ELECTION
2000 !
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Who
Wants to Be the Next President?
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Democrats
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Republicans
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Reform
Candidates
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George
Washington
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First
U.S. President
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Every four
years, the people of the United States pick someone to be our President.
What are the rules about who gets to be President? Can anyone be President?
How do the people decide? What is an election? What do political 'parties'
do and what does it mean to belong to one? Read on to find out!
(Click
on the question to find the answer!)
Who
made up the rules about electing our President?
Can
anyone be President?
How
do we decide who gets to be President?
What
is a candidate, and what do the candidates do?
What
is a political 'party'?
How
do people in the parties decide among the candidates?
How
are the President and Vice President elected?
Does
the person with the most votes win?
Who
made up the rules about electing our President?
Most
of the rules about electing our President are found in a document called
"The Constitution." The Constitution was written over 200 years ago
by some of the "Founding Fathers" of our country, like James Madison
and Alexander Hamilton. The Constitution has only changed a little since
it was written. We change the Constitution by making things called "amendments"
and voting on them, just like we vote for our President. 
Can
anyone be President?
There are
just three rules about who can be President. First, you have to be a
"natural born citizen" or be born in the United States. Second, you
have to have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.
The
Founding Fathers made these two rules to make sure the President was
always American and thought of America first. Remember, when they wrote
the Constitution, America had just fought the Revolutionary War to free
us from being ruled by the King of England.
And the
final rule for being President is that you have to be at least 35 years
old. That probably eliminates most of the people reading this, but just
wait - you'll be 35 some day!
The
Founding Fathers made an age limit because they thought the President
had to be old and wise and experienced. A person could become king just
by being born into the right family - sometimes kings have ruled countries
when they were only 5 or 6 years old! Do you think YOU could do the
President's job?
How
do we decide who gets to be President?
Every four
years we have an "election", when the people of the United States vote
for the person they want to be their president for the next four years.
The four years that the winner gets to be President are called his "term."
The last election of a President was in 1996, when Bill Clinton was
elected for a second term. The next election will be in November 2000,
when we will elect a brand new president. President Clinton cannot be
President again, because one of the amendments to the Constitution says
you can only be elected President two times. Did you know that before
that amendment was written, President Franklin Roosevelt served as President
from 1932 until 1945, almost 4 whole terms? He was the only person to
be President of the United States for more than 8 years.
What
is a candidate, and what do the candidates do?
A "candidate"
for president is someone who says they want to be elected and asks people
to vote for him or her. There
are already many candidates who want to be elected President in November
2000. Once someone announces they want to be President, they go on a
"campaign." On a campaign, the candidate goes all over the country and
tells everyone why he or she should vote for him or her.
The
candidate also tries to get people to give them money, called "contributions,"
because running for President is VERY expensive.
Even though
the election is a long time from now, the candidates have already started
their campaigns.
What
is a political 'party'?
A
political party is not like the birthday parties you go to. In politics,
a "party" is made up of people that usually think alike about different
"issues," like how much money to spend on education and whether to raise
taxes. There are two major parties in the United States today, the Democrats
and the Republicans. President Clinton is a Democrat. President Bush
and President Reagan, the previous two Presidents, were Republicans.
The next president will most likely be either a Democrat or a Republican,
but there are also many other parties. Did you know that in the past,
presidents have been in other parties, like the Federalist Party, the
Democratic-Republican Party and the Whig Party?
A candidate
for President usually tells people that he is a member of a party, like
"I'm George W. Bush and I am a Republican candidate for President."
This tells the voters that Mr. Bush thinks about most of the issues
like other people in the Republican Party. Early in the campaign, there
will be a lot of Republican candidates and a lot of Democratic candidates.
How
do people in the parties decide among the candidates?
The voters
in each party will have to decide among the candidates in a series of
preliminary elections called either a "caucus" or a "primary". Each
state holds its own caucus or primary. Iowa usually has the first caucus,
and New Hampshire has the first primary. In 2000, the Iowa caucus will
be on January 24, and the New Hampshire primary will be on February
1. The candidates will spend a lot of time in those two states because
they want to have a good start to their campaign. At caucuses and primaries,
voters decide which candidate in their party they will support.
Only
Democrats can vote in the Democratic caucuses and primaries, and only
Republicans can vote in the Republican caucuses and primaries.
Each state
then holds a big meeting called a "convention," where they elect people
called "delegates" who support their favorite candidates. Then in July
or August, each party holds its "national convention," where the delegates
get together and select one candidate to "nominate" for president and
one to nominate for vice president. These two "nominees" are called
a "ticket." For example, President Clinton and Vice President Gore were
nominees for President and Vice President and made up the Democratic
ticket in 1996.
How
are the President and Vice President elected?
After
the conventions, the nominees usually have "debates", where they talk
about the issues and tell the voters why they should be elected instead
of the other parties' nominees. They continue to travel around the country
on the campaign. They make lots of TV and radio commercials. Finally,
in early November, Election Day arrives. Everyone goes out to vote.
