the process of campaigning and primaries to the general election

1. Look Here

2.  Declaring candidacy
 Experience and background:
usually U.S. Congress or state
governor [exec. office], or war hero
 Party affiliation – major parties
have all the advantages
 Party will often identify
members to run
 Base of party loyalists
 Party apparatus for support –
contacts, stumping and $$$$
CCaannvvaassssiinngg

3. CCaammppaaiiggnniinngg
 Party nomination - First major goal – means
running against other members of the same party
 Speaking – message, recognition,
finding/portraying distinctives
 Looking for support from interested groups –
MONEY, public backing
 Fund raising – constantly [why?]
 Polling – likely voters, issue resonance
 Crisscrossing the country
 Hitting the big states
 Not appearing to ignore the small ones

4.  AA pprriimmaarryy oorr ccaauuccuuss iiss aa ssttaattee--wwiiddee
eelleeccttiioonn WWIITTHHIINN tthhee ppaarrttyy
 IItt ddeetteerrmmiinneess wwhhiicchh ccaannddiiddaattee tthhee
ssttaattee’’ss ppaarrttyy mmeemmbbeerrss pprreeffeerr ttoo rruunn ffoorr
pprreessiiddeenntt
 IItt’’ss ddiivviissiivvee –– hhuurrttss ppaarrttyy uunniittyy
 WWiinnnniinngg pprriimmaarriieess == ## ddeelleeggaatteess aatt tthhee
nnaattiioonnaall ppaarrttyy ccoonnvveennttiioonn –– tthhee oonnee
wwiitthh tthhee mmoosstt ggeettss nnoommiinnaatteedd aass tthhee
ppaarrttyy ccaannddiiddaattee
 PPrriimmaarriieess aarree eeiitthheerr ooppeenn oorr cclloosseedd::
 OOppeenn-- vvootteerrss mmaayy vvoottee iinn eeiitthheerr ppaarrttyy
pprriimmaarryy
 CClloosseedd-- vvootteerrss mmaayy oonnllyy vvoottee iinn tthheeiirr ppaarrttyy’’ss
pprriimmaarryy [[NNCC]]
 IInnccrreeaassiinnggllyy,, ssttaatteess aarree lliinniinngg uupp nneeaarr
tthhee ffiirrsstt ooff tthhee yyeeaarr –– iitt ttuurrnnss iinnttoo aa
hhoorrssee rraaccee ffoorr ddeelleeggaatteess,, rreeccooggnniittiioonn aass
aa ““wwiinnnneerr”” aanndd,, tthhuuss,, mmoonneeyy

5.  Several members ooff tthhee ppaarrttyy wwiillll
ddeeccllaarree ccaannddiiddaaccyy aanndd bbeeggiinn
ccaammppaaiiggnnss
 FFiirrsstt pprriimmaarriieess wwiillll ccoonnvviinnccee ssoommee ttoo
ddrroopp oouutt
 NNeexxtt pprriimmaarriieess wwiillll wweeeedd oouutt mmoorree
aass tthheeyy ffaaiill ttoo wwiinn aanndd lloossee ssuuppppoorrtt
aanndd mmoonneeyy.. MMoosstt wwiillll ““tthhrrooww”” tthheeiirr
ssuuppppoorrtt [[$$]] ttoo aa ssuurrvviivviinngg ccaannddiiddaattee
 OOnnee ccaannddiiddaattee wwiillll hhaavvee tthhee mmoosstt
ppaarrttyy ddeelleeggaatteess bbyy ccoonnvveennttiioonn ttiimmee
 PPaarrttyy ccoonnvveennttiioonn wwiillll ffoorrmmaallllyy
nnoommiinnaattee tthhee ppaarrttyy’’ss ooffffiicciiaall
ccaannddiiddaattee ffoorr pprreessiiddeenntt..
 TThhee ttwwoo ppaarrttyy nnoommiinneeeess wwiillll nnooww
rruunn aaggaaiinnsstt eeaacchh ootthheerr..
 OOnnee wwiinnss tthhee ggeenneerraall eelleeccttiioonn aanndd
bbeeccoommeess PPrreessiiddeenntt
DDeemmooccrraattiicc nnoommiinneeee
PPrreessiiddeenntt--
eelleecctt
RReeppuubblliiccaann
nnoommiinneeee

6.  Big “group hug” ttoo rreeeessttaabblliisshh ppaarrttyy uunniittyy
 WWrriittiinngg tthhee ppaarrttyy ppllaattffoorrmm [[ccaammppaaiiggnn ffoorrmmaatt aass wweellll]]
 FFoorrmmaall nnoommiinnaattiioonn [[aallrreeaaddyy kknnoowwnn ffrroomm pprriimmaarriieess]]
 KKiicckk ooffff ooff ccaammppaaiiggnn aaggaaiinnsstt ootthheerr ppaarrttyy
 Advantages of the incumbent
 Already known with a track record
 Easier to raise $$ as contributors go with a “known winner”
 Biggest contributions from individuals and PACs - fundraising
organizations for business groups and unions
 Federal Election Commission limited campaign contributions
 Buckley v. Valeo (1976) determined that campaign spending is a form of
speech, not subject to limitations
 Soft money: funds that cannot be used for a specific, named campaign,
but can be used to support a party or attack the opposition. Ended
with McCain-Feingold in 2002 [Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]

7.  Mobilizing the party and voters
 Campaign staff of paid professionals and LOTS of unpaid volunteers
 Professional staff makes plans, formulates strategy and advises the
candidate [top people often end up in the administration]
 Volunteers man phones, stuff envelopes, put up posters, canvass
precincts and wards, etc.
 Canvassing: phone and door-to-door to elicit support, $$
contributions and “get out the vote”
 Lots of money needed for polling, advertising, mailing, travel, etc.
 Trend is that the candidate that spends the most wins. Remember
incumbent advantages?
 Polling: usually carried out by professional polling firms [expensive].
 Carefully constructed sample of @ 1500 people are asked questions ,
looking for… [sample includes most all demographics; accurate to ± 3
points]
 How people likely to vote [party faithful, 72 hr. undecideds, etc.]
 How candidate/party’s stand on issues resonates with potential voters

8.  Projecting an image
 Many appearances and speeches – absolutely exhausting!
 Focus on battleground states [polling indicates vote will be close,
esp. if state has a good chunk of electoral votes at stake]
 Use of propaganda – images, catch phrases, etc. [“Hope,” “Yes we
can!” “Change” – just plain folks, name-calling “My opponent is
soft on crime!”]
 Televised debates [began in 1960]. Many undecided voters will
choose candidate based on debate impressions of who “won”
 Reminder: most of this is orchestrated and shaped by the campaign
staff
 General Election
 1st Tues. after first Mon. in November every four years
 News sources kinda hold off predictions until bulk of west coast votes are in
 270 electoral votes needed to win – results often come in late at night
 President-elect now has about 2 months to get his basic admin. together to
take office in Jan. - just no rest!
NNiixxoonn –– KKeennnneeddyy
ddeebbaattee