Text Book - Elections and Voting

Question 1

introduction

Answer 1

• In the US electoral system, power is held by both state and federal governments, reflecting the federalist nature of the USA
• The Founding Fathers created an electoral system in which federal elections are fixed and are held frequently, in order to hold politicians to account
• elections take place every 2 years
• first-past-the-post system is used, whereby a majority of votes is required to win

Question 2

legislature: House of Representatives

Answer 2

• 2 year terms, no limit on number of terms
• 435 representatives, single seat districts
• seats are allocated to each state based on population
• the fixed to year terms of representatives was designed in order to create a chamber which is closely aligned to public opinion
• this ensures that this chamber is closely scrutinised and held to account
• redistricting often occurs to account for population shifts

Question 3

legislature: Senate

Answer 3

• 6 year terms, no limit on number of terms
• 100 senators, state-wide senate seats
• every state has 2 senators
• staggered elections with one third being elected every 2 years
• the structure of the Senate is designed to uphold the federalist principles, by protection the interests of smaller states
• the staggered elections are used to ensure that the Senate is a more updated and contemplative body, closely aligned with the changing pubic opinion

Question 4

executive: President and Vice-President

Answer 4

• 4 year term
• 2 term limit
• 2, elected together on the same ticket
• indirect election via 538 electoral college votes
• each state (plus DC) is allocated votes based on population
• FPTP winner of a state takes all the votes (except Maine and Nebraska) with 270 votes required to win
• executive body is designed to embody the national will of the USA, whilst ensuring that the federalist nature of America and the interests of smaller states are upheld
• the president and vice-president are elected together on a single ticket under the Electoral College system
• the president is elected indirectly
• each state is allocated a number of votes in the Electoral College, equivalent to the number of seats it has in Congress
• voters vote for ‘electors’ who will choose the president and VP in the Electoral College on their behalf
• the size of the Electoral College is equal to the total membership of Congress plus the three electors allocated to DC: 538, thus a candidate needs 270 electors to win
• most states (except Maine and Nebraska) apportion all electors on a FPTP winner takes all system, thus Obama was able to win all 29 of Florida’s Electoral College votes despite winning by a margin of only 0.8% of the popular vote
• the federalist nature of the USA is protected by the fact that all state, regardless of size, have at least three Electoral College votes, thus small states like Wyoming and Delaware had three electors each in 2012, meaning they were significantly overrepresented in comparison to more populous states like California, which received 55 electors

Question 5

Invisible Primary

Answer 5

• the stage that runs up to the first primary in the USA
• period when party candidates position themselves to run for the presidency before the formal series of primaries and caucuses start
• candidates use this period to gin media coverage, to gather endorsements and to secure funding

Question 6

Invisible Primary: Media coverage

Answer 6

• candidates seek to achieve widespread name recognition
• they seek to gather media airtime and coverage in the printed press
• they will aim to present themselves as credible candidates
• e.g. Romney began positioning himself to run as a conservative candidate in 2012, with speeches at the Lincoln Day dinners, the establishment of his ‘Free and Strong America PAC’, and fundraising activities for SBA List (a pressure group committed to electing anti-abortion women to poetical posts)

Question 7

Invisible Primary: Endorsements

Answer 7

• candidates will to look to gain support from key individuals within the party
• in 2012, Romney had secured the support of 41 of the 153 unbound super delegates by March 2012, something that the National Journal referred to as his ‘path to victory’
• candidates will also look to gather endorsements from influential groups outside the party who will provide important grassroots support in mobilising a candidate’s campaign
• e.g. 7 months before the first 2012 primary, Michele Bachmann joined almost evert other major Republican presidential candidate in speaking at the Faith and Freedom Conference in Washington

Question 8

Invisible Primary: Finance

Answer 8

• the most important function of this phase is to build up enough money to fight the long presidential campaign
• former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer was forced to pull out of the 2012 race in February 2012, having raised only $340,000
• candidates will also look to pursue key pressure groups and political action committees, which will provide them with valuable funding
• they need sufficient funds in order to stay in the race
• Hillary Clinton has so far raised $29 million

