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CHAPTER 10
Elections and Campaigns

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
• Describe various kinds of elections in the United States.
• Explain the distinctiveness of presidential and congressional elections.
• Analyze how the mechanics of voting may affect turnout and outcomes.
• Summarize the reasons for electoral success and failure.
• Discuss the basics of how candidates finance and run their campaigns.
• Appraise the ways in which the current electoral process may foster or hinder
deliberation and active citizenship.

 SUMMARY OVERVIEW
The United States has a complex election system because of federalism, bicameralism, and the
separation of powers. Officials are elected at the national, state, and local levels with rules that
vary from location to location. This decentralized system has proven to be controversial, as states
have experimented with election procedure and technology.
Elections take a variety of forms: ballot measures allow citizens to vote directly on state policy;
partisan and nonpartisan primaries help to determine the nominees who will later compete for
office; and district and at-large races often determines who—and how many—officials are
chosen. Americans tend to pay closest attention to presidential elections, which have rules of their
own. Through primaries or caucuses, each state chooses delegates to national party conventions.
In November, nominees face off in the general election, whose outcome depends on the electoral
college. Although the winner of the popular vote usually gets a majority in the electoral college,
the 2000 election served as a reminder that the results can diverge.
Campaigns are expensive, and candidates are required to follow intricate federal rules regarding
contributions. The necessity of fundraising and the difficulty of rule compliance may leave
candidates with little time to focus on the issues, and they may hinder citizen involvement in
some ways. Nevertheless, technology has opened a new door to participation and deliberation.
Elections educate candidates and voters alike, and they allow the electorate both to empower
officials and to check them. The importance of elections lies not just in the identity of the winners
but in the ways that they win. Additionally, elections are an important occasion for policy
deliberation; moreover, campaigns provide many opportunities for active citizenship.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


194 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

 CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. INTRODUCTION
• Elections provide a way for people to check and control their government.
• Elections help to select lawmakers that have political knowledge and experience.
• Elections foster active citizenship.
o Elections create opportunities to participate in a political campaign.
o They provide opportunities to run for office at local, state, or
federal level.
• Election campaigns stimulate public deliberation.

II. VARIETIES OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS


A. Referendum, Recall, and Initiative
• Types of direct democracy
o The initiative (24 states): A procedure that allows citizens to
draft their own legislation and get it on the ballot through
a petition.
o The popular referendum (24 states): A process whereby people
may gather signatures to enable the voters to accept or reject
measures that the legislature has passed.
o Legislative referendum (50 states): A vote that takes place
when a state legislature sends measures to the people for
their approval.
o Recall elections (19 states): Special elections in which voters
may oust officeholders before their regular terms expire.
• Arguments in support of direct democracy
o Professional politicians lack transparency and accountability.
➢ Decisions are often made behind close doors without
public knowledge.
➢ Lack of party competition means that lawmaker is not
likely to lose his or her job for bad decisions.
➢ Influence by special interest lobbyists are often more
important than majority opinion or broader public good.
o Decisions of voters are as defensible as those of legislators.
o Direct democracy can encourage citizen participation in politics.
• Arguments against direct democracy
o It undermines the deliberative advantages of representative
government.
➢ Lawmakers must consider a variety of interests in order
to build majorities.
➢ Lawmakers must defend their votes in public.
o It no longer reflects the popular will or public good.
➢ Ballot campaigns are expensive, thus direct democracy
caters to the interests of wealthy interest groups
and politicians.
➢ Signature-gathering process is done by paid collectors
who are uninterested in educating voters.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 195

B. Candidate Elections
• Types of elections
o Partisan election: A contest in which each candidate’s party
affiliation appears on the ballot.
o Nonpartisan election: An election in which the candidates’
party affiliation does not appear on the ballot.
o Each type of elections has advantages.
➢ Nonpartisan elections foster voter deliberation by
forcing voters to weigh candidates’ merits instead
of labels.
➢ Partisan elections get people to the polls on
Election Day.
• Election phases
o Primary: An election that determines who runs in the final or
general election.
➢ For nonpartisan offices, all candidates appear on the
same ballot and voters can vote for any candidate.
➢ In a partisan primary, candidates from different parties
appear on different ballots.
➢ Runoff primary: A primary used in some states in
which the top finishers face off if no one wins a majority
(or some designated percentage).
➢ Instant-runoff voting: Voters rank candidates in order
of preference. If a candidate gets a majority of first-
choice votes, then he or she wins the office. If nobody
has a majority, the candidate with fewest first place
votes drops off and voters who chose the eliminated
candidate will have their ballots added to the totals of
their second choice. This process continues until a
candidate earns a majority of votes.
o General election: An election for final selection of a variety of
offices. The general election for federal office is the first
Monday in November of even-numbered years.

C. Districts
• Types of districts
o At state and local levels, executive officials run in at-large
elections: Races in which candidates run not in districts, but in
an entire state, county, city, or town.
o U.S. House members are elected from single-member districts:
Constituencies that elect only one member to a legislative body.
• The size of legislature determines size of districts.
o For state legislatures, the number of representatives and the size
of districts varies by state.
o Membership for the U.S. House of Representatives was
permanently set in 1929 at 435, but district size has more than
doubled from 283,000 in 1930 to 710,000 in 2010.
➢ Large districts mean less voter contact with lawmakers.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


