The Presidential Selection Process

The American presidential selection process is quite complicated and the exact rules change between each presidential campaign. Most Americans do not understand it completely, foreigners are often totally baffled. However, the presidential selection process can be broken into two basic phases—the struggle for major party nominations and the general election campaign. Each of these phases can be broken down into sub-periods.

The Nomination Campaign

Selecting Delegates to the National Convention

The key to the nomination campaign is winning delegates to the party’s national conventions, which are held in the summer of the election year. Delegates are selected state by state beginning in late January and ending in early June. This year’s delegate selectin calendar can be found at Project Vote Smart. Each state sets its own rules for choosing delegates and decides its own delegate selection dates, and these rules and dates often change between presidential election cycles. But there are two basic methods states use to select delegates—primaries and caucuses. Most states today use primaries, but some still use caucuses. In a primary, the voters of the state go to polling places and vote for candidates, much like in any election. However, in a primary there are actually two simultaneous elections—the Democratic and Republican primaries. Voters must declare which party’s contest they will vote in.

Candidates usually win delegates to the national convention based on the percentage of votes they get in the state. It is difficult to generalize about this process because each state’s rules are different. But for example, if John Kerry wins 50% of the vote, John Edwards wins 30% of the vote, and Howard Dean wins 20% of the vote in the New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, Kerry would get approximately 50% of New Hampshire’s Democratic delegates, McCain would get approximately 30% of New Hampshire’s Democratic delegates, and Forbes would get about 20% of New Hampshire’s Democratic delegates.

In caucus states the delegate selection method takes place in stages. Citizens gather in open Democratic and Republican party meetings and declare their preferences for candidates publicly. Temporary delegates to a state-wide or a regional caucus are selected, again based on the percentage of support each candidate has. At the regional and state-wide meetings this process is repeated until the state’s entire delegation to the national convention has been chosen.

In the United States, the nomination campaign stretches over more than 4 months. Traditionally the Iowa caucuses come first in late January and the New Hampshire primary comes a week later in early February. These early contests are crucial because historically only candidates who come in first or second in at least one of these two contests have been able to gather enough campaign contributions and volunteer workers to mount a successful national campaign. Actually, the presidential races begins years before the Iowa caucuses, as potential presidential candidates travel around the country, building support among party leaders, raising money for the upcoming campaign, and seeking national recognition in the opinion polls

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Flow Chart of the Presidential Selection Process

                 Nomination Campaign     General Election

	Pre-Primary	Early Primaries and Caucuses	Other Primaries and Caucuses	Party Conventions	General Election Campaign	General Election Day	Electoral College
Type of campaigning	Crossing the country Raising money Getting Support from party leaders	Face-to-face campaigning TV ads	TV coverage TV ads	TV coverage of convention	News coverage Crossing the country TV ads
Key to success	Money Opinion polls Getting Media Coverage Message	Thematic Appeal Support from party activists	Image as Winner Money Support from party activists	Having a majority of delegates	Mobilizing party supporters Winning independents	Getting votes Winning largest population states	Winning 270 electors
Number of candidates per party	1-12	1-8	1-4	1-2	1	1	1

Flow Chart of the 2004 Democratic Primary Process

Pre- Primary		After Iowa Caucus		After New Hampshire Primary		After Wisconsin Primary		After Super Tuesday		Party Convention
Dean Gephardt Kerry Clark Edwards Lieberman Kucinich Sharpton Mosely-Braun Graham	Kerry Edwards Dean Clark Lieberman Kucinich Sharpton		Kerry Edwards Dean Clark Kucinich Sharpton		Kerry Edwards Kucinich Sharpton		???		???

Flow Chart of the 2000 Presidential Selection Process

	Pre-Primary	After Iowa Caucus	After New Hampshire Primary	Other Primaries and Caucus	Party Conven- tions
Republicans	Bush McCain Forbes Hatch Bauer Keyes Dole Quayle Alexan-der Kasich Smith	Bush McCain Forbes Bauer Keyes	Bush McCain Forbes	Bush McCain	Bush
Democrats	Gore Bradley	Gore Bradley	Gore Bradley	Gore Bradley	Gore