Chapter 13 Notes: “The Presidency”

Part A: Section 13.1: The President’s Roles

Write the underlined words on the extra spaces in your packet.

The President’s Roles

1. Chief of State: The President reigns and rules

The President’s Roles

2. Chief Executive: executive orders and presidential appointments

The President’s Roles

3. Chief Administrator: directs the FBI and CIA.

The President’s Roles

4.The Chief Diplomat: the power to recognize a country’s existence.

Problems President Obama has as “Chief Diplomat”

The President’s Roles

5. Commander in Chief: Directs military action

The President’s Roles

6. Chief Legislator: The State of the Union Address.

The President’s Roles

7. Chief of Party: The President is head of his party

The President’s Roles

8. Chief Citizen: The President represents his constituents over special interests

Issues when the President attempts to act as “Chief

Citizen”

Problems with the

22nd Amendment and “The Lame Duck

Period”

Review from last weekThe Roles of the President

Chief of State Chief Executive Chief Administrator Chief Diplomat Commander in Chief

Chief Legislator Chief of Party Chief Citizen

The Constitution and the President

Constitutional Qualifications 22nd and 25th Amendment

Part B: Nominating and Electing the President

-- Electorate vs. ConstituentsElectorate: all of the persons entitled to voteConstituents: all persons represented by a legislator or other elected office holder.

I. Nominating The President

I. Nominating Presidential Candidates

A. Presidential Primaries: Contest where a party’s voters express a preference among various contenders for the party’s presidential nomination.

1. Primary season: Lasts from January to June

2. Used by three-fourths of the states -- usually it is a open primary

3. The First Presidential Primary: The New Hampshire Primary – January

2016

4. “Proportional Representation Rule:” Primary delegates’ votes in the National Convention correspond with the popular vote in each state’s primary

Explanation of the proportional representation

rule

The New Hampshire

Primary and the

Proportional Representatio

n Rule: The Republican

Primary (2008)

Candidate  

Votes    %  Delegates  

John McCain

88,466 37.09% 7

Mitt Romney

75,343 31.58% 4

Mike Huckabee

26,768 11.22% 1

Rudy Giuliani

20,395 8.55% 0

Ron Paul 18,303 7.67% 0

Fred Thompson

2,886 1.21% 0

Duncan Hunter

1,220 0.51% 0

Tom Tancredo*

68 0.03% 0

Others 5,099 2.14% 0

Total 238,548 100% 12

The New Hampshire

Primary and the

Proportional Representation Rule: The Democratic

Primary (2008)

Candidate   Votes    %   Delegates  

Hillary Clinton

112,251 39.07% 9

Barack Obama

104,772 36.47% 9

John Edwards

48,681 16.94% 4

Bill Richardson

13,249 4.61% 0

Dennis Kucinich

3,919 1.36% 0

Joe Biden* 628 0.22% 0

Mike Gravel 402 0.14% 0

Chris Dodd* 202 0.07% 0

Others 3,218 1.12% 0

Total 287,322 100% 22

5. Recent Trend: The primary schedule has been “front loaded” – states have moved their primaries closer to January.

FYI

Democratic Nomination Magic Number (Delegates

needed): 2,025

Republican Nomination Magic Number (Delegates

needed): 1,191

B. Front loading has been an advantage to the challenging party because it has lengthened the general election campaigns

1. Super Tuesday: First Tuesday in February or March when approximately 24 states hold primaries and caucuses to determine who their nominee is

Front Loading and the Primary Season (2012

Primaries)

Super Tuesday States during the 2012 Primary

C. After Super Tuesday, the remaining states’ primaries are usually of little importance

1. Primary campaigns are usually not evident in the party in power (i.e. Obama wasunopposed during the 2012 Primary Season)

What states primaries were not as meaningful because they fall later in

the 2012 primary season?

D. Presidential Caucus: Held when local party officials or delegates gather to vote on behalf of all the registered voters in that state to select a winner.

