Elections Campaigns

1. Elections Campaigns Government Mr. Biddle

2. The War Room • To gain insight on how a successful campaign is ran, we will be watching a documentary following the 1992 Campaign of President Bill Clinton.

3. National Elections • National Elections are held every 2 years • Senators and Representatives are elected every 2 years • Presidential Elections are held every 4 years. (Very Lengthy and Complex) • Candidates for these high offices must have access to hundreds of millions of dollars to run successful campaigns.

4. Electing the President • Candidates for President begin organizing their campaign a year before the elections

5. Primary Elections • The primary races are held in the spring. • Each party votes on candidates to select who will represent that party in the General Election.

11. 2008 Democratic Candidates

12. 2008 Democratic Candidates • Hillary Clinton • Barack Obama • John Edwards • Joe Biden • Christopher Dodd • Mike Gravel • Dennis Kucinish • Bill Richardson

13. 2008 Republican Candidates

14. 2008 Republican Candidates • Rudy Giuliani • Mike Huckabee • Duncan Hunter • Alan Keyes • John McCain • Ron Paul • Mitt Romney • Tom Trancredo • Fred Thompson

15. Electing the President Cont. • National Conventions are held in the summer of the Presidential election year. • A National Convention is a ceremonial affair where the political party selects their candidate for the up coming election and they discuss their platform.

16. Electing the President Cont. • Campaigns get more intense the closer it gets to election day. • During the final 8 weeks of the campaign the candidates spend long crazy hours traveling from state to state • Sometimes they don’t even know where they are. • Election Day is the First Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

25. The Electoral College • In order to be elected President You must win at least 270 of the 538 available electoral votes. • A states total electoral points is the same as the number of representatives and senators it has in Congress. (population) • Plus Washington D.C. has 3

27. The Electoral College • The candidate who wins the popular vote typically wins the electoral vote. • But it is not always the case. • Ex. – The 2000 Presidential Election

30. The Electoral College • Presidential Campaigns must pay close attention to the states with large populations (CA,NY,TX,PA,FL) • If a candidate won the 11 biggest states they would get 270 points and win. • Therefore the big states get a lot more campaigning attention. • If it appears the big states will be split than the small ones become important.

31. Campaign Strategy • Campaign Manager- Responsible for the overall strategy and planning in a campaign organization • James Carville was President Clinton’s Campaign Manager

32. Campaign Strategy • Campaign Managers make decisions like: • Should the Candidate wage an aggressive attack on their opponent? • What should be the theme or slogan of the campaign? • What issues should be stressed? • How much money is spent of TV/Radio/Newspaper advertisement? • What goes into advertisements?

38. Campaign Strategy • Field Workers- Help with the smaller duties of a campaign. (Usually Volunteers) • Ring doorbells • Call voters by phone • Hang up signs • What ever it takes to get votes • It is very important for a candidate to maintain a positive image and his/her campaign crew must help to keep it. George Stephanopoulos

39. Campaign Strategy • Debates- Candidates come together and discuss issues publically. • Have been in every election since 1976 • Are held late in the campaign • Influence the undecided voters