Presidential Elections

I.    Constitutional Requirements

    A.     Qualifications

"No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.'

    B.    Electoral College - How it Works

        1.   Operations and History

        2    Unofficial Electoral College Home Page

        3.   Electoral Vote Calculator         

        4.  "faithless electors"

        5.     Original Provisions

        6.     Twelfth Amendment Changes

        7.     Five Controversial Elections

            a.     1800

            b.     1824

            c.     1876

            d.     1888

            e.     2000

        8.  2008 (Maps and Cartograms of Electoral College)  

        9.  Concerns with the Electoral College:  (Pros and Cons; Sum; Standards for Evaluating Election Forms)

        10.     Proposals for Change:   Sum

            a.     Automatic Plan

            b.     Proportional Plan            

            c.     District Plan

            d.     Direct Election

            e.     Bonus System

            f.     Instant Runoff Voting

            g.    The Koza Proposal - Critique

II.    Post-Convention Campaign Strategies (Overall Plans)

    A.    Ultimate Goal:  270 Electoral Votes

       1.     Certain Victories

       2.     Certain Losses

       3.     Swing States

    B.    Three Approaches

        1.    Party Centered

        2.    Issue Oriented

        3.    Image Oriented

    C.    Building Electoral Coalitions

        1.    The New Deal Coalition

        2.    The Republican Coalition

        3.    An Obama Coalition?

    D.    Developing Campaign Theme(s)

        1.   (1976 Ford Campaign)

        2.    Compassionate Conservatism

        3.    Triangulation

        4.    A Fighter for You

        5.    2008

            a.     Republican

            b.     Democrat      

III.    Post-Convention Tactics (Day to Day Decisions)

    A.    Locus of Campaign

    B.    Media Use

    C.    Tracking Polls

    D.    Prioritizing Issues

    E.    Presidential Debates

IV.    Past Third Party Candidates

    A.    Bull Moose (1912)

    B.    Dixiecrat (1948)

    C.    American Independent Party (1968)

    D.    National Unity (1980)

    E.    Reform Party (1992)  

    F.    Green Party (2000)

Key Web Sites

A Brief History of the Electoral College

Ashbrook Center:  Resources on the Electoral College

Hamilton's Defense of the Electoral College

The Case for the Electoral College:  A Physicist's View

Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the Electoral College

Martin Diamond on the Electoral College