The Campaign for Election

Although the presidential elections occur every 4 years, many people feel that they do not really
understand how the presidential campaigns operate. The winner in the November election is almost certain to be either the Republican or the Democratic candidate. A minor-party or independent candidates, as in 1968, George Wallace, John Anderson in 1980 or Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, can vote from the major party candidates, but stands almost no chance of them defeat. A major-party candidate has the critical advantage of the support from the party faithful. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this support has been so firmly and steadily, that the victory of the stronger party candidate was almost a certainty. Warren G. Harding, the Republican nomination in 1920 in his native Ohio, remained stable in most of the campaign, and won a complete victory, because the bulk of his time voters were Republicans. Party loyalty has increased in recent decades, but more than two-thirds of the nation, voters still identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans, and most of them supporting their party presidential candidate. Even Democrats George McGovern, the lowest level of party support in the last candidate was in 1972 by almost 60 percent of the voters of his party. Presidential candidates act strategically. In deciding whether to make a path that lead them to estimate their likely impact on the electorate. During the campaign 1992, a sign on the wall of the Clinton headquarters in Little Rock read, "the economy, stupid." The slogan was the idea of James Carville, Clinton's Chief Strategist, and was a reminder of the candidates and the staff to the campaign focused on the nation slowly moving economy, the ultimate question that Bush defeated. As in 1980, when Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan, during the difficult economic times, the voters were motivated largely by a desire for change. Candidates try to project a strong leadership image. Whether voters accept this picture, however, depends more on external factors than on a candidate's personal characteristics. In 1991, after the
Gulf War, Bush's approval reached 91 percent, the highest level since polling began in the 1930s. A year later, with the nation, the economy in trouble, Bush's approval fell below 40 percent. Bush is trying to stir images of his strong leadership of the war, but the voters still worried about the economy. The candidates' strategies are influenced by many considerations, including the provision that each state has electoral votes equal in number to its representation in Congress. Each state is thus two elections votes for its Senate representation and a different number of electoral votes depending on the house representation. There are a total of 538 electoral votes (including three for the District of Columbia, even if they are non-voting representative in Congress). to win the presidency, a candidate must be at least 270 votes, a majority Candidates will be mainly with the profit of the States, the largest population, Victory in the eleven largest states alone would require a majority of elections, and presidential candidates, therefore, most of the time spent in these states. Clinton won only 43 percent of the vote in 1992, compared with Bush 38 percent and 19 percent of Perot, but Clinton has stated that in him an overwhelming 370 electoral votes, compared to 168 for Bush and not for Perot.