The general election campaign Flashcards
What is an October surprise?
An event occurring late in the presidential campaign to the disadvantage of one candidate leaving them with little to no time to recover before Election Day
What is soft money?
money donated to political parties instead to candidates IOT avoid campaign finance limitations - spent on certain campaigning activities
Give an example of an October surprise?
in 2016 FBI director Comes reopened an investigation into Clinton’s use of a primate email server whilst she was secretary of state
in 2020 Trump had two problems - 1) struck with COVID 19 so out of the public eye for a while 2) was being investigated for allegedly paying only $750 in federal income tax (2016)
What is the federal election campaign act? (1974)
- A direct result of the Watergate scandal
- limited the contributions that individuals, unions & corporations could give
- loopholes were found i.e. the rise of soft money
- It provided matching funds administered by the FEC (recently lost significance e.g. in 2012 & 2016 both candidates opted out of matching funds)
What did the Bipartisan campaign reform act (2002) do?
- Led to the further widespread use of PAC’s (limits on campaign finance)
What did the SC decision in citizens united v FEC do? (2010)
Granted corporate & labour organisations the same rights of political free speech i.e. reduced limits on political fundraising
- Led to the development of super PAC’s
What are super PAC’s?
A political committee that makes independent expenditures but doesn’t make contributions to candidates
What are the main provisions of the bipartisan campaign reform act?
- NPC’s are banned from raising or spending soft money
- Labour unions & corporations are forbidden from directly funding issue ads
- Unions and corporations are forbidden from financing ads that mention a federal candidate within 60 days of a get election or 30 days of a primary
- An increase on individual limits on contributions to individual candidates known as hard money
What is hard money?
money given directly to a candidate to assist in his or her election campaign
Money raised by candidates, campaigns, PAC’s and Super PAC’s is spent on…..
- organisation & manpower e.g. opening & running offices mainly in swing states
- get out of the vote operations on election day (register voters then get them vote )
- campaigning (including travel & accommodation costs)
- media, including buying time for political ads on TV & Internet
Nowadays how many presidential debates are there?
three presidential debates
What are the different styles of televised presidential debates?
- candidates at podiums with either a moderator or a panel of questioners
- town hall style with audience asking some/all questions
- round table discussion with a moderator
Are televised debates important?
- They can play a decisive role in the campaign e.g. 2012
- They can affect the opinion polls
- They are especially important for the candidate challenging the incumbent as they will be less known
- A good sound bite can be played repeatedly in the media - boosts popularity OR a gaffe can affect a candidate’s chances
Why aren’t televised debates important?
- In 2016 polls found that Clinton easily won all three debates but still lost the election
- Trump’s numerous debate gaffe’s did not seriously affect his poll numbers
- policy is rarely discussed
- viewership has recently declined
When is Election Day?
The Tuesday after the first Monday in November
