• How important are presidential primaries?
• What differences exist between the caucusconvention process and the primary process?
• What events take place during a national convention?
• What characteristics determine who is nominated as a presidential candidate?
The Role of Conventions
Convention Arrangements
• The convention system has been mainly built by the two major parties in American politics.
• Party national committees arrange the time and place for their party’s nominating convention.
The Apportionment and Selection of Delegates
• Parties apportion the number of delegates each State will receive based on electoral votes and its record in recent elections.
• Delegates are selected through both presidential primaries and the caucus-convention process (oldest method for picking
delegates)
• 2008 Republicans had 2,500 delegates and Democrats had 4,400
Presidential Primaries
• Depending on the State, a presidential primary is an election in which a party’s voters
(1) choose some or all of a State’s party organization’s delegates to their party’s national convention, and/or
(2) express a preference among various contenders for their party’s presidential nomination.
• Many States use a proportional representation (instead of winner-take-all) rule to select delegates. In this system, a proportion of a State’s delegates are chosen to match voter preferences in the primary. The goal is to promote greater grass roots involvement in the convention process.
• More than half of the States hold preference primaries where voters choose their preference for a candidate. Delegates are selected later to match voter preferences.
Primary Reform Proposals
Problem:
• Since so many States hold presidential primaries it places great demands on the candidates in terms of time, effort, money, scheduling and fatigue.
Proposed Solutions:
• each major party should hold a single, nationwide presidential primary
• A series of region primaries, held at two-or three-week intervals in groups of States across the country.
The Caucus-Convention Process
• In those States that do not hold presidential primaries, delegates to the national conventions are chosen in a system of caucuses and conventions.
• The party’s voters meet in local caucuses where they choose delegates to a local or district convention, where delegates to the State convention are picked.
• At the State level, and sometimes in the district conventions, delegates to the national convention are chosen.
The National Convention
• A party’s national convention is the meeting at which delegates vote to pick their presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Party conventions accomplish three main goals: (1) to officially name the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, (2) to adopt the party’s platform—its formal statement of basic principles, stands on major policy matters, and objectives for the campaign and beyond.
**Most of the rules governing the national conventions of the two major political parties are set by the parties themselves
**Conventions today are very tame because there is little doubt about who will win the party’s nominee for Pres. and VP
Who is Nominated?
• If an incumbent President wants to seek reelection, his or her nomination is almost guaranteed.
• Political experience factors into the nomination process. State governors, the executive officers on the State level, have historically been favored for nomination. U.S. senators also have fared well.
• Many candidates come from key larger states. Candidates from larger states, such as California, New York, and Ohio, have usually been seen as more electable than candidates from smaller states.
Summary video click on the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_95I_1rZiIs&safe=active
Review Questions:
If an incumbent President is seeking another term in office, who will his party likely nominate?
a. the Vice President c. the Speaker of the House
b. the President d. the House majority leader
Most presidential caucuses differ from Statewide presidential primaries in all of the following ways EXCEPT the
a. number of States that hold caucuses.
b. ways in which delegates to the national convention are chosen.
c. main purpose for which the delegates are chosen.
d. number of steps taken in choosing delegates to the national convention.
During the nomination process, political battles are most likely to occur in
a. presidential primaries in the President's party.
b. presidential primaries in the party out of power.
c. the Cabinet.
d. the electoral college.
Answers: B / C / B