Presidential+Campaign


 * []- what is primary, what is caucus

**The Primary**

In states holding them, presidential primary elections are open to all registered voters. Just like in general elections, voting is done through a secret ballot. Voters may choose from among all registered candidates and write ins are counted. There are two types of primaries, closed and open. In a closed primary, voters may vote only in the primary of the political party in which they registered. For example, a voter who registered as a Republican can only vote in the Republican primary. In an open primary, registered voters can vote in the primary of either party, but are allowed to vote in only one primary. Most states hold closed primaries. Primary elections also vary in what names appear on their ballots. Most states hold presidential preference primaries, in which the actual presidential candidates' names appear on the ballot. In other states, only the names of convention delegates appear on the ballot. Delegates may state their support for a candidate or declare themselves to be uncommitted. In some states, delegates are bound, or "pledged" to vote for the primary winner in voting at the national convention. In other states some or all delegates are "unpledged," and free to vote for any candidate they wish at the convention.

**The Caucus** Caucuses are simply meetings, open to all registered voters of the party, at which delegates to the party's national convention are selected. When the caucus begins, the voters in attendance divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. The undecided voters congregate into their own group and prepare to be "courted" by supporters of other candidates. Voters in each group are then invited to give speeches supporting their candidate and trying to persuade others to join their group. At the end of the caucus, party organizers count the voters in each candidate's group and calculate how many delegates to the county convention each candidate has won. As in the primaries, the caucus process can produce both pledged and unpledged convention delegates, depending on the party rules of the various states.


 * at least 35 years of age. born in U.S., good educations (graduated from prestigious colleges), resident for 14 years
 * To have a person's name appear on the ballot in any given state they must have received the minimum number of votes required by that state in the state's primary, or collect the required number of signatures from registered voters supporting your name be listed on the ballot (the signature does not count as avote, or bind the signer)

>
 * The number required varies a little from state to state, the number is equal to around 10% of registered voters.
 * That's up to the political parties. Most political parties hold conventions, which are large meetings attended by "delegates." Some delegates are selected by state "primary" elections, some are selected by state caucuses (very much like primaries, except with public voting instead of secret ballots), and some are chosen for their prominence in the party. A majority of delegate votes is needed to win the party's nomination. In most cases, the delegates let their chosen presidential candidate select a vice-presidential candidate.

**How Delegates are Awarded** The Democratic and Republican parties use different methods for determining how many delegates are awarded to, or "pledged" to vote for the various candidates at their national conventions. Democrats use a proportional method. Each candidate is awarded a number of delegates in proportion to their support in the state caucuses or the number of primary votes they won. For example, consider a state with 20 delegates at a democratic convention with three candidates. If candidate "A" received 70% of all caucus and primary votes, candidate "B" 20% and candidate "C" 10%, candidate "A" would get 14 delegates, candidate "B" would get 4 delegates and candidate "C" would get 2 delegates. In the Republican Party, each state chooses either the proportional method or a "winner-take-all" method of awarding delegates. Under the winner-take-all method, the candidate getting the most votes from a state's caucus or primary, gets all of that state's delegates at the national convention

[]- people who are satisfied with Obama who are not
 * 37% of voters are happy


 * 63% of voter are not

[]- Obama's chance at reelection
 * Obama's shots at reelection: 50/50

__**Republicans**__
[]-candidates in each party [|http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2012-republican-presidential-candidates-abc-news-guidebook/story?id=12164311#.TssadrLNltk]- about each Republican candidates
 * Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman Jr., Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum
 * Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry
 * Solutions to Foreign Policy, Protect Planet, War in Iraq, Debts in America, Debt Ceiling Crisis [|http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2751983/post]

Prospective- Virgil Goode, Jesse Ventura

Green Party
Libertarian Party
 * [|Kent Mesplay], Green Party activist and air quality inspector from California
 * [|Jill Stein], Physician from Massachusetts
 * [|Bill Still], monetary reform activist, documentary film maker, and author from Virginia
 * [|R. Lee Wrights], author, activist, and former [|Libertarian National Committee] member

Prohibition Party

 * [|Jack Fellure] (nominee), Perennial candidate from West Virginia.
 * [|James Hedges], Prohibition activist and former [|Thompson Township] [|Tax Assessor] from Pennsylvania

Socialist Party USA

 * [|Stewart Alexander] (nominee), activist and [|2008] [|Socialist Party USA] vice-presidential nominee from California. He was also a candidate for the Green Party's presidential nomination, before he withdrew in July 2011.

Independent

 * [|Roseanne Barr], actress and comedian from Hawaii
 * [|Robert "Naked Cowboy" Burck], a [|street performer] from New York
 * [|Terry Jones], pastor famous for publicly burning [|Qurans]
 * [|Joe Schriner], a former journalist, author, and [|perennial candidate] from Ohio
 * [|Robby Wells], former [|Savannah State University] football coach