196 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

➢ Representing constituents becomes more complex


for lawmakers.
• Requirements for districts
o One person, one vote: A judicial principle holding that
everyone should have equal voting power in district elections.
o After each census comes reapportionment: A process that
reallocates House seats to states in line with population changes.
➢ Distribution is often unequal between states.
➢ Apportionment is based on total population, not
voting population.
• Redistricting: The drawing of boundaries for legislative districts, which
usually takes place after the federal census.
o State governments are responsible for redistricting.
o Lawmakers engage in gerrymandering: The drawing of district
lines, often in odd shapes, to benefit a party or
constituency group.
o Various ways the dominant side can undermine the losing side:
➢ “pack” the vote into a few districts where lopsided
elections waste its voting strength;
➢ “crack,” or fragment, the remaining vote among districts
where the dominant side will win;
➢ “merge” the districts of its lawmakers so as to pit them
against each other in primaries; and
➢ “isolate” its lawmakers from their bases of support by
putting them in new districts with few voters from their
old ones.
o Redistricting makes elections less competitive, but increased
competition increases campaign costs, which causes candidates
to court special interests.
o Racial gerrymandering—drawing district lines to help or hinder
minority groups—is banned by laws and court decisions.
➢ After the 1990 census, the U.S. Justice Department made
states maximize the number of majority-minority
districts, where majority groups would dominate.
➢ 1995: U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race cannot be the
“overriding and predominant” element in determining
district boundaries.

D. Long and Short Ballots


• Long ballots are elections in which voters elect many state officials.
• In long ballot elections, voters know less about lower-profile offices.
o Voters may skip races.
o Voters may rely on familiar names or partisan cues.
o Long ballots create more opportunities for citizen activism.
o Long ballots present challenges for citizen deliberation.
 MYTHS AND MISINFORMATION: Campaign Legends

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 197

III. PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL RACES


A. Nominations
• Presidential nominees are selected to run in general election by
delegates: People entitled to vote at a party convention for the
nomination of candidates.
o Until the early twentieth century, state party leaders
picked delegates.
o Delegates are now selected by rank-and-file party voters.
o Some states hold caucuses to select delegates.
• Some aspects of the post-1960s system have prompted concern.
o Candidates must raise huge sums of money before
primaries begin.
o Candidates are less deliberative today.
➢ In the past, party leaders carefully weighed
candidates’ qualities.
➢ Ordinary voters tend to know less about the candidates.

B. The Electoral College


• Number of electors is 538, which corresponds to 435 House members,
100 senators, plus the 3 electors that the Twenty-third Amendment
provides to the District of Columbia.
• Framers intended for the Electoral College to be a deliberative body, but
by the 1830s nearly all states selected electors through popular vote.
o In each state, each candidate has a different slate of electors.
o In 48 states, candidates that win the popular vote win all
electors, too.
o Maine and Nebraska use the District system for the Electoral
College: Process currently in place whereby the statewide
presidential winner gets two at-large electors, and the choice of
the other electors depends on the popular vote within each
congressional district.
o Candidates concentrate campaign efforts to win “battleground”
states, which are states that could go either way.
• Electors meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday
in December.
o Votes are cast from their own state (or District of Columbia).
o Votes are formally counted by Congress in January.
• Majority of votes (i.e., 270) needed to win.
o If no majority, the House of Representatives selects president.
o If no majority, the Senate selects vice president.
• Electoral college winner may not be popular vote winner.
o 1824: House chose John Quincy Adams even though Andrew
Jackson had more popular votes.
o 1876 and 1888: Popular vote winner lost in Electoral College.
o 1960: Some contend that JFK lost popular vote.
o 2000: George W. Bush lost popular vote.
• Reasons to keep the Electoral College
o Less populated states believe that it increases their influence.
o The Electoral College supports federal system by drawing
attention to statewide issues.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


198 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

o Two-party structure supports winner-take-all system: The


system by which the presidential candidate who wins a plurality
of a state’s popular votes will win all of its electoral votes.
• Reasons to abolish the Electoral College
o Candidates overlook large portions of the country.
o Participation is strong in battleground states, but
weak elsewhere.
C. Congressional Elections
• Under original Constitution, senators were selected by state legislatures,
but after Seventeenth Amendment, this was changed so that senators are
now elected directly by people.
• Differences between House and Senate elections
o House elections are not as competitive.
➢ District may favor one party over the other.
➢ House members are elected every two years, thus
campaign skills are honed with frequent use.
o Senate elections are more competitive.
➢ Senatorial elections represent a variety of voters across
the states.
➢ They attract more prominent challengers.
➢ Elections, which are held every six years, allow
campaign skills to get rusty.
• Outcomes depend in part on national conditions.
o In a presidential election year, winning candidate may have
coattail effect: The tendency for a popular candidate for higher
office to draw votes for other candidates of the same party.
o President’s party tends to lose Congressional seats in midterm
elections: Elections that take place in even numbered years
when there is no presidential election.
➢ Economic conditions or declining presidential popularity
may affect Congressional vote.
➢ Absence of presidential coattails may leave some
candidates vulnerable.
➢ There may be an attempt by voters to check
presidential power.

IV. THE AMERICAN ELECTORAL PROCESS


A. Ballot Design
• Hand-counted paper ballots (nineteenth century): Once common, but are
slow, error-prone, and open to fraud
• Mechanical lever machines (early twentieth century): Large number of
moving parts increases risk of malfunction.
• Punch cards (1960s through today): Voters may fail to punch all the way
through, leading to undercounted votes.
• Optically scanned paper ballots (since 2000 election): Voters fill in
circles, but light or stray marks can spoil ballots.
• Electronic voting (most recent)
o Some jurisdictions have reported unpredictable machine failures.
o Process may be manipulated by computer hackers.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 199

B. Convenience and Inconvenience


• Inconveniences
o Most states require voters to register in advance.
o General elections are scheduled on Tuesday, which creates
problem for people who have long work days.
• Conveniences
o Early voting is available in some states.
o Absentee or mail-in ballots are available for many voters,
including members of armed forces and citizens living abroad.
o There are concerns that convenience voting
undercuts deliberation.
➢ Last minute campaign changes may affect context
of election.
➢ It may compromise citizenship by undermining role as
part of a collective society.
o Others believe that giving voters time to vote at home promotes
deliberation and reflection over choices.

