The Nominating The Nominating Process Process Chapter 7—Section 1 Chapter 7—Section 1
Dec 30, 2015
The Nominating The Nominating ProcessProcess
The Nominating The Nominating ProcessProcess
Chapter 7—Section 1Chapter 7—Section 1
Nominations are Important
• It is the prime function of political parties in the US
• It is the leading reason for the decentralized character of the major parties
• It puts limits on voter choice in the election
Ways of Nominating
• Self-announcement– John Anderson in 1980– Ross Perot in 1992
• Caucus– Meetings of “like-minded” people– Often the members of a party in the
state legislature, or in Congress
The End of the Caucus--1824
• Three of the leading contenders boycotted the Democratic-Republican Congressional Caucus
• The “nominee” ran a poor third in the electoral college balloting
• As it died at the national level, it soon did at the state and local level too.
The Convention•The Whigs began in 1831•The Democrats joined in
1832•All major party presidential
nominees have been chosen by convention ever since
Pyramid Process• Party members meet locally
– Choose candidates for local offices– Choose delegates for county convention
• County delegates meet– Choose candidates for county office– Choose delegates to the state
convention
The Pyramid Grows …• State Convention
– Delegates choose candidates for state-wide offices
– Choose delegates to National Convention
• National Convention– Delegates select Presidential and Vice
Presidential candidates
Problems …• Party bosses manipulated the
process• Controlled selection of delegates
and the local level• They soon dominated the entire
system
Growth of the Direct Primary
• Except for nominating national candidates for Pres. & VP, the direct primary is used in most states
• It is an election within the party to choose their candidates for a general election
Types of Primaries•Closed
– Only the declared members of a party may vote
•Open– Any qualified voter may take
part
Closed Primary
• Pros– It prevents one party from “raiding”
the other’s primary to choose weaker candidates
– Makes candidates more responsive to the party, its platform, and members
– Helps make voters more thoughtful
Closed Primary
• Cons– It compromises the secrecy of the
ballot– It tends to exclude independent
voters
Open Primary• Pros
– It answers the secret ballot and no independents concerns of the Close Primary
•Cons– It permits
party “raiding”
– It undercuts the concepts of party loyalty and responsibility
Washington State•Blanket primary has been
eliminated•Can only vote on one
party’s ballot•Final decision is currently in
the courts
Runoff Primary• Where a majority is required to
win and no one gets a majority, the top two vote getters face each other in a runoff primary election and the winner of that vote becomes the nominee
Negatives• Because people don’t realize the
importance of the primary—turnout is poor
• Every election is expensive• Many qualified candidates don’t
run due to the cost of a campaign
More negatives …• A fight within a party during the
primary can cost them the general election
• Primaries often are won based solely on name recognition
Presidential Primary• Some states use it to elect some
or all of that state’s delegates to the National Convention
• And/or it is a preference election in which voters can choose among various contenders for a party’s presidential nomination
Nomination by Petition• Found most widely at the local
level• Petitions are signed by a certain
number of qualified voters• Usually required to nominate
independent candidates• Often a difficult process