This site serves as an archive of the multimedia items from KC Johnson's 2008 CLASS module (U.S. campaigns and elections). Hopefully, you can use some of these materials in your own classes; if you have any follow-up questions, feel free to email me, at kcjohnson9@gmail.com.
The site includes links to:
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
In-class Handouts
CLASS Seminar
Campaigns & Elections in
July 20, 2008
I. Structure
1. Constitution (framers and direct democracy; creation of Electoral College; role of the Senate)
2. Amendments (changing the Electoral College—failure to predict parties; E.C. results in
3. Legal and Statutory (civil rights movement, Bush v. Gore)
II. Patterns of Campaigning
1. FDR and the New Deal coalition (effects of Depression; FDR and presidential leadership; four elements: Southern whites, Northern African-Americans, union workers, liberals and intellectuals; consolidating the New Deal: Truman upset victory, Eisenhower and “modern Republicanism”)
2. Technology and Changing Nature of Campaigns (FDR and role of radio—fireside chats and explaining public policy issues; emergence of TV after World War II; Eisenhower and first TV ads; Nixon, “Checkers speech,” and first use of TV to avoid scandal; Kennedy-Nixon debates and U.S. political culture)
3. Civil Rights (NAACP and legal/constitutional strategy—path to Brown v. Board of Education decision; Montgomery bus boycott and emergence of Martin Luther King; civil rights movement and grassroots activism; impact in 1960 election; King and push for civil rights legislation—March on Washington, 1963; dangers to New Deal coalition, divisions within both parties)
CLASS Seminar
“All the Way with LBJ”: The 1964 Election
July 21, 2008
I. The Foundations
1. Establishing an Image (LBJ as political tactician; healer after tragedy; “let us continue”—passing the Kennedy legacy, with political benefits: (1) foreign aid bill, (2) tax bill, (3) farm bill, (4) civil rights bill; provisions: outlaw racial discrimination in public accommodations, give Justice Dept. authority to file suits for school desegregation in federal court, create EEOC)
2. The Republican Race (Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller weaknesses; Richard Nixon, William Scranton bids; the emergence of Ambassador Henry Lodge; the threat of Lodge and how the Lodge candidacy affects Vietnam; Oregon and Lodge collapse; Goldwater nomination and 1964 convention)
3. Potential Pitfalls (potential pitfalls: ethics—“Landslide Lyndon,” personal wealth, Bobby Baker scandal, John Williams; Robert Kennedy and vice presidency: background relationship, RFK and Justice Department; open pressure and LBJ response; decision to exclude)
III. The Outcome
1. The Frontlash Agenda (LBJ hopes and targeted constituencies: younger voters, better-educated & suburban voters, maximizing the black vote; liberals and the 1964 convention—controversy over the Tuck bill; consolidating the civil rights base—Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party controversy and the Democratic national convention; neutralizing Goldwater— Tonkin Gulf Resolution, nuclear weapons; economics and how to tailor a Democratic agenda?; limitations of the frontlash approach)
2. The Jenkins Scandal (polls and LBJ vulnerabilities; Baker/McCloskey affair; arrest and reaction—role of Abe Fortas; Lady Bird response; J. Edgar Hoover and continuing fears; election outcome—coattails and transformation of House of Representatives; ideology and a hollow victory?)