V. WHAT WINS ELECTIONS?


A. Party
• Party identification offers very strong clues about voting.
o In 2010 midterm election, 91 percent of self-identified
Democrats voted for Democratic House candidates.
o In 2010 midterm election, 94 percent of Republicans voted GOP.
Partisan voters often support all party candidates.
• Ticket-splitting is in decline.

B. Demographics
• Gender and ethnicity affects partisan choice.
o In 2008, Obama had advantage with women and
ethnic minorities.
o In 2008, McCain had advantage with men, whites,
and churchgoers.
• Knowing demographic patterns, campaigns engage in mobilization:
Efforts to motivate supportive voter groups to turn out in
higher numbers.
o Microtargeting allows campaigns to tailor communication to
reflect household interests.
o Microtargeting may be responsible for increasing participation.

C. Geography
• Geography is linked to distinct political cultures and traditions that affect
voting patterns.
o Social liberalism in Connecticut helps Democrats.
o Social conservatism in Mississippi helps Republicans.
• It affects voters’ opinions on the issues, especially issues that can hurt or
help residents in that area.
• It also influences campaign strategies.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


200 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

D. Good Times, Bad Times


• War and international crises hurt presidential party when no end is
in sight.
• Economic downturn also hurts presidential party.

E. The Power of Incumbency


• Congressional incumbents usually win reelection.
• High reelection rates may be attributed to incumbency advantage: The
electoral benefits that come with holding office, such as visibility
and staff.
o Staffs assist with fundraising.
o Services provided by staff members help to win support
from constituents.
F. Message
• Incumbents emphasize their record of accomplishment whereas
nonincumbents emphasize their qualifications.
• Candidates craft issue positions that match voters’ concerns and beliefs.
• Opportunities for deliberation
o Television ads can communicate much about the candidate
or position.
o Debates can promote public deliberation.
o Technology has increased the volume of issue information.

G. Attacks
• Negative campaigns have impact, but there are differences of opinion
about their value.
o Some argue that it turns people away from politics, thus
depressing turnout.
o Others argue that it stimulates voter interest and increases
turnout among partisans.
• Negative ads are more specific about issues than positive ads.
• Attacks today are tame in comparison with those of the past.
o Past rhetoric was more inflammatory.
o Today’s code of ethics tries to keep attacks from getting out
of control.

VI. CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT


A. Where Campaign Financing Comes From
• Early federal regulation
o 1971: Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) requires full
disclosure of federal campaign contributions and expenditures.
o 1974: FECA was amended to limit contributions to all federal
candidates and political committees influencing
federal elections.
➢ Hard money: Contributions to congressional and
presidential candidates that fall under the limits of
federal campaign finance law.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 201

➢ The law established the Federal Election Commission


(FEC): The agency that administers federal campaign
finance law.
o 1976: Supreme Court upheld contribution limits in general, but
ruled against limits on independent expenditures: The use of
“hard money” to support or oppose a federal candidate but
coming from an organization that does not directly coordinate its
efforts with any of the candidates.
o FECA established guidelines for political action committees
(PACs).
o Loopholes were found in regulatory system, including:
➢ Soft money: Some contributions to political parties were
not subject to the limits of federal campaign finance law.
➢ Issue-advocacy advertisements: Advertisements that
urge the public to take action on an issue.
• Recent action
o 2002: In response to corporate scandals, Congress enacted the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).
➢ It banned soft-money contributions to political parties.
➢ It increased federal contribution limits and indexed them
for inflation.
➢ It forbade corporations and unions from using their
treasury funds to air issue-advocacy ads referencing
federal candidates within 60 days of a general election
and 30 days of a primary election or caucus.
o 2010: In Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court struck
down two components of the BCRA because they banned speech
in violation of the First Amendment.
➢ It struck down the “black out” on funding for issue-
advocacy advertisements.
➢ It struck down the longstanding on independent
campaign expenditures by corporations.
o In response to the Citizens United decision, the FEC allowed the
formation of independent expenditure-only committees or
Super PACs.
➢ Unions, corporations, and individuals may make
unlimited contributions to Super PACs, which can, in
turn, make unlimited expenditures in federal elections.
➢ Super PACs may not directly coordinate their activities
with candidates or parties.
➢ Other tax exempt groups can run campaign ads,
provided that the cost does not exceed 50 percent of their
total budgets.
• Ongoing issues
o Government may not limit candidates from spending personal
funds, thus rich candidates can run self-financed campaigns.
o Availability of matching funds: Money that the federal
government provides presidential candidates to match the money
they have raised on their own. Acceptance is voluntary and
entails restrictions on fundraising.
o State and local campaign finance rules vary widely

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


202 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

B. Where the Money Goes


• Television ads
o Television ads are heavily used in presidential campaigns.
o They are used more sparingly in Senate campaigns; may not be
used much in House campaigns.
• Direct mail: Campaign appeals, often asking for contributions, which go
directly to voters via postal mail.
• Campaign consultants: Professionals who contract with political
campaigns to provide management and other services, such as:
o media production and placement;
o “new media,” covering Web design, social networking, and
YouTube;
o polling;
o direct mail and telephone voter contact;
o press;
o fundraising;
o field operations;
o get out the vote (GOTV); and
o research.
 IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY: Online Fundraising

VII. ELECTIONS, CAMPAIGNS, AND DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY


A. What Elections Do for Candidates and Voters
• They help to create opportunities for deliberative appraisal of
government performance.
• They increase level of interest and knowledge about policies.
• They educate candidates as they prepare for campaign appearances.
• They provide opportunities for citizens to serve as office-holders.

