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Encyclopedia > U.S. presidential primary

The series of U.S. presidential primaries is one of the first steps in the process of electing a President of the United States. The primary elections provide a method for U.S. political parties to nominate and unite behind one popularly chosen candidate for the Presidency. The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... Political parties in the United States lists political parties in the United States. ...

Contents


History

In most democracies, top-tier nominees are chosen by a relatively small number of political party leaders and activists. In the United States, however, citizens in many states may participate in a caucuses of candidate supporters or larger primary elections to select a national nominee. This has not always been the case, however; until the latter half of the 20th century, nominees were indeed chosen by a nominating convention of mostly party leaders. Direct primaries were first introduced at the local and state level as part of the Progressive Era reforms of the early 20th century. A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ... Speeches by important party figures are key features of the convention; here, former President Jimmy Carter addresses the 2004 Democratic National Convention. ... In the United States of America, the Progressive Era was a period of reform that began in Americas urban regions from, approximately the 1890s and lasted through the 1920s, although some experts say it lasted from 1900 to 1920. ...


Despite this, direct primaries were not fully used for national candidates until the latter half of the 20th century. As late as 1968, Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic party nomination without entering a single primary. Humphrey's nomination split the Democratic party (see 1968 Democratic National Convention) over the issue of the Vietnam War. Republicans had already begun moving toward popular nomination when Senator Barry Goldwater won the 1964 nomination by defeating Nelson Rockefeller on the California primary. Popular participation in the nominating process became de facto by 1976 when little-known Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination. 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Hubert Horatio Humphrey II (May 27, 1911–January 13, 1978) was the 38th Vice President of the United States, twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota and was mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... Police and protesters at the Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois from August 26-29, 1968, by the United States Democratic Party, for the purposes of choosing the Democratic nominee for the 1968 U.S. Presidential Election. ... The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and its allies—notably the United States military in support of... Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 1, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was a United States politician and a founding figure in the modern conservative movement in the USA. Goldwater personified the shift in balance in American culture from the Northeast to the West. ... Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), an American politician, was Governor of New York and the 41st Vice President of the United States of America from December 19, 1974 to January 20, 1977. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ...


Today, both the Republican and Democratic parties hold a series of caucuses and primaries from January through June of a presidential election year. In any given state, the parties typically hold their caucus or primary election on the same date. Who is eligible to vote in a primary depends on the system in use in each state. In a closed primary, only voters registered with the party may vote. In a semi-closed primary, voters unaffiliated with a party (independents) may choose a party primary in which to vote. In an open primary, any voter may vote in any party's primary. The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ...


Primary elections

The long process of choosing the President of the United States begins with a series of individual state primary elections, in which voters in particular parties express their preference among a series of candidates. While typically voting for a particular candidate, voters actually choose a slate of delegates for each party to represent that state at the party's political convention. The delegates gather at each party's nominating convention held several months prior to the general election. There, the delegates formally submit their votes for the nominees, and the person with the most votes becomes the party's Presidential candidate for the general election. A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates. ...


The primary elections begin as early as January of the election year and take place through the spring, culminating in the mid-summer national convention of each political party. Campaigning for the primaries often begins six to 12 months before the first primary, almost two years before the general election. Incumbent presidents seeking re-election have nearly always won their party's nomination (Franklin Pierce, Grover Cleveland, and arguably Lyndon Johnson are exceptions). Summer is a season, defined by convention in meteorology as the whole months of June, July, and August, in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. ... Speeches by important party figures are key features of the convention; here, former President Jimmy Carter addresses the 2004 Democratic National Convention. ... A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ... A general election is an election in which all members of a given political body are up for election. ... Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869) was an American politician and the 14th President of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. ... Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837–June 24, 1908) was the 22nd (1885–1889) and 24th (1893–1897) President of the United States, and the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ...


The best-known of the American presidential primaries is the one in New Hampshire, because it is the first in each quadrennial cycle. Although established in 1916, this primary drew little attention until 1952, when a change in proceedings allowed more candidates to be listed on the ballot. That created a contest that drew notice from then-new television coverage, and its importance was cemented when Jimmy Carter took a surprise win in 1976 and rode it to the presidency. State nickname: Granite State, Mother of Rivers, White Mountain State, Switzerland of America [1] Official languages English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Governor John Lynch (D) Senators Judd Gregg (R) John Sununu (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 46th 24,239 km² 3. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. ... James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...


In the late 1970s, the New Hampshire Legislature passed laws designed to guarantee that their primary would always come first — a status it has successfully defended from other states who envy the attention. The main competition comes from Iowa, which holds a less-binding caucus vote a week or two before the New Hampshire primary. Some people claim that the current primary system is unfair, because it places undue emphasis on New Hampshire and Iowa, which they claim are not representative of the nation as a whole. State nickname: The Hawkeye State Other U.S. States Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Governor Thomas Vilsack (D) Senators Chuck Grassley (R) Tom Harkin (D) Official language(s) English Area 145,743 km² (26th)  - Land 144,701 km²  - Water 1,042 km² (0. ... A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ...


Since the advent of "Super Tuesday" in 1988, there has been a trend towards "front-loading" state primaries--moving their dates forward as much as possible, so that more primaries are bunched together earlier in the campaign season. As a result, in the 2004 Democratic primary schedule, for instance, the nominee was already known by early March; in the past, the nominee was often not known until June, when the last of the primaries were held, or even until the late-summer convention. A number of states do not have primaries, citing the costs of the election and the irrelevance of primaries late in the nominating cycle. In the United States, Super Tuesday commonly refers to a Tuesday in early March of a presidential election year. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...


There are several proposals of reforming the primary system. Some reformers have called for a single nationwide primary to be held on one day. Others point out that requiring candidates to campaign in every state simultaneously would exacerbate the purported problem of campaigns being dominated by the candidates who raise the most money. Alternative reform concepts such as the American Plan would return the presidential primary season to a more relaxed schedule. Fewer primaries in smaller states would allow grassroots campaigns to score early successes and pick up steam. With this idea in mind, a commission empaneled by the Republican Party recommended the Delaware Plan in 2000; however, populous states objected to the plan because it would have always scheduled their primaries at the end of the season. The Delaware Plan was put to vote at Republican National Convention of 2000 and rejected. A commission of the Democratic Party is scheduled to report its recommendation on reforming the presidential primary calendar at the end of 2005. The Graduated Random Presidential Primary System (also known as the California Plan or American Plan) is designed to begin with presidential primaries in small-population states, where candidates do not need tens of millions of dollars in order to compete, and grow progressively larger and more challenging as the nominating... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party), is a political party and is one of the two major political parties in the United States (the other being the Democratic Party). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Republican Party, is held every four years to determine the partys candidate for the coming Presidential election and the partys platform. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Types of primaries

Since 1976, the Iowa caucus has been the first indication of which candidate for President of the United States would win the nomination of his or her political party at that partys national convention. ... The New Hampshire primary to the U.S. presidential election is the first U.S. presidential primary in the United States. ...

List of primaries

The 1992 Democratic presidential primary chose the Democratic nominee for the general election. ... This article discusses the primary elections to nominate candidates for the 2000 U.S. presidential election. ... The 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination process was a series of primaries and caucuses culminating in the Democratic National Convention that decided which pair of candidates would represent the Democrats in the 2004 election for President and Vice President of the United States. ... The U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination, 2004 was the series of primaries and caucuses that determined who was to be chosen at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City as the Republican Partys candidate in the U.S. presidential election, 2004. ...

See also



 

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