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Elections, Campaigns, & Nominations - Coggle Diagram

- - - - In a caucus, voters gather at a voting precinct and effectively hold a meeting, collectively deciding how to allocate votes amongst the candidates, often by eliminating the least popular candidates in a process similar to the ranked choice voting system.
    - - People go to the polls and vote for the candidate they want to win. The candidate with the most votes wins. In a local or state election, a majority of the votes is typically required to win office. If no candidate reaches a majority, a runoff is held, and the winner of the runoff wins the seat. In a Presidential election, there are no runoffs: the candidate with the plurality of the votes wins the delegates for a particular state.
- - - - Citizens United: Extended free speech protections of money to corporations and not just individuals, reinstituting dark money in the American political process. It effectively overturned BCRA
      - The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold): 2002 act that banned soft money and extended regulations created under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Heavily limited and effectively eliminated by the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United
    - - The Iron Triangle
        
        A term referring to the relationship between a legislator, lobbyist, and bureaucrat that creates corruption in our political system
      - A term referring to donations and political contributions from lobbyists, typically for large companies and industries, that are given to sitting or running political candidates in exchange for favorable legislation.
  - - - Media coverage is possibly the most important aspect of campaign advertising. Media coverage can be used to introduce a candidate to voters, spread positive messaging about the candidate, attack opponents, and run get-out-the-vote initiatives. Media coverage allows a candidate to reach their potential number of votes.
    - - Candidates without much momentum may see their campaigns fizzle out early in the primaries even if they are strong contenders overall. By contrast, candidates with momentum will benefit from increasing donations and media coverage as the campaign progresses. Furthermore, as candidates perform well early, they will be seen as more serious contenders later in the campaign, allowing them to receive votes they may not have otherwise received. Momentum is the reason why states who hold their Presidential primaries early (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, etc.) have a disproportionate influence on the outcome of the primaries.
    - - Money is critical to running a campaign. Money is needed to fund travel to visit all parts of a city, state, or country. It is needed to purchase advertising materials. It is needed to pay campaign staff and political consultants, and it is needed to develop and constantly revise a winning campaign strategy.