B. Mandates and Checks


• Mandate: An election victory that indicates strong voter approval of the
winner’s plans and policies.
o Mandates give winners moral authority to put policies
into practice.
o Some question whether mandates are real.
o Mandates are questionable when winners are vague on
key issues.
o Mandates are reversible; people can vote out incumbent in
next election.
• Constitutional system enables institutions to check one another.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 203

 CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

CONSEQUENCES OF CITIZENS UNITED


After the 2010 Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision paved the way for corporations and
unions to make unlimited campaign-related expenditures, many scholars and political observers
predicted that the change would incur negative consequences for candidates, voters, and the
integrity of our campaigns and elections. Others argued that the overall effect would be neutral or
benign, since each “faction” would be opposed by a competing “faction,” as predicted by
Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 10.
1. Discuss the philosophical and practical considerations that make this a
controversial topic.
2. What are the theoretical consequences of allowing unlimited expenditures?
3. As federal law prevents corporations or unions from coordinating with political parties or
candidates, will voters tune out their ads as “background noise?”
4. What are some possible benefits of allowing unions or corporations from contributing to
the political discourse?

PROBLEMS WITH A “BATTLEGROUND” OR “SWING”


STATE FOCUS
In recent presidential elections, candidates have focused their political campaign almost
exclusively on winning a handful of states known as “battleground” or “swing” states. In these
states—there were eleven in the 2012 election—the electorate is closely divided, and, thus, the
states’ Electoral College votes are considered up for grabs. Voters in “safe” states, or states in
which the electorate leans decidedly Democratic or decidedly Republican receive little attention
from presidential contenders. Tired of being ignored, some state lawmakers have considered
changing the way their state allocates its Electoral College votes. Some have suggested awarding
them by Congressional district, whereas others have suggested awarding them to the winner of
the nationwide popular vote.
1. How might the near-exclusive focus on “battleground” or “swing” states affect voters’
sense of efficacy or influence in a presidential election?
2. How would awarding Electoral College votes by district change the dynamics of the
presidential election?
3. Would state lawmakers’ suggestions for reform make the situation better or worse?

 LECTURE LAUNCHERS

BLAME THE POLITICAL CONSULTANTS


Most political observers agree that state and national campaigns grow more expensive with each
election cycle. But are corporations, unions, or candidates to blame? In June 2012, longtime
political consultants Doug Bailey and Les Francis published an opinion-editorial article that laid a
portion of the blame at the feet of political consultants. They lamented the lack of integrity with
today’s consultants, declaring that the consulting profession today is the “very embodiment of
‘following the money.’ It has become an industry without a conscience.” According to Bailey and
Francis, current consultants are nothing more than hired guns who exploit candidates for their

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


204 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

own financial gain. Moreover, many eschew the candidates’ interests in favor of their own,
carrying more about the lobbying opportunities or networking contacts that they can make during
the course of a campaign than whether the candidate wins or loses. With such activities becoming
commonplace, voters lose confidence and trust in candidates and the electoral process, which
undermines the system as a whole. In order to reverse this trend, Bailey and Francis argue that the
profession needs to love the country enough “to clean up its act.”

COLORADO AND THE VOTE FOR MARIJUANA


In November 2012, Colorado voters will have the opportunity to vote on a state ballot initiative to
legalize marijuana so it can be taxed and regulated in a fashion similar to alcohol. The Obama
Administration has taken a tough stand on state-approved marijuana dispensaries, but political
observers believe that the ballot initiative is strongly favored among younger voters, who are also
likely to support the Democrat ticket.
In 2008, Obama won the popular vote Colorado by nine percentage points, due, in part, to strong
turnout among college-aged voters. However, in 2012 Colorado was considered by most to be a
“swing state,” that could go for either Obama or Romney. As college students, do you believe
that if enough young supporters for legalization of marijuana could tilt the scales in a swing state?

 IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
Activity #1: Positive or Negative?
This activity is designed to help students understand the various strategies that candidates may
employ in a typical campaign. This exercise may be completed in 20–30 minutes.
In 2008, Obama pledged to run only positive campaign messages in order to usher in a new era of
“Hope” and “Change.” By mid-2012, with poll numbers tightening, Obama began to launch a
barrage of negative ads against challenger Mitt Romney in critically-important “swing states.”
Although some Democrats complained that Obama was breaking his previous positive-only
pledge, supporters were quick to point out that the negative ads seemed to work. To assess the
effectiveness of past campaign ads, divide the class into groups of four and assign each group a
presidential campaign year between 1952 and 2008 featured on the “Living Room Candidate”
website (www.livingroomcandidate.org). Then, ask students to watch an equal number of
commercials for each of the two major party candidates. (If students do not routinely bring
laptops to class, then this activity may be done together using the classroom computer.) Ask
students to identify the topic of the commercial, the tone of the commercial (positive or negative),
and the overall effectiveness of the commercial. At the conclusion of the activity, ask students to
identify for whom they would have voted if they had been eligible to vote in that election and,
using information from the advertisements, ask them to identify the reasons for their support.

Activity #2: Deliberating a Ballot Initiative


Using information from the state election Web sites listed in the Web Sources section below, this
exercise will give students the opportunity to review past or present ballot initiatives and explore
some of the challenges presented by initiative politics. This activity could be tailored to fit within
a single class period (45–60 minutes), or expanded to create a service-learning project.
Divide students into groups of three or four and have them select a ballot initiative to review. For
a short in-class activity, have the students share with each other the main points of the initiative
and ask them to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the initiative for the rest of the
class. To expand this activity into a service-learning project, ask students to research the

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 205

background of the initiative, detail the positions of the interest groups supporting and opposing
the initiative, and the response of lawmakers (if any) to the ballot proposition. Then, have
students in each group create a piece of campaign literature (e.g., Web site, brochure, flyer,
poster, YouTube video, and so on) encouraging their classmates and members of the community
to support (or oppose) this particular initiative. (Tip: Be sure to remind students to feature
arguments supported by research.)

