Road to the White House
How we elect our President
Stephanow,
2009
Road to the White House
Self-announcement
• In Summer, 2006 (2-1/2 years ago) and they
were already in Iowa and New Hampshire!
– Exploratory Committees
– Fund raising
– Polling
– Appearances (@ the Iowa State Fair!)
– Announcements started coming in the fall last year
(2006).
Road to the White House
Primaries & Caucuses
• Narrowing the field of candidates
in a party down to one; who the voters
would like to be that party’s nominee at
the convention.
– Primary—like a regular election (You’re in
and you’re out.)
– Caucus– group of like-minded people
who meet to discuss & decide who they
will support in an upcoming election.
Lasts all evening.
Road to the White House
2008 Primaries/Caucuses
• Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses
• Jan. 22 New Hampshire Primary
• Jan. 29 South Carolina Dem. Primary
• Feb. 2 South Carolina Rep. Primary
• Feb. 5 ―Super Tuesday‖ Alabama, Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois,
Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah. Caucus in North Dakota.
• Mar. 4 ―Junior Tues.‖ Connecticut, Georgia,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island,
TEXAS**, and Vermont. Caucus in Minnesota.
Road to the White House
Party Meetings
• At 7:00 PM, after the polls have closed.
• Active party people attend their precinct
meetings.
• Selections will be made for those wanting
to continue on to the next level as a
delegate for a certain candidate.
– Precinct
It’s like you run your
– Senate District own little election!
– State Convention
Road to the White House
Delegate & Elector Selection
• Determined by each party at state conventions.
• Have to be a very active party member to get
selected as a Convention delegate or Elector.
Road to the White House
National Conventions
• Democrats met in Denver, Colorado, on August
25-28
• Republicans met in Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Minnesota, on September 1-4
• Week-long conventions (and big party!).
• Each state sends delegates (who were chosen at
the state conventions.)
• Write the party platform.
• Delegates vote for presidential
and vice-presidential nominees.
• The Presidential nominee gives the keynote
address.
Road to the White House
Labor Day
• Traditional campaign kicks off
Road to the White House
DEBATES
• In October 2008, there were 2-3
Presidential Debates & 1 VP Debate.
• You also start to see more campaign
commercials.
• If your state is hotly contested, you saw
the commercials on your local channels.
• If not, you only saw the commercials run
on national channels like CNN and FOX
News.
Road to the White House
GENERAL ELECTION
• First Tuesday, after the first Monday in
November.
FOR THE
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION,
IT’S NOT OVER…
IT’S ONLY JUST
BEGUN!!!
Road to the White House
• December
– Monday following the second
Wednesday. (Dec. 15, 2008)
– Electors for winning candidate meet in
their state capitol to cast their votes.
• One for President
• One for Vice President
– Ballot sealed and sent to D.C.
Road to the White House
• January 6th • January 20th
– Formal presidential – New term of
election President begins at
– Senate President noon.
opens and counts – Inauguration Day
electoral ballots • President and Vice
before a joint President take
session of oaths of office.
Congress
– Announces winner.
So how does this Electoral
College thing work?
Terms to know…
• PLURALITY: the most votes wins. Only
have to have a plurality to win a state.
• POPULAR VOTE: when people vote in
November general election.
• MAJORITY: 50.1% or more. Must win
majority in E.C. (270)
• ELECTORAL VOTE: when the electors
vote in December at state capitol.
How do you know how many
electoral votes each state gets?
• TX= 32 Reps. OK= 5 Reps.
+ 2 Sens. + 2 Sens.
34 electors 7 electors
• MT= 1 Rep. (D.C. gets the min.
+2 Sens. of 3.)
3 electors
Total electoral votes
• 538
–100 senators
–435 representatives
–3 for D.C. (23rd Amendment)
Majority needed to win the E.C.
• 270!
–½ of 538 is 269.
–Add 1 to make a majority, and
you get 270!
Slate of Electors
• Based on the 2000 census, Texas has 32
representative districts and two senators;
therefore, we now have 34 electors in the
Electoral College.
• Each party selects their own ―slate of electors.‖
• 2008--
– 34 Republicans 34 Democrats
McCain/Palin Obama/Biden
– 34 Libertarian
Barr/Root
Winner-Take-All System
• Who won the POPULAR vote in the state?
They get ALL of that state’s electoral
votes.
• (The others get NONE!)
– Except in Maine and Nebraska, which go by
the Congressional District Method.
2008 Texas Popular Vote
• 8,806 precincts
• Candidate Party Popular Vote %
McCain Rep. 4,467,748 55.5
Obama Dem. 3,521,164 43.8
Barr Lib. 56,398 .7
Who won the plurality in Texas?
Elector Loyalty
Do electors have to keep their vow to vote
for their party’s winning candidate?
Depends on the state.
AS OF 2008, No Legal Requirement. Electors in
these States are not bound by State Law to
cast their vote for a specific candidate:
• ARIZONA • MISSOURI
ARKANSAS NEW HAMPSHIRE
DELAWARE NEW JERSEY
GEORGIA NEW YORK
IDAHO NORTH DAKOTA
ILLINOIS PENNSYLVANIA
INDIANA RHODE ISLAND
IOWA SOUTH DAKOTA
KANSAS TENNESSEE
KENTUCKY TEXAS
LOUISIANA UTAH
MINNESOTA WEST VIRGINIA
Legal Requirements or Pledges. Electors in
these States are bound by State Law or by
pledges to cast their vote for a specific candidate:
• ALABAMA
• NEBRASKA
• ALASKA
• NEVADA
• CALIFORNIA
• NEW MEXICO
• COLORADO
• NORTH CAROLINA
• CONNECTICUT
• OHIO
• DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
• OKLAHOMA
• FLORIDA
• OREGON
• HAWAII
• SOUTH CAROLINA
• MAINE
• VERMONT
• MARYLAND
• VIRGINIA
• MASSACHUSETTS
• WASHINGTON
• MICHIGAN
• WISCONSIN
• MISSISSIPPI
• WYOMING
• MONTANA
2008 National Results
• John McCain (R) • Barack Obama (D)
• Electoral • Electoral
173 365
• Popular • Popular
57,446,710 (46%) 65,445,868 (53%)
Election Results by State
Electoral College Maps
…by the numbers
• Past Elections
– Red is Republicans; Blue is Democrats