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TAMU POLS 207 - Primaries-Campaigns-State Legislatures
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Lecture 10Outline of Last Lecture I. Texas as a One-Party Democratic State II. Indications of Democratic Party DominanceIII. Third Party Challenges (Greenback Party, Populist Party)IV. Reinforcing Democratic Party Loyalty (Great Depression, Cross Over Voters, Jokes against Republicans)V. Indications of Party Realignment in Texas and The Causes of Party RealignmentVI. Comparison of Democratic verse Republican Issue OrientationsVII. Primaries: What? Why? And, The Criticisms Outline of Current Lecture: I. Types of Primariesa. Closed, Open, Blanket, Nonpartisan, Semi-open, Semi-closed, RunofII. Public Relations Firms, the Mass Media, and Campaigning III. Money in ElectionsIV. Three Core Functions of State Legislatures a. 1) Policy-making b. 2) Representation >> Policy Representation, Casework, Pork Barrel Policies c. 3) Oversight Current LecturePRIMARIES & CAMPAIGNING Types of Primaries- Primary Election = election held to decide a political party’s nominee for public office - state legislatures decide which type of primary the state will have - 2 main types: - Closed Primarieso primary elections in which voters must declare in advance their party affiliation and can cast a ballot only in their own party’s primary electiono you have to register as a voter or member of the party ahead of the electiono register prior to the primary as a certain party – Republican or Democrat - Open Primaries o primary elections in which a voter may cast a ballot in either party’s primary election o you can show up on the day of the election and pick which party you are voting for o you choose which party you want to vote for in the voting booth on the day of o there is no record of which party primary you voted in - leaders of parties would prefer closed primaries because they fear open primaries allow opponents to come vote in your party primary for a weak candidate to undermine your party’s stronger candidate o fear “crossover voting” = voters affiliated with one party casting votes in the other party’s primary election POLS 207 2nd Editiono fear “raiding” = organized attempt to cross over and vote in another party’s primary in order to defeat an attractive candidate who might beat your own party’s candidate in the general electionOther Types of Primaries- Blanket Primarieso a primary in which candidates from both parties appear on the same ballot o allows voters to vote in both party primaries o example - pick a Republican for governor and a Democrat for lieutenant governoro DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE!! >> Washington, Alaska, California used them before they were declared unconstitutional! o Why? party leaders really disliked blanket primaries  Supreme Court decided political parties do have some control for minimal membership requirements to stick to one party - Washington, Alaska, California are moving towards a nonpartisan primary - Nonpartisan Primarieso “Voter-nominated top two” primary = top two candidates, regardless of their party affiliation, run against each other in the general election o looks like a blanket primary to the votero choose any candidate – Democrat or Republican – for any officeo in a blanket primary, whoever got the most votes won the officeo BUT, in nonpartisan, the two top candidates move on for another vote - Semi-open Primarieso voters have to request a particular ballot o go to voting place on day of but request a certain party ballot o do not have to register but have to declare on day of which party primary you want to vote in sothat state has a record of who voted in which party primaryo TEXAS has a SEMI-OPEN PRIMARY!- Semi-closed Primarieso primary elections in which voters must declare their party affiliation on primary election day and can cast a ballot only in their party’s primary election o you have to register on the day of for a particular party primary- Runoff Primarieso mostly used in southern states o if none of the candidates get the majority, then have a runof primary o any candidate who does not get at least 50% of the votes, the top two runof o you cannot cross over to a diferent party when you vote in the runof o what if you didn’t vote at all, you can vote for either party in the runof o most states have a “plurality winner” = the candidate receiving the most votes, whether a majority or noto but in some states, the candidate must win a majority of votes to become the party nominee (also called the “majority winner”)o runof primary = additional primary held between top two vote-getters in a primary where no candidate has received a majority of the votePublic Relations Firms, the Mass Media, & Campaigns - Goals of PR Firms and Personal Campaignso 1) Develop name recognition o 2) Develop media interest, media attention (essentially free advertising)o 3) Develop campaign themes  “Sainthood” - being ideal father, being a little league coach  “Good ol’ boy”- focusing on making the candidate identify with the public - example – Rick Perry’s campaign for agriculture commissionero rode across the camera on a horse with jeans on to identify with farmers “Noots” - =No One is Opposed to This- taking a stance that no one is opposed too like a better education system, cracking down on crime, etc “Feel Good Spots”- country is going to stay in good times only if you reelect this candidate - bright new tomorrow awaits if you elect this candidate - example – 1984 reelection campaign of Reagan o advertisement = “Morning in America” o message – its morning in America, sun is coming up, things are going well,you don’t want the sun to go down, so reelect Reagan “Basher Spots”- bashing the opponent - build up one candidate but tearing down the reputation of the other candidate- negative/mudslinging campaigns - causes people not to vote for their candidate when they see a negative ad! Money in Elections- The NEED (example - advertisements, media, supporters) - Political Action Committees (PACs)o provide candidates with money since candidates do not get much from the Political Partyo get most from PACs and interest groups- Limits on Contributionso Texas has NO limits on PAC contributions! - Texas Campaign Reporting & Disclosure Act of 1973 = o no limit, but candidate must disclose where the money came from - Buckley v. Valeo (1976)o Supreme Court ruling that you cannot place limits on how much candidates can use of


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TAMU POLS 207 - Primaries-Campaigns-State Legislatures

Type: Lecture Note
Pages: 5
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CHAPTER 1

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Chapter 9

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