Question 9

Primaries and Caucuses

Answer 9

• the nomination stage is the first official stage of the presidential election process
• they take places usually between January and June of election year
• primary elections: party supporters in each state vote for delegates to go forward to the party convention, which meets to formally select the party’s presidential candidate
• each state is awarded party delegates according to the size of the state population
• candidates who win a state primary or caucus are allocated a certain number, or all, of those state delegates, who are then pledged to vote for that candidate at the national convention, depending on whether states allocate their delegates on a proportional or first-past-the-post basis
• in Florida in 2008 McCain picked up all 57 of the Republican pledged delegates, despite only beating Mitt Romney by 5%, while in the Democratic race delegates were split, with Clinton picking up 52 and Obama 39

Question 10

open primaries

Answer 10

• any registered voter can participate in either the Republican or the Democratic primary, but not both, regardless of the voter’s party affiliation
• the open primary system is adopted for either party in 17 states, including Georgia

Question 11

closed primaries

Answer 11

• only voters who have declared an affiliation to a party can participate in that party’s primary
• the close primary is adopted for either party by 27 states, including Delaware and Kentucky

Question 12

caucuses

Answer 12

• these are a state-based series of meetings between key party members and supporters, in order to select a party’s candidate for the presidency, the most notable of which is the Iowa caucus

Question 13

Advantages of the nomination process: Democratic

Answer 13

• the system is open to the public and actively encourages a much wider voter participation in the selection of candidates
• the increasing use of primaries was a direct result of the McGovern-Fraser reforms, which followed the victory of Hubert Humphrey, who secured the Democratic nomination in 1968 despite standing in no primaries

Question 14

Advantages of the nomination process: Electoral preparation

Answer 14

• the primaries are often used as a testing ground for candidates to iron out poetical campaigns, establish a network of grassroots support and gauge the demands of the electorate
• the gruelling nature of the process also narrows the field and eliminates candidates who do not have the poetical stamina to secure the presidency
• in this way Hermain Cain, an early Republican favourite in 2012 with his 9-9-9 tax plan and successes in the initial debates, was forced to suspend his campaign following his inability to deal with various allegations of sexual misconduct

Question 15

Advantages of the nomination process: Policy debate

Answer 15

• the process allows for rival policies to be discussed and debated, enriching the level of political debate across the country
• the 2008 and 2012 primaries saw a series of debates, which pitted the leading candidates from each party against one another
• e.g. 2008 policy debate largely focussed on the deficit and healthcare
  2012 debate focussed on the economy - Obama portrayed Romney as a rich and unscrupulous politician who didn’t care about 47% of the population

Question 16

Disadvantages of the nomination process: undemocratic

Answer 16

• voter apathy is generated due to the huge number and frequency of US elections, primaries being an extra layer to this - turnout is often below 10% for primaries
• primary electorate is unrepresentative of the US population. Those that vote tend to me older, white, wealthy and more ideologically partisan, as seen by the relative success of libertarian Republican Ron Paul in both 2008 and 2012, McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012
• furthermore, it has become common for voters to essentially raid the opposition primary, most recently seen by the efforts of Democrat activists in Michigan to push fellow Democrats into voting for Rick Santorum, Romney GOP opponent to lessen his votes, in the 2012 Republican primary

Question 17

Disadvantages of the nomination process: undermines party control

Answer 17

• parties have less control over the selection process and this can lead to ill-qualified candidates, due to lack of peer-review
• candidates are therefore based on their personal qualities and campaign skills rather than their presidential qualities
• the introduction of super delegates to counter this was proven ineffectual in 2008, when Democrat super delegates were reluctant to support Clinton and go against Obama, who had secured a majority of pledged delegates
• lastly, the primary process is also deeply divisive as it causes ruptures within a party - bitter personal battles and inter-party rivalry has become required in order to secure the nomination. This was seen in the primary contest between Obama and Clinton in 2008

Question 18

Disadvantages of the nomination process: Front loading

Answer 18

• primaries are being compressed as there is an increasing importance in scheduling them early as it gains candidates a strong foundation in the race
• this causes two things:
  1. not enough time is given for debate and reflection as candidates with a poor early showing often drop out. This gives too much attention to the unrepresentative states of Iowa and New Hampshire, as seen by Michele Bachmann’s withdrawal from the Republican race the day after she came sixth in the 2012 Iowa caucus
  2. candidates are forced to announce their candidacy early due to the increasing importance in raiding funds during the invisible primary.
  Whilst JFK in 1060 announced his candidacy only 66 days before the first primary, Mitt Romney announced his candidacy 308 days before the Iowa caucus

Question 19

what is Front loading?

