Election CampaignsChapter 17, Sections 1 & 2

Electing the President To win, need 270+ of 538 electoral votes Candidates pays close attention to states w/ large pop Election Day – 1st Tues after 1st Mon in Nov.

Campaign strategy Plan how to capture key states Plan approach to opponent Plan issues to stress based on pop. needed

Electing the President Campaign Organization

Campaign manager heads campaign org. Manage relations with external organizations

Using Television Most important communication tool Image (mental picture) of candidate is projected

Using the internet Key tool for fundraising and informing voters

Financing Campaigns Regulating Campaign financing

Public disclosure of candidates spending Federal Election Commission limits contributions

Public Funding Candidates can receive money from

Presidential Election Campaign Fund if they agree to limit spending

2012 – both candidates did not take public funding

Financing Campaigns Private Funding

Bulk of campaign funding comes from private sources

Individuals currently limited to $2,500 PACs – political action committees, fund campaigns

Est. by interest groups to support candidates Get around contribution limits by issue advocacy

advertising – not for a specific candidate Super PACs – don’t make contributions to pols party

or candidate campaign directly Soft money – given directly to a political party for

general purpose spending

Financing Campaigns Campaign laws and the internet

Most laws on campaign finance written before internet was widely used

Websites that deal with campaigns must register with the FEC if they spend more than $250 on the site

Name ___________________________________________________ Government

Read pages 481 – 484 in your text, and complete the questions below.

What does suffrage mean, and why is it important? _______________________________________________________________

Barrier to Suffrage What Groups of People Did this Affect?

15th Amendment 19th Amendment 26th Amendment

In the boxes below explain the changes brought about by each of the following amendments to the constitution.