American Presidency
Professor Phillip Mundo
October 7, 2015
How has the presidential selection system (nomination process and general election) changed over time? What caused these changes? Does this system produce better candidates for the presidency now than it did at an earlier time? Use course readings and lectures to construct your argument. Use examples of at least two presidents to support your essay.
On July 4, 1776, following the gruesome war with the British, the United States of America was founded. As the pledge of allegiance states, the country was founded on the basis of “freedom, liberty and justice for all.” The founding fathers are remembered in history for building up America; John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, …show more content…
These factors will make or break a political campaign overnight. Some of these factors include: having a media advantage over the opposition, having a monetary advantage as well as having a larger percentage of voters that share the same views. Although the selection process is complex, due to the exact rule changes between each presidential campaign, it can easily be understood by differentiating - major party nominations and the general election campaign. These major phases are then broken down into sub-phases. The nomination campaign consist of; Pre-Primary, Early Primaries and Caucuses, Other primaries and caucuses and party conventions. Whereas the general election consists of; general election campaign, general Election Day and the Electoral …show more content…
At the time of the other primaries and caucus, the Republicans only had Bush and McCain competing and the Democrats still had Gore and Bradley. By the party conventions, Bush and Gore represented the Republicans and Democrats respectively. Bush emerged with the upper hand.
Now compare the difference between the different phases that Bush had to face in the race to emerge as president, with George Washington who was merely elected as president. This goes to show the changes that have occurred over time till today with regards to elections. One can argue that in the case of Washington, the legislators had to elect him as an elector, as well as a majority of the electors selecting him as president. However with the case of Bush, within his party alone, he was battling ideas brought forth between ten other prospective candidates, before given the ability to represent the Republicans against Al Gore. It is easy for one to conclude that Washington had somewhat of a smooth ride into presidency whereas Bush had no choice but to emerge as the number one