What does the cartoon suggest about presidential primaries

What does the cartoon suggest about presidential primaries?

Enquiry Question: How do primaries help select a presidential candidate?

Learning Outcomes • To explain the significance of role of the invisible primary • To analyse the pattern of primaries and caucuses and extent of 'frontloading’

An invisible primary, sometimes known as a money primary, is the period of time between a candidate’s declaration or expressed interest in running for an elected office and the start of the primary season. Watch the video clip.

The Invisible Primary/The Money Primary • During the invisible primary, from declaration to the first official primary, candidates will raise money and gather support through grassroots campaigns. • It is here that they will seek to create an initial burst of momentum going into the first primary. • They will seek also to create an air of inevitability surrounding them, so that the voting population will hopefully get on board behind their candidacy. • The idea is to approach the primary with a well stocked campaign war chest which they can utilise throughout the primary process. • Furthermore during this period, Political Action Committees and Super PACs will be more active than candidates official campaigns. • It is during this time that they have the most freedom to coordinate with the official campaigns. • PACs and Super PACs will typically make up the bulk of the advertising on behalf of their candidates. • To ‘win’ an invisible primary candidates will have typically have raised the most money in their official campaigns, have a sizable PAC and Super PAC contributions behind them and be polling consistently ahead of the rest of the field.

SPOTLIGHT: PACs and Super PACs • So what are Super PACs and PACs anyway? • Watch the video clip. • What is a PAC? • How can PACs spend and raise money? • What is a Super PAC and how can it spend and raise money? • Video Clip 2

There have been several plans floated to reform the primaries system: Problems with possible reforms include: - A national primary - Four regional primaries - Northeast, South, Mid-west, West - Limits on campaign spending - Pre-primary mini-conventions to decide who runs in primaries - States vote in size-order (smallest first) - National committees and conventions must agree to change the system - 50 states would have to change laws - Many states favour current system - Limiting spending requires acts of Congress and past attempts have been struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Why is the invisible primary thought to be so important?

Why is the invisible primary thought to be so important? IMPORTANT: • Candidates are weakened out by the process. For example, by December 2007 the Democrat field had been weakened to three candidates, and the Republican field remained opened, the moderate performance of Rudy Gialini and Fred Thompson had sealed their fate. • This is an important way to build up the “warchest” and ensure that the campaign has enough resources to draw from in the future. NOT IMPORTANT: • The momentum of the campaign is more important than the front runner status, like Clinton in 2008, who won the primary elections but lost candidacy. • Pressure groups could help provide the funding for a candidate; thus decreasing its significance as it reduces the need for the invisible primary if the funding is mostly provided.

Why is the invisible primary thought to be so important? YOUR TASK: • This is a very typical mid-Level 2 answer. • Read the sample answer. • There are four valid points and some • Annotate the answer as a teacher would, for degree of explanation and development. example focusing on accuracy, structure, • On the debit side, there are very few examples and written expression. examples; there is a lack of clarity in places and the candidate wastes time • Use the mark scheme to award a level and a with their introduction and definition of mark. an interest group. • Write a brief justification for your mark to this • It was awarded 9 marks. student.

Examiner Advice • This excellent and comprehensive response would achieve the highest mark because of the accurate, detailed and relevant evidence (AO 1) relating to the ‘invisible primary’ as well as a clear focus on its ‘significance’ (AO 2) as demanded by the question, rather than simple and less accurate description that tends to be found in lower level responses. • This focus is sustained throughout the response which may be a little giving too much detail in parts (one example of a point is sufficient rather than three) and this may have left less time for the following essay response. • Finally, the student explains why the invisible primary may be viewed as being both ‘significant’ as well as lacking significance giving a balanced and evaluative view. • Excellent political vocabulary is used throughout the response (frontloading, momentum).

Learning Outcomes • To explain the significance of role of the invisible primary • To analyse the pattern of primaries and caucuses and extent of 'frontloading’

Frontloading YOUR TASK: Look back at the 2016 Presidential Election Schedule handout from the previous lesson. What pattern do you notice in the primaries and caucuses? • After Iowa and New Hampshire, the South Carolina primary and Nevada caucuses followed. And then on March 1, socalled Super Tuesday, things really got rolling when 14 states (and one territory) held their primary or caucus all on the same day. • By mid-June, all the states will have held their primaries and caucuses. Each statewide contest earns delegates for winning candidates, and those delegates will formally choose the party nominee at the national party conventions to be held during the summer.

Analysis: What changes are shown in when states choose their nominee for president?

Analysis: What changes are shown in when states choose their nominee for president? What do you think the impact of this will be?

What impact does frontloading have? • Most of the delegates are “pledged” — or bound by the rules — to vote for the candidate selected by state voters. A minority of delegates, however, are “unpledged, ” meaning they can vote for whomever they want at the nominating convention. • Since 1968, when the primary system was reformed, the presumptive party nominees have typically been declared even before the final primaries have been held because the front-runner candidates have garnered a majority of delegates. • But, there is always the unlikely possibility that by the start of a party convention, no single candidate has secured a majority of delegates from the primaries and caucuses. Then things can really get suspenseful. And already, many primary voters are getting frustrated as they learn that the “world’s foremost democracy is not so purely democratic. ”

2016: Case Study

2016: Case Study YOUR TASK: • Create a report on the results of both the Republican and Democrat primaries and caucuses in the 2016 election. • You will need to include: – A full breakdown of results of each primary/caucus – The number of delegates each candidate received in total – The amount of money raised by each candidate during the primaries Websites: • • • http: //edition. cnn. com/election/2016/primaries/parties/republican http: //edition. cnn. com/election/2016/primaries/parties/democrat https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries, _2016 https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries, _2016 https: //www. nytimes. com/interactive/2016/us/elections/primary-calendar-and-results. html

Learning Outcomes • To explain the significance of role of the invisible primary • To analyse the pattern of primaries and caucuses and extent of 'frontloading’

Homework Application Task: Why is the invisible primary thought to be so important? (15) Preparation Task: Campaign Finance (Pearson p 417 -419) Stretch & Challenge Task Campaign Finance (Bennett p 70 -72)