 KEY TERMS
At-large election Race in which candidates run not in districts, but in an entire state, county,
city, or town.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) A 2002 federal law that banned soft-money
contributions to political parties. It also increased federal contribution limits and indexed
them for inflation.
Campaign consultants Professionals who contract with political campaigns to provide
management and other services.
Coattail effect The tendency for a popular candidate for higher office to draw votes for other
candidates of the same party.
Delegate A person entitled to vote at a party convention for the nomination of candidates.
Direct mail Campaign appeals, often asking for contributions, which go directly to voters via
postal mail.
District system for the Electoral College A process currently in place in Maine and Nebraska,
whereby the statewide presidential winner gets two at-large electors, and the choice of the
other electors depends on the popular vote within each congressional district.
Early voting A procedure by which people may cast ballots at designated stations before
Election Day.
Elector A person entitled to vote in the Electoral College (below).
Electoral college The mechanism for formal election of the president and vice president. The
Electoral College consists of 538 members, or electors. Each state has a number of
electors equal to the number of its U.S. senators and House members. The District of
Columbia has a number of electors equal to those of the smallest state. The electors meet
in their own states and vote for president and vice president. To win, a candidate must
have a majority of electoral votes (at least 270).
Federal Election Commission (FEC) The agency that administers federal campaign
finance law.
General election An election for final selection of a variety of offices. The general election for
federal office is “on the first Tuesday after the first Monday” in November of even-
numbered years.
Gerrymandering The drawing of district lines, often in odd shapes, to benefit a party or
constituency group.
Incumbency advantage The electoral benefits that come with holding office, such as visibility
and staff.
Incumbent One who currently holds an elected office.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


206 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

Independent expenditures The use of funds to support or oppose a federal candidate but
coming from a source that does not directly coordinate its efforts with any of the parties
or candidates.
Initiative A procedure that allows citizens to draft their own legislation and get it on the ballot
through a petition.
Instant-runoff voting A system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no
candidate gets more than 50% of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest
first-preference votes drops off and the votes for that candidate are redistributed
according to the voters’ next preference. The process repeats until a candidate wins
a majority.
Issue-advocacy advertisement Advertisements that urge the public to take action on an issue.
Although they may mention federal candidates in a favorable or unfavorable light, they
do not directly urge the candidates’ election or defeat.
Legislative referendum A vote that takes place when a state legislature sends measures to the
people for their approval.
Majority-minority district An election district in which members of an ethnic or racial minority
constitute a majority of votes.
Mandate An election victory that indicates strong voter approval of the winner’s plans
and policies.
Matching funds Money that the federal government provides to presidential candidates to match
the money they have raised on their own. Acceptance is voluntary and entails
restrictions on fundraising. Presidential candidates have increasingly decided to forgo
matching funds.
Midterm election Elections that take place in even numbered years when there is no presidential
election. In a midterm election, the offices up for contest include all U.S. House seats,
about one-third of U.S. Senate seats, as well as most governorships and state
legislative seats.
Mobilization Efforts to motivate supportive voter groups to turn out in higher numbers.
Nonpartisan election An election in which the candidates’ party affiliation does not appear on
the ballot.
One person, one vote A judicial principle holding that everyone should have equal voting power
in district elections.
Partisan election A contest in which each candidate’s party affiliation appears on the ballot.
Partisan primary A primary in which voters nominate party candidates for the general election.
Popular referendum A process whereby people may gather signatures to enable the voters to
accept or reject measures that the legislature has passed.
Primary An election that determines who runs in the final or general election.
Reapportionment A process that reallocates House seats to states in line with population
changes. People often confuse this term with redistricting, which refers to the drawing
of the district lines.
Recall elections Special elections in which voters in some states may oust officeholders before
their regular terms expire.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns 207

Redistricting The drawing of boundaries for legislative districts, which usually takes place after
the federal census.
Runoff primary A primary used in some states in which the top finishers face off if no one wins
a majority (or some designated percentage) in the first-round partisan primary.
Single-member district Constituencies that elect only one member to a legislative body.
Super PAC An independent expenditure-only political action committee that may raise
unlimited funds from individual, corporations, and unions. A Super PAC may make
unlimited expenditures in federal election campaigns, provided that it does not directly
coordinate its activity with the candidates or political parties it supports.
Ticket-splitting The practice of voting for candidates of different parties for different offices in
the same election.
Winner-take-all system The system by which the presidential candidate who wins a plurality of
a state’s popular votes will win all of its electoral votes.

