CHAPTER 9CAMPAIGNS

Nomination – official endorsement of a candidate for office

Unites entire party so they can be competitive in the general election

NOMINATIONS

Long campaigns!Timeline

Mitt Romney declared as a candidate in early June 2011 for a November 2012 election

Think about how rational choice theory works in primary elections…

NOMINATIONS

Both parties choose at a National Convention

The ‘out’ party’s convention is held first in late August

The ‘in’ party’s convention is usually held in early September

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT

•Conventions are made of delegates from 50 states, D.C., and U.S. Territories

•Candidate who wins the majority becomes the nominee

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT (CONT.)

Primary (more states have this)

Caucus (fewer states have this)

TWO METHODS OF DELEGATE SELECTION

Giant meetingsMultiple levels, like a pyramide.g., In Iowa, there are 4 tiers

2200 precincts – delegates are selected from precincts to go to the county caucus

At the county caucus, delegates are selected to go to a congressional district caucus

At the congressional caucus, some go on to the National Convention

The delegation from Iowa goes to the National Convention

So when Obama won Iowa in 2008, that just shows how many supported Obama in that first tier

CAUCUS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxZYwcoBPhA

In Florida, we have a primary election

Depending on the type of primary, voters in that state vote for delegates to send to the National Convention

New Hampshire has the first primary

The delegates names will not be on the ballot, but when you select a candidate, that candidate’s delegates will be sent

PRIMARY

Historical Background…A look into irregularities in delegate

selectionRecommendations for 1972They found that some states had no rules

at all, some had already chosen their delegates before the elections

MCGOVERN-FRASERCOMMISSION 1968

18 SuggestionsTwo Categories

Participation – structure rules to allow for participation of party membership and all candidates

Representation – delegates at the convention should be representative of the entire party

MCGOVERN-FRASERRECOMMENDATIONS

Front-runner - the candidate who is leading the pack

Dark Horse- candidate with little chance of winning an election or nomination

Invisible Primary – all the time the candidates spend campaigning before the primaries begin

Frontloading – the scramble to move up the primaries and caucuses

ELECTION VOCAB

FRONTLOADING

1960 1996 2004 2008 2012

Iowa N/A Feb.12 January 19

January 3

January 3

New Hampshire

March 8 Feb. 20 January 27

January 8

January 10

Next Window

April 3 March 5 Feb. 3 January 19

Mid Jan

Created by a group of southern states to try to get the attention of the candidates and media

First Tuesday in MarchOther states joined in,

diluting the power of the southern block

SUPER TUESDAY

Primary – around 20% of partisans in that state

Caucus – 1-3% of partisans in that stateEffects of low turnout:

Unrepresentative of the electorateDistorts the popularity of the candidates

PARTICIPATION LEVELS

Iowa and New Hampshire are all powerful… if a candidate is third or lower in these contests, he or she is out

Prominent politicians are busy people; they have to balance campaigning and work

Money plays a big role Participation is low and

unrepresentativeMedia has too much of an

influence

CONCERNS…

Regional PrimariesBy grouping states, forcing candidates to look at issues broadly (beyond state boundaries)

Eliminate advantages Iowa and New Hampshire have

Rotating regions to get rid of biases

Grouping states makes travel easier for politicians

WITH WHAT WOULD WE REPLACE THE CURRENT

SYSTEM?

Direct National PrimaryNo state has an advantageAll choose from the same menuOne person, one voteEliminates delegate selection

WITH WHAT WOULD WE REPLACE THE CURRENT

SYSTEM?

All candidates have websites, many have Twitter accounts, Facebook Pages, etc.

Typically, if they are already an elected official, they will have two websites

INTERNET/SOCIAL MEDIA

Top American Politicians on Twitter

Top American Politicians on Instagram

Barack ObamaJoe BidenArnold Schwarzenegger Sarah PalinPaul RyanJohn McCainMitt Romney

Barack ObamaMitt RomneyGeorge W. BushSenator Cory BookerCongressman Kevin McCarthyChris ChristieMichael Bloomberg

DIRECT MAIL – high tech method of raising money for a cause or candidate

There are entire firms dedicated to direct mailThey have databases with lists of people who

would be likely to contribute or vote for that person

MICROTARGETINGMass texts

HIGH-TECH MEDIA CAMPAIGN

THE GENERAL CAMPAIGN

Target the campaignTake advantage of political assetsDevelop an image the voter responds toAttract the support of divergent groupsUse issues and events for their own advantageTake advantage of the media as a primary

means of communicating with the publicUse the campaign organization and workers to

get out the vote (GOTV)

Money will not determine the outcome of an election, but you must have money to be a viable candidate

$ MONEY $

Result of information after WatergateFirst goal was to reduce the importance of

personal wealth Limit the amount of money that groups, individuals and candidates can contribute

Increase reliance on small contributors

Disadvantages Third Parties

$ MONEY $

FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT

Limits contributions in federal campaignsLimits expendituresOffers federal subsidizationAccounting and disclosure requirementsEstablishes the Federal Elections Commission

$ MONEY $

FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT 1974

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS

Highly controversial because of free speech issues

Buckley v. Valeo 1976 Supreme Court upholds the right of

Congress to regulate campaign expenditures

Negated the overall limits on spending by individuals and nonparty groups (so if you accept federal funds, there are limitations; if you refuse funding, there are not limitations)

You can spend as much as you want to on behalf of a candidate – but you cannot be in direct consultation with that candidate

BUCKLEY V. VALEO, 1976

1979 Soft Money Provision added to FECAEncouraged the major parties to solicit

large contributions and distribute the money to their state and local affiliates to use as they saw fit

SOFT MONEY

Clinton campaign uses through the DNC soft money to buy policy ads

Donors are invited to the White House in exchange for $100,000 donations to the party

At first the Republicans were outraged, then they copied the Democrats

EXAMPLE OF EXPLOITINGSOFT MONEY

McCain-FeingoldBanned soft money at the national level

Increased the amount that individuals could give and built in adjustment for inflation

Banned corporations, unions, and non-profit organizations to engage in electioneering communications 60 days before an election

BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN REFORM ACT

(BCRA 2002)

Increased importance of donors maxing out their individual contribution

Candidates often borrow moneyDiminished role of public funding

IMPACT OF BCRA

The nonprofit corporation Citizens United wanted to air a film critical of Hillary Clinton and to advertise the film during television broadcasts in apparent violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

In a 5-4 split decision, the Court decided that portions of BCRA violated the First Amendment

This ruling says that corporations (and unions) as associations of individuals have the same rights as individuals

Poll taken in January of 2010 indicated that 80% of Americans (both parties equally) disagreed with the court’s decision

CITIZENS UNITED VS. FEC (2010)

Independent expenditure political action committees

groups could pool contributions and make expenditures in support of or opposition to a candidate provided that the expenditures were made independently of a campaign or a candidate

SUPERPACS

Removed aggregate contribution limits

MCCUTCHEON V. FEC (2014)