Campaign Process: Running for the Presidency Activity

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1 Campaign Process: Running for the Presidency Activity On blank paper, create a flowchart, timeline, or another visual representation that organizes the process of running for the Presidency. You can work with a partner and turn in one assignment. Use information found in your textbook and the attached article. Identify the major steps in the process to become the President from Declaring One s Candidacy to the Election. The finished product should illustrate the campaign process and show the events that occur from January to November. Make sure to include a brief explanation of each step in the process. Also, you must include examples from modern and/or historical elections. This assignment is due on Thursday Examples of Flowcharts:

2 Presidential Campaigns By law, the people vote for President and Vice President on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The people are not actually voting for those two individuals, but for a person from their state pledged to vote for those two individuals. What this means is that when the popular vote is close, the outcome may be uncertain. The goal of a presidential candidate, then, is to ensure that they have enough of the popular vote that the electoral vote becomes a non-issue. In other words, if you win by 500,000 votes, you might still lose in the Electoral College - but if you win by 5,000,000 votes, it is unlikely that the Electoral College will provide any surprises. To this end, the candidates for President and Vice President campaign for themselves, jetting from one side of the nation to the other, hopping on trains and busses, making whistle stops in small and large towns and cities throughout the country, trying to drum up votes for themselves. But, as in most things political, there's a lot more to it than that. Let's start at the beginning. Declaring your Candidacy Presidential elections are held every four years, but it almost seems that as soon as one campaign ends, the next one begins. This is particularly true when there is a two-term Vice President; it is the expectation that that person will run for President in the next election, and speculation begins almost immediately about possible challengers, both within the VP's party and the opposition. Examples are Al Gore after the 1996 election and George Bush after the 1988 election. To use the election of 2000 as an example, by January 1999, almost two years before Election Day, there was a strong feeling about who the front-runners from both the Democratic and Republican parties were. On the Democratic side, VP Al Gore and former Senator Bill Bradley were widely mentioned; on the Republican side, Red Cross head Elizabeth Dole (wife of Senator and former presidential candidate Bob Dole), Senator John McCain, businessman Steve Forbes, former VP Dan Quayle, Governor George W. Bush, and several other politicians and pundits were announcing that they were thinking of a bid. Also in January, 1999, polls pitting the various candidates against each other were being run by the media. There are no set steps to becoming a presidential candidate. The joke goes that a person announces his intention to start thinking about the possible setup of an exploratory committee to look into the possibility of a potential run. Federal election law does require candidates to file certain forms with the government when they have raised a certain amount of money, and when and if they spend certain amounts of money (the Federal Election Commission administers federal election law); sometimes these filings are the first official indication of a candidate's intention to run. While none of these steps is required except the last, a candidate can go through many steps. These include floating their name to party rank-and-file to get a read for how they might fare; giving speeches and meeting party faithful in key states like California, New Hampshire, and Iowa; forming an exploratory committee to officially explore the possibility of a run; and forming a final presidential committee to actually run the presidential campaign. Some or all of this happens before the first primary, which means that the eighteen to 24 months prior to the actual election is quite a busy time in the news.

3 The Primaries and Caucuses Once all the candidates have campaigns up and running, there are two watershed events in the election process: The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries. By those states' laws, they must be the first caucus and election in the nation, and by the acceptance of this tradition by the major parties, a tradition has emerged. When other states set the dates of their primaries and caucuses, these states set their dates. Because everyone want to be early, the date of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary get earlier and earlier each year. In 1996, this pushed the New Hampshire primary was held on February 20; in 2000 it was held on February 1, and in 2004 on January 27. Iowa's law requires that its caucus be a week prior to any other selection event, so its 2004 caucus was held on January 19. Primaries are basically elections where the members of each party in a state decide which candidate they support. In essence, it is like a mini presidential election, in that the voters of the state decide which candidate their delegates to the party convention later in the year will vote for. Caucuses are similar, but instead of elections, they are meetings where small groups agree, via various means, to support certain candidates. In Iowa, a series of local meetings held at the precinct level are held. In the caucuses, members of the various parties meet to conduct party business. The only thing that most people are concerned about, however, is the expression of their feelings for which presidential candidate they prefer. The decisions of the precincts affect the delegates to county conventions, which in turn decide who will attend both district and state conventions. Ultimately, these other gatherings will decide who Iowa will send to national party conventions. Though the percentage of caucus votes for a candidate may not equate to a percentage of delegates to the national convention, the votes are often held as a good measure of how middle America feels about each candidate. Other states that use a caucus system have similar details. The New Hampshire primary is an example of a much more direct method for doling out delegates to the national conventions. The percentage of votes for any one candidate will determine the percentage of the state's delegates to the convention. States that use a primary system assign delegates similarly. As the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary approach and pass, candidates will be getting a good read for their support. Doubtless, media polls held up to this point will give a general feeling of the level of support, but these events are the first indication of how real voters feel. Accordingly, candidates who do not do well start to drop out of the race at an alarming rate after the New Hampshire Primary. Generally, only a few frontrunners survive New Hampshire. After the New Hampshire Primary, the front-runners move their campaigns to the other states, to try to gather support in their primaries and caucuses. In recent times, rarely has a nomination gone all the way to the last primary. In 1996, for example, the Republican New Hampshire Primary had eight major candidates; by the end of May, only Bob Dole was left, with some candidates holding out to ensure they had a voice at the convention, but with no serious chance of winning the nomination. Technically, the end of the primary campaign against members of your own party is the party convention, normally held in August before the election. From January to August, then, there's a race to a finish line of sorts. Choosing a Vice President The choosing of a Vice Presidential running mate is seen as a real art form in today's modern political scene. Originally, the position was held by, well, the loser. The original Constitution stated that the runner-up in the election for President would become Vice President. It was quickly obvious that this was unworkable. Though the Vice President is often said to have the least important elected office in the United States, the President

