Transcript Campaigns & Elections - Glenbard North High School

Campaigns
&
Elections
Preview
Put the following steps in order in your notebook. Star any
terms you do not understand.
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Form a campaign organization
Run in primaries & caucuses
Participate in televised debates
Announce candidacy
Conduct electoral vote
Attend national convention
Raise funds
Hold popular vote
Build coalition of supporters
Develop campaign strategy
Types of Elections
Primary Election
An election in which
voters determine their
party’s nominee for an
elective office
General Election
An election in which
voters choose among
candidates from
different parties to fill
an elective office
Special Election
An election in which voters choose
someone to fill an unexpected vacancy of
a House or Senate seat
Primary Elections
Primary Election Calendar, 2008
Homework: Ch. 10.3
Begin reading at “Joining the Race,” and work with a partner
to create a “to-do” list chart for a presidential candidate trying
to secure his/her party’s nomination. See the model below.
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Form exploratory committee
Join the race
Set up campaign organization
Raise funds
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Develop campaign strategy
Campaign
Run in primaries and caucuses
Attend national convention
Town Hall Meeting
General Elections
The “Winner-Take-All” System
(The candidate with the most votes wins.)
Reinforces two-party system
(Democrat vs. Republican)
What about third parties?
Third Parties’ Impact
• Focus on a single issue
• Bring new ideas to the political discussion
• Take votes away from major parties
Presidential Elections
The Electoral College
• Method by which we elect the president
• Each state has a certain number of electors =
# of Senators (2) + # of Representatives
• Candidate who wins the majority of the state’s
popular vote gets ALL of that state’s electoral
votes
• Candidate must achieve a majority of the
electoral college (270/538 votes) to win
Presidential Election Results, 2008
(By County)
Preview
Homework: Ch. 10.4
Read Ch. 10.4 up to “Issues Versus Image”
• Define presidential & midterm elections.
• Explain how John Kerry’s 2004 campaign
illustrates the typical candidate’s change in
strategy from the primary to the general
election.
• Explain the effects of our country’s “winnertake-all” system.
The Election of 2000
George W. Bush (R)
Popular Vote
50,456,062
Electoral Vote
271
And the winner is…
Al Gore (D)
50,996,582
266
What happened???
The Electoral College Map, 2000
It all came down to Florida.
The Sequence of Events
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6 million people vote
Computer count: 327 vote margin for Bush
Gore demands recount by hand
Florida Secretary of State sets deadline
Florida Supreme Court extends deadline
U.S. Supreme Court halts recount
Result of recount: 537 vote margin for Bush
Bush wins ALL of Florida’s 25 electoral votes
Green Party Candidate: Ralph Nader
97,488 votes in Florida
Conspiracy Theories
How can this happen?
• Candidate can win by large margin in popular
vote, but only needs 50% + 1.
• Small states are over-represented in the
electoral college
How much does your
vote count?
Problems with Electoral College
• Candidates focus only on “swing states,” so
people are left out of the process.
• Our votes are not actually equal!
• More popular candidate nationally can lose
the election!
“Battleground” or “Swing” States
Interest Groups &
Lobbying
What is an interest group?
• A group that seeks to influence government to
reach a particular goal or set of goals
• Examples
What do interest groups do?
• Lobby – Attempt to influence policy process
by persuading public officials to favor or
oppose action on a specific issue
• Research – Carry out research and write policy
proposals that support their goals
• Litigation – Bring lawsuits to influence policy
(e.g. NAACP & Brown v. Board of Education)
• Grassroots Mobilization – Hold rallies, conduct
direct mail/Internet campaigns, etc.
What is the artist’s point of view
regarding the role of interest groups?
Campaign Finance
High Cost of Running for Office
• 2000: More than $3 billion spent on election
campaigns
• Winning candidates spent…
– $500,000 each for House of Representatives
– $4.5 million each for Senate
Library Activity: Interactive Map
Political Action Committee
• Private groups sponsored by corporations,
trade associations, unions, or other interest
groups
• Allowed to collect donations & give money to
political campaigns
• How much do they contribute?
– 1980: $131 million
– 2004: $310 million
Types of Organizations that Form PACS
Campaign Contribution Limits
Primary
Election
General
Election
Individual Limit
$2400
PAC Limit
$5000
$2400
$5000
Loopholes in Campaign Finance Laws
• 527 Organizations – Non-profit organizations
with no limits on spending (“soft money”) for
voter registration & turnout activities
• Issue Ads – Political ads funded and produced
by interest groups
– Cannot explicitly tell people to vote for a certain
candidate.
Corporate Contributions
Issue Ad Example
Issue Ad Example
527 Ad
What is the artist’s point of view
regarding campaign finance?
Chalk Talk, Part I
• Where do we get information about
government & politics?
• How much control do political candidates
have over this information?
Campaign Advertisement Analysis
• 1968: Nixon (R) vs. Humphrey (D)
• Chalk Talk, Part II: What are some images you
associate with “war” and “peace”?
“Convention”
“Mother and Child”
vs.
Campaign Advertisement Analysis
Discussion Questions
• What images did you see? (Be descriptive!)
• Why do you think the ad uses these images?
• Does anything you see remind you of the images you
associated with "war" or "peace" in the brainstorming
activity? Why or why not?
• What feeling(s) do you get from these images? Why
• How are the images put together? Does the ad put
images of different people, places, or events next to
each other? If so, what effect does that have?
• Is the ad in color or black-and-white? What effect does
that have?
• What do you think the ad is about? Why?
Campaign Advertisement Analysis
Discussion Questions
• What was the ad about?
• What music did you hear? Describe it.
• Was there a voice-over? If so, what words or phrases
did you hear?
• How was the voice-over of the ad similar to or different
from what you expected?
• How did the music and/or voice-over complement the
images?
• What is the relationship between the ad’s images,
soundtrack, and subject matter?
• What did you learn about the candidate?
• How important are the sounds and images in making
the ad persuasive?
Final Discussion Questions
• Which ad do you find more aesthetically
appealing? Why?
• Which ad do you find more persuasive? Why?
• What do you think is more important – images
or sound – in creating an effective campaign
ad?