US ELECTIONS - Primaries and Caucuses Flashcards
How have presidential candidates been officially nominated since the 1830s?
Before the 1830s, Democrat and Republican members of Congress nominated a single member to run for president. It was only until the 1830s, that parties began selecting their candidate at a National Convention, with delegates from across the country coming.
Up until the 1830s, this process was known as smoke-filled rooms = there were high executives picking their delegates.
Come the 20th century, why was the process to select delegates for the national convention criticised?
State party bosses heavily influenced the choice of delegates.
Party leaders chose delegates based on loyalty and not democracy.
Sometimes the delegates to the convention were chosen a year in advance…
State a controversy surrounding the 1968 DEMOCRAT primaries?
Context: the party and country were divided over Vietnam.
Democratic National Convention:
anti-war Senator Eugene McCarthy was within 4000 votes of defeating incumbent Lyndon Johnson (New Hampshire primary).
Johnson said he would not run a second term… His V.P Hubert Humphrey was the nominee put forward, despite anti-war candidates Robert Kennedy and McCarthy winning more than 2/3s of the primary votes.
Kennedy’s assassination solidified the non-binding nature of McCarthy’s success. This is because many of the delegates were chosen at caucuses and state conventions where the party establishment supported Humphrey.
What is the McGovern-Fraser Commission?
1969
The Democratic Party asked Senator George McGovern and Representative Donald Fraser to see how the nomination process could be improved.
They recommended far greater transparency over how states select their delegates and they believed everybody should have a greater choice in that selection.
They believed Democratic voters were to have a full and meaningful opportunity to participate in the delegate selection process.
In response to the commission, the state Democratic parties made a few changes… they began to use primaries more than caucuses, the delegates were awarded in proportion to the vote, and democratic delegates had to stick to their O.G pledge to better represent the popular vote.
What is the difference between primaries and Caucuses?
Primaries are elections run by state and local governments to select candidates for an upcoming election. Presidential primaries are funded by the state, and voters essentially just select a candidate on their ballot paper - they are really electing delegates who vote on their behalf. The voters vote for delegates, who vote for the presidential nominee.
Caucuses are different - people attend one of the precinct caucuses meetings held in buildings across the state. The supporters of a candidate make speeches to convince undecided voters to persuade them to change their mind. They then cast for a candidate and delegates are selected to represent the voters at county conventions before representing them at state conventions, and then the National Party Convention where the nominee is officially selected.
Which is used more? Primaries or Caucuses?
PRIMARIES
In 2020, the Democrats only held caucuses in four states.
Joe Biden didn’t do very well in the early primaries - Sanders did better because he didn’t appear to be a sell-out or too moderate.
Do Democrat and Republican caucuses vary? If so, how?
Republicans cast a secret ballot to indicate their preferred presidential candidate. For the 2016 caucuses, the GOP had a new rule binding the national delegates to the result of their state-wide Preference vote.
Democrats don’t have a secret ballot - they vote with their feet in the caucuses by gathering in different parts of the room. Any candidate with less than 15% of the support is eliminated and the initial supporters can disperse and join other groups - when all the candidates have 15% + of the support, the final numbers are tallied and delegates are proportionally chosen to represent the voters at county conventions.
What is party crashing/crossover voting?
Who are raiders?
When supporters of one-party vote in a rival party’s primary/caucus to support a candidate who would then be weaker to defeat.
2008 - Operation Chaos. Republicans voted for Clinton in the open primaries because she would be easier to defeat than Obama.
2012 - Operation Hilarity. They voted for Rick Santorum in open primaries to prolong the Republican primaries - they viewed him as a liability.
What is an open primary?
What is a closed primary?
What is a modified primary?
What is a semi-closed primary?
Open = any registered voter can participate
Closed = only registered party members can participate
Modified = registered party members and registered independents can vote.
A semi-close primary is where registered members are allowed to only take part in their party’s primary/caucus. Unregistered voters, are allowed to choose which party primary or caucus they want to vote in.
How do the DEMOCRATS award delegates to candidates?
Proportionally
Dem National Committee ensures that state parties proportionally allocate delegates to candidates who receive 15% or more of the vote in a primary/caucus.
Based on the state, delegates can be awarded based on the state-wide vote, or the result in each congressional district.
How do the REPUBLICANS award delegates to the candidates?
Republicans use a proportional/winner-takes-all approach.
Unlike the Dems, they have long given states more freedom over the awarding of their delegates.
In 2016, the National Party adopted a rule that stated that any states holding their primary or caucus before March 15th must distribute their delegates proportionally. Republicans could still, however, set their own threshold.
Frontloading
Movement of primaries to an earlier point in the calendar in the efforts to give more significance to a primary or caucus within a state.
New Hampshire’s primary and Iowa’s caucus are always the first to happen.
Frontloading examples
Super Tuesday is a consequence of front loading - the largest happened in 2008 with nearly half of the delegates for the Republicans being allocated on the same day.
In 2020, 15 primaries and caucuses took place on Super Tuesday. Biden won 10 of these.
Frontloading examples
Super Tuesday is a consequence of front loading - the largest happened in 2008 with nearly half of the delegates for the Republicans being allocated on the same day.
In 2020, 15 primaries and caucuses took place on Super Tuesday. Biden won 10 of these. Super Tuesday is significant because it bolstered the support that Biden was lapping.
STRENGTHS
Genuine party involvement
Iowa Caucus in 2020 -
Biden won with 14 delegates, Sanders behind him with 12.
Obama energised Democrat members into joining with a young, and vigorous campaign.
