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Chapter 9: Nominations and

Campaigns

• The Nomination Game

• The Campaign Game

• Money and Campaigning

• The Impact of Campaigns

• Understanding Nominations and

Campaigns

• Summary


Chapter Outline and Learning

Objectives


• LO 9.1: Evaluate the fairness of our current

system of presidential primaries and

caucuses.


• LO 9.2: Explain the key objectives of any

political campaign.



Objectives


• LO 9.3: Outline how fund-raising for federal

offices is regulated by campaign finance

laws.


• LO 9.4: Determine why campaigns have an

important yet limited impact on election

outcomes.



Objectives


Campaigns

• LO 9.5: Assess the advantages and

disadvantages of having a long presidential

campaign.

The Nomination Game LO 9.1: Evaluate the fairness of our current

system of presidential primaries and

caucuses.

• Deciding to Run

• Competing for Delegates

• The Convention Send-Off

To Learning Objectives Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman


The Nomination Game

• Nomination

• The official endorsement of a candidate for

office by a political party.

• Success in the nomination game requires

momentum, money, and media attention.

• Campaign Strategy

• Master game plan that guides a

candidate’s electoral campaign.

LO 9.1

To Learning Objectives


The Nomination Game

• Deciding to Run

• A presidential candidacy in the United

States needs to be either announced or an

“open secret” for at least a year before the

election.

• Barack Obama made clear his intention to

run for president in January 2007.

LO 9.1



The Nomination Game


• National Party Convention – The

supreme power within each party.

• McGovern-Fraser Commission – In

response to demands for reform by

minority groups and others seeking better

representation.

• Super-delegates – Party leaders

automatically get delegate slot at national

party convention.

LO 9.1


LO 9.1



The Nomination Game


• Caucus - A system for selecting

convention delegates used in about a

dozen mostly rural states in which voters

must show up at a set time and attend an

open meeting to express their presidential

preference.

LO 9.1



The Nomination Game

• Competing for Delegates (cont.)

• Presidential primaries are elections in

which a state’s voters go to the polls to

express their preference for a party’s

nominee for president.

• Frontloading – Recent tendency of states

to hold primaries early in the calendar to

capitalize on media attention.

LO 9.1



The Nomination Game

• Competing for Delegates (cont.)

• Evaluating the Primary and Caucus

System – Disproportionate attention goes

to early ones; prominent politicians do not

run; money plays too big a role;

participation is low and unrepresentative;

and too much power goes to the media.

LO 9.1



The Nomination Game

• The Convention Send-Off

• Rallying point for parties.

• Key note speaker on first day of

Convention.

• Party platform (2nd day) – Goals and

policies for next 4 years.

• Formal nomination of president and vice-

president candidates on third and fourth

days.

LO 9.1


LO 9.1


The Campaign Game LO 9.2: Explain the key objectives of any

political campaign.

• The High-Tech Media Campaign

• Organizing the Campaign



The Campaign Game

• The High-Tech Media Campaign

• Direct mail used to generate support and

money for candidate.

• Get media attention through ad budget and

free news coverage.

• The emphasis is on marketing a candidate

because news stories focus more on the

horse race than substantive policy issues.

LO 9.2


LO 9.2



The Campaign Game

• Organizing the Campaign

• Get a campaign manager, a fund-raiser,

and a campaign counsel.

• Hire media and campaign consultants.

• Assemble staff, plan logistics, and get

research staff, policy advisors, pollsters,

and a good press secretary.

• Establish a website.

LO 9.2


LO 9.2


Money and Campaigning LO 9.3: Outline how fund-raising for federal

offices is regulated by campaign finance

laws.

• The Maze of Campaign Finance

Reforms

• The Proliferation of PACs

• Are Campaigns Too Expensive?



Money and Campaigning


Reforms

• Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974

created Federal Election Commission;

provided public financing for presidential

primaries and general elections; limited

presidential campaign spending; required

disclosure; and limited contributions.

LO 9.3


LO 9.3





Reforms (cont.)

• Soft Money – Contributions for party

building expenses or generic party

advertising not subject to contribution

limits.

• McCain-Feingold Act (2002) bans soft

money, increased amount of individual

contributions, and limited issue ads.

LO 9.3




• The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms (cont.)

• 527 Groups – Independent groups seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution limits because they do not directly seek election of particular candidates.

• The name 527 Groups comes from Section 527 of the federal tax code by which they are governed.

LO 9.3


LO 9.3




• The Proliferation of PACs

• Political Action Committees are funding

vehicles created by the 1974 campaign

finance reforms.

• A corporation, union, or some other

interest group can create a political action

committee (PAC) and register it with the

Federal Election Commission.

LO 9.3




• The Proliferation of PACs (cont.)

• There were 4,611 PACs during the 2007–

2008 election cycle, which contributed $412.8

million to House and Senate candidates.

• PACs donate to candidates who support their

issue.

• PACs do not buy candidates, but give to

candidates who support them in the first

place.

LO 9.3


LO 9.3




• Are Campaigns Too Expensive?

• Center for Responsive Politics estimated in

2008 that the contests for the presidency

and Congress cost over $5 billion.

