Learn about US Presidential Campaigns

01Every four years, the United States holds an election for the President in November.

02This lesson aims to help teachers and learners understand the political processes and expressions used during the election campaign.

03Let us begin with the expression, political party.

04In elections, parties organize candidates who share party members' ideas about how government should operate.

05They try to win elections to gain and keep political power.

06There are two major political parties in the U.S.

07They are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

08There are other small political parties at the national level.

09These include the Libertarian and Green parties.

10Each of the U.S.

11states and territories holds votes early in the election year.

12In many states and territories, these votes are called primaries.

13You may know the word primary as an adjective, meaning happening or coming first, as in primary school.

14When speaking of elections, it is a noun, but it has a similar meaning.

15It is the first election in a voting process that takes place over one year.

16You might also hear the term caucus.

17A caucus is also a kind of election, but it is held privately by the party and usually does not involve state election officials or equipment.

18The Iowa caucus was, for a long time, the first presidential contest during an election year.

19In a primary or a caucus, voters choose the party's candidates for local and state offices as well as for national offices.

20The candidates who get the candidates.

21The candidates who get the candidates.

22The candidates who get the candidates.

23The candidates who get the candidates for the election in the fall.

24Primaries can be open or closed.

25Anyone can take part in an open primary election, even members of another party.

26Only registered party members can vote in a closed primary.

27In some states, voters choose delegates in the primaries.

28State party organizations have different rules for choosing them.

29Delegates are people who will attend their party's convention or general meeting.

30When a delegate is elected to choose a particular candidate, we say the delegate is pledged to the candidate.

31To pledge is to promise something.

32Each party holds a national convention.

33A large meeting where the delegates officially nominate the candidate that the party supports for the presidential election.

34The verb nominate means to officially choose someone as a candidate for a position.

35You will hear some other forms of the word in election news.

36To describe the process of having the delegates choose a candidate, we use the noun form nomination.

37At the convention, the candidate who gains the majority of delegates is called the nominee.

38The nominee gives the speech to accept the nomination.

39The party platform is a statement of the ideology of the party and its candidate.

40At the party convention, the organizing committee shares its platform.

41The platform is a statement of the policies that the party hopes to put in place during its candidate's term in office.

42Presidential candidates travel the country speaking to voters at a series of events called rallies.

43Reporters use the expression campaign trail to describe these events.

44This is a metaphor for progressing along a path toward a goal.

45The election campaign is sometimes called a race.

46Another metaphor comparing the election campaign to a sporting competition.

47Part of the campaign process is for the candidates to debate each other.

48These are televised events where a reporter asks questions that interest the public and gives each candidate a limited time to answer them.

49The form of the political debates is not the same as traditional academic debates where teams compete under clear rules and time limits.

50Presidential candidates and others who run for public office must find money to pay for those rallies, television advertising, and campaign workers.

51A common way to pay for a campaign is to ask for money.

52People who give to a candidate are donors.

53The Federal Election Commission makes rules about how much, when, and how donations can be made.

54Researchers get the opinions of voters in an effort to guess or predict the results of an upcoming election.

55They do this with polls, or public opinion studies.

56This word has two meanings in the elections.

57One is where a researcher might ask you about your party affiliation and which candidate you plan to support in a telephone call.

58Your party affiliation is the party you are registered with or that you support.

59The other meaning of poll is the place where you go to vote on election day.

60We can also use polling place.

61Schools, religious centers, and public buildings can be polling places.

62In them, voters cast their ballot secretly.

63That means they fill out their ballot without pressure from others in the room and turn in their ballot to be counted by poll workers.

64In the last two election years of 2020 and 2022, people could send in their ballots by mail.

65But polling places remain important for processing and counting ballots.

66Now that you have some of the expressions used to talk about the presidential campaign, you should use them with some care.

67It is not normal to ask someone what party he or she is a member of, although many people will offer that information freely.

68In some situations, such as among close friends, you will hear Americans talk about the candidates and voice their opinions openly.

69But when talking with a new acquaintance or a stranger, it is best to avoid asking about political affiliation.

70Also, know that some workplaces have rules against political activity.

71And in government, most political activity is not legal, although people often share their opinions.

72I'm Jill Robbins.

73And I'm Andrew Smith.