Chapter 16, Section 3 Nominating Candidates

1. Chapter 16, Section 3Nominating Candidates Mr. Young American Government

2. Republican vs. Democrats (Foundations) Northern US Evangelical Protestants Favored abolition of slavery and alcohol Harsh Immigration Laws Northern Financial Interests Poor farmer in South and Western frontier State’s rights Did not want to abolish slavery Identified with immigrants

3. Republican Party Lead charge for state’s rights, wanting states not federal government to manage issues and programs Smaller government and get federal government off backs of states, business, and individuals (only foreign policy and defense) Oppose gun control

4. Generalization of GOP Higher-income individuals Self-employed individuals Business people College-educated Small-town more than big-city Men Whites Fundamental or evangelical Christians Protestants

5. Democratic Party Believe the federal government should play major role in assisting citizens and helping with problems Less willing to turn over federal dollars to the states Favor gun control, affirmative action, and higher taxes Generally pro-choice on abortion

6. Generalization of Democrats Less-educated and highly-educated Working-class citizens (especially unionized workers) Minority groups (Especially African American and Non-Cuban Hispanics) Women (especially unmarried) Jewish and (to a lesser extent) Catholic voters Urban rather than rural people

7. Make your own choice Look at platforms of parties Choose the party that best fits your personality, interests, and beliefs as a whole Here are some major issues to look at: Tax Policy Role of Federal Government Social Issues The environment

8. Essential Question What are the five different way that a candidate can be selected or nominated? What is the purpose of the national convention? What happens at the national convention?

9. Caucuses • Is a meeting of like-minded people that select candidates for upcoming elections • Early caucuses were private meetings • Used in the early days but not considered democratic because not everyone got a say.

10. Iowa Caucus Voters

11. 2) Petitions/Self-announcements • Some states require not only third parties candidates but all candidates have a petition with a certain number of signatures • Write in candidates will use the method of self-announcements • Used most at local level of government

12. 3) Nominating Conventions • An official public meeting of a party to choose candidates for office • In each local area, party members elect delegates to represent them at county conventions; county elect State, State elect National, and National elect Pres and Vice • Powerful party bosses corrupted the nominating convention

13. 4) Primary Elections • Most widely used method is direct primary- an election in which party members select people to run in the general election • Closed primary- in which only members of a political party can vote • Open primary- all voters may participate even if they do not belong to a party.

15. Primary Elections Cont. • Washington and California have used a blanket primary- voters can nominate a Democrat or Republican for each office • In most states a candidate only needs a plurality- more votes than the other person- to win. • Runoff primary- second primary election between two candidates who received the most votes

16. Primary Elections Cont. Nonpartisan primary- candidates are not identified by party labels (used a lot in local elections such as city officials and school offices or certain judgeships)

17. Primary vs. Caucus

18. Primary vs. Caucus

19. Primary and Caucuses Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_QeYCg4yJ8 Khan Academy

20. Presidential Nominations • Major task of delegates at national convention is to select a ticket, candidates for president and vice president • Varies from state to state and even from political party to political party

21. Presidential Nomination Cont. • Three generalizations about presidential primaries • They may be a delegate selection process or a presidential selection preference poll, or both • Either the candidate gets all the state’s convention votes (“winner-take-all”), or each candidate gets delegates based on number of popular votes • Delegates selected based on the basis of popular vote may have to support candidate at convention, or may not

22. Primary Cont. • Some criticisms of the primary method are • It can divide the loyalty of the party • It is too costly, too long, and some lower income people cannot seek office • Voter turnout is often low • Candidates more important than the issues

23. National Convention according to Norman Mailer "a fiesta, a carnival, a pig-rooting, horse-snorting, band-playing, voice screaming medieval get together of greed, practical lust, compromised idealism, career- advancement, meeting, feud, vendetta, conciliation of rabble-rousers, fist fights, embraces, drunks and collective rivers of animal sweat."

24. The National Convention • National Committee chooses the site and dates for the convention • Also tells each state party how many votes the state will have at the convention

25. Rules Committee • Each party’s rules committee governs the way the convention is run; in most cases the delegates accept the rules committee’s reports, but sometimes hard-fought battles take place by delegates who oppose decisions made by the rules committee

26. Credentials Committee and Committee on Permanent Org. • Must approve the delegations from each state, and sometimes lively fights have occurred between rival delegations for a state’s seats • A committee on permanent organization selects the permanent chairperson and other permanent officials for the convention

27. Platform Committee • The Platform Committee is assigned the important task of writing the party’s platform—a statement of its principles, beliefs, and positions on vital issues • Planks, or individual parts of the platform, may divide the delegates • If the platform divides the party, the party stands a good chance at losing the election

28. Vice-Presidential Nomination • Presidential nominee selects a running mate that is automatically accepted by convention • Selected to balance the ticket, meaning that he/she has a personal, political, or geographical background that is different