Answer 19

• the phenomenon by which states, in order to claim a greater influence on the nomination process, have moved their primaries forward in the election cycle
• this leads to compression of the primary calendar, with many primaries falling into the first 2 months of the process
• in 2008 the Florida Democratic Party front loaded its primary to increase its significance in the process
• the Democratic National Committee punished Florida Democrats by awarding the Florida Delegates only 1/2 vote each at that year’s National Convention

Question 20

Disadvantages of the nomination process: Financing focus

Answer 20

• the primary process tends to favour those who have the largest amount of funds, which gives too much weight to money and image rather than issues
• it creates a system dominated by those that can secure the most money for candidates, and causes the reality of daily politics in America to be overtaken by the need to raise funds for the next election
• in 2012 Obama raised over $715 million while Gary Johnson, the most successful minor-party candidate, raised just $2.5 million

Question 21

Electing President: national party convention

Answer 21

• the traditional role of national party convention is to formally select the presidential nominee through a vote of pledged delegates and unplugged super delegates
• now, some argue that because of primaries the conventions now merely confirm rather than select the presidential candidate

Question 22

national party convention: formal roles

Answer 22

1. choosing the presidential candidate: winner must receive an absolute majority of votes from delegates
2. choosing the vice-presidential candidate: chosen by the presidential candidate and confirmed by a convention vote
3. deciding the party platform: agreement of the policies that the party’s candidate intends to pursue if elected

Question 23

national party convention: informal roles

Answer 23

1. restoring party unity: opportunity to rebuild party unity following the divisive primaries
2. Enthusing grassroots support: the party faithful are important foot soldiers who need to be galvanised in preparation for the forthcoming election
3. enthusing the electorate: conventions are important media events which engage ordinary voters, creating a crucial ‘bounce’ in the polls

Question 24

Significance of national party conventions

Answer 24

1. conventions are nothing more than a ‘rubber stamp’ especially given that the party candidate is known in advance - in 2012 Mitt Romney’s nearest competitor withdrew his nomination by April (not significant)
2. genuine policy debate, to create a party platform, has been replaced by the need for unity (not significant)
   - conventions rarely discuss controversial or divisive policy issues as this can lead to party splits, as with the Republicans in the 1996 convention over abortion
3. vice-presidential candidates are now chosen and announced by the presidential candidate in advance of the convention, as with Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan more than 2 weeks before the Republican convention in 2012 (not significant)
4. Convention play a key role, given the inter-party fighting in primaries, of acting to unify the party
   - the speeches by Hillary Clinton in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012 were designed to heal the party wounds, which had arisen during the primaries
5. there remains an important informal role of presenting a united front to the electorate, which acts as a springboard into the forthcoming election
   - it gives a post-convention ‘bounce’ prior to the election campaign - as evidenced, for example, by the Republican grassroots revitalisation and 6% jump in poll ratings following the announcement of the fiscal and social conservative Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential candidate (significant)

Question 25

presidential debates

Answer 25

• televised presidential debate has come to occupy an important place in the electoral calendar

Question 26

presidential debates: significance

Answer 26

1. some argue that the debates are more about style than substance e.g. the much proclaimed victory of Romney in the first presidential debate of 2012 was more about his energy levels when compared to the widely reported ‘lacklustre’ appearance of Obama
2. it is rare for campaigns to turn on the results of presidential debates, although Reagan used the debates well to challenge the incumbent President Carter on his record in 1980, and to address concerns about his age in 1984. BUT elections have been nearly decided by these debates (e.g. the 1st televised tv debate between Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy
3. presidential debates can work to enthuse the electorate, turning passive voters in active voters - Kerry in 2004 when Gallup polling showed he closed the 8% gap on President Bush following the debates
4. there is generally a declining audience for the debates - by 2008 this had fallen to around 50 million (although 73 million tuned into the vice-presidential debate). WHEREAS the 1960 debate drew over 66 million viewers out of a population of 179 million, making it one of the most watched broadcasts in US television history

Question 27

What has affected the outcome of recent presidential elections?
1. Issues

Answer 27

• Voting patterns of the electorate can be affected by candidates’ policy positions which can shape the result.
• The most common issue is the state of the economy, e.g. Obama portrayed Romney as a rich and unscrupulous (amoral) politician in the 2012 claiming that he didn’t care about 47% of the population. In the meantime he championed his own economic popularist policies such as those targeting tax increases while protecting the middle class.