To vote, you only need to be "registered." When you register to vote,
your name gets put on a list so they can be sure you only vote one time.
Anyone over 18 can be registered to vote, and you can vote for anyone
you want.
Unlike
in the primaries, Democrats can vote for Republicans and Republicans
can vote for Democrats: it's "may the best man (or woman) win."
Does
the person with the most votes win?
Not
always! In fact, a couple of times, the person with the most votes has
NOT become President. This is because votes are counted by state, and
the nominees are trying to win states. Each state is assigned a number
of "electoral votes." Each state gets one electoral vote for each senator
and one for each representative it has in Congress. Every state has
two senators, and between 1 and 52 representatives, depending on the
population of the state. States with small populations, like Alaska
and Rhode Island, have only 3 electoral votes. States with big populations,
like California, have lots of electoral votes (California has 54!).
Whatever
ticket gets the most votes in a state gets all of that state's electoral
votes (except in Nebraska and Maine, where electoral votes can be split).
That means candidates will spend a lot more time in California than
they will in Rhode Island or Alaska!
There are
a total of 538 electoral votes (for the 100 senators, 435 representatives,
and 3 "extras" for the District of Columbia - another one of those amendments).
A ticket needs a majority of the electoral votes, or 270, to win. After
Election Day, each state assigns people called "electors" who will vote
for the ticket that won their state. The electors then get together
at a big meeting in the middle of December, called the Electoral College,
where they elect the President and Vice President. The new President
and Vice President are then sworn in during January and begin their
term.
THE
DEMOCRATS
BILL BRADLEY D
Date
of Birth: July 28, 1943
Place
of Birth: Crystal City, Missouri
Where
He Went To College: Princeton University (Undergraduate Degree) Oxford
University (Masters Degree)
Jobs
in Politics: U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1996
Other
Jobs:
AL
GORE D
Date
of Birth: March 31, 1948
Place
of Birth: Carthage, Tennessee
Where
He Went To College: Harvard University in Massachusetts Vanderbilt Law
School
Jobs
in Politics: U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1977 to 1985 U.S.
Senator from Tennessee from 1985 to 1993 Vice President of the United
States from 1993 to present
Other
Jobs:
THE
REPUBLICANS
GARY
BAUER R
Date
of Birth: May 6, 1946
Place
of Birth:
Where
He Went To College: Georgetown Law School
Jobs
in Politics: Chairman, Campaign for Working Families, 1996 to present
President, Family Research Council, 1988 to 1998 Chief Domestic Policy
Advisor to President Reagan, 1986 to 1988 Under Secretary of Education,
1985 to 1987
Other
Jobs:
GEORGE
W. BUSH R
Date
of Birth: July 6, 1946
Place
of Birth: New Haven, Connecticut Where He Went To College: Yale University
(Undergraduate Degree) Harvard University (Graduate Degree)
Jobs
in Politics: Governor of Texas, 1994- present
Other
Jobs:
STEVE
FORBES R
Date
of Birth: July 18, 1947
Place
of Birth: Morristown, New Jersey
Where
He Went To College: Princeton University in New Jersey (Undergraduate
Degree)
Jobs
in Politics: (Campaigned for President in 1996)
Other
Jobs: Editor-in-chief, 1982 to present Associate Editor Forbes
Magazine, 1970 to 1982
ORRIN
HATCH R
Date
of Birth: March 22, 1934
Place
of Birth: Homestead Park, Pennsylvania
Where
He Went To College: Brigham Young University (Undergraduate Degree)
University of Pittsburgh (Law Degree)
Jobs
in Politics: U.S. Senator from Utah, 1977 to present
Other
Jobs:
ALAN
KEYES R
Date
of Birth: August 7, 1950
Place
of Birth: New York, New York
Where
He Went To College: Harvard University (PhD)
Jobs
in Politics: U.S. Ambassador UN Social and Economic Council Assistant
Secretary of State for International Organization Founder of the Declaration
Foundation (Campaigned for President in 1996)
Other
Jobs:
JOHN
McCAIN R
Date
of Birth: August 29, 1936
Place
of Birth: Panama Canal Zone
Where
He Went To College: US Naval Academy (Undergraduate Degree)
Jobs
in Politics: Senator from Arizona, 1987 to present U.S. House of Representative
from Arizona, 1983 to 1987 Navy Senate Liaison, 1977 to 1981
Other
Jobs:
THE
REFORM CANDIDATES
PAT
BUCHANAN 
Date
of Birth: November 2, 1938
Place
of Birth: Washington, D.C. Where He Went To College: Georgetown University
(Undergraduate Degree) Columbia University (Masters Degree)
Jobs in Politics: (Campaigned for President in 1992 and 1996) CNN's
Crossfire, Buchanan & Company Communications Director for President
Reagan, 1985-1987 Senior Advisor to President Nixon, 1969 to 1974
Other
Jobs:
