Selecting a President:Selecting a President:

Nominating Conventions

Stage 1: Caucuses & Primaries The Battle for the Party Faithful

Stage 2: Nominating Conventions “Glorified Infomercials?”

Stage 3: General Election The Fight for the Center

Stage 4: Electoral CollegePower to the People?

Presidential SelectionPresidential Selection

Presidential Nominating Conventions:

The Nuts & Bolts

Barack and Michelle Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

Nominating ConventionsNominating Conventions•An assembly held by

political parties every four years

•Usually held in late summer before the general election in November

•The Democratic and Republican parties hold nominating conventions as do third parties [ex: Green Party, Libertarian Party]

George W. and Laura Bush at the 2000 Republican

Convention

Purposes of Nominating Purposes of Nominating ConventionsConventions

1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan

1. Delegates at the convention adopt a party platform.

2. Delegates to the convention elect that party’s nominees for President and Vice-president.

What’s a Party Platform?What’s a Party Platform?

• Party Platform - a statement of principles and objectives a political party and a candidate supports in order to win the general election.

• Plank - Individual topics in a party’s platform (ex: abortion, war in Iraq)

Cartoon satirizing the 1896 Cartoon satirizing the 1896 Democratic Party PlatformDemocratic Party Platform

2004 Platform Themes2004 Platform Themes

Democratic Party:

“Strong at Home,

Respected in the World”

Republican Party:“A Safer World

and a More Hopeful

America”

How are these themes similar? Different?

Who are Who are DelegatesDelegates??

Delegate - A voting representative to the party nominating convention

Delegate SelectionDelegate Selection

Proportional System Primary system used by

the Democratic Party Candidates are allocated

the same percentage of a state’s delegates as they received in popular votes

Pro’s & con’s of the proportional system?

Winner-take-all System

System used in most Republican primaries

The winner of the popular vote in that state receives all that state’s delegates

Pro’s & con’s of the winner-take-all system?

Democratic Party Rules:Democratic Party Rules:Two Types of DelegatesTwo Types of Delegates

Pledged Delegates Pledged Delegates v. v. SuperdelegatesSuperdelegates

Pledged DelegatesPledged Delegates

Pledged delegates count during the 2008 Democratic primaries

Each state allotted certain number of delegates who vote at the party’s convention

Pledged delegates are chosen at state & local level

Pledged delegates are required to cast a vote at the convention based on the results of the primary or caucus in their state

Members of the Democratic Party establishment who

serve as unpledged delegates at the

party convention Include members

of Congress, governors, and members of the D.N.C.

They are free to vote for any candidate at the convention

Superdelegates

Brokered ConventionBrokered Convention A situation in which no one candidate in a

political party has received enough delegates in the primaries and caucuses to obtain a majority

After the first ballot at the party’s convention, nominee decided

through horse-trading and further ballots

Thomas Dewey (R) in 1948 and Adlai Stevenson (D) in 1952 last two candidates selected through brokered conventions; neither

won the general election Brainstorm potential positive and negative

consequences of a brokered convention.

Democrats avoided a brokered convention in 2008

Convention Speeches: Convention Speeches: The Keynote AddressThe Keynote Address

The speech given at the convention that embodies that party’s core message

Why do you think Democrats choose Barrack Obama and Republicans Zell Miller to deliver the 2004 Keynote Addresses?

Democrat Zell Miller delivers the 2004 RNC Keynote Address

Senator Barrack Obama gives the 2004 DNC Keynote Address

Convention Speeches: Convention Speeches: The Acceptance AddressThe Acceptance Address

The speech given at the final day of the convention in which the winning candidate formally accepts the party’s nomination for president

The Acceptance Address is always televised by the major networks

1960 presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon deliver their Acceptance Addresses at their party’s national convention

Critics say that party nominating Critics say that party nominating conventions have become no more than conventions have become no more than

infomercials.infomercials.

1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City

What do you think?What do you think?

http://www.rightyblogs.com

1920 Republican Convention

• Today candidates secure their party’s nomination during the primaries

• But in 1920 there was no clear nominee going into the Republican Convention

By Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune  09/21/2004

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/

Schwarzenegger Rocks Republican Convention

By Paresh Nath, National Herald, New Delhi, India 3/17/08 http://cagle.msnbc.com

2008 -- The Final Three

Superdelegates

By John Trever, The Albuquerque Journal 03/30/2008 http://www.politicalcartoons.com/