Elections

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Elections

• Chapter 9

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Campaign and Election Themes

• 1 Lack of competition in congressional elections
• 2 Odd process for choosing presidential
  nominees
• 3 The Electoral College
• 4 How do we Improve elections?
• 5 Impact of money on the electoral process

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• Elections The Rules of the Game
• Regularly Scheduled Elections
• Fixed, Staggered, and Sometimes Limited Terms
• Term Limits
• Winner Take All
• The Electoral College

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• Running for Congress
• The House of Representatives
• Mounting A Primary Campaign
• The Senate

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Democrat (House)
Republican (House)
Democrat (Senate)
Republican (Senate)
-60
-80
-10
10
0
-20
-40
-70
-30
-50
Figure 9-1Seats Lost by the Presidents Party in
Midterm Elections . . .
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Figure 9-2 (p. 222)U.S. House Incumbents
Re-elected, 1946-2002
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Millions of Dollars
Year
Figure 9-3 (p. 223)Rising Campaign Costs in
General Elections
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• Running for President
• Stage 1 The Nomination
• Presidential Primaries
• Caucuses and Conventions
• Strategies
• Stage 2 The Convention
• The Party Platform
• The Vice Presidential Nominee

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• Running for President (cont)
• The Value of Conventions
• Nomination by Petition
• Stage 3 The General Election
• Presidential Debates

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• Money in U.S. Elections
• Efforts at Reform
• The Federal Election Campaign Act
• The 2002 Campaign Finance Reforms
• Issue Advocacy Advertising
• Candidates Personal Wealth
• Independent Expenditures
• Continuing Problems with Campaign Finance
• Rising Costs of Campaigns

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• Money in U.S. Elections (cont)
• Declining Competition
• Increasing Dependence of PACs and Wealthy Donors

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Figure 9-4 (p. 232)Congressional Campaign
Committee Soft Money Spending, 1994-2000
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TABLE 9-1 Top Ten Issue Advertisers, 2000
Expenditures (in millions)
Advertiser
Citizens for Better Medicare 64 AFL-CIO
45 Coalition to Protect Americas Health Care
30 National Rifle Association 25 U.S.
Chamber of Commerce 15 Planned Parenthood
Action Fund 14 Business Roundtable
13 Federation for American Immigration Reform
12 NAACP National Voter Fund 11 Americans
for Job Security 10
SOURCE Data from David B. Magleby, ed. Election
Advocacy Soft Money and Issue Advocacy in the
2000 Congressional Elections (Center for the
Study of Elections and Democracy, Brigham Young
University, 2001) Erika Falk, Issue Advocacy
Advertising Through the Presidential Primary,
1999-2000 Election Cycle, Annenberg Public
Policy Center, press release, September 20,
2000. The numbers estimate total spending on
issue advocacy and express advocacy however, a
large proportion went to issue advocacy.
Table 9-1 (p. 235)Top Ten Issue Advertisers,
2000
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TABLE 9-2 Average Campaign Expenditures of
Candidates for the House of Representatives,
1988-2002 General Election (in thousands of 2002
dollars)
Incumbent Challenger Open Seat
Republican 1988 603.1 148.0 1,201.8 1990
531.1 147.8 1,109.1 1992 660.7
234.6 778.2 1994 541.7 281.4
1,189.3 1996 820.3 234.9
699.0 1998 715.5 262.2
758.6 2000 944.5 231.7
1,283.6 2002 860.9 188.3
1,080.0 Democrat 1988 528.0 211.9
658.9 1990 536.2 147.4
714.3 1992 751.6 199.8 599.2
Table 9-2 (p. 238)Average Campaign
Expendi-tures of Candidates for the House of
Representatives, 1988-2002 General Election
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Average Campaign Expenditures of Candidates for
the House of Representatives, 1988-2002 General
Election (in thousands of 2002 dollars)
Incumbent Challenger Open Seat
Democrat 1994 711.3 186.3
684.2 1996 635.1 329.4
698.0 1998 577.1 249.1
759.3 2000 787.0 485.6
1,176.7 2002 785.1 313.4 1,020.6
SOURCE Federal Election Commission,
Congressional Fundraising and Spending Up Again
in 1996, press release, April 14, 1997, p. 13
Federal Election Commission, 1998 Congressional
Financial Activity Declines, press release,
December 29, 1998, p. 5 Federal Election
Commission, at ftp fec.gov/fec.
Table 9-2 (cont.)Average Campaign Expendi-tures
of Candidates for the House of Representatives,
1988-2002 General Election
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100
Figure 9-5 (p. 239)PAC Money Favors Incumbents
80
60
40
Incumbents
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Open Seats
Challengers
0
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• Improving Elections
• Reforming Presidential Primaries
• Reforming the Nominating Process
• Reforming the Electoral College
• Reforming How We Vote
• Reforming Campaign Finance

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Figure 9-6 (p. 240)Voter Turnout in the 2000
Presidential Primaries
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The Goals of Various Groups in the Presidential
Nomination Process

• Goal Groups(s) most likely to value goal
• Win Elections Leaders, Activists, Supporter
• Maintain Party Organization Leader
• Ideology or Policy Goals Activists
• Good Government Supporters, Public
• Debate Ideas Activists, Public

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Timeline

• The Domination of the Leaders
• The National Party Conventions 1832-1968
• The Revolt of the Activist-1968 Dem Convention
• Primaries over Caucuses
• Humphey/McGovern
• Superdelegates
• Democratic Party Changes
• Primaries Overtake Conventions
• The Current Drift
• Front Loading the Primaries
• Money?
• Activist/Left or Right/Choose Party Candidate
• Evaluating the Process
• Prospects for Reform-Delaware Plan

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