Timing and Strategies of Elections in Texas: Governors, Mayors, and Campaign Finance, Slides of Political Science

Download Timing and Strategies of Elections in Texas: Governors, Mayors, and Campaign Finance and more Slides Political Science in PDF only on Docsity! CHAPTER 3 CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS docsity.com ELECTIONS IMPORTANT IN DEMOCRACY • We pick representatives who make policy decisions which determine who gets what • We judge official’s past actions and decide at the ballot box whether to re-elect him or kick him out – called retrospective voting • People tend to vote their pocketbooks – 1980 Carter lost to Reagan (economy bad) – 1992 Bush lost to Clinton (economy bad) docsity.com TIMING OF ELECTIONS • Texas gubernatorial elections – Elections held every four years, even non- presidential election years • 1990 Ann Richards vs. Clayton Williams • 1994 Ann Richards vs. George W. Bush • 1998 George W. Bush vs. Gary Mauro • 2002 Rick Perry vs. Tony Sanchez (Perry actually became governor in 2000 when Bush was elected president – Perry, the Lt. Governor, assumed the governor’s spot) docsity.com TIMING OF ELECTIONS • 2006: – Republican: Rick Perry – Democrat: Chris Bell (used to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives until the Texas Legislature in 2003 redrew the districts to help elect more Republicans [Tom DeLay’s idea] – Bell also served on the Houston City Council and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Houston several times) – Independent: Kinky Friedman (lives in Austin and sings with the Texas Jew Boys Band – has had several best-selling records and books—his campaign slogans were: “Why the hell not” and “How hard can it be”) docsity.com TIMING OF ELECTIONS – Independent: Carol Keeton Strayhorn (was the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts— a Republican—but ran as an independent because she thought she would have trouble beating Rick Perry in the Republican primary—billed herself as “one tough grandma”) – During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams ruled that Carol Strayhorn couldn’t put “Grandma” by her name on the November ballot, but Kinky Friedman could have Kinky on the ballot—he appeared on the ballot as Richard “Kinky” Friedman—the Secretary of State ruled that “Grandma” was more of a political slogan than a nickname docsity.com CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS • President – Must be a natural-born citizen of U.S. [Arnold Swartzenegger could not run] – Must be a resident of U.S. for at least 14 years – Must be at least 35 years old – Cannot be elected for more than two terms (22nd Amendment) docsity.com CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS • There are ongoing discussions about amending the constitution to remove the requirement that the President must be born in America (would allow people like former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright and California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger to be considered). docsity.com CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS • New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson became the first Hispanic to run for president when he threw his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election—Richardson’s father is an Anglo who married a Mexican while working in Mexico—Richardson was able to run for the presidency because his father sent Richardson’s mother to the United States to have her baby—afterwards, both mother and baby returned to Mexico until Richardson was in the seventh grade— Richardson ultimately dropped out of the presidential race. docsity.com CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS • U.S. Senator – Must be at least 30 years old – Must be a citizen of U.S. for at least 9 years – No term limits – Must be a resident of state from which elected (residency requirements vary state to state) • Hillary Clinton moved to New York in 2000 election year so she could run for Daniel Patrick Moynihan's open Seat and won • Elizabeth Doyle moved to North Carolina to run for Senate seat after her husband Bob Doyle’s unsuccessful 1996 presidential campaign against Bill Clinton—she won. docsity.com CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS • U.S. Representative – Must be a resident of state from which elected (not necessarily congressional district) • Tom DeLay claimed he was ineligible to run for re-election in November 2006 because he had moved his residency to Virginia—Republicans wanted to put another Republican on the ballot, but a judge said no – DeLay had won the March primary so he had to stay on the ballot – DeLay withdrew his name – Shelley Sekulah-Gibbs (a Republican) got on the ballot as a write-in candidate, but lost to Democrat Nick Lampson. docsity.com CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS – Must be at least 25 years old – Must be a citizen of U.S. for at least 7 years – No term limits docsity.com GAY AND LESBIAN CANDIDATES WINNING • There are three openly gay lawmakers at the federal level: – Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat – Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican – Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat • Mark Foley, a Republican representative from Florida, came out of the closet that he was gay after he resigned in the wake of the page scandal. • Larry Craig, a Republican senator from Idaho, continues to deny he is gay or has ever been gay in spite of the pending criminal charges against him for soliciting gay sex from an undercover police officer in the adjacent stall in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport restroom. docsity.com HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR BECOMES MAYOR • In November 2005 an 18-year-old high school student was elected mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, a town of about 9,000 people – he defeated the 51-year-old incumbent mayor and may now be the youngest mayor in America (his high school government teacher was his political advisor). docsity.com INCUMBENTS USUALLY WIN • Incumbents have strong advantage in fundraising because they: – Get more PAC money – Can do favors for contributors • Since 1950 more than 90% of incumbent Representatives have won re-election and 70% of incumbent Senators have won re- election docsity.com CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES – Orlando Sanchez, who ran in 2003 for the second time to be Houston’s mayor, appeared on the cover of the May 2003 biker magazine called Full Throttle straddling his Harley Davidson Road King and sporting a black leather jacket – during his 2001 campaign he rode around Houston in a bright yellow Hummer suggesting it was the only way to navigate Houston’s pot-filled streets – Al Gore, who ran against Bush for president in 2000, hired a dress consultant to help him look less stuffy (not surprisingly she told him to ditch the suit and tie) docsity.com CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES • Loretta Nall, the Libertarian Party’s write-in candidate for Governor of Alabama in 2006, campaigned on her cleavage. • Her campaign offered T-shirts and marijuana stash boxes adorned with a photo of Nall with a plunging neckline and the words: “More of these boobs.” Below that were pictures of the Republican and Democratic candidates and the words: “And less of these boobs.” docsity.com CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES • Nall’s Website featured a cartoon of someone stuffing bills down the front of her low-cut top. If you donated $50 to her campaign, you got to see a cartoon of Nall flashing her breasts. • P.S. She lost. docsity.com CAMPAIGN THEMES • 2004 theme Bush: “Steady Leadership in Times of Change” or “A Tested Leader” • 2004 theme Kerry: “The Real Deal” or “Stronger at Home, Respected in the World” docsity.com CAMPAIGN SONGS • Get a theme song – a bad campaign song can tank a candidate – Ex. Michael Dukakis’ theme song: Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America” – Ex. Ronald Reagan’s misuse of Bruce Springsteen’s song “Born in the U.S.A.” – sounds patriotic, but it’s really about a worn-out Vietnam veteran who can’t get a break despite living in the land of opportunity—bad song or not, Reagan won election to two terms. docsity.com CAMPAIGN SONGS • A good theme song can boost a candidate – Ex. Bill Clinton’s theme song: Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” • During the 2004 Democratic presidential primary season, the candidates picked the following songs: – John Edwards: “Small Town” by John Mellencamp – John Kerry: “No Surrender” by Bruce Springsteen and “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty docsity.com IDENTIFY OPPONENT WITH NEGATIVE IMAGE • 1988 presidential election between George Bush I and Michael Dukakis most negative campaign of recent times (but the 2004 campaign gave it a run for the money) – Bush portrayed Dukakis as weak on crime (famous Willie Horton ad) – Dukakis painted Bush as frolicking with Manual Noriega and drug dealers in Panama docsity.com IDENTIFY OPPONENT WITH NEGATIVE IMAGE • 1964 “Daisy girl” commercial by Lyndon Johnson left impression that Goldwater would start a nuclear holocaust • 2000 Bush ad criticized Gore for his exaggerations – ex., I invented the internet docsity.com IDENTIFY OPPONENTS WITH NEGATIVE IMAGE • Negative ads often used at the end of campaign – 2000 Gore ad disclosed that Bush had been arrested for drunk driving in 1976 • In 2004 campaign negative ads were run by independent groups (called 527 groups). – Swift Boat Group ran ads saying Kerry was unfit to be president because he came back from Vietnam, threw his medals away, and gave congressional testimony about the atrocities he witnessed in Viet Nam – the group alleged that this hurt soldiers still fighting in South Viet Nam and the POW’s locked up in North Viet Nam [P.S. During Hillary Clinton’s victory speech in New York on Super Tuesday 2008, she assured her supporters that she would not allow herself to be “swift-boated.”