CLASS Seminar
Race & Scandal, 1968-1992
July 22, 2008
I. 1968 Election
1. Johnson’s Collapse (rise of the right: crime and Miranda, urban unrest, Martin Luther King’s Northern efforts and collapse of biracial civil rights coalition; Vietnam and divisions within Democratic Party, 1966 elections)
2. The Democratic Race (importance of Robert Kennedy; popular protests and effect on Democratic Party; nature of presidential selection; Allard Lowenstein and search for challenger to LBJ; RFK indecision; settling on Eugene McCarthy; New Hampshire primary and campaign fallout—RFK entry, LBJ withdrawal; path to assassination and Chicago disaster)
3. Fall Campaign ( “New Nixon” and safe GOP choice; George Wallace wildcard; “Southern Strategy”—using race as a wedge issue to divide New Deal Democratic coalition; Nixon’s rose-garden tactics; Agnew vs. Muskie; Hubert Humphrey Salt Lake City address, outcome)
II. Nixon and Presidential Scandal
1. The Political Culture of Richard Nixon (conception of politics; dirty tricks legacy; merging of commander-in-chief clause and domestic authority—
2. The Origins of Watergate (memories of 1960 and origins of cover-up—CREEP and bugging of DNC headquarters; arrest and Nixon attempts to obstruct justice—role of CIA, Pat Gray and leaderless FBI; Watergate in 1972 campaign, Nixon victory)
3. The Cover-up Unravels (four-pronged assault on Nixon: (1) press—role of Woodward/Bernstein and eventually Post; (2) lower-level judiciary: importance of Judge John Sirica; (3) Senate—Sam Ervin and country lawyering; (4) special prosecutor—Archibald Cox’s agenda; Nixon response: invocation of executive privilege)
4. The Fall of Nixon (erratic administration response: Dean, Haldeman, Erlichman dismissed; Agnew resignation; evading subpoenas; Saturday Night Massacre; 18½ minute gap; House Judiciary Committee and impeachment hearings—Barbara Jordan remarks; U.S. v Nixon and Nixon’s resignation)
II. The 1980 Election: Toward a New Republican Majority
1. Backlash against Right-Related Liberalism (race: busing and affirmative action; gender: Phyllis Schlafly and public response to Equal Rights Amendment, changing attitudes toward abortion—Catholics, traditionalists, cracks in Democratic coalition; foreign policy:
2. The Reagan Revolution (Ted Kennedy’s challenge to Jimmy Carter; Carter holds on; Republican race: Bush surge, Connally collapse, Anderson defection, Reagan nomination; continuing weaknesses—age, radical reputation; Anderson effect; debates; Reagan Democrats; smashing GOP win; part of international pattern?—Thatcher in Britain, Kohl in West Germany)
3. Consolidating (1984 “Morning in
| | House margin | House org. | Senate margin | Senate org. |
| 1974 | +49D | +147D | +4D | +24D |
| 1976 | +1D | +149D | No change | +24D |
| 1978 | +15R | +119D | +3R | +18D |
| 1980 | +35R | +49D | +12R | +6R |
CLASS Seminar
The Politics of Spin, 1992-2008
July 23, 2008
I. 1992 Election
1. Politics of Scandal (Thomas/Hill hearings; emergence of sexual harassment as issue; Webster and politics of abortion; “Year of the Woman”; House bank scandal; terms-limits movement; Gingrich and ’92 Group)
2. Unrest & Reaction (economic difficulties and decline of Bush I;
II. Clinton & American Politics
1. Difficulties and Revival (early problems: scandals,
2. Sexual Harassment (political: effect of Thomas/Hill hearings; legal: legacy of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986) and “hostile work environment”; statutory: Molinari amendment (1994); merging of law and politics—Packwood, Clinton)
3. The Starr Chamber (Ken Starr background and initial appointment; difficulties of Whitewater inquiry; merging with Paula Jones case; discovery of Monica Lewinsky; Tripp and perjury trap; unpredictable public reception; Starr Report and 1998 elections; legal and political effects of impeachment)
III. 2000 Election
CLASS Seminar
The 2008 Elections
July 24, 2008
1. GOP collapse (Katrina/Iraq combination; congressional scandals; 2006 results Dems +31 in House, +6 in Senate; Frist, Allen withdrawals; conservative difficulty in finding candidate)
2. Divided Republicans (McCain implosion; Giuliani’s peculiar strategy; emergence of Romney—background and difficulties; rise of Huckabee and power of Christian conservatives; Romney Mormon speech, flip-flops; Huckabee triumph and revival of McCain; profiting from GOP rules—South Carolina, Florida, New York/NJ/CT)
II. The Democratic Race
1. Winnowing the Field (Gore decision not to run; Edwards and four-year campaign; second-tier candidates: Richardson, Biden)
2. Rules Changes (
3. 2007 Strategies (Obama: significance of Iowa—demographic and timing, use proportional rules to advantage, outlast February 5 primaries, maximize youth vote, online fundraising and organizing, promise of new type of politics, significance of Iraq war participation; Clinton: debate over Iowa, stress big states—Penn’s lack of knowledge of rules, fundraising from traditional base, stress readiness/inevitability/commander-in-chief threshold, refusal to apologize for Iraq war vote)
4. Nature of Race (decline of Edwards; Obama and African-American community;
5. The Obama Nomination (
6. Looking Ahead to the Fall
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Constitutional, Statutory, and Legal Documents Relating to Elections
Constitution for the
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I.
Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the
Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the
Section. 3. The Senate of the
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the
The Vice President of the
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the
Article II.
Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President [modified by 12th amendment].
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the
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.
12th amendment
[Proposed 1803; Ratified 1804]
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. — The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
15th amendment
[Proposed 1869; Ratified 1870]
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the
Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
17th amendment
[Proposed 1912; Ratified 1913]
The Senate of the
19th amendment
[Proposed 1919; Ratified 1920]
The right of citizens of the
22nd amendment
[Proposed 1947; Ratified 1951]
Section. 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
23rd amendment
[Proposed 1960; Ratified 1961]
Section. 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State [a total of three]; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
24th amendment
[Proposed 1962; Ratified 1964]
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
26th amendment
[Proposed 1971; Ratified 1971]
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Statutory and Judicial Measures
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (passed 6 Aug. 1965)
SEC. 2. No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color . . .
SEC. 4. (a) To assure that the right of citizens of the
(c) The phrase "test or device" shall mean any requirement that a person as a prerequisite for voting or registration for voting (1) demonstrate the ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter, (2) demonstrate any educational achievement or his knowledge of any particular subject, (3) possess good moral character, or (4) prove his qualifications by the voucher of registered voters or members of any other class . . .
(e)(1) Congress hereby declares that to secure the rights under the fourteenth amendment of persons educated in American-flag schools in which the predominant classroom language was other than English, it is necessary to prohibit the States from conditioning the right to vote of such persons on ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter in the English language . . .
SEC. 10. (a) The Congress finds that the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting (i) precludes persons of limited means from voting or imposes unreasonable financial hardship upon such persons as a precondition to their exercise of the franchise, (ii) does not bear a reasonable relationship to any legitimate State interest in the conduct of elections, and (iii) in some areas has the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color. Upon the basis of these findings, Congress declares that the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some areas by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting . . .
SEC. 11. (a) No person acting under color of law shall fail or refuse to permit any person to vote who is entitled to vote under any provision of this Act or is otherwise qualified to vote, or willfully fail or refuse to tabulate, count, and report such person's vote. (b) No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for exercising any powers or duties under [this law].
---------
Bush v. Gore (decided 12 Dec. 2000)
I
On November 8, 2000, the day following the Presidential election, the Florida Division of Elections reported that petitioner, Governor Bush, had received 2,909,135 votes, and respondent, Vice President Gore, had received 2,907,351 votes, a margin of 1,784 for Governor Bush. Because Governor Bush’s margin of victory was less than “one-half of a percent . . . of the votes cast,” an automatic machine recount was conducted under §102.141(4) of the election code, the results of which showed Governor Bush still winning the race but by a diminished margin. Vice President Gore then sought manual recounts in Volusia,
The petition presents the following questions: whether the Florida Supreme Court established new standards for resolving Presidential election contests, thereby violating Art. II, §1, cl. 2, of the
II
B
The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the
The right to vote is protected in more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise. Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another . . . The question before us, however, is whether the recount procedures the Florida Supreme Court has adopted are consistent with its obligation to avoid arbitrary and disparate treatment of the members of its electorate.
Much of the controversy seems to revolve around ballot cards designed to be perforated by a stylus but which, either through error or deliberate omission, have not been perforated with sufficient precision for a machine to count them. In some cases a piece of the card–a chad–is hanging, say by two corners. In other cases there is no separation at all, just an indentation.
. . . It is obvious that the recount cannot be conducted in compliance with the requirements of equal protection and due process without substantial additional work. It would require not only the adoption (after opportunity for argument) of adequate statewide standards for determining what is a legal vote, and practicable procedures to implement them, but also orderly judicial review of any disputed matters that might arise. In addition, the Secretary of State has advised that the recount of only a portion of the ballots requires that the vote tabulation equipment be used to screen out undervotes, a function for which the machines were not designed. If a recount of overvotes were also required, perhaps even a second screening would be necessary . . .
None are more conscious of the vital limits on judicial authority than are the members of this Court, and none stand more in admiration of the Constitution’s design to leave the selection of the President to the people, through their legislatures, and to the political sphere. When contending parties invoke the process of the courts, however, it becomes our unsought responsibility to resolve the federal and constitutional issues the judicial system has been forced to confront.
The judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
[dissent, Justice Stevens]: . . . As the majority explicitly holds, once a state legislature determines to select electors through a popular vote, the right to have one’s vote counted is of constitutional stature. As the majority further acknowledges,
In the interest of finality, however, the majority effectively orders the disenfranchisement of an unknown number of voters whose ballots reveal their intent–and are therefore legal votes under state law–but were for some reason rejected by ballot-counting machines.
What must underlie petitioners’ entire federal assault on the
Presidential Recordings
All of the recordings that we heard--along with quite a few more excerpts--are available at my "All the Way with LBJ" site.
Images & Events
FDR and "Happy Days," 1932
FDR, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," 1933
"Dewey Defeats Truman," 1948
Kennedy-Nixon debates, 1960
Palm Beach County, Florida, "butterfly ballot," 2000
FDR, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," 1933
"Dewey Defeats Truman," 1948
Kennedy-Nixon debates, 1960
Palm Beach County, Florida, "butterfly ballot," 2000
2008 You Tube Clips
Obama--Vote Different
Edwards-"I Feel Pretty"
"Hillary in Tuzla"--trailer
Romney on abortion rights
"The Real Romney" (gay rights)
Edwards-"I Feel Pretty"
"Hillary in Tuzla"--trailer
Romney on abortion rights
"The Real Romney" (gay rights)
Chart
2008 Democratic Primary--Delegate Count
Total delegates (as of 9 June): Obama 2188; Clinton 1927. Needed to nominate (including superdelegates): 2118
Obama is the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee.
Results:
| Date | State | Obama | Clinton | Date | State | Obama | Clinton |
| 3 Jan. | | 25 | 14 | 8 Jan. | | 9 | 9 |
| 19 Jan. | | 14 | 11 | 26 Jan. | | 25 | 12 |
| 5 Feb. | | 27 | 25 | 5 Feb. | | 10 | 3 |
| 5 Feb. | | 1 | 2 | 5 Feb. | | 25 | 31 |
| 5 Feb. | | 8 | 27 | 5 Feb. | | 167 | 203 |
| 5 Feb. | | 36 | 19 | 5 Feb. | | 26 | 22 |
| 5 Feb. | | 9 | 6 | 5/12 Feb. | Dems. Abroad | 5 | 2 |
| 5 Feb. | | 60 | 27 | 5 Feb. | | 15 | 3 |
| 5 Feb. | | 104 | 49 | 5 Feb. | | 23 | 9 |
| 5 Feb. | | 38 | 55 | 5 Feb. | | 48 | 24 |
| 5 Feb. | | 36 | 36 | 5 Feb. | | 48 | 59 |
| 5 Feb. | | 12 | 14 | 5 Feb. | | 92 | 140 |
| 5 Feb. | | 8 | 5 | 5 Feb. | | 14 | 24 |
| 5 Feb. | | 28 | 40 | 5 Feb. | | 14 | 9 |
| 9 Feb. | | 34 | 22 | 9 Feb. | | 16 | 8 |
| 9 Feb. | | 53 | 25 | 9 Feb. | | 3 | 0 |
| 10 Feb. | | 15 | 9 | 12 Feb. | Dist. of Columbia | 12 | 3 |
| 12 Feb. | | 43 | 27 | 12 Feb. | | 54 | 29 |
| 19 Feb. | | 14 | 6 | 19 Feb. | | 42 | 32 |
| 4 Mar. | | 67 | 74 | 4 March | | 8 | 13 |
| 4 Mar. | | 99 | 94 | 4 March | | 9 | 6 |
| 8 Mar. | | 7 | 5 | 11 Mar. | | 20 | 13 |
| 22 Apr. | | 73 | 85 | 3 May | | 2 | 2 |
| 6 May | | 67 | 48 | 6 May | | 34 | 38 |
| 13 May | | 8 | 20 | 20 May | | 31 | 21 |
| 20 May | | 14 | 37 | 1 June | | 17 | 38 |
| 3 June | | 9 | 7 | 3 June | | 6 | 9 |
At a May 31, 2008 meeting of the Democrats’ Rules & Bylaws Committee, delegates from the two sanctioned primaries (
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