Campaigns & Elections:Democracy in Action

James King & Katie Allaman 

The Electoral college

•Each state can choose how they pick their electors. They usually pick longtime party workers.

•Electors are free to vote however they choose, but they almost always vote with the winner of the state (D.C. electors abstained instead of voting for Gore in 2000).

•It takes a majority of 270 to win the election. Electors are only used in presidential races.

•Some states are worth more than others (California worth 55, Wyoming worth 3).

•Concern for third party candidates, Perot in 1992 got 18% of the vote but won no electoral votes.

•Presidential candidates only campaign for states they could win, toss-up states: Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.Next Slide

Running For Congress

•Congressional elections are hardly ever close, most districts are one party or another with no competition.

•Mostly due to redistricting and gerrymandering. Partisan Gerrymandering took place in 2000.

•Too many offices considered safe seats. In 2010 only 60 House seats were considered competitive out of 435.

•Presidential popularity affects Congressional elections, the boost is called the coattail effects.

Running for Congress

HOUSE ELECTIONS

•Need lots of money.•Hire staff, buy ads, conduct polls, etc...•Personal organization.•Visibility.•There will be a low turnout if not during presidential election.•If it is not an open race, the challengers will most likely lose.•Only 2-6 Representatives are denied re-nomination each

year, and 80-85% of incumbents are not challenged by thier own party.

•Parties stay out of primaries, wait until nominee has been chosen before supporting.

• incumbants are favored to when unless they are controversial or have  had a personal scandal.

Campaigning for the general Election

•better voter turn-out. more partisan, more focus on the opposing candidate

•Incumbents usually always win, more advantages: franking privelage, free use of broadcast studios to record ads, and a large staff.

•Name recognition is most important however.•Open seats are the only real races for Congress because

there is no incumbent.

SENATE

•More high-profile, more expenisve, more campaigning (State-wide election).

•Politcal groups like NRA, MADD, and NOW will get involved and donate and run ads for or against candidates.

•Personal scandals will surface, such as 2004 Jack Ryan (R) whose allegations of sexual improprities surfaced during the primary.

•If Senate is held by a few seats, White House will get more involved in elections, have president campaign for certain candidates.

•Some races are cheaper than others. Wyoming Senate races are nothing compared to California's elections.

RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT

•Nomination is a long process, some campaigns begin 2-4 years before announcment of running.

•Must organize large staff and money. Candidates can get federal funds for elections (recently this has become less popular: Bush II, Kerry, and Obama have not taken these funds)

•Caucuses are used in primaries, most noticable is Iowa, which holds the first primary, could forecast the winner of the nomination (Obama, who was against Clinton, won Iowa in 2008).

•Winning primary is simpler than a general election. Candidates can be as conservative or liberal as they wish as they are only appealing to their own parties, must tread more carefully in general election.

NATIONAL PARTY CONVENTION

•Basically first appearance as a nominee for the presidency. Not as important as they once were.

•Years ago, no one knew who the nominee would be before the convention, now the convention is basically a formal decleration.

•Good press opportunity and to get donations for a party. •Main purpose is to unify the party for the general election•The party decides their platform•Vice President is also declared. Balances the ticket usually.•THERE IS A WAY TO AVOID PRIMARIES: NOMINATION BY

PETITION. This is how third party candidates get on ballots. Takes a lot of time and one must have good connections.

•Basically first appearance as a nominee for the presidency. Not as important as they once were.

•Years ago, no one knew who the nominee would be before the convention, now the convention is basically a formal decleration.

•Good press opportunity and to get donations for a party.

•Main purpose is to unify the party for the general election

•The party decides their platform•Vice President is also declared. Balances the ticket

usually.•THERE IS A WAY TO AVOID PRIMARIES:

NOMINATION BY PETITION. This is how third party candidates get on ballots. Takes a lot of time and one must have good connections.

The Gerneral Election

 

•Hardest part, most money

•debates can swing the election, winning the debates                are important, but not defining (Bush 2000, 2004)

•It is nearly impossible for thrid party candidates to get a       debate

•Candidate will focus less on states they a projected to win

•the results of the ellection are based  solely on voter turn out

Money in US Elections

•Money to fund campain money from their own funds, parties, individual donors, and intrest groups.

