Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry

Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy

Fourteenth Edition

Chapter 9

Nominations and
Campaigns

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Nomination

The official endorsement of a candidate for

office by a political party
Generally, success requires momentum,
money, and media attention.

Campaign Strategy

The master game plan candidates lay out to

guide their electoral campaign

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Deciding to Run

Campaigns are more physically and

emotionally taxing than ever.
American campaigns are much longer.

Barack Obama made clear his intention to run

for president in January 2007.
Other countries have short campaigns, generally
less than two months.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Competing for Delegates

Nomination game is an elimination contest

Goal is to win a majority of delegates
support at the national party convention, or
the supreme power within each of the
parties
The convention meets every four years to
nominate the partys presidential and vicepresidential candidates.
Conventions are but a formality today.
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Competing for Delegates
The Caucus Road

Caucus: meetings of state party leaders for

selecting delegates to the national convention
Organized like a pyramid from local precincts to
the states convention
A handful of states use a caucusopen to all
voters who are registered with a party
The Iowa caucus is first and most important.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Competing for Delegates
The Primary Road

Primary: elections in which voters in a state vote for a

nominee (or delegates pledged to the nominee)

Began at turn of 20th century by progressive reformers

McGovern-Fraser Commission led to selection of delegates
through primary elections
Most delegates are chosen through primaries.
Superdelegates: democratic leaders who automatically get a
delegate slot

Frontloading is the tendency of states to hold primaries

early to capitalize on media attention. New Hampshire is
first.
Generally primaries serve as elimination contests.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Competing for Delegates

Evaluating the Primary and Caucus System

Disproportionate attention to early ones
Prominent politicians do not run.
Money plays too big a role.
Participation in primaries and caucuses is low
and unrepresentative; 20 percent vote in
primaries.
The system gives too much power to the media.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

The Convention Send-of

National conventions once provided great drama,

but now are a formality, which means less TV time.
Significant rallying point for parties
Key note speaker on first day of Convention
Party platform: statement of a partys goals and
policies for next four years
Debated on the second day of the Convention

Formal nomination of president and vice-president

candidates on third and fourth days

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Nomination Game

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Campaign Game

The High-Tech Media Campaign

Direct mail used to generate support and

money for the candidate
Get media attention through ad budget and
free coverage
Emphasis on marketing a candidate
News stories focus more on the horse race
than substantive policy issues

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Campaign Game

Organizing the Campaign

Get a campaign manager

Get a fund-raiser and campaign counsel
Hire media and campaign consultants
Assemble staff and plan logistics
Get research staff, policy advisors, and
pollsters
Get a good press secretary
Establish a website
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Campaign Game

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Money and Campaigning

The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms
Federal Election Campaign Act (1974)

Created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to

administer campaign finance laws for federal elections
Created the Presidential Election Campaign Fund
Provided partial public financing for presidential
primaries

Matching funds: Contributions of up to $250 are matched for

candidates who meet conditions, such as limiting spending.

Provided full public financing for major party candidates

in the general election
Required full disclosure and limited contributions
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Money and Campaigning

The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms

Soft Money: political contributions (not subject to

contribution limits) earmarked for party-building
expenses or generic party advertising
The McCain-Feingold Act (2002) banned soft
money, increased amount of individual
contributions, and limited issue ads.
527s: independent groups that seek to influence
political process but are not subject to contribution
restricts because they do not directly seek election
of particular candidates

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Money and Campaigning

The Proliferation of PACs

Political Action Committees (PACs): created by law

in 1974 to allow corporations, labor unions and
other interest groups to donate money to
campaigns; PACs are registered with and
monitored by the FEC.
As of 2006 there were 4,217 PACs.
PACs contributed over $372.1 million to
congressional candidates in 2006.
PACs donate to candidates who support their issue.
PACs do not buy candidates, but give to
candidates who support them in the first place.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Money and Campaigning

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Money and Campaigning

Are Campaigns Too Expensive?

Fundraising takes a lot of time.

Incumbents do worse when they spend more
money because they need to spend to defeat
quality challengers.
The doctrine of sufficiency suggests that
candidates need just enough money to win,
not necessarily more.

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Impact of Campaigns

Campaigns have three efects on voters:
Reinforcement, Activation, Conversion

Several factors weaken campaigns

impact on voters:

Selective perception: pay most attention to things

we agree with
Party identification still influence voting behavior
Incumbents begin with sizeable advantage

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Understanding
Nominations
and Campaigns
Are Nominations and Campaigns Too
Democratic?

Campaigns are open to almost everyone.

Campaigns consume much time and money.
Campaigns promote individualism in American
politics.

Do Big Campaigns Lead to an

Increased Scope of Government?

Candidates make numerous promises, especially

to state and local interests.
Hard for politicians to promise to cut size of
government
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

Summary
Campaigns are media-oriented and
expensive.
Delegates are selected through caucuses
and primaries.
Money and contributions from PACs
regulated by the FEC are essential to
campaigns.
Campaigns reinforce perceptions but do
not change minds.
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.