The process of early fund-raising and jockeying for media attention and public support.

How a Presidential Candidate is Chosen V: General Election

The two major parties' candidates run against one another. From the conventions until the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Why Does the Type of Primary Matter?

The varieties of primaries represent different answers to a long-standing question. Is democracy better served by competition between strong and disciplined parties or by a system in which parties have relatively little power? The closed primary reflects the belief that citizens benefit from having clear choices in elections, which can best be provided by strong, internally unified parties; therefore, it makes sense for a party's candidates to be selected by that party's loyal followers. In contrast, open and blanket primaries are closer to the view that rigid party loyalties can harm a democracy, so candidates should be chosen by all voters, regardless of party. Most party organizations prefer the closed primary as it pays greater respect to the party's right to select its candidates. Prior party registration also gives the parties a bonus--published lists of their partisans. Further, it limits the dangers of crossing over and raiding that open and blanket primaries present.

How Badly Have Primaries Hurt the Parties?

They lose power. The immense funding and voter mobilization strains party leaders. Some have been able to maintain control through endorsements and conventions to nominate candidates. The bottom line is this: When a party organization cannot choose who will carry the party label into the general election, the party has been deprived of one of its key resources.

How a Presidential Candidate is Chosen II: Entering the Race

Those who feel they have a good chance (even some who don't) set up exploratory committees to raise money for advertising and to fund their increasingly frequent trips to Iowa, New Hampshire, and other states with early delegate selection events. Then they formally declare their candidacy and work to get on every state ballot. Typically a year before the presidential election.

Who Votes?

Turnout varies a great deal from state to state and across different years in any one state. Media attention to the early contests tends to produce higher turnouts in those states. Turnout is greater in states with a better-educated citizenry and a tradition of two-party competition--the same states where there is higher turnout in the general election. The nature of the contest matters, too. Voters are most likely to participate in races that are closely fought and in which the candidates spend more money and the excitement is high, all of which generate interest in elections.

How a Presidential Candidate is Chosen III: Primaries and Caucuses

Voters cast a ballot in their states for the candidate they want their party to nominate for president. Most states hold primary elections for this purpose; the test use participatory caucuses and state conventions. Delegates are chosen to represent each state and to vote in the party's national convention for the candidate(s) selected by their state's voters. Typically between January and June of each presidential election year.

Cross Over

Voters cross over in order to take part in a more exciting race or to vote for a more appealing candidate in the other party. Common in open primaries. Partisans rarely cross over in off-year gubernatorial primaries because that would keep them from having a voice in other state and local-level party contests. Independents and partisans are more likely to cross over in a presidential primary, especially when there is no competition in their preferred party's contest.

Open Primaries

Voters have more freedom to choose which part's primary they want to vote in. Voters receive either a consolidated ballot or ballots for every party, and they select the party of their choice in the privacy of the voting booth. In a few states, Democratic and Republican Candidates for state and local offices all run on the same primary ballot, so a voter can select some candidates of each party.

What Conventions Do

Warms up with a keynote address by a party "star," showcases as many of its popular leaders and attractive new faces as possible, and reaches a dramatic peak in the nomination of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. In addition to nominating candidates, the conventions vote for the vice presidential candidate the day after the presidential voting. They also approve the party's platform. Finally, they launch the General Election Campaign--announcing to the world the party's presidential candidate choice.

"Top Two" Primaries

Washington moved to a type of blanket primary called a top two system. Like a blanket primary, candidates' names appear on the same ballot. Unlike a blanket primary, the top two vote getters for each office, regardless of party, advance to the general election. The party organization can still endorse a candidate, but if the voters prefer, they can select two Democrats, or two Republicans, to run against each other in the general election. The purpose was to force candidates to appeal to all voters, not just to the extremes of their own party.

Problems in Holding Candidates Accountable

When candidates are chosen in primaries rather than by party leaders, the party loses a powerful means of holding its candidates and officeholders accountable for their actions. Primaries have these drawbacks: *Primaries permit the nomination of candidates hostile to the party organization and leadership, opposed to the party's platform, or out of step with the public image that party leaders want to project. *Primaries greatly increase nomination spending. The cost of a contested primary is almost always higher than that of a convention. *Primaries extend political campaigns, already longer than in the United States than in other democracies, to a degree that can try many voters' patience.

Platform

the statement of party positions on a wide range of issues.