Nominations and the General Election

 For Tuesday, read Hershey, ch. 13.  

In your weekly writeup, answer the questions about the videos below.

Iowa Caucuses

In your writeup, explain what this video says about the difference between a primary and a caucus.

Between 1992 and 2020 the Democratic candidate who won the Black vote in the primaries went on to win the nomination.  In 2020, Biden lost in Iowa and New Hampshire, and he looked like a goner.  But then he came back to life in the South Carolina primary, where Black voters make up a majority of the Democratic primary electorate.  Watch this town hall, starting at six minutes in. So explain: How did Biden connect with Black voters?

Conventions.  In recent decades, nomination campaigns have effectively ended before the convention.  But conventions can still matter, especially when speakers say things that alienate large blocs of votes.  In 1964, Republican nominee Barry Goldwater confronted charges that he was extremist.  In 1992, conservative Pat Buchanan, who had challenged Bush 41 for the nomination, said some things about Democrats.  Explain: How do you think these comments landed with the general electorate?

 

Here is a short video on how electoral college normally works:

But 2020 could have been different. After seeing the video below, explain how John Eastman tried to change the electoral outcome: