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Who does the President Represent?

And how does he get to be president in the first place?. Who does the President Represent?. Who does the president have incentives to represent?. Who is the president accountable to?. In his first term, assume he wants to be re-elected

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Who does the President Represent?

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  1. And how does he get to be president in the first place? Who does the President Represent?

  2. Who does the president have incentives to represent?

  3. Who is the president accountable to? • In his first term, assume he wants to be re-elected • Needs to keep his party happy enough that primary voters and partisans re-nominate him • Needs to please median voters in enough states to win 270 Electoral College votes • He needs to raise money for the campaign, too • In his second term…? • So does he represent “everyone?”

  4. How does the president get elected?

  5. A two-stage process • Nomination • Primaries • National Nominating Conventions • General Election

  6. Nominating a presidential candidate • Delegates to the national nominating convention vote on who the nominee will be • Delegates are chosen through primaries, caucuses, and conventions • Each state party is entitled to send a set number of delegates to the national nominating convention Photo from http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Multimedia-Center/All-Slideshows/2008-Democratic-National-Convention/%28image%29/0

  7. All about Delegate Selection • Presidential Primary: • A state-sponsored election to select delegates to national nominating convention • Party Caucus: • A meeting where any affiliated voter can come and select individuals to serve as delegates in favor of a candidate • State Party Convention: • A meeting of predetermined party officials

  8. West Virginia • Party Convention • 18 delegates selected • All 18 delegates awarded to candidate who wins a solid majority of the vote at the convention on one of the first three ballots.

  9. Colorado • Closed caucus • Precinct caucuses select delegates to county conventions, which select delegates to congressional district conventions, where 36 National Convention delegates will be chosen

  10. California • Closed Primary • 170 delegates • 159 allocated to the winner in each of 53 congressional districts (3 per district) • 11 allocated to winner of statewide vote

  11. California • Open primary • 370 delegates selected • 241 allocated proportionally based on primary results in each of 53 congressional districts • 129 allocated based on statewide vote 3 delegates: CDs 20, 47 4 delegates: CDs 2, 3, 11, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52 5 delegates: CDs 1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33, 35, 36, 37, 50, 53 6 delegates: CDs 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 30

  12. Nominating a presidential candidate • Delegates to the national nominating convention vote on who the nominee will be • Dems/Reeps have different rules for selecting delegates, and select them on different days

  13. Why is the calendar important? • Why are the early states so important?

  14. Why is the calendar important? • Early states (traditionally) have determined the outcome due to… • Bandwagon effect • Media coverage • Ability to raise more money

  15. The Presidential nomination process • Advantages of Winning “The Invisible Primary” • Competition for: • media “frontrunner” status • elite endorsements (Clinton, GOP example) • money

  16. The demise of public finance • FECA Creates a voluntary subsidy for candidates who enter primary elections • All funds candidates raise in amounts of $250 or less (if they raise $5000 in 20 different states) are matched by the federal government on Jan 1 of election year • If you take the federal money, you abide by overall and state by state spending restrictions (about $44 million in 2004) No serious candidate now takes this money!

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