Chapter 10: Campaigns, Nominations, and Elections Flashcards
POLITICAL CONSULTANT
A paid professional hired to devise a campaign strategy and manage a campaign. Image building is the crucial task of the political consultant.
PRESIDENTAL PRIMARY
A statewide primary election of delegates to a political party’s national convention to help a party determine its presidential nominee. Such delegates are either pledged to a particular candidate or unpledged.
TRACKING POLL
A poll taken for the candidate on a nearly daily basis as Election Day approaches.
FOCUS GROUP
A small group of individuals who are led in discussion by a professional consultant to gather opinions and responses to candidates and issues.
CORRUPT PRACTICES ACTS
A series of acts past by Congress in an attempt to limit and regulate the size and sources of contributions and expenditures in political campaign.
HATCH ACT
The act passed in 1939 that prohibited a political group from spending more than $3 million in any campaign and limited individual contributions to a committee to a committee to $5,000. The act was designed to control political influence buying.
SOFT MONEY
Campaign contributions that evade contributions limits by being given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities.
INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
Nonregulated contributions from PACs, ideological organizations, and individuals. The groups may spend funds on advertising or other campaign activities so long as those expenditures are not coordinated with those of a candidate.
BUNDLING
The practice of adding together maximum individual campaign contributions to increase their impact on the candidate.
“BEAUTY CONTEST”
A presidential primary in which contending candidates compete for popular votes but the results have little or no impact on the selection of delegates to the national conventions, which is made by the party elite.
SUPERDELEGATE
A party leader or elected official who is given the right to vote at the party’s national convention. Superdelegates are not elected at the state level.
CAUCUS
A closed meeting of party leaders to select party candidates or to decide on policy; also, a meeting of party members designed to select candidates and propose policies.
FRONT-RUNNER
The PRESIDENTAL candidate who appears to have the most momentum at a given time in the primary season.
SUPER TUESDAY
The date on which a # of presidential primaries are held, including those of most of the southern states.
FRONT-LOADING
The practice of moving presidential primary elections to the early part of the campaign, to maximize the impact of certain states or regions on the nomination.