Question 28

What has affected the outcome of recent presidential elections?
2. Fundraising

Answer 28

With the increasing cost of campaigning, another crucial factor in the election is the ability to secure campaign finances.

• Many Super PACs were set up in 2012 to support either of the two main candidates.
• eg “Restore Our Future” set up by former Romney aides spent an excess of $142 million and “Priorities US Action” set up by Obama’s former White House aide Bill Burton spent nearly $67 million.
• in 2012 Obama raised over $715 million

Question 29

What has affected the outcome of recent presidential elections?
3. Campaign strategy

Answer 29

• The strength of campaign is considered vital in affecting the outcome of the election especially given the Electoral College system which require candidates to focus on swing states,
• e.g. targeted polling by Obama in 2012 which was then termed The Optimizer - much more effective than Romney’s better funded campaign.

Question 30

What has affected the outcome of recent presidential elections?
4. October surprise

Answer 30

• Events during the final weeks of the campaign can affect the outcome
• e.g. the financial crisis in 2008 was a turning point in the campaign and
• Hurricane Sandy impacted the Republican’s ability to get their message out as it caused a shutdown of media activity in the final days of the 2012 campaign.

Question 31

Electoral College system

Answer 31

• For a presidential candidate to win the presidency, they must a win a majority of Electoral College votes
• this system was designed by the Founding Fathers
• this system indirectly elects the president but the system has come under criticism in recent years, one reason being Bush won the presidency in 2000 but lost the popular vote.

Question 32

Electoral College system: Advantages

Answer 32

1. Upholding federalism: protects small State interests which are overrepresented with 3 electors, meaning candidates must win a majority of states as Obama did in 2012 when he won 26 States plus Washington DC.
2. Ensures a strong government: the EC system upholds a two-party system and this means that it provides the winner with a secure mandate to govern e.g. even in the 2000 election Bush still achieved success in 30 states with 271 EC votes
3. Ensures widespread support: candidates must appeal to the broad and diverse population in order to gain support and win the election shown by Perot’s failure to gain sufficient support in 1992 to win any EC votes.
   - e.g. the pro-segregationist candidate George Wallace failed to win any EC votes outside the South in 1968
   - this ensure there isn’t an urban-centric victory with presidential nominees concentrating their focus in the big cities and ignoring the rural areas (must appeal to widespread support)

Question 33

Electoral College system: Disadvantages

Answer 33

1. Undemocratic: the majoritarian system is undemocratic because it doesn’t fully represent the people’s interests as shown by Al Gore’s loss in 2000 (won majority of popular vote)
2. Overrepresentation of small states: there is huge disparity in the level of representation between states due to this system meaning large states are underrepresented e.g. of California was represented on an equal scale to Wyoming, it would have 205 rather than 55 electors.
3. Swing states dominate: more focus is given to swing states. The elections of 2000 and 2004 depended on the votes of Florida and Ohio respectively. Consequently these states received a huge amount of campaign and candidate footfall.
4. Minor party failure: the system disadvantages minor party candidates as seen with Perot’s failure to win any electors in 1992 despite polling 18.9% of the vote.
5. Voter apathy: the existence of safe seats can further encourage low turnout. In2012 election turnout was just 50.1% in Republican Texas while the Democratic stronghold of Hawaii saw the lowest turnout of just 44.5%. Too much finance focus, in 2012 Obama raised over $715 million

Question 34

Alternative Electoral System

Answer 34

1. Congressional district method: used in Maine and Nebraska, would allocate electors according to the vote in each congressional district. In 2008, Nebraska, Obama gained one Electoral College vote, even though he lost the overall popular vote in the state
2. Automatic plan: this minor reform would automatically allocate state votes, thus preventing the existence of faithless electors
3. Proportional plan: this would allocate electoral college votes proportionally, according to the popular vote. This would make it harder for one candidate to achieve a majority and would benefit smaller parties. There are fears that it could be used by partisan state officials to win ECVs in states where they cannot achieve a plurality of the vote which was the case in a 2013 bill, introduced into the Pennsylvania state legislature, which would have gained the Republicans a future share of the 20 relatively safe Democrat electoral votes

