U'S' Presidential Elections

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U.S. Presidential Elections
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Outline of where were going

• 1. The U.S. Political System 3 branches
• 2. The Presidents place within the system
• 3. Electing the President
• Who can be president? (legal requirements)
• Phases of the election process
• 4. Election Day and Beyond

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The U.S. Political System
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Back to the roots

• Founding fathers main objectives
• Representation of the people
• Avoid TOO MUCH power in one place
• (oppressive rulers)
• Satisfy varying needs
• Encourage unity (compromise)

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What they came up with

• 3 Branches of Government
• Spread out the power
• Each has its roles/jobs
• Each can check and balance the powers of the
  others

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Branches of Government

• Judicial Supreme Court and lower courts
• Legislative Congress representatives of the
  people
• Executive most notably, the president, but
  includes many other offices, departments, and
  organizations

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Legislative branch - two houses of Congress

• House of Representatives
• Representatives are elected in proportion to
  states population
• 2-year terms
• More directly reflect the peoples interest from
  local districts
• 435 voting members

• The Senate
• 2 senators are elected from each state,
  regardless of population
• 6-year terms
• Larger area represented
• 100 members

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Executive Branch

• The President and Vice President
• White House staff and executive offices (about
  2,000 positions, appointed, no congressional
  approval required)
• The Cabinet (secretaries of 15 executive
  departments appointed by the president,
  approved by Congress)
• Approximately 2.7 million civilian employees and
  1.7 million military employees

Executive Branch website http//www.loc.gov/globa
l/executive/fed.html
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Separation of Power
Checks and Balances
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A closer look at the presidency

• Head of State
• Commander-In-Chief
• Legislative leader
• Chief Administrator
• Power to appoint personnel
• Must work with Congress (compromise!)

White House official website http//www.whitehous
e.gov/
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The election process
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To Become President, you must

• Be a natural-born citizen of the U.S.
• Be at least 35 years old
• Have lived in the U.S. at least 14 years
• Not by law, but sort of unofficially so far you
  must be a white male (and being Protestant helps)

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The Road to the White House

• Testing the waters - 2 years
• Declaring Candidacy - 1.5 years
• Primaries and Caucuses Feb June
• (except Iowa, NH)
• National Conventions nominations late summer
• Campaigning Sept-Nov
• Debates Octoberish
• Election Day Nov 1st Tues after
  first Monday
• Election Confirmation December-Jan
• Inauguration January 20

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Testing the Waters

• Potential candidates try to get a feel for how
  their chances would be at winning their partys
  nomination
• Intra-party competition
• Seeking out
• Large amounts of money
• Broad base of support

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Considerations

• Incumbent
• Connections
• Established
• Fewer contenders (sometimes not challenged)
• Blame or credit for state of affairs
• Likely to have support of party

• Opposition Parties
• Relatively unknown figures
• Raise support from scratch
• Full-blown campaign with many challengers
• Huge investment of time and money
• Only one winner

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Declaring Candidacy

• Timing - maximum publicity
• Location supporters, hype
• Appear elect-able!
• Generate excitement among voters

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Who wants to be the Democratic Nominee?
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Primaries and Caucuses

• Primaries
• open
• closed
• New Hampshire
• Super Tuesday

• Caucuses
• local, district, state
• Each caucus selects delegates to the next level
• Iowas impact

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Primaries - a process
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National Conventions

• Developed through tradition not part of the
  constitution or founding fathers plan
• Build unity
• Party platform
• Nomination in recent years, this has already
  been decided
• Running mate declared

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National Conventions contd

• About 3 months before Election Day
• Publicity more than actual decisions
• Opportunity for direct media exposure
• Build excitement among party members

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Democratic National Convention
http//dems2004.org/
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Speakers
http//www.dems2004.org
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Convention excitement
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DNC Protesters
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Republican National Convention
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Most Talked About

• Zell Miller, former Democrat turned Republican,
  turned heads with his passionate endorsement of
  George W. Bush and his stinging criticisms of
  John Kerry
• - Spitwads comment left people talking for
  weeks
• watch him in action http//www.2004nycgop.org/rew
  ind/wed.shtml
• Why was his speech so powerful/effective?

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RNC Protesters
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Candidates chosen now what?

• The game of campaigning begins! The goal score
  270 electoral votes!!
• What are electoral votes?

