On the Road to the White House: Information Resources on Presidential Nomination

1. On the Road to the White House:Information Resources on Presidential Nomination John Hernandez Politics & U.S. Documents Librarian February 25, 2004

2. On the Show This Morning… • Background on Presidential Nomination • Information Resources (Current & Historical) • Primary Debates & Campaign Advertising • Primaries & Caucuses • Party Platforms & Conventions • Public Opinion • Third Parties

3. Eligibility to Run for President • Article II, Section 1 • Natural-born citizen • At least 35 years of age • U.S. resident for at least 14 years • 22nd Amendment • No one may serve more than two full terms • No official requirement of previous elective office or military service

4. Pre-Nomination Phase • Raise money • Test the waters via exploratory committees • Formally name campaign committees • File with the Federal Election Commission http://www.fec.gov/ • Publicly announce candidacy

5. Campaign Advertising • Positive public image of candidate • Negative image of opposition • Sources for ads & public statements • Running for President: The Candidates and Their Images, 1789-1992 • Candidate statements via Project Vote Smart http://www.vote-smart.org/ • Campaign announcements & ads via C-SPAN http://www.c-span.org/vote2004/profiles.asphttp://www.c-span.org/vote2004/campads.asp

6. Primary Debates • Held between candidates of the same party • Initial fight for popularity • Opportunity to set campaign rhetoric, issues and agenda • First debate held 1948 in Oregon between NY Gov. Thomas Dewey & former MN Gov. Harold Stassen

7. Sources of Debates • Newspaper coverage • Proquest Historical Newspapers • LexisNexis • NewsBank • Videos • Vanderbilt University Television News Archive http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/ • C-SPAN Archives http://www.c-spanarchives.org/

8. History of the Primary/Caucus • Congressional caucuses were the traditional method of selecting nominees until 1824 • Multi-tiered nominating caucus-conventions began in the 1830s to reflect popular will • Primaries began about 1910 in state elections • Pressure from Progressives • Applied to national elections as of 1948 • U.S. Presidential Primaries and the Caucus-Convention System: A Sourcebook

9. Election to nominate party candidates for the general election Voters elect delegates to national convention Voting can be closed (only registered party members) or open (non-registered) Meeting of party members or leaders to select nominees Delegates to national convention are chosen Often used with state convention Support for a candidate registered by public declaration Primary vs. Caucus

10. Delegate Scorecard • Number of delegates & assignments defined by national parties • As candidates drop out, delegates are redistributed • Unpledged delegates are aligned as the process continues

11. Iowa & New Hampshire • First in the nation • Iowa Caucus/New Hampshire Primary • Front-loading • Six-week period between February & March • Winners here often take the convention

12. Super Tuesday • Began with Southern Legislative Conference 1988 • Provides over half of the needed delegates • This year is March 2, 2004 • CA (370), NY (236) & OH (140) • MA (93), GA (86), MN (72) & MD (69) • CT (49), RI (21), & VT (15)

13. Primary & Caucus Results • Official state tallies • State Departments of State • Federal Election Commission • Unofficial compiled sources • America at the Polls, 1920-2000 • America Votes (1956-present) • United States Presidential Primary Elections, 1968-1996 • CNN.com American Votes 2004 http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/

14. National Party Conventions • National party platform is finalized and announced • Delegates tallied to determine the party’s nominees • Nominees for President and Vice President are announced • Acceptance speeches are made • Race for the general election begins

15. Party Platforms • Statement of the party’s agenda and positions • Comprised of “planks” or specific issue statements • Platform sources • Official proceedings of party conventions • National Party Platforms, 1840-1976 • 1980 supplement • National Party Conventions, 1831-1992 • The American Presidency Project http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/

16. Public Opinion Polls • Began in earnest circa 1972 • Used to project winners & losers • “Horse race” coverage • Largely consist of exit polls & surveys • Conducted by major news networks, papers & pollsters • ABC, CBS, CNN, New York Times, L.A. Times • Gallup, Zogby, Harris, Roper

17. Public Opinion Sources • Opinion poll indexes/databases • Polling the Nations • iPoll Databank • American Public Opinion Index • News sources • NES Guide to Public Opinion & Electoral Behavior • Evaluation of Presidential Candidates http://www.umich.edu/~nes/nesguide/gd-index.htm#7

18. Third Parties • Often not reported due to relative size, influence, and non-mainstream focus • Spoilers may get better coverage (i.e. Green Party) • Generally necessary to research the parties individually • Third Party Presidential Nominating Conventions, Proceedings, Records, Etc. • Microfilm good for historical coverage of select third parties • PUL does not own, Penn State & NYPL do.

19. Tune in Next Time When John Says… Don’t blame me, I voted for the other guy!