Nomination and Announcement

Unit II

Lecture 3

Objective:

What steps are necessary to announce as a presidential candidate?

Months 1-3

Testing the waters and gauging support

Month 4

Announcement of candidacy

Months 4-7

Build origination, develop strategies, and

raise money

Months 7-10

Secure support and endorsements from

opinion leaders

Months 11-14

Compete in early primary and caucuses

Months 15-18

Campaign in later primary and caucuses

Months 18-19

State party conventions

Month 20

National party conventions

Months 20-24

General election campaign

Month 24

National election and Electoral College

The Invisible Primary

Definition Not a formal part of the process A feeling out stage where candidates try

to gauge their prospects

The Invisible Primary

Importance An absolute necessity for lesser known

candidates It is not uncommon for candidates to

terminate their campaigns a year or more before the general election if they fail to attract support

Activity during this period is directed at party elites and the media

The Nomination Phase

50 plus separate contests, one goal Each party, in each state holds a

separate contest between February and June

Intra-party competition that decides who will be each party's candidate for president

Candidates compete for delegates to their party’s national conventions

The Nomination Phase Primaries versus caucuses

Primaries are intra-party elections Caucuses are meetings of party members

that select delegates for a nominating convention Caucuses are open to all registered members of

a party Caucuses are usually conducted in multiple

stages In Nevada, the GOP uses a primary and the

Democrats use caucuses

The Nomination Phase Long shot and established candidates

Long shots have little name recognition, have difficulty raising money and attracting media coverage, and are not expected to succeed

Established candidates have high levels of name recognition, access to money and media coverage, and are expected to do well

The Nomination Phase Money

Candidates in the nomination phase can qualify for matching funds

Increasingly, candidates are choosing not to accept these funds

Candidates need to have money in the bank prior to the first primaries

Early Fundraising in the 2000 Elections

Candidate Money Raised from 1/1/99 to 6/30/99 (in millions on dollars)

RepublicansGeorge W. BushSteve ForbesJohn McCainElizabeth DoleDan QuayleGary BauerLamar AlexanderPatrick BuchananAlan KeysRobert Smith

DemocratsAl GoreBill Bradley

37.29.56.33.53.53.42.52.41.91.6

19.611.7

Source: “Money for the Presidential Campaign,” New York Times, 24 July 1999, A9

The Nomination Phase Media coverage

Media coverage is concentrated on the first few events

The media handicap candidates based upon their status

The Nomination Phase Momentum

Candidates who exceed expectations in contests that receive heavy media attention may be able to parlay their success into subsequent contests

Momentum is only relevant to long shot candidates

The Nomination Phase

Frontloading Increasingly, states are moving their contests

earlier and earlier into the process Frontloading works to the advantage of

established candidates

The Interregnum

What is the interregnum? Due to frontloading, candidates are

securing the process nomination very early

This creates an interim period when the nominees are known, but they have not been formally nominated

The Interregnum

Consequences The news media and the public largely

ignore the candidates during this period Resource disparities between incumbent

and non-incumbent candidates Allows candidates to position themselves

for the general election