 WEB LINKS
Some students may find the topics covered in this chapter to be complex or challenging.
However, there are now a number of interactive Web sites that can help students more fully
understand this material. Additionally, educators can use these Web sites to spark interest in
campaigns and elections by incorporating them into classroom discussion or student research
projects.
Web sites related to federal election topics
270towin.com: (http://270towin.com). 270towin is an interactive Electoral College map with
detailed information about past presidential elections.
Factcheck.org: (http://www.factcheck.org/). Factcheck features analysis of statements by
candidates and officials.
Federal Election Commission: (http://www.fec.gov). This Web site provides data and disclosure
on federal campaign finance.
David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections: (http://uselectionatlas.org). The site provides
maps and historical data.
The Living Room Candidate: (http://www.livingroomcandidate.org). The Living Room
Candidate features presidential campaign commercials 1952–2008.
OpenSecrets.org: (http://www.opensecrets.org). This Web site provides data and analysis of
campaign finance.
Public Campaign: (http://www.publicampaign.org). This is an advocacy site dedicated to
reducing the influence of special interest group funding in state and federal elections.
Voting America: (http://americanpast.richmond.edu/voting). Voting America provides
“cinematic” maps of electoral history.
Web sites related to state and local elections
Initiative and Referendum Institute: (http://www.iandrinstitute.org). This site provides
information on past and present ballot initiatives.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


208 Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns

National Conference of State Legislatures: (http://www.ncsl.org). This Web site provides news
and data on state election issues.
National Institute on Money in State Politics: (http://www.followthemoney.org). This Web site
provides information on state political donations.
Stateline.org: (http://stateline.org/live). This site features daily news updates on state politics and
policies.

 INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES
Burton, Michael John, and Daniel M. Shea. Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of
Political Campaign Management, 4th ed. Santa Barbara: Praeger. 2010. Print.
Ceaser, James W., Andrew E. Busch, and John J. Pitney Jr. Epic Journey: The 2008 Elections
and American Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. 2009. Print.
Ellis, Richard J. Democratic Delusions: The Initiative Process in America. Lawrence: UP of
Kansas. 2002. Print.
Herrnson, Paul S. Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington. 6th ed.
Washington, DC: CQ Press. 2012. Print.
Niemi Richard G., and Paul S. Herrnson. “Beyond the Butterfly: The Complexity of U.S.
Ballots.” Perspectives on Political Science 1 (June 2003): 317–26.
Popkin, Samuel L. The Candidate: What It Takes to Win – and Hold – The White House. New
York: Oxford UP. 2012. Print.

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


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Forge and furnace: A novel
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Title: Forge and furnace: A novel

Author: Florence Warden

Release date: August 5, 2022 [eBook #68689]

Language: English

Original publication: United Kingdom: New Amsterdam Book


Company, 1896

Credits: MWS, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading


Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
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Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FORGE AND


FURNACE: A NOVEL ***
Transcriber’s Note:

Obvious typographic errors have been


corrected.
“Oh, father, don’t, don’t! You’ll hurt him.”—Frontispiece.
FORGE AND FURNACE
A Novel

BY
FLORENCE WARDEN
AUTHOR OF
“THE HOUSE ON THE MARSH,” “SCHEHERAZADE,” “A
PRINCE
OF DARKNESS,” ETC.

New York
NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY
156 FIFTH AVENUE

Copyright, 1896,
BY
NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY.
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE
I. A Pair of Brown Eyes 5
II. Claire 13
III. Something Wrong at the Farm 18
IV. Claire’s Apology 21
V. Bram’s Rise in Life 31
VI. Mr. Biron’s Condescension 38
VII. Bram’s Dismissal 46
VIII. Another Step Upward 54
IX. A Call and a Dinner Party 61
X. The Fine Eyes of her Cashbox 70
XI. Bram Shows Himself in a New Light 80
XII. A Model Father 86
XIII. An Ill-matched Pair 102
XIV. The Deluge 111
XV. Parent and Lover 118
XVI. The Pangs of Despised Love 126
XVII. Bram Speaks his Mind 134
XVIII. Face to Face 143
XIX. Sanctuary 151
XX. The Furnace Fires 159
XXI. The Fire Goes Out 168
XXII. Claire’s Confession 173
XXIII. Father and Daughter 184
XXIV. Mr. Biron’s Repentance 190
XXV. Meg 200
XXVI. The Goal Reached 206
FORGE AND FURNACE;
THE ROMANCE OF A SHEFFIELD BLADE.
CHAPTER I.
A PAIR OF BROWN EYES.