4 should have a Vice President upon whom he can rely on and get advice from. Having a political rival be your VP is hardly a prospect most presidents would appreciate. Today, the President and Vice President are voted on separately in the Electoral College (though usually not in the popular election). This almost assures that the winner of both races will be from the same party, and ensures the President will have his choice in the White House with him. The choice of a running mate is a strategic decision. A presidential candidate must look at himself to determine where his weaknesses are, and choose a running mate who will, hopefully, flesh out the ticket and instill confidence in the voters that the administration will be balanced. Historically, a candidate would choose a VP from another area of the country, to appeal to the entire nation and not just one area. John Kennedy, for example, was from Massachusetts, and chose Lyndon Johnson, of Texas, to be his running mate. By choosing someone from the South, Kennedy hoped to overcome any "damn Yankee" prejudices. Kennedy also got a Protestant to counter his Catholicism, and a member of the older generation to counter his youth. In the 2000 election campaign, we see these same dynamics come into the choices of the major party candidates. Republican candidate George W. Bush, son of former President George H. Bush, had no national political experience. As a governor, he wanted to find someone who was well-known, popular, well- versed in national politics and in international affairs. Bush chose Richard Cheney to be his running mate, a person who offered all of these things, and more. As a former Congressman from Wyoming, he was firmly ensconced in the Western electorate (though Cheney had moved to Texas, and had to move back to Wyoming to avoid Constitutional issues). Cheney had been Secretary of Defense for President Bush, and so had a wide range of international and military experience. He had also been President Ford's Chief of Staff, and thus gained national experience there, too. As a national figure during those presidencies, Cheney acquired good name recognition, and a good reputation. Al Gore, the Vice President running for President, had a lot of good things going for him in a strong economy by far being his greatest asset going into the campaign. But Gore had a few problems of his own, not the least of which were his ties to the Clinton White House, which was rocked by seemingly endless scandal or suspicion of scandal, for almost eight years. Gore himself had been the target of several inquiries. He needed a running mate that would not only bring in new constituencies, but who would instantly bring a moral character to the ticket. He found that moral touchstone in Senator Joe Lieberman. Lieberman, of Connecticut, was very well respected in the Congress by members of both parties, and is known for his denouncement of Clinton's scandals. Lieberman was also an orthodox Jew, a fact which many thought would counter any thoughts of a secular party, and which could bring more Jews on board the Gore bandwagon. Gore, from Tennessee, also found someone of another geographical area, to help balance his ticket. The Conventions Each election year, the two major parties, and many of the minor ones, hold conventions. Conventions first began in the mid-1800's, and have been a staple of the American Presidential election process ever since. The purpose of political conventions is to do many things. First and foremost, the party's candidate for President and Vice President are finalized. Usually, in modern times, the outcome of the voting of the state delegations is known far in advance. By the time of the convention, there is typically a front-runner with more than enough votes in the state delegations to secure the nomination, and often the front-runner has chosen a person to be his or her Vice Presidential running mate. In addition to the selection of the candidates, the convention is a chance for the party to finalize its platform. The platform is the basic foundation of beliefs that the party will run on in the upcoming election. The platform is made up of planks, each plank addressing a particular topic, stating the party's position on any of a number of issues. For example, a plank might address the party's position on abortion, or gun control, or the family; the

5 planks are typically hot-button issues that are circulating through society at the time, and let the party make public the consensus of its members on these issues. By no means is it expected that every member of the party agrees with every plank; the platform is a result of compromise, and as a result, no one is ever completely happy with the result. Conventions also give the party hierarchy a chance to have a national audience when they give speeches, and it is typical for the timing and schedule of speakers to be a matter of great concern, debate, and compromise. For example, will in-party opponents of the nominee-apparent be allowed to speak? Perhaps a candidate will pledge his delegates to one of the other candidates in exchange for a prominent spot in the speaker list. Since political conventions are carried on some of the national television media, prime viewing time spots are coveted and reserved for the best the party has to offer. Finally, conventions allow the party faithful the opportunity to network with the members of other state organizations, to have fun collecting buttons, state memorabilia, and other trinkets, and to just have a generally good time. Conventions are typically held in a party-like atmosphere, with the partial intent of influencing the viewing audience to stick with their candidates, both national and local, in the upcoming election.

Chapter 13: The Presidency Section 4

Chapter 13: The Presidency Section 4 Objectives 1. Describe the role of conventions in the presidential nominating process. 2. Evaluate the importance of presidential primaries. 3. Understand the caucus-convention