Does the Current Electoral Process Result in the best Candidate for President?
History informs us about the first method the parties developed in order to pick their presidential candidates. This method was the congressional caucus. The framer’s method in 1787 was that each elector would cast two electoral votes, each for a different person for president. The person who received the majority of the electoral votes would win the presidential election and the person who received the second most amount of electoral votes won the vice presidential election. However, the rise of political parties and the election of 1800 made a great change to the system.
During this time the electors cast their two votes for two different persons. The 12th Amendment established the separation of the presidential and vice presidential election. With the election of Thomas Jefferson, each of the 73 Democratic- Republican Party voted for Thomas Jefferosn and Aaron Burr which caused a tie. To resolve this there was 36 separate votes in the House of Representatives to select the President and Vice President. In 1832, both major parties turned to the national convention as their presidential nomination device and still continues to serve them.
Whether the current electoral process results in the best candidates for president is debatable. We must further look into the steps taken in order to become a president. Electing a president consists of five steps. These steps include primaries/caucuses, nomination at national convention, campaigning, election, and electoral college. Presidential primaries help to ensure that a party gets strong candidates for president. They do this by democratizing the delegate selection process and force would-be nominees to test their candidacies in actual political combat.
This is how most states select the Democratic Republican candidate who will run against each other. A caucus is a nominating device where a group of people with similar views meet to select delegates to the national convention. Not just anyone is nominated. To be nominate one must be more than just an older white male. Though, it is usually male. One must have experience and have served in elective offices. They sometimes are protestant or incumbent with a pleasant appearance and developed speakings skills.
Once all the primaries and caucuses have been held and delegates are selected, the two major parties hold their nation conventions. The three main goals of the national convention are promoting party unity, adopting the party’s platform, and naming the party’s candidates. During this time each Presidential candidate chooses a running-mate for Vice-President. Once a candidate has won their party’s nomination, he or she begins mapping campaign strategy . Campaigning is very important in order to win the votes of the American people. Through campaigning the cadidate states his or her position on various current issues.
He or she steps up efforts to raise money and recruit volunteer workers. Fans of the candidates most likely will begin holding up signs encouraging to vote for their choice of candidate. Swing voters are important to campaigns since these are the 1/3 of the electorate who has not made up their minds at the start of the campaign. They are more open to persuasion for either campaigns. They also focus on battle-ground states since either candidate could win in those states. Finally on the first tuesday of November, the people vote for one candidate. This happens every four years.
When a person casts a vote in the general election, they are not voting directly for an individual Presidential candidate. Instead, voters in each state actually cast their vote for a group of people, known as electors. These electors are part of the Electoral College and are supposed to vote for their state’s preferred candidate. In the Electoral College system, each state gets a certain number of electors, based on each state’s total number of representation in Congress. Each elector gets one electoral vote. For example, a large state like California gets 54 electoral votes, while Rhode Island gets only four.
All together, there are 538 Electoral votes. In December after the election, the electors cast their votes. When the votes are counted on January 6th, the Presidential candidate that gets more than half, 270, wins the election. The President-elect and Vice President-elect then take the oath of office and are inaugurated two weeks later, on January 20th. Returning to the main question, I don’t believe the electoral process results in the best candidates for President. I believe the choice should not be left for the electoral college but for each person’s vote to count.
One alternative is the popular vote where everyone’s vote would count for one vote. I don’t think it is fair to try to convince people that they have a voice and encourage them to vote, when the Electoral College has the final say. The Electoral College leads to things like there being massive amounts of campaigning being down in “battleground states” like Ohio and Florida while people in solidly “red” or solidly “blue” states have their issues basically ignored because it’s almost certain which way the state is going to go.
History informs us about the first method the parties developed in order to pick their presidential candidates. This method was the congressional caucus. The framer’s method in 1787 was that each elector would cast two electoral votes, each for a different person for president. The person who received the majority of the electoral votes would win the presidential election and the person who received the second most amount of electoral votes won the vice presidential election. However, the rise of political parties and the election of 1800 made a great change to the system.
During this time the electors cast their two votes for two different persons. The 12th Amendment established the separation of the presidential and vice presidential election. With the election of Thomas Jefferson, each of the 73 Democratic- Republican Party voted for Thomas Jefferosn and Aaron Burr which caused a tie. To resolve this there was 36 separate votes in the House of Representatives to select the President and Vice President. In 1832, both major parties turned to the national convention as their presidential nomination device and still continues to serve them.
Whether the current electoral process results in the best candidates for president is debatable. We must further look into the steps taken in order to become a president. Electing a president consists of five steps. These steps include primaries/caucuses, nomination at national convention, campaigning, election, and electoral college. Presidential primaries help to ensure that a party gets strong candidates for president. They do this by democratizing the delegate selection process and force would-be nominees to test their candidacies in actual political combat.
This is how most states select the Democratic Republican candidate who will run against each other. A caucus is a nominating device where a group of people with similar views meet to select delegates to the national convention. Not just anyone is nominated. To be nominate one must be more than just an older white male. Though, it is usually male. One must have experience and have served in elective offices. They sometimes are protestant or incumbent with a pleasant appearance and developed speakings skills.
Once all the primaries and caucuses have been held and delegates are selected, the two major parties hold their nation conventions. The three main goals of the national convention are promoting party unity, adopting the party’s platform, and naming the party’s candidates. During this time each Presidential candidate chooses a running-mate for Vice-President. Once a candidate has won their party’s nomination, he or she begins mapping campaign strategy . Campaigning is very important in order to win the votes of the American people. Through campaigning the cadidate states his or her position on various current issues.
He or she steps up efforts to raise money and recruit volunteer workers. Fans of the candidates most likely will begin holding up signs encouraging to vote for their choice of candidate. Swing voters are important to campaigns since these are the 1/3 of the electorate who has not made up their minds at the start of the campaign. They are more open to persuasion for either campaigns. They also focus on battle-ground states since either candidate could win in those states. Finally on the first tuesday of November, the people vote for one candidate. This happens every four years.
When a person casts a vote in the general election, they are not voting directly for an individual Presidential candidate. Instead, voters in each state actually cast their vote for a group of people, known as electors. These electors are part of the Electoral College and are supposed to vote for their state’s preferred candidate. In the Electoral College system, each state gets a certain number of electors, based on each state’s total number of representation in Congress. Each elector gets one electoral vote. For example, a large state like California gets 54 electoral votes, while Rhode Island gets only four.
All together, there are 538 Electoral votes. In December after the election, the electors cast their votes. When the votes are counted on January 6th, the Presidential candidate that gets more than half, 270, wins the election. The President-elect and Vice President-elect then take the oath of office and are inaugurated two weeks later, on January 20th. Returning to the main question, I don’t believe the electoral process results in the best candidates for President. I believe the choice should not be left for the electoral college but for each person’s vote to count.
One alternative is the popular vote where everyone’s vote would count for one vote. I don’t think it is fair to try to convince people that they have a voice and encourage them to vote, when the Electoral College has the final say. The Electoral College leads to things like there being massive amounts of campaigning being down in “battleground states” like Ohio and Florida while people in solidly “red” or solidly “blue” states have their issues basically ignored because it’s almost certain which way the state is going to go.
