Stefan Romanski, 2289501; Introduction to American Civilization, Christian Hunt

The long Journey towards the Presidential Elections in the US

Every four years, the arguably mightiest person on earth gets elected: The President of
the United States of America. He or she has the largest influence on Western politics in
addition of being the highest ranking officer in the armed services1. The governmental system
of the US is divided into three branches that form a non-parliamentary system: the legislative
branch or congress, the judicial branch namely the supreme court, and the executive branch
which includes the President himself, the cabinet and major institutions to support his conduct
of foreign affairs2. Every branch in closely connected to each other and ensures that no party
gets superior to the others. Although his powers are limited, the President is considered as the
head of state and head of government. Electing the president is a long and draining process
that starts eighteen months before the elections for every candidate who wants to participate
in the race. They have to make themselves popular to the masses by presenting themselves at
conventions and in the media, run costly campaigns and proof their worth as the future
President.

The first step for every potential candidate is to announce their run for President at
least eighteen months before the election3 takes place. They need to acquire the sympathy of
the voting people and donations from their supporters; hence, the upcoming campaign
devours millions of dollars. Since the largest number of participants is not able to gather
enough support, they drop out of competition during this phase. It is criticized, that
overcoming that hurdle of financial backup favours the upper class participants resulting from
the support of the nation’s most wealthy4. It is possible to receive public funding, as well as
government funding, however the limits are far too low nowadays. The reason for that are the
rapid changes in technology together with the exploding costs of the campaigns5. During the
early months of the presidential election year, the field of participants is reduced to one from
each party. Super Tuesday grants the first impression about peoples tendencies. Held in the
end of March until 2004, Super Tuesday has been antedated since 2008. On this day, the
greatest number of states hold primary elections and caucuses; therefore more delegates can

1
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. Fifth edition. New York: Routledge, 2009.
P. 136
2
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 136
3
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 136
4
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 137
5
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 139
Stefan Romanski, 2289501; Introduction to American Civilization, Christian Hunt

be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day. As a result of the geographical
challenge to attend in all of those states, candidates choose to visit those which have the
largest number of population, thus a larger number of voting delegates6.

Besides the arranged conventions, candidates have to present themselves in the media
to reach the voters. “Hugely expensive short television ‘spots’ are used by all the major
parties and candidates, as much to portray the faults of their opponents (negative
campaigning) as to put themselves in the best possible light”7. Television spots are sponsored
by independent partisan groups which have to show their name in each spot. Opponent’s
flaws are used to question their quality as the President of the US. During the latest election
between Hillary D. R. Clinton and Donald J. Trump in 2016, both candidates preferred to
offend their opponent rather than to impart their own topics. These headlines lead to free
coverage by the evening news besides the regular TV spots8. During the closing months of the
campaign, up to three public debates which are televised live worldwide confront both
candidates directly against each other. The first debate in 2016 set the new record as the most-
watched debate in history, with nearly 84 million viewers9 across 13 channels and 21 million
viewers following livestreams such as YouTube10 and Facebook; hence, presidential debates
offer an enormous stage in mass-media.

On Election Day, two different votes are collected. The ‘popular vote’ displays how
many voters countrywide voted for either candidate, whereas the ‘electoral-college vote’
actually decides who wins. Reason for that is the unique voting system in the US in which a
candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes to win the election11. If no one receives
the majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the
Vice President12. Most state laws use a winner-take-all-system which means that the majority
of votes decide who wins the state; thus, earns all of the electoral votes. Due to this system
one can win the presidential race although less people voted for one. In 2016, Hillary Clinton
won the popular vote whereas Donald Trump won the electoral vote; thus, became President
of the United States.

6
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 138
7
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 140
8
Mauk, David & John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. P. 140
9
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/27/presidential-debate-ratings-record-clinton-trump, The
Guardian. September 27, 2016
10
YouTube Official Blog. September 27, 2016
11
https://www.usa.gov/election
12
https://www.usa.gov/election