Thud, thud. Amidst a shower of hot, yellow sparks the steam


hammer came down on the glowing steel, shaking the ground under
the feet of the master of the works and his son, who stood just
outside the shed. In the full blaze of the August sunshine, which was,
however, tempered by such clouds of murky smoke as only Sheffield
can boast, old Mr. Cornthwaite, acclimatized for many a year to heat
and to coal dust, stood quite unconcerned.
Tall, thin, without an ounce of superfluous flesh on his bones, with a
fresh-colored face which seemed to look the younger and the
handsomer for the silver whiteness of his hair and of his long, silky
moustache, Josiah Cornthwaite’s was a figure which would have
arrested attention anywhere, but which was especially noticeable for
the striking contrast he made to the rough-looking Yorkshiremen at
work around him.
Like a swarm of demons on the shores of Styx, they moved about,
haggard, gaunt, uncouth figures, silent amidst the roar of the
furnaces and the whirr of the wheels, lifting the bars of red-hot steel
with long iron rods as easily and unconcernedly as if they had been
hot rolls baked in an infernal oven, heedless of the red-hot sparks
which fell around them in showers as each blow of the steam
hammer fell.
Mr. Cornthwaite, whose heart was in his furnaces, his huge revolving
wheels, his rolling mills, and his gigantic presses, watched the work,
familiar as it was to him, with fascinated eyes.
“What day was it last month that Biron turned up here?” he asked his
son with a slight frown.
This frown often crossed old Mr. Cornthwaite’s face when he and his
son were at the works together, for Christian by no means shared his
father’s enthusiasm for the works, and was at small pains to hide the
fact.
“Oh, I’m sure I don’t remember. How should I remember?” said he
carelessly, as he looked down at his hands, and wondered how
much more black coal dust there would be on them by the time the
guv’nor would choose to let him go.
A young workman, with a long, thin, pale, intelligent face, out of
which two deep-set, shrewd, gray eyes looked steadily, glanced up
quickly at Mr. Cornthwaite. He had been standing near enough to
hear the remarks exchanged between father and son.
“Well, Elshaw, what is it?” said the elder Mr. Cornthwaite with an
encouraging smile. “Any more discoveries to-day?”
A little color came into the young man’s face.
“No, sir,” said he shyly in a deep, pleasant voice, speaking with a
broad Yorkshire accent which was not in his mouth unpleasant to the
ear. “Ah heard what you asked Mr. Christian, sir, and remember it
was on the third of the month Mr. Biron came.”
“Thanks. Your memory is always to be trusted. I think you’ve got your
head screwed on the right way, Elshaw.”
“Ah’m sure, Ah hope so, sir,” said the young fellow, smiling in return
for his employer’s smile, and touching his cap as he moved away.
“Smart lad that Elshaw,” said Mr. Cornthwaite approvingly. “And
steady. Never drinks, as so many of them do.”
“Can you wonder at their drinking?” broke out Christian with energy,
“when they have to spend their lives at this infernal work? It parches
my throat only to watch them, and I’m sure if I had to pass as many
hours as they do in this awful, grimy hole I should never be sober.”
The elder Mr. Cornthwaite looked undecided whether to frown or to
laugh at this tirade, which had at least the merit of being uttered in all
sincerity by the very person who could least afford to utter it. He
compromised by giving breath to a little sigh.
“It’s very disheartening to me to hear you say so, Chris, when it has
been the aim of my life to bring you up to carry on and build up the
business I have given my life to,” he said.
Christian Cornthwaite’s face was not an expressive one. He was
extraordinarily unlike his father in almost every way, having
prominent blue eyes, instead of his father’s piercing black ones, a
fair complexion, while his father’s was dark, a figure shorter, broader,
and less upright, and an easy, happy-go-lucky walk and manner, as
different as possible from the erect, military bearing of the head of
the firm.
What little expression he could throw into his big blue eyes he threw
into them now, as he pulled his long, ragged, tawny moustache and
echoed his father’s sigh.
“Well, isn’t it disheartening for me too, sir,” protested he good-
humoredly, “to hear you constantly threatening to put me on bread
and water for the rest of my life if I don’t settle down in this beastly
hole and try to love it?”
“It ought to be natural to you to love what has brought you up in
every comfort, educated you like a prince, and made of you——”
Josiah Cornthwaite paused, and a twinkle came into his black eyes.
“Made of you,” he went on thoughtfully, “a selfish, idle vagabond,
with only wit enough to waste the money his father has made.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Chris, quite cheerfully. “If that’s the best the
works have done for me, why should I love them?”
At that moment young Elshaw passed before his eyes again, and
recalled Christian’s attention to a subject which would, he shrewdly
thought, divert the current of his father’s thoughts from his own
deficiencies.
“I wonder, sir,” he said, “that you don’t put Bram Elshaw into the
office. He’s fit for something better than this sort of thing.”
And he waved his hand in the direction of the group in the middle of
which stood Elshaw, rod in hand, with his lean, earnest face intent on
his work.
Josiah Cornthwaite’s eyes rested on the young man. Bram was a
little above the middle height, thin, sallow, with shoulders somewhat
inclined to be narrow and sloping, but with a face which commanded
attention. He had short, mouse-colored hair, high cheek bones, a
short nose, a straight mouth, and a very long straight chin; altogether
an assemblage of features which promised little in the way of
attractiveness.
And yet attractive his face certainly was. Intelligence, strength of
character, good humor, these were the qualities which even a casual
observer could read in the countenance of Bram Elshaw.
But the lad had more in him than that. He had ambition, vague as
yet, dogged tenacity of purpose, imagination, feeling, fire. There was
the stuff; of a man of no common kind in the young workman.
Josiah Cornthwaite looked at him long and critically before
answering his son’s remark.
“Yes,” said he at last slowly, “I daresay he’s fit for something better—
indeed, I’m sure of it. But it doesn’t do to bring these young fellows
on too fast. If he gets too much encouragement he will turn into an
inventor (you know the sort of chap that’s the common pest of a
manufacturing town, always worrying about some precious
‘invention’ that turns out to have been invented long ago, or to be
utterly worthless), and never do a stroke of honest work again.”
“Now, I don’t think Elshaw’s that sort of chap,” said Chris, who
looked upon Bram as in some sort his protégé, whose merit would
be reflected on himself. “Anyhow, I think it would be worth your while
to give him a trial, sir.”
“But he would never go back to this work afterwards if he proved a
failure in the office.”
“Not here, certainly.”
“And we should lose a very good workman,” persisted Mr.
Cornthwaite, who had conservative notions upon the subject of
promotion from the ranks.
“Well, I believe it would turn out all right,” said Chris.
His father was about to reply when his attention was diverted by the
sudden appearance, at the extreme end of the long avenue of sheds
