Chapter 7 Notes American Political Parties George Washington warned of factions in his farewell address Factions often did what was in their interest and not for the people s interests Ratifying the Constitution o Federalists Well read wealthy well fed well wed rich people marry rich people Better organized because they had money Won Disorganized rural time comsuming to deliver messages via o Anti Federalists horseback Civil War o Republican North Took over the issue of Free Soil Party wanted to free slaves Republican party won the election and the south seceded when Lincoln was elected o Democratic South o Major change for the American politics South remained democratic for over 100 years with two exceptions One instance was 1928 when Texans supported Herbert Hoover vs Al Smith because Al Smith was Catholic and people didn t view Catholics as Christian Second time was Eisenhower Machine Politics in the Cities o AKA Urban Machine in the Municipal Era o Democratic Party with no ties with DP New Deal Democrats o Change and movement with the partisan attachment o Region changes in the united states is known as a realignment South switched from Democratic to Republican o People were happy with FDR s public policies many of the republican North became Democrats o Party attachments are emotional and you are attached Many people are the same party their parents are Remain very loyal democrats Democratic party was not in control of Congress for a very long time because of New Deal Democrats African American Realignment o African Americans supported the Republican party for a long time because the Republican party was a progressive party for a very long time Even after FDR they did not switch to Democrats because the New Deal did not help them o Many African Americans are Democrats now overwhelming majority because of the Civil Rights Movements JFK would send brothers to jail and bail MLK out of jail MLK Sr was grateful to JFK MLK Sr promised a case full of votes He changed stance to vote for JFK 1960 Nixon won popular vote JFK won the electoral vote Some southern districts where MLK Sr had votes won JFK the election o Passed Civil Rights Act when JFK was assassinated Lyndon B Johnson wasn t nice every time LBJ was behind they d get more ballots and was senator dead people voted o JFK needed a southern vice president o LBJ was a teacher before a senator and saw the poverty in the South When he was president he was going to help people how they lived in poverty which is how he had the War on Poverty o Realignment for African Americans to be Democrat and whites became Republican Reagan Republican Alignments o Voted in 1980 and voted for Reagan for the first time many of our parents o Reagan Republicans until they die o Sweep for Republican party is red in Texas and the south is now Republican thanks to JFK LBJ Reagan Women o More successful since the Civil Rights Act o Women have jobs and are educated Why Are U S Parties so Similar Bell curve if you want to appeal to more people be in the center Primary Election Systems Closed Primary o Closed for members only who register by party before being allowed to vote o Commitment made at registration is binding o Strategic voting Vote for least favorite candidate because they think they ll lose and give the other candidate a chance Open Primary Semi Open Mixed Primary o Go in and vote o Voters decide in secrecy of the voting booth o Voters party ballot choices are made publically o Voters choose in the polls places and then enter the voting booth o Both open and closed primaries o In Texas we have a primary that is open in the morning and vote and then go in the night In the evening they have a caucus then you start Top Two wooing people to your corner until you get a candidate with the most number of people in the corner o Some people just don t like the candidates picked Top 2 means that the two people with the most votes in the general elections will become the nominee Primary Election Turnout When the president is not on the ballot people don t vote because they vote Historical vote in 2008 with a woman and a black man on the ballot explains People who show up to primary voting are extremely passionate and want to for the president 19 0 turnout in Texas vote Northern and Southern States Averages North always has higher turnout Southern Democrats never liberal More conservative in nature Party Identification If you have been discriminated against you will probably be a Democrat If you are a minority member chances are you will be a Democrat because of social justice issues Jews are more likely to be Democrats because they face Anti Semitism Cubans are different than other Hispanics and escaped communism o Immediately given a green card when they come to the U S o Anti Communism o Republicanism is very anti communism to Cubans Vietnamese o Left Vietnam because of Communism and vote Republican o know that Richard Nixon is from the Republican party which had a hard stance against communism Vietnamese Chinese o Chinese people who lived in Vietnam o Gravitated towards the Democratic party because they suffered discrimination in Vietnam and in America Women are more likely to be Democrats o Discrimination in the workplace Men more likely to be Republican Disabled people more likely to be Democrat Not a Responsible Party System Responsible Party System o Political party controls the nomination and campaigning England and Australian you can t just run like we do here because the political party controls the nomination process Nothing can be passed because if the Tea Party doesn t approve something it can t be passed to vote the Republican way Canidates do not have to adhere by the platform in America o Once they become the nominee the party will push money their way but before then campaigning is on your own Is the party over People decide not to align themselves with a political party Decline in the 90s with party alignments Decline is over a few years so it is not a systematic decline Extremists who vote in the primaries hold the power People are turned off by the political parties because campaigning is very electronic now and impersonal no more door to door campaigning so people don t feel attached to a party Negative campaigning throwing mud o Talk about the personal lives of the opposition o Throw mud whether it is true or not o Can lose elections that way Swift Boating o Take a positive in the campaign and turn it into a negative John Kerry
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