• There are scandals involved with such large sums of money.•Some claim that the system of  gaining funding is unfare, and

large corporations, and wealthy individuals can sway individuals.

Reform

•Tried three basic strategies to prevent abuse in political contributions

         1. Imposing limits on giving, receiving, and spending         2. Requiring public disclosure of the sources and uses          of money         3. Giving government subsidies to presidential candidates, campaigns, and parties to reduce their reliance on campaign contributors.

•The Federal Election Campaign Act - Passed in 1971 FECA which limits the amount that candidates for federal office could spend on advertising, required disclosure of the sources and how they are spent, and required political action committees to register with the government and report all major contributions and expenditures

 

Reform

•After Watergate the Federal Elections Commission was created to

• Buckley v. Valeo (1976), which overturned some provisions of FECA because they were found unconstitutional.The Court said there cannot be a limit on how much candidates can put into campaigns, but they can limit how much others can contibute to campaigns

•Soft money donations are for "party-building purposes", such as donating to the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee. Hard money donations are closely watched. These are made directly to campaigns, and must be filed by law.

Reform

•Banning soft money has become the objective of reformers in recent years and led to the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) in 2002.

• During nomination phase candidates receive federal matching funds for campaign contributions up to $250. Accepting these funds  means that candidates accept state-by-state spending limits for caucuses and primaries (recently, less and less candidates take this money).

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

•Also known as the McCain-Fiengold Bill

• It didn't change the limits on spending by candidates for presidential nominations, or the limit on the amounts the national parties can spend on presidential campaigns and on Congress races. There were several restrictions made on Hard Money that are indexed to inflation.

•One of the main objectives was to ban soft money. Allowed initially to help parties with such party-building activities such as voter registration drives, mailings, and generic party advertising. BCRA banned most forms of soft money. It permits state and local party committees to raise and spend limited amounts of soft money for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts

 

• If "magic words" such as "vote for, elect, support, cast your ballot for, (Name) for Congress, vote against, defeat, reject, etc..."  are not used a political ad is considered an issue ad, and it is not required that the amount of money spent on the ad be disclosed.

 

Section 527 and 501 (c) Organizations

• BCRA didn't limit these groups at all. Its focus was on soft money.

•Section 527 groups are formed to influence elections.

•Section 501(c) groups include nonprofit groups whose purpose is not political. Money given to these organizations is tax deductable.

•Can engage in nonpartisan voter registration and turnout efforts, but cannot endorse candidates.

Independent Expenditures

•Supreme Court declared that individuals and groups have the right to spend as much money as they wish for or against candidates as long as the money is not corporate or union treasury money

•Some individuals will spend millions of dollars against or for a candidate. 

• BCRA does not limit independent expenditures. 

Problems with Campaign Finance

•escalating costs, dependence on PAC money, visibility and competitiveness of challengers, and the ability of wealthy individuals to fund their own campaigns.

•Rising costs of campaigning makes it less probable for ordinary citizens to win major election.

• Most funding for House races comes PACs, two out of five incumbents running raised more money from PACs than individuals.

•PACs influence more than elections, they can sway the candidates they donated to  pass, repeal, appropriate, or decisions rendered

 

Improving Elections

•Reforming the Election Process:

•Many support a national primary. Where all the states vote at once in either May or September. The main nominees would be chosen during this primary. Opponents say it would hurt those without large budgets and cost enormous amounts of money.

•There is also the proposed regional primaries (like East, Midwest, and West). However, candidates from a certain region would have an enormous advantage over others.

•Another idea is just caucuses, but it is generally unsupported

•The current problem is that some citizens have no say in who is the nominee for their party. Sometimes, primaries are decided on Super Tuesday, when about 20 states hold primaries. This is before large states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oregon, and other large states. Those citizens could be left without a say

Reforming the Electoral College

•Many support direct elections, believing that every U.S. citizens have a decent level of education and that the electoral college is no longer needed.

•Others disagree with the winner-take-all system. They prefer proportional representation.

•There are other ideas as well to reform the college, but it will likely remain as is.