Nominations and Campaigns

Question 1

Criticisms of the “Marathon Campaign”:

Answer 1

Disproportionate attention goes to the early caucuses and primaries
Prominent politicians find it difficult to take time out of their duties to run
Money plays too big a role
Low participation from citizens
Too much power to the media

Question 2

Nomination:

Answer 2

the official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party

Question 3

nominations require

Answer 3

momentum, money, and media attention

Question 4

National party convention:

Answer 4

the supreme power within each of the parties; the convention meets every four years to nominate the candidates for President and Vice President and write the party’s platform.

Question 5

Party platform:

Answer 5

a political party’s statement of its goal and policies for the next four years; formal statement of a party’s beliefs

Question 6

Caucus:

Answer 6

a meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention; usually organized as a pyramid.

Question 7

Presidential primaries:

Answer 7

elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate; this is how most delegates are chosen

Question 8

Frontloading:

Answer 8

the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention

Question 9

democrats use ____ voting

Answer 9

proportional

Question 10

National primary:

Answer 10

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries, which would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year

Question 11

McGovern-Fraser Commission:

Answer 11

a commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation

Question 12

Superdelegates:

Answer 12

national party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention

Question 13

Direct mail:

Answer 13

a high tech method of raising money for a political cause or candidate

Question 14

Federal Election Campaign Act:

Answer 14

a law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances

Question 15

parts of the FEC act

Answer 15

Created FEC: a six member bipartisan agency created to administer and enforce campaign finance laws
Public financing for candidates
Matching funds: contributions of up to $250 are matched from the PECF to candidates who meet various conditions
Limited spending
Required disclosure
Attempted to limit contributions

Question 16

Presidential Election Campaign Fund:

Answer 16

money from the $3 federal income tax check off goes into this fund which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns

Question 17

Soft money:

Answer 17

political contributions earmarked for party building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising

Question 18

527 groups:

Answer 18

independent groups that seek to influence political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions

Question 19

Political action committees:

Answer 19

any interest group can form a PAC to directly channel contributions of up to $5000 per candidate in both the primary and general election

Question 20

Selective perception:

Answer 20

people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with