| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Electing the President

Page history last edited by mberry 14 years, 3 months ago

 

Electing the President

     

     The United States is known for many things; baseball season, American football, Hollywood, and military might are just a few of these things. These all get tremendous public support, and in turn, money. However, one other event is slowly getting the lavish attention and involving ridiculous amounts of money as well – the campaign season.  

     Suppose we have our dear friend Jimmy. Jimmy has just turned 18 and, on the first Tuesday of November, he joins citizens from all over the country by visiting his voting booth to elect new representatives and consider new propositions. This particular year is special, however. It is another repeat of the 4-year cycle in which the president is elected.

     You have undoubtedly already encountered a few of these important election years and know that voting day is merely the culmination of months – maybe years – of hard fought campaigning. This is indeed not just a new development. From the beginning of her history, America has always had an intricate system of nominating and electing officials, especially those of importance like the President.

 

Want more info? Check out the Elections Chapter: Elections

 

     The Election of 1800 was perhaps the precursor to many of the campaign patterns we see today. It was the first year that two very polarized parties, the strong central government Federalists and the states' rights Democratic Republicans, went at each other in a vicious, and even bloody, battle. No doubt, the harsh laws implemented by the incumbent Federalists, such as the Alien and Sedition acts, led to these bitter feelings. The key players in the election were Federalists John Adams (MA) and Charles Pickney (SC), and Republicans Thomas Jefferson (VI) and Aaron Burr (NY). These people were largely nominated through caucuses – informal party meetings where active or influential party members discuss and select candidates. The election of 1800 is acknowledged to be the first time such a method was used. Also important were the campaigning mechanisms. Aaron Burr, who was a somewhat scandalous politician, spurred the Tammany Hall organization (which began as patriotic society) into becoming politically oriented with anti-Federalist ideals. This effectively became the first major political special interest group. Equally significant was the mass produced propaganda and advertising. [1]

 

 

Aarron Burr Dueling Alexander Hamilton[2]

 

Did You Know? Aaron Burr had a duel with the great Federalist Alexander Hamilton… and shot him to death...while he was vice-president? Those were the days.....

           

     With these new campaigning techniques, the election of 1800 set a precedent for how elections would run in the future. There are many additional complexities that have been added over time; Andrew Jackson’s promotion of appealing to the popular vote was definitely a key change. With the advent of new technologies and a boisterous media hub, along with stronger political organizations and parties, the presidential election has been somewhat clearly defined.

     So how does it work now? Our modern day friend, Jimmy, has been, for the past year, inundated with political campaigning. First, there were runoffs within the parties (Republican and Democrat) themselves. Candidates would present their bid for the presidency and then compete against other members from their party to win the primaries of each state. Thereafter, the person with the most primary votes gets nominated as the official candidate in the national convention. This is where all the big bucks come to play.

      After a formal endorsement from their party, candidates spent months visiting different towns in an effort to gain support. Widespread propogranda and advertising techniques are used.

YouTube plugin error  

An example of a Presidential Campaign Ad - notice the pathos and ethos Obama exudes.

 

 

 

The Electoral College

 

 

      When Jimmy finally receives his ballot, he immediately sees an option to select his candidate for the President of the United States. The ballot explicitly displays each of the contender’s names. However, what Jimmy probably doesn’t realize is that his vote does no go directly to the candidate of his choice. Rather, it encounters the world of the Electoral College.

 

      The Electoral College is a provision accounted for in the Constitution (under Article II Section 1). Basically, each state has a designated number of electors (based on the number of senators plus representatives) and they are the ones who vote for the president. What Jimmy is actually doing when he fills in the ballot is giving his vote to the electors. Most states (minus Maine and Nebraska) have the system set up so that if the majority of the popular vote votes for one candidate, all the electors of the state vote for that candidate.[3] However, such a complex method has created controversy; the most recent one being in the 2000 election when Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the electoral college.

Did You Know? After unfairly losing the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson was the first president to openly criticize the electoral college...he wanted it to go[4]

 

You be the Judge: Is it truly democratic if the majority's vote can lose against the electoral college? Or is it fair because all states are guaranteed some representation? Should the Electoral College be completely reformed...like Jackson wanted?

 

 

 

Electors per state [5]

 

 

 

 

Key Terms

Caucus - informal party meetings where active or influential party members discuss and select candidates.

Electoral College - group of electors who elect the President. Each state has a designated amount based on the number of senators plus the number of representatives

 

 

 

 

Previous Section: Electing the President                                                                                                  Next Section: Presidency: The Technical Stuff

Footnotes

  1. John Faragher, Mari Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, and Susan Armitage. Out of Many: A History of the American People (Upper Saddle River, NJ; Pearson Education Inc. 2007). pages 257-258
  2. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10644/10644-h/Illus0368.jpg
  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_%28United_States%29
  4. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/andrewjackson
  5. http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/electorl.gif

Comments (4)

mberry said

at 12:21 pm on Nov 4, 2009

Your tone here is exactly what we are going for...love the map. Quite clear!

mberry said

at 2:57 pm on Nov 5, 2009

Ok -- the parody has some pretty rough language (for a quasi professional product -- esp the use of "dumb ass" etc.)...I think it needs to go!

Edouard Mattille said

at 4:50 pm on Nov 5, 2009

I love that parody... it's been such a long time since I last saw it...

Zach Mulder said

at 7:28 am on Nov 6, 2009

I agree, the parody is pretty funny, and captures how candidates resort to slinging mud at each other. Maybe if you self censored some of the language, it would be a fair compromise to keep it?

You don't have permission to comment on this page.