WAY TO THE WHITEHOUSE

            The election to the President’s office is a huge management exercise involving massive fund mobilization, campaigning, public relations and image building (and destroying to). The ground work by politicians begins as early as two years before the election.

How does a candidate get his party’s nomination?

            Politicians with ambitions to contest elections in USA have to win nomination of their respective party i.e. Republican or Democratic. For Presidential election this process, known as primaries, starts in January of the election year. Voters in each of the 50 states select party delegates, who in most cases have pledged to support a particular candidate. Some states use a caucus, a local meeting system, rather than primaries. Some states use secret ballot while in others voters raise hands.

These are intensely contested by candidates and their swinging fates are closely followed by the media. Such was the frenzy last time when Obama, with his politically incorrect identity, was challenging former first lady Hillary Clinton in primaries that many would have thought it was actual Presidential election

How is the Vice-President selected

The national party conventions of both parties, held a few months before the election, are where the candidates are formally nominated. The winning candidate then picks a running-mate of his choice for Vice-President, sometimes from among the defeated rivals. Both contest the election jointly. In 1980 Ronald Regan of the Republican Party had chosen George Bush Sr., whom he had defeated in the primaries as his running mate.

The last stage

 In this stage candidates of both the parties fully square up against each other. Corporate houses and major lobbies pitch in and astronomical sums are spent on reaching out to the electorate. In the final weeks, the contenders typically concentrate their attention on big "swing states", where the outcome is uncertain.

What are Presidential Debates?

            In the month of October three Presidential debates are held live on TV. Candidates put their wits, knowledge and debating skills to test before millions of voters. It allows the electorate to have a head to head comparison of not only their respective policies but also their confidence, temperament and intelligence.

            Performance at the debates affects a voter’s decision and hence many opinion polls are conducted and relative standing of the two candidates is judged by media houses.

How are the elections held?

 Polling takes place on the ‘first Tuesday after the first Monday in November’. Voters do not, directly vote for the president. They choose "electors", who are pledged to one or another candidate. These electors collectively form the ‘Electoral College’ of 538 members.

Every state is allotted a certain number of electors to the college, based on the size of its population. At the end of election the result declared is the number of votes polled by the electors of both parties.            

Therefore only majority vote doesn’t ensure victory, a candidate must also have majority of electors. Different systems of deciding majority in different states further complicate it. In some states, the winner of the popular vote gets all the electoral college’s votes in that state.

In the 2000 contest between George W Bush and Al Gore, the latter was ahead on actual vote count. But since all electoral college votes of Florida went in Bush’ favour under the aforesaid system, he emerged victorious.

            The electors then meet in respective state capitals and cast their votes as pledged. The President assumes the charge on 20^th January.