Electing the PRESIDENT [AP Gov Review, Unit 5 Topic 8 (5.8)]

How Do We Elect the President?

Overview of Presidential Election Process

• The video introduces the topic of how the U.S. elects its president, emphasizing the complexity of the electoral process and its implications for democracy.

• Candidates must first earn their party's nomination through primary elections, where party members vote on their preferred candidate for the general election.

• Different states have varying methods for conducting primaries: open primaries allow any registered voter to participate, while closed primaries restrict voting to registered party members.

Caucuses vs. Primaries

• Some states opt for caucuses instead of primaries; these involve public discussions and debates rather than secret ballots to determine a nominee.

• The winning candidate from each party is presented at their national convention, marking the transition into the general election phase.

Incumbency Advantage

• If a sitting president has served one term, they are typically re-nominated by their party; this is known as being an incumbent.

• Incumbents enjoy several advantages: prior election experience, established public recognition, and existing campaign support networks.

Election Day Mechanics

• On Election Day (the first Tuesday in November), voters cast ballots not directly for candidates but for slates of electors pledged to those candidates.

• This leads into a discussion about the Electoral College—a system designed by the framers of the Constitution that limits direct democratic participation in presidential elections.

Understanding the Electoral College

• Each state has electors equal to its congressional representatives; Georgia has 16 electors based on its representation in Congress.

• In most states, it's a winner-take-all system where all electoral votes go to whichever candidate wins that state—except Maine and Nebraska which can split votes.

• There exists a possibility for "faithless electors" who may choose not to vote according to popular vote outcomes.

Electoral College: Understanding Its Role and Controversies

Overview of the Electoral College System

• The electoral college is a contentious system that requires candidates to secure a minimum of 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

• Historical context shows discrepancies between popular vote and electoral outcomes, as seen in the 2000 election where Al Gore received half a million more popular votes than George W. Bush but lost due to electoral votes.

• A similar situation occurred in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote over Donald Trump, yet Trump secured victory through the electoral college.

Arguments For and Against the Electoral College

• Proponents argue that the electoral college encourages candidates to campaign across diverse regions rather than focusing solely on populous areas.

• Critics contend that this theory does not hold true in practice, as candidates primarily target swing states—those with unpredictable voting patterns—rather than engaging with all voters nationwide.