. docsity.com OTHER CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES • Get your name out in public by distributing lots of bumper stickers, campaign buttons, and T-shirts – here are some 2004 bumper stickers: – Kerry is Scary – John Kerry? No thanks – I already have a wafflemaker. – I won’t vote for a son of a Bush. docsity.com OTHER CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES – Bush bin-Lyin – John Kerry for President . . . of France (with picture of Kerry in beret) – Better hair for a better America – Kerry/Edwards 2004 – Don’t be a girlie man – vote Republican! docsity.com TECHNOLOGY IMPORTANT IN MODERN ELECTIONS • In 2004 YouTube didn’t exist. • In 2007 YouTube became a vital part of the 2008 presidential campaign. • More than 2.5 million people viewed “I’ve Got a Crush . . . On Obama” about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. • A rebuttal video of women fighting over Obama and leading Republican contender Rudy Guiliani was watched by more than half a million viewers in just four days. docsity.com TECHNOLOGY IMPORTANT IN MODERN ELECTIONS • In January 2007 Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy and participated in three live online chats—the campaign solicited questions in advance and Clinton responded on her Website. docsity.com TECHNOLOGY IMPORTANT IN MODERN ELECTIONS • The night before John Edward formally announced his presidential candidacy from New Orleans to a battery of cameras from the traditional media, his advisers posted a 2-1/2- minute video on YouTube.com and Rocketboom.com in which the candidate outlined the themes of his campaign. To draw attention to that video, the campaign bought advertising on a variety of political blogs and e-mailed bloggers. docsity.com TECHNOLOGY IMPORTANT IN MODERN ELECTIONS • When Barack Obama set up his exploratory committee, his campaign sent an e-mail to supporters with a link to a video of the candidate describing why he was preparing to run for President. docsity.com TOP 10 PACS IN 2006 • National Association of Realtors – 51% Democrats – 49% Republicans • National Beer Wholesalers Association – 31% Democrats – 69% Republicans • National Association of Home Builders – 26% Democrats – 72% Republicans docsity.com TOP 10 PACS IN 2006 • National Auto Dealers Association – 30% Democrats – 70% Republicans • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – 97% Democrats – 3% Republicans • International Union of Operating Engineers – 75% Democrats – 24% Republicans docsity.com TOP 10 PACS IN 2006 • American Bankers Association – 35% Democrats – 64% Republicans • Laborers International Union of North America – 84% Democrats – 15% Republicans • American Association for Justice – 96% Democrats – 3% Republicans docsity.com WHAT DO CONTRIBUTORS GET FOR THEIR $$? • Access to government officials or agencies • Help with navigating through government bureaucracy (cutting red tape) • Not quid pro quo because that’s illegal (group gives money in exchange for a Senator voting a certain way) docsity.com $$ IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS • Money for presidential candidates comes from: – Their own independent organization – Their particular political party – Personal finances – PACs – Federal government – In the 2000 presidential election between Bush and Gore over $600 million was spent for primary and general elections docsity.com $$ IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS • Cost of U.S. House and Senate races varies – Avg. Senate Seat costs $5 to $7 million • 2000 open Senate seat in New York: Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rick Lazio spent over $85 million combined • 2004 Tom Daschle spent $17.4 million trying to hold on to his South Dakota seat but lost – Avg. House Seat costs $700 million • 1988 re-election campaign of Newt Gingrich most expensive: $7.5 million • 2005 Martin Frost spent $3.9 million but lost docsity.com CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS • One small but noteworthy change brought about by BCRA was to raise the $1,000 limit on individual contributions to $2,000. The $1,000 limit had not been adjusted for inflation since the law was enacted in 1974 and was worth about one-third of the original level. • BCRA did not address shortcomings of the system of partial public funding. The federal income