and workshops, of two persons who, to judge by the frown which
instantly clouded his face, were very unwelcome.
“That old rascal again! That old rascal Theodore Biron! Come to
borrow again, of course! But I won’t see him. I won’t——”
“But, Claire, don’t be too hard on the old sinner, for the girl’s sake,
sir,” said Chris hastily, cutting short his protests.
Mr. Cornthwaite turned sharply upon his son.
“Yes, the old fox is artful enough for that. He uses his daughter to get
himself received where he himself wouldn’t be tolerated for two
minutes. And I’ve no doubt the little minx is up to every move on the
board too.”
“Oh, come, sir, you’re too hard,” protested Chris with real warmth,
and with more earnestness than he had shown on the subject either
of his own career or of Bram’s. “I’d stake my head for what it’s worth,
and I suppose you’d say that isn’t much, on the girl’s being all right.”
But this championship did not please his father at all. Josiah
Cornthwaite’s bushy white eyebrows met over his black eyes, and
his handsome, ruddy-complexioned face lost its color. Chris was
astonished, and regretted his own warmth, as his father answered in
the tones he could remember dreading when he was a small boy—
“Whether she’s all right or all wrong, I warn you not to trouble your
head about her. You may rely upon my doing the best I can for her,
on account of my relationship to her mother. But I would never
countenance an alliance between the family of that old reprobate
and mine.”
But to this Chris responded with convincing alacrity—
“An alliance! Good heavens, no, sir! We suffer quite enough at the
hands of the old nuisance already. And I have no idea, I assure you,
of throwing myself away.”
Josiah Cornthwaite still kept his shrewd black eyes fixed upon his
son, and he seemed to be satisfied with what he read in the face of
the latter, for he presently turned away with a nod of satisfaction as
Theodore Biron and his daughter, who had perhaps been lingering a
little until the great man’s first annoyance at the sight of them had
blown over, came near enough for a meeting.
“Ah, Mr. Cornthwaite, surely there’s no sight in the world to beat
this,” began the dapper little man airily as he held out a small,
slender, and remarkably well-shaped hand with a flourish, and kept
his eyes all the time upon the men at work in the nearest shed as if
the sight had too much fascination for him to be able readily to
withdraw his eyes. “This,” he went on, apparently not noticing that
Mr. Cornthwaite’s handshake was none of the warmest, “of a whole
community immersed in the noblest of all occupations, the turning of
the innocent, lifeless substances of the earth into tool and wheel,
ship and carriage! I must say that this place has a charm for me
which I have never found in the fairest spots of Switzerland; that
after seeing whatever was to be seen in California, the States, the
Himalayas, Russia, and the rest of it, I have always been ready to
say, not exactly with the poet, but with a full heart, ‘Give me
Sheffield!’ And to-day, when I came to have a look at the works,” he
wound up in a less lofty tone, “I thought I would bring my little Claire
to have a peep too.”
“Ah, Mr. Cornthwaite, surely there’s no sight in the world to beat
this.”—Page 10.
In spite of the absurdity of his harangue, Theodore Biron knew how
to throw into his voice and manner so much fervor. He spoke, he
gesticulated with so much buoyancy and effect, that his hearers
were amused and interested in spite of themselves, and were carried
away, for the time at least, into believing, or half-believing, that he
was in earnest.
Josiah Cornthwaite, always accessible to flattery on the matter of
“the works,” as the artful Theodore knew, suffered himself to smile a
little as he turned to Claire.
“And so you have to be sacrificed, and must consent to be bored to
please papa?”
“Oh, I shan’t be bored. I shall like it,” said Claire.
She spoke in a little thread of a musical, almost childish, voice, and
very shyly. But as she did so, uttering only these simple words, a
great change took place in her. Before she spoke no one would have
said more of her than that she was a quiet, modest-looking, perhaps
rather insignificant, little girl, and that her gray frock was neat and
well-fitting.
But no sooner did she open her mouth to speak or to smile than the
little olive-skinned face broke into all sorts of pretty dimples. The
black eyes made up for what they lacked in size by their sparkle and
brilliancy, and the two rows of little ivory teeth helped the dazzling
effect.
Then Claire Biron was charming. Then even Josiah Cornthwaite
forgot to ask himself whether she was not cunning. Then Chris
stroked his mustache, and told himself with complacency that he had
done a good deed in standing up for the poor, little thing.
But rough Bram Elshaw, whom Chris had beckoned to come
forward, and who stood respectfully in the background, waiting to
know for what he was wanted, felt as if he had received an electric
shock.
Bram was held very unsusceptible to feminine influences. He was
what the factory and shop lasses of the town called a hard nut to
crack, a close-fisted customer, and other terms of a like opprobrious
nature. Occupied with his books, those everlasting books, and with
his vague dreams of something indefinite and as yet far out of his
reach, he had, at this ripe age of twenty, looked down upon such
members of the frivolous sex as came in his way, and dreamed of
something fairer in the shape of womanhood, something to which a
pretty young actress whom he had seen at one of the theatres in the
part of “Lady Betty Noel,” had given more definite form.
And now quite suddenly, in the broad light of an August morning,
with nothing more romantic than the rolling mill for a background,
there had broken in upon his startled imagination the creature the
sight of whom he seemed to have been waiting for. As he stood
there motionless, his eyes riveted, his ears tingling with the very
sound of her voice, he felt that a revelation had been made to him.
As if revealed in one magnetic flash, he saw in a moment what it was
that woman meant to man; saw the attraction that the rough lads of
his acquaintance found in the slovenly, noisy girls of their own courts
and alleys; stood transfixed, coarse-handed son of toil that he was,
under the spell of love.
The voice of Chris Cornthwaite close to his ear startled him out of a
stupor of intoxication.
“What’s the matter with you, Bram? You look as if you’d been struck
by lightning. You are to go round the works with Miss Biron and
explain things, you know. And listen” (he might well have to recall
Bram’s wandering attention, for this command had thrown the lad
into a sort of frenzy, on which he found it difficult enough to suppress
all outward signs), “I have something much more important to tell
you than that.” But Bram’s face was a blank. “You are to come up to
the Park next Thursday evening, and I think you’ll find my father has
something to say to you that you’ll be glad to hear. And mind this,
Bram, it was I who put him up to it. It’s me you’ve got to thank.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Bram, touching his cap respectfully, and trying
to speak as if he felt grateful.
But he was not. He felt no emotion whatever. He was stupefied by
the knowledge that he was to go round the works with Miss Biron.

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