Prime time primaries
The intricate process of US elections

Compiled by Kirubel Tadesse

The US presidential campaign is one of the most expensive elections in the world, costing hundreds of millions every four years. The process starts with candidates entering the primary elections held by each party in the 50 states. The primary season begins in January and traditionally starts in Iowa that state’s caucus (selected assembly) forwards delegates to the national convention. Following Iowa is the crucial New Hampshire primary. Even though these are small states and have relatively few votes, since the momentum gained or lost by a victory or defeat in these early states is critical in obtaining funds for the rest of the campaign, the candidates give them high priority.
Following these states are often blocks of primaries that are held on certain dates, such as “Super Tuesday,” when many states hold their nominations simultaneously. Candidates may choose not to participate in all the primaries, but they must constantly accumulate delegates for the convention and raise funds to keep their campaigns going.
There are two basic types of primaries: open and closed. In open primaries, all registered voters may vote to nominate a candidate. Most primaries, however, are closed primaries, in which only registered members of the party can vote to nominate the party’s candidates. The two major parties, Democratic and Republican, nominate their presidential candidates at a national nominating convention. Until recently, the majority of the delegates to the national convention had been appointed by local party officials. Today, the overwhelming majority are elected through the primary system, thus making the system more democratic, while at the same time eliminating most of the drama and purpose of the convention. Since today’s primaries determine the makeup of the convention floor, the nominations of the presidential candidates are a foregone conclusion. Conventions have turned into “made-for-TV” specials to advertise the parties’ presidential choices. Nominees for Vice President are also officially selected at conventions, but the Presidential candidate is actually the person who chooses the running mate.
Only then, it will be time to elect the next president. The President of the United States is elected by the Electoral College and not directly by the population. Each state is assigned electoral votes based on the number of senators and representatives that state has in Congress.
Each state has two Senators. The number of representatives is determined by the state population but is never less than one. Thus small states with a small population are overly represented in the Electoral College. One candidate wins all of the electoral votes in a state.
The Electoral College meets on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. Their votes are then counted again in the presence of a Joint Meeting of Congress on sixth day of January to certify the returns. The candidate that wins over 50% of the electoral votes becomes President of the United States.
In the case that no candidate wins the majority of electoral votes, the election is decided by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives votes by state, thus every state in the House of Representative gets one vote.
In this year’s presidential election, the nation and the rest of the world is waiting to witness history as the first female (Hillary Clinton) or African American (Barack Obama), both democratic candidates, have serious chances to become the next president.
Who is Barack Obama?
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.
Barack’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton’s army.
It was at the University of Hawaii, where Barack’s parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America.
Barack’s father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
Obama’s wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6, live on Chicago’s South Side where they attend Trinity United Church of Christ.
Obama’s democratic rival, the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, is presented with the biggest asset, her husband, the former president, Bill Clinton, who many call ‘the first black American president.’
Even if Obama ‘needs to check out Bill’s dance move’ before taking him as a brother, he seem to accept it in his latest debate with Hillary. In this debate which was sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and CNN, Obama seemed rather irritated at the former president, whom he accused in absentia of uttering a series of distortions to aid his wife’s presidential effort.
“I’m here. He’s not,” even if Hillary was quick to react, “Well, I can’t tell who I’m running against sometimes,” Obama countered.
Obama too is presented with one of the most influential and richest celebrity of the nation, Operah Winfery, the renowned talk show host.
As the primary is getting tougher and tougher drop outs and final desperation surprise moves are seen. BBC reported that Democrat Dennis Kucinich is abandoning his second, long-shot bid for the White House as he faces a tough fight to hold onto his other job — U.S. congressman.
The race of Democrat Senators, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton is almost considered as the race to white despite the fact that they have to face a republican candidate who will probably fall short due to the unpopular Iraq war vote. The war vote isn’t only costing the republicans but Hillary’s campaign too. Obama on Thursday 24, 2008, stated that Hillary cannot be trusted to make good judgments on national security and military matters, citing her Iraq war vote.
Obama, accusing the New York senator of trying “to rewrite history,” said Clinton still contends that her 2002 vote authorizing military intervention in Iraq was “not really a vote for war.”
“She cast her vote after failing to read the national intelligence estimates on Iraq, which raised doubts in some lawmakers’ minds about the justification of ousting Saddam Hussein,” Obama said during a discussion with armed service members. Obama, who was in the Illinois Senate at the time, publicly opposed the invasion. Whether Obama’s message of change and firm opposition on the Iraq war even when it was popular wins him his party nomination or not is for time to tell, but surely his message appealed to many voters in the USA.