tax check-off is plagued by a low level of citizen participation -- in recent years only about 11 percent of filers have done the check off compared to 27.5 percent on 1976 returns. Another problem is that leading primary candidates, not wishing to be constrained by limits, are opting not to take primary matching funds (in 2004 Bush, Dean and Kerry opted out). In 2004 the Fund distributed a total of $207.5 million: $28.4 million in matching funds to eight primary candidates, $29.8 million for the two major party conventions, and $149.2 million to the two major party candidates for their general election campaigns. docsity.com CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS • BCRA stemmed the flow of soft money to the parties, but the large soft money contributions quickly found a new channel in the so called "Section 527" political organizations. 527s, named after a section of the tax code, can engage in voter mobilization efforts, issue advocacy and other activity short of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a federal candidate. There are no limits to how much they can raise. docsity.com CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS • In 2004 election, independent “527” groups spent millions (ex., Swift Boat Group against Kerry and Texans for Justice against Bush). docsity.com REPAIR PLAN PROPOSED IN SENATE • To fix the problem of presidential candidates abandoning public financing’s meager amounts to pursue private sector’s enormous sums, Senator Russ Feingold (a Wisconsin Democrat) and Representatives Martin Meehan (a Massachusetts Democrat) and Christopher Shays (a Connecticut Republican) proposed the following improvements: docsity.com REPAIR PLAN PROPOSED IN SENATE – Raise the spending limits for public subsidy in the primary and general elections to more realistic levels, scrapping the current 1:1 match of individual contributions for a 4:1 match that makes a $200 donation worth $1,000. – Provide extra subsidies for participating candidates who find themselves running against a rival tapping private donations to far outspend the public financing guidelines. docsity.com REPAIR PLAN PROPOSED IN SENATE – Make public funds available six months before the first primary to encourage competitiveness in the cycle’s front-loading frenzy that produces the two finalists by March. – Raise the current $3 voluntary checkoff on an individual’s tax return and institute an education program about the merits of public financing and the fact that a checkoff does not affect tax liability. docsity.com WHICH POLITICAL PARTY RAISES MOST $$$? – Unknown large amounts?: Got to play golf with Bill at the Congressional Country Club in Potomac, Maryland • 2004 Election: Bush and Kerry raised records sums of money – the 2004 presidential election was the most expensive one ever • 2008 Election: When the final numbers come in, they will be record-breaking. docsity.com VOTING IN TEXAS • Requirements for voting in Texas – Must be 18 years of age or older – Must be a citizen of the U.S. – Must not have been adjudged mentally incompetent by a court – Must be a resident of Texas – Since 1997 felons who have completed their sentence, probation, parole or other criminal justice supervision can vote docsity.com VOTING IN TEXAS – Must be registered to vote (must be registered 30 days before election to vote in election) – To vote in the March 4, 2008, primary elections, you must be registered to vote by Monday, February 4, 2008. – To inquire about your voter registration status in Brazoria County, contact the Brazoria County Tax Assessor-Collector at 979-864- 1320. docsity.com VOTING IN TEXAS • What if you move from one county to another county? – You must re-register in the county of your new residence. – You may be eligible to vote a limited ballot for 90 days after you move if your new registration is not yet effective. However, the limited ballot is available only during early voting, not on election day. docsity.com VOTING IN TEXAS • While students live on college campuses (Texas A & M or UT for example), they can vote in College Station or Austin (must reregister in the new county) or they can request a ballot be mailed to them from their home district to the college they are attending or they can come home on election day or during early voting period and vote back home. • There was a recent controversy in Waller County, home to Prairie View A & M – some Republican officials questioned whether Prairie View students should be allowed to vote in local elections – students got lawyers who filed lawsuits and marched in protest – students won because they were right! docsity.com VOTING IN TEXAS • If a person can’t find his voter registration card, he can still vote as long as he is registered to vote and can produce one of the following documents: – A driver’s license or personal ID card issued by the Department of Public Safety or a similar document issued by an agency of another state, regardless of whether the license or card has expired; – A form of ID containing your photograph that establishes your identity; docsity.com VOTING IN HARRIS COUNTY • Now Harris County is trying to hire a full-time coordinator to the Vietnam election program and to have interpreters at polling places where more than 50 Vietnamese surnames are registered. An early voting location was opened up in a Vietnamese social service agency. • Harris County also has hired a full-time Hispanic coordinator. docsity.com EARLY VOTING IN TEXAS • Early voting in Texas – More people voting early – No longer necessary to give a reason for being absent on election day – Lasts for 16 days – begins 20 days before an election and ends 4 days before – Polls usually open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and at least 1 weekend docsity.com EARLY VOTING IN TEXAS • Each early voting site contains every ballot in the county (perhaps 25-30). • If you wait until election day to vote, you must vote only in the precinct shown on your voter registration card and will probably stand in very long lines. • Early voting for the March 4 primary begins Tuesday, February 19 (usually begins on a Monday, but Monday, February 18, is President’s Day, a holiday). docsity.com VOTING BY MAIL IN TEXAS • You can go the Secretary of State’s website and download the form: – www.sos.state.tx.us:80/ – Don’t get your mother to get the form, forge your name and send it in. – Why? Because when the County Clerk sends you the ballot in the mail, you have to sign the envelope. When the County Clerk compares the signature on the application and the ballot envelope, they won’t match, and your vote will be thrown out. docsity.com WHY DO WE VOTE ON TUESDAY? • Congress passed a law in 1845 setting Tuesday as election day (previously voting days varied among the states). • Congress deemed Tuesday the most convenient day for what was then mostly a largely rural society because: – Saturday was workday on the farm. – Sunday was the Lord’s Day. – Monday was out because many farmers could not reach the county seat to vote in their horse-drawn carriages in just one day. – Wednesday was market day for many communities. • There’s a movement underway by some to change election day to the weekend (often done in other parts of the world) – many feel that doing so would increase voter participation. docsity.com BALLOTS IN TEXAS • Ballots in Texas – Who goes first? In primary election, candidates draw straws. In general election, party that controls the governor’s office goes first • 2000 ballot: Bush before Gore (because Perry, a Republican, was governor) • 2004 ballot: Bush before Kerry (Perry was still governor) – Can vote a straight-party ticket – Long ballots – often contain numerous constitutional amendments docsity.com NADER A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE • Ralph Nader did not get on the Texas ballot in 2004 (Texas is a difficult state to get on the ballot), but he did qualify as an official write-in candidate. docsity.com VOTING IN STATES OTHER THAN TEXAS • Arizona and Michigan: Experimented in some elections with voting over the internet • Oregon: Since 1998 all elections in Oregon conducted with mail-in ballots – Convenient – Allows voters to make better-informed choices – In 2000 primary elections, # people voting increased by 16% docsity.com VOTING IN OTHER STATES – In 2000 presidential election 80% of registered voters in Oregon voted, compared with 51% nationwide – To prevent fraud, voters have to sign ballots – every signature on ballot compared with signature on registration card • Washington: Voters can vote by mail if they want to or they can vote in person – about half voted by mail in 2000 docsity.com 2 VOTING BILLS FILED IN U.S. SENATE (109th CONGRESS) • The Republican-sponsored bill would have required electronic voting machines to produce paper records of the votes cast. • The Democratic-sponsored bill would have: – Made election day a holiday. – Required paper receipts for votes. – Authorized $500 million to help states make necessary changes. docsity.com 2 VOTING BILLS FILED IN U.S. SENATE (109TH CONGRESS) – Allowed ex-felons to vote (currently an estimated 4.7 million Americans are barred from voting because of their criminal records) – Required adoption of changes in time for the 2006 election. • No final bill was passed. docsity.com CARTER/BAKER PRIVATE COMMISSION • A private commission led by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III studied changes that would strengthen state election procedures (to correct flaws exposed in 2000 and 2004 elections) • Their main recommendations were: docsity.com