malone pol 296n lecture iv

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Lecture IV: President

Nominations and theDelegate SelectionProcess

Dr. Christopher Malone


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I. Introduction

Presidential nominees are chosen bydelegates to their partys nationalconvention. But delegates are in turnby the states; the procedures for del

selection are determined by state lawToday, these procedures must confoguidelines established by the nationparties. This was not always the case

have seen, before the 1970s, state p


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II. Democrat Ru eChanges, 1968-prese

A. McGovern-Frazier Commission: t1968 Democratic Convention in Chicagsurrounded by chaos and conflict. Outanti-war protesters clashed with police

inside, democrats who sought to refornomination system clashed with entrepolitical leaders. Vice President HubertHumphrey, who was seen by anti-war

Democrats as the person most likely t


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Nom nat on Re orms a t1968

Timely: The commission found that por caucuses had to be held in timely fas we will see below by 1976 the DemParty stipulated that primaries and ca

should be held within a window of aof months.

2. Open: In 1968, common practice w

have state party leaders chose the de


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Subsequent CommissionsLater commissions made more changes in Democratic rules. They have sought tgeneral problems.

1. The time frame of the process: After Jimmy Carter won the nomination inthe Democratic party changed the nomination rules, setting what they calledwhich all primaries or caucuses have to take place from early March to earlprimaries at the beginning of the process had an inordinate amount of influeWhy restrict the time period? One reason is to limit the length of campaigns,reason was to ensure the frontrunner (in 1980, Carter) an easier time, since not be gained by other candidates.

2. Raising the threshold: Allowing candidates to seat delegates when they reof the vote in a state tended to stretch the nomination process out at the samfactionalize the party. Thus, the threshold level was raised to 25% in 1984.back to 15%.

3. Power to the party officials: In the 1980s, the Democrats sought to bringstate elected officials into the fold by proposing add on delegates, sometime

delegates or PLEOs party leaders and elected officials (Senators, governsuper delegates are unpledged they are not committed to any candidate, t


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III. Republican Rules

Republicans have not imposed rules

state nearly to the extent that Dem

have. They have not chosen to man

national guidelines for the state parFour differences

are worth pointing out:

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IV. Impact o Ru eChanges

The impact of some of these rule changthe last three decades has been both pand negative, with some anticipated asunintended consequences.

A. Turnout: One of the stated goals of changes has been to increase theparticipation of the party rank and fi

process. This has been somewhat su

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Impact o Ru e anges(contd)

B. Representation: Democrats havesuccessful in getting a diverse group odelegates to their convention since th1970s. Women comprise more than h

all the delegates at recent conventionone out of five delegates is black muhigher than the black population in thoverall electorate. Descriptively, the

Democrats have done much better th

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C.Influence of Party Leaders: Wrise of the presidential preference pstate party officials have become leimportant in the nomination process

Democrats have sought to reverse tsituation by adding super delegatesPLEOs to the convention. And still,candidates look for the endorsemen

the highest elected officials of the s

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D. More Independent and DaHorse Candidates: With the rise primary, we have also seen candidawho claim to be members of the pa

who have never held elective officeattempt to capture the nomination. Forbes, Jesse Jackson, even to an exBill Clinton, Howard Dean, Herman C

these are candidates that are not pa


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Capturing the Nominatand Amassing DelegateIn the primary system, there are a nuof elements to a successful strategy into capture the nomination. While candmay devise different strategies in diffe

parts of the country, some basic guideinclude the following:

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aptur ng t eNomination and

Amassing DelegatesA. Plan Far Ahead: The primary systforces candidates to begin running forpresident years before the first primatakes place. Even though candidates d

declare their candidacy until a year toyears before the election, they have bcampaigning long before that date.

B. Develop a Deep and Wide

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Amassing DelegatesD. Use Other Resources WiselyBesides money, there are other resoat the disposal of the candidate. Foexample,

1. The office the candidate holds: Bepresident is probably the easiest way to the nomination. But the office which bes

positions a candidate for the nomination

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Amassing Delegates2. The Media: Candidates must attraattention early from the media any wacan. Free press is the best press; contis not necessarily a bad thing. In this c

weve had several Republicans who hreceived the frontrunner Romney, Bachmann, Perry Now that Christie gotten into the race, Herman Cain is r

a bunch of attention. But most import


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the Nomination andAmassing DelegatesE. Influential Leaders: Get endorsefrom the party leaders quickly and enmasse. This shows legitimacy; it also cues to voters who know little about t

candidate: if my elected official endohim/her, this person cant be all that b

F. Use of Rules: There are many rulethe primary game threshold number


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and Reality of theNomination Process

The nomination process seeks to sudemocratic character. Sometimes itsucceeds; other times it fails miseraBut gauging the nomination process

against a set of criteria helps us to bsee its strengths and weaknesses. Ttasks of the nomination process shodiscussed.


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and Reality of theNomination ProcessA. It should provide an important fodemocracy:

1. Voters choose nominees: Time again we have come back to the change

nomination process after the turbulent ythe late 1960s. No longer do party leadechoose candidates; in this sense, the nomprocess has moved in a more democratic

direction.


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3. Outside Ballots and PetitionNomination for the presidency is open tpersons outside the two-party system, capturing the White House through this

is nearly impossible. Nonetheless, insuthird party candidates and independenchallengers are allowed on the ballot fopresident if they raise the requisite num

signatures in each state. This year ther


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B. Informed Voters: The drawn outnomination process does have an upsidvoters are potentially more informed sicandidates must compete earlier and lo

get their message out, in the process rand sharpening it.

1. How much do they know? One enduring concerns in presidential politi


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and Reality of theNomination ProcessC. Qualified Nominees: Finally, thenomination process is intended to prodleast 2 qualified nominees for the officepresidency. But the question becomes:

determines qualified?1. The Electorate speaks: voters look qualities in their president: character, mleadership, perseverance, health, experi

the estion ecomes: wh t re the em

malone pol 296n lecture iv

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