270
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The Electoral College
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Electoral College

• Voters choose a presidential candidate
• Actually are selecting a list of electors pledged
  to vote for that candidate (sometimes the names
  are on the ballot, sometimes not varies by
  state)
• Electors later meet together to cast their
  official votes
• Electors in most states are not bound to vote as
  they pledged, but they almost always do

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Electoral Votes by State
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Electoral College

• What? A system by which the president is not
  elected directly by the popular vote of the
  people, but instead by electoral votes cast by
  electors
• Who are electors?
• Generally those chosen are electors are
  prominent people who are highly active in their
  political parties. They are chosen by different
  methods in different states.
• http//www.avagara.com/e_c/ec_statelaws.htm

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Electoral College contd

• Why?
• Framers of the constitution wanted to ensure that
  men of sound judgment (electors appointed by
  states) would choose wisely
• A check on popular opinion, a way to clarify
  (amplify) a decision of the people
• How does it work?
• Each state gets 2 votes (as they have 2 senators)
  plus the number of representatives they have in
  the House of Reps

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Campaign Strategery

• Role of media/polls
• Advertising
• Financing a campaign
• Handling of issues very carefully!!
• Swing states/ Battleground States
• The great quest to sway public opinion, to
  attract voters without losing others

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The (beloved) Media

• Networks ABC, CBS, NBC, FoxNews
• Printed media Time, Newsweek, New York Times,
  Washington Post, other publications
• Cable CNN, MSNBC, C-Span (1 and 2)
• Pollsters Gallup, independent, private
• Internet whole new realm of information
  dispersal
• spin and slant satirical news shows eg
  The Daily Show where many young Americans get
  their news
• http//thedailyshow.com

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Media These photos are from the same website
each taken from the candidates personal profile.
Which do you think this site prefers? Bush-Cheney
or Kerry-Edwards?
From www.planet.nl/show/
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All-important Photo ops
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(No Transcript)
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And by all means, HOLD PEOPLES BABIES!
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Campaign ads

• Target important voting audiences
• Highlight areas of vulnerability in opponent
• Highlight strengths of candidate
• http//bush-cheney2004.com
• http//johnkerry.com

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Campaign Finance

• Where does the money come from?
• Matching Funds - yes or no?
• Figures from this year and elections past

• donations and spending by candidate
  http//www.opensecrets.org/presidential/index.asp

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The Major Issues

• Foreign Policy
• Economy / Jobs
• Health Care
• http//special.msn.com/msn/votertools.armx
• http//cnn.com/elections2004/
• http//bbc.com/us/elections04/

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Issues as dividers

• Often used to reach out to specific groups of
  people
• Interest groups and campaigns
• Negative ads often point out (or create the
  impression of) weaknesses on issues
• Debates are the most issue-focused

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Winner-take-all
Exceptions Maine and Nebraska
Where would you focus your energy and campaign
the hardest?
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Battleground States
Also swing states States that are still
undecided in who is likely to capture their
electoral votes. Rather than waste time and money
on sealing a larger margin of victory in
guaranteed states, candidates tend to focus on
winning these all-important regions.
Source http//www.time.com/time/election2004/batt
leground/
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The Debates

• 1. U. of Miami Thursday, September 30
• Topic Foreign Policy / Iraq
• 2. Washington Univ. St. Louis, MO
• Town Hall Debate
• 3. Arizona State U. Wednesday, October 13
• Domestic Policies, Economy

Best site for watching the debates http//news.ya
hoo.com/elections/
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I am the debate champion
But Im still the likeable, simple all-American
guy people identify with
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Election Day
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Election Day

• Time zones polls close in the Eastern time zone
  hours before they close in the west
• Exit polls informal polls try to predict the
  election outcome by asking voters who they voted
  for
• Voter turn-out many factors work together to
  determine whether an individual voter will
  actually get out and vote!
• Voting method absentee ballots, plus a variety
  of voting machines, mean that different voters
  use slightly different ballots in 2000 there was
  great controversy of the butterfly ballots in
  some parts of Florida

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Ballot from Florida 2000
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Aftermath of elections 2000
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and beyond
Marylands 2000 electors

• Individual states electors meet to cast their
  official votes (the first Monday after the second
  Wednesday in December)
• Separate ballots are cast for president and vice
• Votes are certified by each states governor and
  forwarded to the President of the Senate (i.e.
  the current vice president)

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Official decision is confirmed

• January 6, (unless a Sunday), in a joint session
  of Congress, certificates are opened and votes
  tallied

• If no candidate for president receives a
  majority House
• If no vice-presidential candidate receives a
  majority Senate

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Inauguration Day

• January 20
• Inauguration Ceremony
• at the Capitol Building
• - oath of office
• - inaugural address

Inaugural Parade through the streets of
Washington, DC
Inaugural Balls in Washington.
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Oath of Office Ceremony
Pictures from www.secretservice.gov/
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Inaugural Festivities
Parade
Inaugural Ball
Arrival at the White House
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Just in case you think elections are a solemn
occasion

• Elections are also a great supplier of material
  for the creative people in the comedy business!
• Look for special election coverage and sketches
  from these comedy sources
• www.jibjab.com
• www.thedailyshow.com

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The End