Question by glitterbugbp: How do the election candidates get selected to run in the final race?
How do I get Obama in the election race rather than Clinton? Is there a pre election that decides who is the final candidate? Clinton is a hypocrite and I can’t stand her. Obama is the only one that I can see that actually has some common sense.
Best answer:
Answer by Bryan S
You register with the party of your choosing and vote in the primary. Only ~9% of the voting populace votes in primaries, so strong activism support is what it takes to get a candidate past the primaries, not general opinion.
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Depending upon your state, you’ll have either a primary or a caucus. Some states require party registration in order to participate.
Your best bet is to contact your county elections board, look for their number in the blue pages of your phone book. They’ll be able to tell you the specifics.
Also, beyond voting, you can visit your candidates web site and find ways to volunteer, contribute, and organize.
Your interest in politics is interesting. Obviously your curiosity is enlightening.
Both the Democrats and Republicans have party conventions (large meetings) where their final candidate is selected. Prior to these national meetings, there are state primary elections where the people in each state vote for the candidate they want. What they actually are doing is electing a “slate” (group) of “electors” who represent a particular candidate. The electors go to the national party congress or “convention” and nomimate their candidate.
The vice presidential candidate is generally chosen from amoung the “losers” in the party elections.
Your comments seem to indicate that you lean toward the Democrate candidates. Have you done any reading about the particular candidate’s opinions on various issues? Do you support a woman’s right to abortion? Do you support a state’s right to allow prayer in your classrooms? Do you support NAFTA? Do you support our current policies on Iraq? What is your opinon on trade with China? On support to public education? On support to private schools? Do you think a woman has the ability to lead a country as large and powerful as the USA? Do you think a black man has the ability to deal with white leaders of other major nations? Is a black man even electable in this country today? Do you think America should support our current Social Security program? Do you think we should have universal health insurance for all our citizens? What about gun control? Do you believe that the 4th amendment allows or encourages all our citizens to have handguns in the glove compartment of their vehicle for self protection?
Wow! That’s a lot to think about. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party have differing views on these items, and candidates within the parties have different ideas as well. I’m impressed that you are interested in politics. I hope you vote when you are able, based upon the issues, not on emotion or because someone else said something about a candidate. It’s too important to us all to simply call one candidate a hipocrit and the other one as the one with common sense.
Thanks for reading my lecture.
Vote against Clinton in the Democratic primaries, for all the good it will do. She already has the DNC nomination all but signed sealed and delivered.