Campaigns & Elections3.1 Daily Sheet #1

Learning Objective

• Students will evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices.

Do Now

• Platform: a document stating the aims and principles of a political party

• Two-party system: a system where two major political parties dominate politics within a government (For USA, Democrats & Republicans)

• Third Party: any party contending for votes that failed to outpoll either of its two strongest rivals

Background

• Campaigns & elections are democracy’s vetting (background check) process

• Initially, the process of conducting campaigns and holding elections was devised as a means to an end; the peaceful transfer of power.

• However, two centuries of practice have elevated the process to an end in itself.

• It seems campaigns/elections have become the most important part of the Democratic Cycle, overshadowing the governance of the people.

The Democratic Cycle

Governance of the People

Campaigns

Elections

Background

• Today, running for office takes as much, if not more, time, energy and resources as holding it.

• Although the skills necessary to woo voters are at times directly opposed to those necessary to govern them, the expensive and tiresome process exists for a reason: to ensure that those who wish to govern are, if not the most qualified our country has to offer, at least the ones who want it the most (those individuals that want it so badly that they will endure any humiliation just for a chance at power).

• Campaigns and elections are the process in which democracy separates the willing from the able.

Candidates

Running for Office

• Do you like babies? Do you like veterans? Can you feign interest in old people – and smile while touching them? Do you enjoy saying the same thing over and over again? How about being portrayed as a villain on national television and having your family hounded 24 hours a day? Are you willing to put up with these things for the remainder of your professional life?

• If you answered “yes” to every one of these questions, then you are ready to run for office?

Periodic Table of Elections

Office Election Frequency

President, Governors Every 4 years

Senate Every 6 years

House of Representatives Every 2 years

Prom King/Queen Every year

Fundraising

• The most significant change to campaigns over the years has been the cost. And while candidates have impressive personal fortunes, they still need money, and lots of it.

• Political fundraisers take many forms, but the most common is the dinner. Supporters gather in a large auditorium or banquet hall to eat (generally chicken). If they’re lucky, they’ll be graced with the presence of the candidate who will spend about 5 minutes of their time shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.

• If you’re wondering how much this experience will cost you, oh, about $2,000. Yet where does this money go?

Analyzing a $2,000 dinner plate

$8 – Actual Plate

$6 – Food on plate

$9 – Mass mailing for the next $2,000 a-plate fundraiser

$8 – A handsomely framed photo of donors w/ the candidate

$1,969 – Negative ad to run in a critical swing state

Fundraising

• Smart candidates know that without a powerful fundraising organization, they will lose.

• Raising money takes time, so plan on at least a year of non-stop solicitation.

• Still doubt the importance of money? Well, billionaire Ross Perot received 19% of the presidential vote in 1992.

Fundraising

• Fortunately, candidates aren’t alone.

• Whether seeking city, state, or federal office, they are undoubtedly running under the auspices of one of America’s two political parties – the Republicans or the Democrats.

The Republicans

• The Republican Party is the party of nostalgia (viewed as conservative).

The Republicans

• The Elephant— Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was responsible for the Republican Party elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled "The Republican Vote." That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

The Democrats

• The Democrats are utopians (viewed as liberal).

The Democrats

• The Donkey— Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat ever to be associated with the donkey. His opponents during the election of 1828 tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist beliefs and slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson was entertained by the notion and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters.

• But cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Democratic Party. It first appeared in a cartoon in Harper's Weekly in 1870, and was supposed to represent an anti-Civil War faction. But the public was immediately taken by it and by 1880 it had already become the unofficial symbol of the party.

Political Parties

• Parties provide candidates with structure and financial support.

• In exchange, the candidate agrees never to take sides against the party.

• Each party has a platform, a menu of central beliefs making up its worldview.

• The candidate can choose from one of two platforms, but remember, no substitutions!• For example, do you support universal healthcare? Then you must also want a ban

on assault weapons. • Pro-limited government? Congrats! You might also be anti-abortion.

• Luckily, all human opinion falls neatly into one of the two clearly defined camps; thus we get our two-party system.

Third Parties

• In 2000, the Green Party’s Ralph Nader received thousands of votes that may have otherwise have gone to Democrat Al Gore.

• But the fact remains, Nader was among the few that tied to change the system.

Exit Ticket

• Should there be limits to the amount of money campaigns/candidates may receive to run for office? Why?