Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org/.

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NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
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On February 11, 2002, The Dirksen Congressional Center, located in Pekin, Illinois announced plans to build a new facility. Follow developments at Building for the Future: The Dirksen Center Will Relocate -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/dcbuildingproject.htm.

Getting Nominated and Campaigning for Office

The smoke-filled room, where the political bosses met to decide whom they would support, is one of the most famous images in American politics. The bosses' power has diminished, however, giving way to the voters who now decide on their party's nominees. The trend toward primary elections, where voters directly select their party nominees, began during the Progressive Era. This process was solidified for presidential elections starting in 1972.

An election in which voters choose the parties' candidates for the general election is called a primary election. There are two types of primaries - a closed primary and an open primary. Only a party's registered voters may vote in a closed primary. In an open primary, registered voters in either party can participate. Sometimes winning the primary election is the same as winning the election. This is because voter registration heavily favors one party or the other in the state assembly or congressional district. Often there are many candidates in a state or municipal primary. If a majority of the votes is not received by one candidate, the top two usually face each other in a runoff election. To learn more about a primary election, also called a direct primary in the United States, link to our About Government "hot link" for this month. Visit Grolier's The American Presidency - Primary Election at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/electionsvoting.htm.

Candidates for president are nominated by each party at national conventions. Some of the delegates are still appointed by state party leaders or elected officials themselves. Most are selected through the primary election or caucus process. Presidential primaries may be winner-take-all, with the candidate who receives the most primary votes receiving all the state's delegates. Otherwise, delegates may be divided among several candidates based on their percentage of the vote. Delegates from the local level are selected for the county caucus in caucus states. From the county caucus they go to the state convention. A party's nominee for president is really chosen long before the convention held in July or August because of the primaries and caucuses. An incumbent president rarely faces a primary challenge. Exceptions include Gerald Ford from Ronald Reagan in 1976, Jimmy Carter from Ted Kennedy in 1980, and George Bush in 1992 from Pat Buchanan.

Teachers, to help your students identify the Constitutional qualifications for the President of the United States and to understand the process by which presidents are elected, visit our featured CongressLink lesson plan, Who Should Be President? Students will compare and contrast their views on issues with those of presidential candidates, analyzing the backgrounds and platforms of at least two presidential candidates and current event news stories to re-affirm their preferred presidential candidate. Download this lesson at: http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/MEDpresident.html.

The political campaign season has become longer for two reasons: (1) because of the importance primaries have assumed and (2) because most states have been pushing their primaries earlier and earlier. Candidates may announce their plans to run for president as early as two years before the election. The effect of this prolonged season, combined with the huge role the media play in elections, has been to significantly increase the cost of campaigning for office. By completing the CongressLink worksheet, Affecting the Outcome -- Election Propaganda Anatomy and Observation, students will be able to describe the "anatomy" of election propaganda, compare the rise of propaganda costs and evolution of techniques, relate media involvement to the production of a "horse race," and categorize the importance of certain propaganda techniques, including image production, national conventions, campaign financing, and political advertising. Download this worksheet at: http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/SPProganda.htm#worksheet.

Controls on campaign financing were relatively lax until 1971. The amount both individuals and organizations such as political action committees (PACs) can give to presidential candidates seeking the nomination and to the House and Senate candidates during the primary and general election campaigns have been limited by The Federal Election Campaign Act (1971) and following amendments. A spending limit is imposed on presidential primaries. Federal matching funds are distributed by the Federal Election Commission, created in 1974, to candidates who qualify by raising a certain amount of contributions on their own. The Federal Election Commission provides full public funding for the Democratic and Republican nominees for president for the general election, if they elect to accept. The commission also oversees campaign finance disclosure requirements. The federal money comes from an income-tax check- ff that goes to the treasury's Presidential Campaign Fund. Limits on campaign spending have lost their influence over time. This is because the Supreme Court has ruled that political parties may spend unlimited soft money. To learn more about campaign finance, visit CongressLink's home page, linking to The Campaign Finance Institute, under one of CongressLink's three major sections, "Information Center." You will find this link at: http://www.congresslink.org/index.htm.

Campaigning Craze

Have some fun and match the campaign slogan to the presidential candidate. Register on our site for kids -- Congress for Kids -- http://www.congressforkids.net. Take the online quiz -- Who's Who and What's What -- Presidential Slogans. Find this online quiz at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/executivebranch/2_executivebranch.htm.

1. Limits on campaign spending have lost their influence over time. This is because the Supreme Court has ruled that political parties may spend unlimited soft money. What is meant by "soft money?"

A. The opposite of hard cash
B. Cash that is used to build a political party
C. Cash that only indirectly benefits particular candidates
D. Both B and C
E. None of the above

2. True or False: A majority of states use what is known as a "closed primary," where the voter must have previously declared himself or herself a member of the party before he or she can vote in that party's primary.

3. True or False: Some states have open primaries. An open primary means that members of two parties may cross over and cast their votes in another party's primary.

Answers to February's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0202ans.htm.

We've mastered March! If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, contact Cindy Koeppel at mailto:ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org. Your feedback makes a difference! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to the Communicator.