Week 10: Presidential Elections

In this week's class, we will be looking at the constitutional basis for the Electoral College and how the system works during a Presidential election. We'll review the key dates in November, December & January for the Electoral College and define some terms or issues that are sure to be heard on Election Day. We'll examine the most recent electoral vote projections for the Presidential race as well as projections on what the new U.S. Congress may look like. Closer to home, we will look at our state wide races and ballot issues and look at Harrison & Jefferson County races & ballot issues.

For more information on the Electoral College, click on here for the National Archives site. If interested in Zogby's latest projected electoral votes, click on here. If interested in reports and analysis found on the Rasmussen Reports, you can click on here. Meanwhile, don't forget to click on the Electoral map on the right side of my blog to get daily updates on the presidential race & national congressional races. Here you will find the most comprehensive statistics and information on all the races throughout the country.

Week 9: The Presidency & the Nomination Process

In this week's class, we will be examining the presidential nomination process and how our presidential candidates are chosen. This will include campaign financing laws, the Primary system, the caucus, and how delegates are awarded in the primary-caucus-convention system. Students will participate in a class mock Republican caucus and information about candidates can be found elsewhere on this blog under "Useful U.S. Presidents Links" by clicking on 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates.

Next week we will be examining in detail the Electoral College, local, state and National elections, Ohio state issues and other National ballot issues as we prepare for Election Eve on November 4, 2008.

Don't forget to click on the Electoral map on the right side of the blog to get daily updates on the presidential race & national congressional races.

2008 Presidential Third-Party Candidates

There are more than a dozen third-party candidates in the 2008 presidential election. National Public Radio (NPR) has been interviewing some of the third-party candidates. On Saturday, October 18, 2008, NPR interviewed Chuck Baldwin, Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. View an abbreviated transcript of his interview here and click on the "Listen now" for the 5 minute audio interview of this pro-life and anti-war candidate. Also on this site, you can click on the interview with Bob Barr, the candidate of the Libertarian Party and Ralph Nader, an Independent candidate.

Another website of interest that compares the stands of third-party candidates and the candidates from the two major parties can be found here. Just click on the candidate's photo and the candidate's stance is outlined on at least 24 different issues.

Finally, if you missed the presidential debates, check this same website and on the left side of the screen is a section labeled: "Presidential debates". Click on each debate for a summary of the debate, a list of the questions/issues from the debate and a short summary of each candidate's response.

History of Third Party Candidates

It was 1832, when for the first time in American history, a third party challenged the major two political parties.The Anti-Masonic Party carried 8% of the popular vote and one state. In 1848 former Democratic President Martin Van Buren was the presidential candidate of the anti-slavery Free-Soil Party. He wins 10% of the popular vote and is credited with taking enough votes away from the Democratic candidate to help Whig candidate Zachary Taylor win the election. And in 1856, another former president Milliard Fillmore runs as the presidential candidate of the Know-Nothings and Whig Party remnants (American Party) and wins 22% of the popular vote and 8 electoral votes.
In 1912, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive (or Bull-Moose) party. It was the first time in American history that a third-party candidate receives more votes (electoral and popular) than one of the major two parties when Roosevelt received 88 electoral votes and the incumbent Republican President William Taft received just 8 while the Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson received 435 electoral votes.
In more modern times, three recent presidential elections were probably decided by third-party candidates. In 1968, Richard Nixon, a Republican, narrowly defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey by less than 1% in the popular vote as many Southern Democrats supported Governor George Wallace of the American Independent Party who won 13+% of the popular vote and 46 electoral votes. In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton won the presidential election with only 43% of the popular vote over the incumbent President George H.W. Bush because businessman Ross Perot of the Reform Party wins 19% of the popular vote and takes votes from President Bush.
And finally in 2000, George W. Bush, the Republican candidate won a disputed election over Democrat Al Gore who won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote by 4. Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, took 2.74% of the popular vote that may otherwise have been cast for Gore.
See the next entry for the 2008 election third-party candidates.