1. First Presidential Caucus: Iowa Caucus:

****** Disadvantage of the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire: Iowa is 94% white and New Hampshire is 96% white – minorities are not represented adequately

E. The National Presidential Convention: Held every four years – three purposes

1. adopt the party’s platform2. formally nominate a party’s

Presidential candidate3. Unify the party behind those

candidates for the upcoming election.

F. What type of people are nominated for president?

1. Usually held previous or current positions as Governor or Senator

2. Usually a white, Protestant male who is married

3. Usually is able to achieve favorable media coverage

a. Recent Trend: Presidential conventions are usually held in swing states instead of safe states.

4. Swing states: voters can go one way or another when choosing a President

a. Presidential campaigns often concentrate their efforts in swing states

5. Safe States: a more accurate prediction of how voters will choose the president is evident:

a. red state: safe Republican

b. blue state: safe Democrat

2012 Presidential Election: Looking at the map below, which states are swing states and which states are

safe states?

2004 Election: The imporortance of Swing States as “battleground states”

Super Tuesday: February 5

                 

At left: each waiving hand represents the amount of visits each Presidential candidate made in the 2004

ElectionAt right: each $ represents the amount of money the candidates spent in Election 2004 (each dollar sign

represents one million dollars)

II. Electing the President

A. The Electoral College: Group of persons (presidential electors) chosen in each state and the District of Columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the President and Vice President

1. Presidential electors: person elected by the voters to represent them in making a formal selection of the President and Vice Presidenta. often referred to as rubber-stamps

2. Each state’s presidential electors is equal to the number of people who represent each state in Congress(a) 538 Total Electors: 435 Representatives,

100 Senators, and 3 Electors for the District of Columbia (270 are needed to win the election)

(b) Pennsylvania: 20 Electors starting in 2012(c) Winner-take all approach: Forty-eight

states combine the popular vote to total and award the winner all of the electoral votes

(d) Election 2000: President Bush received 271 electoral votes and Al Gore received 266 electoral votes

(1) Gore won the popular vote by over 500,000 but Bush won the election by 437 votes!  

Election 2000: Bush defeats Gore

(e)If neither candidate wins the 270 Electoral Votes, the House of Representatives than choose who is President (1) Representatives within a state count as one vote, and 26 votes are needed for an individual to become president

FYI: Examples where the House has decided an

election

Election 1800: Jefferson defeated Burr

Election 1824: John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson

2012 Presidential Election: The Electoral Votes for

each state

3. Disadvantages of the Electoral College

(a) The winner of the popular vote may not win the Presidency(1) winner-takes-all approach can cause this to occur(2) Disproportionate distribution of electors can cause this to occur i.e. North Dakota and New York

FYI: Elections where the winner of the popular vote

lost the electionElection 1876: Rutherford B.

Hayes defeated Samuel TildenElection 1888: Benjamin

Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland

Election 2000: George W. Bush defeated Al Gore

Election 2000: Bush defeats Gore

The Electoral College: Winning the popular vote, but losing the electoral

vote

Super Tuesday: February 5

                 

(b) Electors can, if they wish, vote against the candidate who wins their state

(1) this rarely occurs, and has not impacted

the outcome of an election (yet!)

Election 2000: Bush defeats Gore

(c) (add this at the bottom of the page) A strong candidate may not win a state, and consequently, that candidate will not receive any electoral votes; since this exists, many Americans do not vote for minor party candidates. Ross Perot, 1992 Presidential Election

FYI: 1992 Presidential Election

Bill Clinton received 43% of the votes and won 370 Electoral Votes

George H.W. Bush received 37.5% of the votes and won 168 Electoral Votes

Ross Perot received 18.9% of the votes and did not won any Electoral Votes

4. Advantages of the Electoral College

(a) Gives smaller states a larger voice because smaller states are more important

(b) Gives populated regions in populated states more of a voice because of the winner-takes all feature

Looking at the map below, what “smaller” states are getting more attention this year because of the

Electoral College

Since Pennsylvania is a swing state, what populated counties are especially

important for a Presidential candidate?

(c) (add this under (b) Compartmentalizes problems: If an election is contested, the controversy will be isolated within one state instead of the entire country.

Example of compartmentalizing problems:

Presidential Election 2000