I spend a lot of my time talking about politics with friends, peers, and colleagues. One thing has become quite clear: people don't feel like the political process is approachable and they are therefore left quite befuddled about the whole affair.
This saddens me because my political ideology, which will become clear to you over time, hinges upon the need for an informed electorate. So my purpose with the next few stories in this blog will be to introduce politics in an easy-to-swallow manner that will hopefully leave you a little less confused.
I will start with a brief "setting of the stage" for the current presidential race.
In the beginning...
The presidential race this year is between an incumbent and a nominee for the opposing party. Since President Obama is a Democrat, it is up to the Republican party to find a nominee to run against him.
Thus, the political campaign begins.
This cycle the candidates began throwing their name into the hat as early as March of 2011, though the last person to join has been Rick Perry, who waited until August. The main contenders have been Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.
Before you look at those names and cry out "I can never keep track of so many people!" Don't worry, you don't have to.
Since April there have been a series of debates, polls, and elections called "primaries" or "caucuses" that have whittled the field down to only four. These are the real contenders and the ones we'll be focusing on in the future. They are Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. But all that is for later. For now, just keep those names in the back of your head.
How the process works.
For the GOP nomination process, each state is given a certain number of delegates. These delegates are assigned to a candidate based on a popular vote by the people of a state. The delegates from each state then go to the Republican National Convention in August to vote for a nominee. If one candidate gets a majority of the votes, he will become the nominee and run against the president. The number of delegates needed to gain a majority is 1,144. If one candidate cannot get a majority the convention will be "brokered." I'll get more into that in a later post.
There are two types of elections held at the state level to elect delegates as I said above called "primaries" or "caucuses." Keep in mind each state holds its own election on different days and in different ways, so this next bit might get confusing.
Primaries:
Primaries are very similar to the general election (the election between the president and the opposing party nominee) in that a vote is taken by registered voters and the candidate with the most votes wins the state. From here, there are two options which vary from state to state.
One way, which used to be the most common, is a winner-take-all scenario in which the candidate with the most votes is awarded all the delegates of that state.
Most states that will hold primaries this year will award delegates by percentage. That is to say if one candidate wins 25% of the votes, he will be awarded 25% of the delegates. If another candidate in the same state gets 35% of the votes, he will be awarded 35% of the delegates.
There is one other distinction in states that hold primaries and that is voter requirements. Some states restrict voters to citizens who are registered with the party. These are are called "closed primaries." Other states that do not restrict voting by party affiliation hold what are called "open primaries." Knowing the whether a state is a closed or open primary is critical to a campaign as it can drastically change the identity of the electorate. But that is yet another topic for later.
Caucuses:
Caucuses are a different beast altogether. The caucus process is not just a one-time vote to determine who gets what amount of delegates. Rather it is a series of votes that show a general level of interest until it reaches a conclusion and awards delegates. Allow me to get into some detail.
The night of a caucus, registered voters go to a meeting place to cast their vote. But this is not like a primary where you punch a piece of paper in a curtained desk. Rather you are put in a room with everyone from your precinct (local area). Then there is time set aside for everyone to voice their opinion on who they believe would make the best candidate. This can last as long as five minutes - if no one has anything to say - or it can last a few hours - if everyone has something to say.
Then a vote is called for and people write the candidate they want on a piece of paper and hand that in. These are then tallied and candidates are awarded "precinct delegates" based on the vote total. This is given by percentage, so if a candidate gets 50% of the vote, he can have 50% of the available precinct delegates. Of course, this takes some time to happen and a candidate may not have a citizen willing to be a precinct delegate for them. In this case, another citizen can volunteer to be a precinct delegate.
This whole process is then repeated again at the district level, except instead of having a general vote, only precinct delegates vote. After the votes at this level are tallied, district delegates are then awarded based off percentage.
These state delegates then have another caucus at the state level in which the votes there are to elect delegates to the national convention.
In a later post, I will get into how this process can be politically expedient for some candidates, but for now I hope the process is a bit clearer.
In summary
I hope this has given you some insight into how things work with our political process and what to expect in the coming weeks. I look forward to digging into the topics more.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, leave a comment below. The electoral process is all about communicating so feel free to start it here.
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