Requirements for a Presidential Candidate
- Created by: megan
- Created on: 20-11-14 14:45
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- Requirements for a presidential candidate
- Constitutional Requirements
- Must be a natural-born American citizen
- Must be at least 35 y/o
- youngest ever was Theodore Roosevelt (42)
- Residency qualification of 14 yrs
- Constit amended to limit presidents to 2 terms in 1951
- Extra-Constitutional
- Political Experience
- VPs, state governors and senators seen as good candidates
- HoR members should be, but very few are regarded as a leading candidate
- In 2012, Republicans had 6 governors, 3 HoR members and 1 Senator Pd nominees
- Of 17 Pd candidates from the last 12 elections, 9 were senators, 6 were VPs and 6 were governors
- Lat time a Dem/Rep candidate w/ no pol background was in 1952 - Eisenhower was a WW2 general
- Experience doesn't necessarily determine outcome
- Obama (3 yrs in Senate) beat Clinton (8 yrs first lady and 7 yrs in Senate
- VPs, state governors and senators seen as good candidates
- Major party endorsement
- Vital to be support by Dems/GOP to become Pd
- e.g. Pat Buchanan (2000) and Ross Perot (1992) were 3rd party candidates and not Pds
- Personal characteristics
- Normally white males
- But Dem candidate b/w Clinton and Obama
- Unsurprising given usual pools of recruitment
- Nov 2014, only 20% female and only 1 African American
- currently only 5 female governors
- Advantage if married
- Only one Pd not married - James Buchanan (1857)
- Pre-1992 scandals also ruinous
- Sen. Edward Kennedy and Sen Gary Hart (1988) couldn't become Pd
- But Clinton still became Pd despite allegations about Gennifer Flowers
- Divorce less of an issue
- Both Reagan and McCann (2008 Rep nominee) had remarried
- Normally white males
- Ability to raise large sums of money
- Campaigns v expensive
- Only billionaire nominees (Ross Perot and Steve Forbes) able to fund own campaign personally
- According to Open Secrets (website)
- Obama raised $125.2 million in 2011
- Further $66.4 million in 2012
- Romney raised $56.1 million in 2011
- Further $30.2 million in 2012
- Obama raised $125.2 million in 2011
- Campaigns v expensive
- Effective Organisation
- Can't use party's organisational structure during candidate selection process
- Have to create own organisation
- Time consuming, expensive and demanding
- e.g. Michael Dukakis (1988) and Bob Dole (1996) had weak organisations and did badly
- Obama had superior organisation to Clinton
- Romney had a big win in Florida due to the disparity b/w his and his opponents' organisation
- Have to create own organisation
- Can't use party's organisational structure during candidate selection process
- Oratorical skills and being telegenic
- Esp crucial in age if media
- Reagan was an actor, so had advantage
- Barack Obama also displayed these in 2008
- Clinton was also a good speaker and portrayed well on TV
- Sound and relevant policies
- To avoid being seen as all style and no substance
- Voters can tell when a campaign is a 'policy-free zone'
- Policies must be sound and relevant
- Some major on a specific issue
- Clinton and economy
- McCain (2000) and campaign finance reform
- Howard Dean (2004) and Iraq War
- Political Experience
- Constitutional Requirements
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