ChAPTER EighT • CAmPAigns AnD ElECTions 173
Primary Election
An election in which
political parties choose
their candidates for the
general election.
General Election
An election, normally held
on the first Tuesday in
November, that determines
who will fill various
elected positions.women as Candidates. Until recently, women generally were considered to be appropri-
ate candidates only for lower-level offices, such as state legislator or school board member.
The past twenty years have seen a tremendous increase in the number of women who run
for office, not only at the state level but for the U.S. Congress as well. In 2012, 184 women
ran for Congress on major-party tickets, and 97 were elected. Today, a majority of Americans
say they would vote for a qualified woman for president of the United States. Indeed, Hillary
Clinton came close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, a year in
which the eventual Democratic nominee was favored to win the general election.Professional status. Political campaigning and officeholding are simply easier for some
occupational groups than for others, and political involvement can make a valuable con-
tribution to certain careers. Lawyers, for example, have more flexible schedules than do
many other professionals, can take time off for campaigning, and can leave their jobs to
hold public office full time. Furthermore, holding political office is good publicity for their
professional practice. Perhaps most important, many jobs that lawyers aspire to—federal
or state judgeships, state’s attorney offices, or work in a federal agency—can be attained
by political appointment.managing the Campaign
After the candidates have been nominated, typically through a primary election, the
most exhausting and expensive part of the election process begins—the general election
campaign, which actually fills the offices at stake. Political campaigns are becoming moreDemocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt
Romney speak to their supporters during the 2012 campaigns. As it turned out, Obama’s campaign was
the more effective of the two. (left: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; right: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.