Nomination and Announcement

1. Nomination and Announcement Unit II Lecture 3

2. Objective: What steps are necessary to announce as a presidential candidate?

3. Months 1-3 Testing the waters and gauging support Month 24 National election and Electoral College Month 4 Announcement of candidacy Months 20-24 General election campaign Months 4-7 Build origination, develop strategies, and raise money Month 20 National party conventions Months 7-10 Secure support and endorsements from opinion leaders Months 18-19 State party conventions Months 11-14 Compete in early primary and caucuses Months 15-18 Campaign in later primary and caucuses

4. The Invisible Primary • Definition • Not a formal part of the process • A feeling out stage where candidates try to gauge their prospects

5. The Invisible Primary • Importance • An absolute necessity for lesser known candidates • It is not uncommon for candidates to terminate their campaigns a year or more before the general election if they fail to attract support • Activity during this period is directed at party elites and the media

6. The Nomination Phase • 50 plus separate contests, one goal • Each party, in each state holds a separate contest between February and June • Intra-party competition that decides who will be each party's candidate for president • Candidates compete for delegates to their party’s national conventions

7. The Nomination Phase • Primaries versus caucuses • Primaries are intra-party elections • Caucuses are meetings of party members that select delegates for a nominating convention • Caucuses are open to all registered members of a party • Caucuses are usually conducted in multiple stages • In Nevada, the GOP uses a primary and the Democrats use caucuses

8. The Nomination Phase • Long shot and established candidates • Long shots have little name recognition, have difficulty raising money and attracting media coverage, and are not expected to succeed • Established candidates have high levels of name recognition, access to money and media coverage, and are expected to do well

9. The Nomination Phase • Money • Candidates in the nomination phase can qualify for matching funds • Increasingly, candidates are choosing not to accept these funds • Candidates need to have money in the bank prior to the first primaries

10. Early Fundraising in the 2000 Elections Source: “Money for the Presidential Campaign,” New York Times, 24 July 1999, A9

11. The Nomination Phase • Media coverage • Media coverage is concentrated on the first few events • The media handicap candidates based upon their status

12. The Nomination Phase • Momentum • Candidates who exceed expectations in contests that receive heavy media attention may be able to parlay their success into subsequent contests • Momentum is only relevant to long shot candidates

13. The Nomination Phase Frontloading • Increasingly, states are moving their contests earlier and earlier into the process • Frontloading works to the advantage of established candidates

14. The Interregnum • What is the interregnum? • Due to frontloading, candidates are securing the process nomination very early • This creates an interim period when the nominees are known, but they have not been formally nominated

15. The Interregnum • Consequences • The news media and the public largely ignore the candidates during this period • Resource disparities between incumbent and non-incumbent candidates • Allows candidates to position themselves for the general election