| A | B |
|---|
| Stump Speech | a speech given by the candidate on the campaign trail; key talking points, and is given over and over and over and over and over again |
| Nominating Convention | nominate a candidate for Prez and VP, based on majority of delegates attending the convention; also makes rules and adopts party platform |
| Nominating Convention Political Goals | unify and motivate the party base; organized to get media coverage; the keynote speech, and acceptance speeches are highlights; normally a "bounce" comes after the convention ends |
| Battleground States | AKA swing states; where contests are closely contested; more money is spent in these states |
| Political Advertising | primary way the candidates use to communicate and develp a message for thier voters; ads are usually 30-60 seconds; can be attack ads, humorous, biographical, emotional, endorsements, tout the candidate's record, respond to the opponent, etc |
| Negative Ads | Even though most people claim not to like them, studies show that they are the most effective ads |
| 26th Amendment | gave the right to vote to citizens 18 years of age or older in both federal and state elections |
| Caucus | A political meeting, where preference voting happens; normally the voting is done by physically walking to a candidate's designated area |
| Year of the Woman | 1992 marked a new era for women in Congress; 24 women won election to teh House--the most ever to the House in a single election; since 1992, an average of 10 new women have been elected to Congress each election cycle (2008 stats) |
| 1994 Mid-term election | marked a Congressional realignment; House switched from D to R; Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" was a big piece of this; often called "the Republican Revolution" |
| Contract with America | bluleprint for legislative action adn congressionl reform that House Republicans (under the leadership of Newt Gingrich) campaigned for in the 1994 mid-term election |
| All Politics is Local | coined by Dem Speaker Tip O'Neill; what's happening on "main street" matters most as to whether or not a Congressperson is re-elected |
| Soft Money | unregulated money (no limits) is given to a political party for party-building puposees; this kind of money cannot go to candidates |
| Hard money | regulated money, given by individuals to candidates during the primary and general elections |
| Federal Matching Funds | the only form of public financing of presidential elections available to pres. candiadtes for the primary and general election campaigns--candidates must agree to abide by spending limits (first made available in 1976--think post-Watergate) |
| Independent Expenditure | money spent by a aPAC or special interest group--independent from a campaign--no limit on how much can be spent; law requires that they identify themselves |