Question 35

Congressional Elections

Answer 35

• sometimes dominated by national agenda as was seen in 1994 GOP Contract with America
• they can also be overshadowed by the presidential elections
• candidates may benefit from the ‘coat-tails’ effect, where they benefit from the popularity of the president
• However, usually there is a local focus
• with many contests taking place over local matters and the issue of pork barrel politics
• this creates a system that massively benefits incumbents

Question 36

what is the re-election rate for incumbents

Answer 36

• rates rarely fall below 90% for the House, with the Republican surge of 2010 still witnessing an 85% incumbency rate

Question 37

Reasons for incumbency advantage

Answer 37

1. Gerrymandering: the redrawing of political boundaries to gain a political advantage has created a system whereby very few seats are competitive e.g. Texas (2003) there were accusations that GOP tome DeLay had deliberately re-drawn the congressional district boundaries to dilute the influence of heavily Democratic areas fro Republican advantage
2. Finance: incumbents enjoy a huge funding advantage - in 2012 House incumbents raised on average $1.6 million compared to just $267,000 for challengers. Additionally, PACs are much more likely to donate to them as they’re more likely to win
3. Pork barrelling: not only to incumbents have specific name recognition, they are also able to point towards a proven track record in benefiting their constituents. Senator Thad Cochran labelled the ‘king of pork’ in 2010, attaching earmarks to 240 projects worth $490 million

Question 38

what is pork barrel politics and earmarks

Answer 38

pork barrel politics: the idea that congressmen focus on channelling government funds into their home state or district. They are thus judged on their success in gaining federal spending projects for the ‘folks back home’

earmarks: these are attachment to congressional laws, which direct funds to be spent on specific projects, and are a means for congressmen to channel funds to their home state or district

Question 39

Midterm elections

Answer 39

• recently midterm elections have been increasingly dominated by a national agenda
• midterms are increasingly being seen as a referendum on the president, with the incumbent president’s party losing seats in Congress
• although midterms tend to have a lower turnout and profile than presidential elections, they are significant in shaping the national political climate, by pushing issues onto the national agenda, and also in affecting the remainder of a president’s term, best shown by the results and effects of the 2010 midterms

Question 40

Midterms:

1994 Republican revolution

Answer 40

• republicans swept to victory with their Contract with America, gaining 54 seats in the House and eight in the Senate

Question 41

Midterms:

2002

Answer 41

the midterms elections were held 14 months after 9/11 and saw unusual gains for Bush’s party, which picked up ten seats in total

Question 42

Midterms:

2006

Answer 42

• on the back of the liberal 100-Hour Plan, the Democrats swept to victory by taking control of both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1994

Question 43

results and effects of the 2010 midterms

Answer 43

1. referendum on Obama: the results reflected discontent over Obama’s healthcare and economic stimulus, forcing him to adopt a more compromising tone. However, victory in 2012 gave him a clearer mandate to push for more controversial reforms such as those dealing with gun control and immigration
2. Gridlock: Many republicans have been emboldened to be more uncompromising and forceful, as seen with the extension of Bush tax cuts in 2010 and most recently the moves towards budget sequestration during the 2013 budget negotiations
3. Republican resurgence: The Tea Party agenda of fiscal conservatism and limited government clearly dominated the 2010 midterms, with notable victories including Marco Rubio in Florida. However, more recently this faction has been forced to compromise its position following Obama’s victory and the Republican failure to secure control of the Senate in 2012

Question 44

Direct Democracy

Answer 44

• decisions are made by the people rather than by the federal government
• the most effective use of direct democracy is through initiatives, propositions and calling referendums, as seen by the widespread ballot measures voted on in the 2012 election
• these included the issues of same-sex marriage being legalised in Maine, Maryland and Washington

Question 45

advantages of propositions

Answer 45

1. Controversial subjects which state legislatures are reluctant to tackle can be voted on, as with the attempted legalisation of marijuana in California proposition 19
2. They increase participation and turnout, as seen with the propositions placed on the ballot in many swing states in 2004 to try and increase the Republican vote, such as the Ohio proposition to ban same-sex marriage
3. Propositions increase accountability for politicians, who are forced to be responsive to voter demands, such as Florida’s 2008 ban on gay marriage
4. They engage the electorate, who become better informed and are encouraged to join pressure groups in response. In 2010, all six Colorado propositions were defeated by the electorate, including attempts to severely restrict abortion

Question 46

Disadvantages of propositions

Answer 46

1. Undermines representative democracy: power in the hands of state legislatures.
   California Proposition 13: prevented property tax from being raised, and limited politicians’ ability to tackle the budget deficit
2. Manipulated by wealthy groups: wealthy pressure groups hired a public relations firm called Schubert Flint to run the successful Proposition 8 campaign, which initially banned same-sex marriages in California
3. A tyranny of the majority: disadvantaging minority groups, for example the effect of California Proposition 209 on African Americans

Question 47

Concerns about the US electoral system

Answer 47

• there is debate over whether US elections hold politicians to account
• this has led to the passage of a number of reforms which have attempted to restrict funding

Question 48

Concerns about the US electoral system:

Funding

Answer 48

• campaign finance has led to benefit incumbents and means there is a greater call for restrictions
  1. Federal Election Campaign Act 1974 (FECA): limited the amount individuals and corporations could donate and expenditure of candidates. This led to the rise of PACs to bypass these restrictions

2. FECA amendment 1979: allowed parties to raise and spend money but increased the disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns. This led to the rise of ‘soft money’ which is money not openly given to candidate but which is given to parties which are then able to use it to help candidates in elections
3. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act 2002 (BCRA): banned soft money, increased individual contribution limits and restricted non-party advertisement which identity a federal candidate. This led to the rise of 527s and Citizens United v. FEC overturned advertising restrictions, allowing corporations and unions to promote a candidate. This has led to the rise of SuperPACs with unrestricted spending

Question 49

how much money was spent on the 2012 presidential election (despite reforms)

Answer 49

• Centre for Responsive Politics estimated that over $2.6 billion was spent on the 2012 presidential election

Question 50

Concerns about the US electoral system:

Congressional Term Limits

Answer 50

• the incumbency rate has led some political commentators to compare Congress to the communist Politburo in terms of length of tenure
• congressmen are criticised for being fixated on re-election that they have become overly concerned with developing relations with key donors and pork-barrel politics
• this has led to calls from groups such as the Heritage Foundation for congressional term limits, similar to the presidency
• but efforts to secure an amendment have gained very little support so far

Question 51

Concerns about the US electoral system:

Gerrymandering

Answer 51

• concerns over gerrymandering has led to concerns over the fairness of the US electoral system
• the unfair partisan gerrymandering is led by state legislatures
• Maryland 3rd district and Illinois 4th earmuff district both connect two Latino areas by a thin strip of land - both have been criticised for manipulating the electoral system
• California’s Proposition 20 in 2010 have handed control to a bipartisan redistricting committee
• groups such as FairVote have called for Congress to pass a Redistricting Act

Question 52

Concerns about the US electoral system:

Participation

Answer 52

• turnout in the US is the lowest in any western democracy
• 2010 midterms stood at a low of 41%
• reasons include:
  1. FPTP and Gerrymandering - create safe seats, leading to wasted votes e.g. North Carolina district 12 concentrates predominantly African Americans into its District and Texas state legislatures deliberately redrawing district boundaries to dilute Democrat influence. In 2014 the Republicans had 51.2% of the national vote, while the Democrats received 45.5%, but this 6% difference gave Republicans 68 seats more than the Democrats

2. the frequency of elections - create voter apathy, because elections take place almost all year round for various state, local and national posts. Electoral boredom is created due to the addition of invisible primaries and front loading increasing the length of elections
3. Registration procedures - difficult and present a further barrier to voting. Attempts have been made to simplify the process e.g. the Motor Voter Act which allows citizens to register to vote when applying for a drivers licence

main suggestion for reform if for the implementation of a more proportional electoral system, such as the national popular vote (NPV)

Question 53

presidential debate: President Ford and Jimmy Carter

Answer 53

• held in 1976
• perceived as influential in determining Ford’s narrow loss in the election of that year when he declared “there is no Soviet domination in Eastern Europe”, widely perceived as an embarrassing gaffe

Question 54

presidential debate: George H W Bush and Bill Clinton

Answer 54

• 1992
• Bush was seen looking at his watch during questions which was perceived negatively by the electorate, whereas Bill Clinton was an effective debater particularly in the ‘town hall’ format

Question 55

How much did Obama raise in 2012 election

Answer 55

• in 2012 Obama raised over $715 million

Question 56

midterms 2010

Answer 56

• fought on an anti-obamacare platform

- turnout 41%

Question 57

midterms 2014

Answer 57

• turnout 36%