• More congressional incumbents spend, the

worse they do.

• Doctrine of sufficiency – Spend enough

money to get a message across to

compete effectively.

LO 9.3


LO 9.3


The Impact of Campaigns LO 9.4: Determine why campaigns have an

important yet limited impact on election

outcomes.

• Campaigns have three effects on

voters.

• Reinforcement – Reinforce voters’

preferences for candidates.

• Activation – Voters contribute money or

ring doorbells.

• Conversion – Convert, changing voters’

minds.



The Impact of Campaigns

• Some factors tend to weaken

campaigns’ impact on voters.

• Selective perception – Most people pay

attention to things they agree with and

interpret events according to

predispositions.

• Party identification influence voting

behavior.

• Incumbents – Advantage of name

recognition and a track record.

LO 9.4


Understanding Nominations and

Campaigns LO 9.5: Assess the advantages and

disadvantages of having a long presidential

campaign.

• Are Nominations and Campaigns Too

Democratic?

• Do Big Campaigns Lead to an

Increased Scope of Government?




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.

LO 9.5




Campaigns

• 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.

LO 9.5



LO 9.1 Summary


• Presidential primaries and caucuses lead to

nomination at national party conventions and

allow people to participate in the selection of

the Democratic and Republican parties’

nominees for president.

• The system gives some states much greater

influence than others.



LO 9.1 Summary

• The Nomination Game (cont.)

• Iowa (1st caucus) and New Hampshire (1st primary) have disproportionate power stemming from the massive media attention devoted to these early contests and the momentum generated by winning them.

• Money plays too big a role; turnout rates are too low; and mass media has too much power deciding which candidates are serious contenders.



Which of the following is a major criticism

of the primary and caucus system?

A. Disproportionate attention goes to the early caucuses and primaries.

B. Prominent politicians do run.

C. Both money and media play too little a role.

D. Participation is high and representative.

LO 9.1



LO 9.2 Summary


• Political campaigns are carried out to win election for political office and require organization and effective use of high-tech media.

• One important goals of any campaign is simply to get attention.

• Campaigns seek to control political agenda by getting the media and the public to focus on the issues that they wish to emphasize.



Why is a campaign manager important to

a well-organized campaign?

A. To assist the candidate in responding to reporters.

B. To tell the candidate how he or she is viewed by voters.

C. To feed the candidate the information needed to keep up with events.

D. To keep the candidate from getting bogged down in organizational details.

LO 9.2



LO 9.3 Summary


• Federal election law restricts direct

contributions to federal campaigns to $2,400

for individuals and $5,000 for political action

committees (PACs).

• In the presidential nomination process, federal

matching funds are available to candidates

who agree to limit their overall spending.



LO 9.3 Summary

• Money and Campaigning (cont.)

• General presidential election – $85 million grant is available to each party nominee to finance their entire campaign, and candidates who turn down the grant are free to raise an unlimited total in increments equal or less than the maximum contribution limit.

• McCain-Feingold Act (2002) banned unlimited soft money contributions.



According to the textbook, the main

benefit of campaign finance laws has

been to _______.

A. make political campaigns more open and honest.

B. limit spending by candidates.

C. limit spending by corporations.

D. limit unregulated money spent in campaigns.

LO 9.3



LO 9.4 Summary


• Campaigning serves primarily to reinforce

citizens’ views and to activate voters rather

than to change views.

• Factors such as selective perception, party

identification, and the incumbency advantage

tend to weaken the ability of campaigns to

influence voters’ decisions.



Which is true about the impacts that

political campaigns have on voters?

A. Always convert voters, but rarely activate voters.

B. Reinforce party images and always convert voters.

C. Reinforce preferences and activate voters, but rarely convert voters.

D. Always convert voters, but rarely reinforce voters.

LO 9.4



LO 9.5 Summary


Campaigns

• American election campaigns are open,

democratic, and long.

• Long campaigns provide a strenuous test for

all candidates.

• Campaigns lead politicians to make many

promises that increase the scope of

government.



Today’s campaigns clearly promote

in American politics.

A. egalitarianism

B. elitism

C. populism

D. individualism

LO 9.5



Text Credits

• The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism;

“Winning the Media Campaign: How the Press Reported the 2008

Presidential General Election,” Oct 22, 2008,

http://www.journalism.org/sites/journalism.org/files/WINNING%20T

HE%20MEDIA%20CAMPAIGN%20FINAL.pdf.

• Federal Election Commission. Copyright Center for Responsive

Politics, www.opensecrets.org.

http://www.opensecrets.org/


Photo Credits

• 252: Bruce Ely/The Oregonian

• 203T: AP Photo

• 203TC: Sean Tevis

• 203TB: Ken Cordier/Reuters/HO/Landov

• 203B: AP Photo

• 255: AP Photo

• 257: Jim Ruyman/Landov

• 258: AP Photo

• 257: John Cole

• 263: Howell/Getty Images

• 264: Sean Tevis

• 270: Reuters/HO/Landov

• 272: AP Photo

• 275: Used with permission of Matt Wurker and the Cartoonist Group. All

Rights Reserved.

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