Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
Elections Results	USstudent244	11/12/03
Okay, I have one more question regarding the presidential elections. What kind of candidate is most likely to win in both the caucus and the primaries process and why? What I’m trying to ask is what are the benefits and disadvantages of a candidate, if the candidate wins either through the caucus or the primaries? THANK YOU
Answered By		Answered On
stevehaddock		11/12/03
Caucus candidates tend to reflect the party insiders - strong politicians who control a lot of personal support through the hand-out of political jobs. These are generally state politicians who in the old days could reward friends for their votes with a decent job. Even in the early 1800's, many states identified with one or the other party for long periods of time, and a "party boss" could command jobs for decades. This "machine" system, in one incarnation or the other, some more corrupt, some less, ruled several large cities and small states for decades or even centuries. When Harry Truman was coming up through Missouri politics, his basic honesty ran smack dab into the Democrats political machine in the state, which controled state contracts which were often performed poorly for high profits. However, at least at first, he did play along. This isn't to say Republicans were any better - Republicans were ruled by "money interests", basically rich people willing to use their money to buy clout, but at the expense of working people. Richard Nixon's nomination in 1968 was all but paid for by oil and industrial interests who were dissatisfied with the Johnson administration. To Nixon's credit, he was on the progressive side for a Republican and often ignored the interests of the very groups who supported him. However, primary candidates often give a party's inner circle coniptions. This time around, Howard Dean is seen as "too liberal" for the Democratic party which despite its liberal label, is really quite centrist with only a few really liberal politicians (e.g. Edward Kennedy). In a recent article in Playboy, George McGovern recalls being stuck with the "ultra-liberal" label in 1972, even though he was from a traditionally Republican state and had a centrist voting record in the Senate. Generally, party insiders tend to be more conservative than their constituents, and that applies to both Democrats and Republicans. However, with the parties becoming more polarized all the time, and deep party support coming from the most extreme ends, Democratic candidates tend to be more liberal than the party as a whole, and Republicans tend to be more conservative than the party as a whole. This was not the case during the convention "back room" days. Even a liberal like Kennedy was seen as MORE conservative than his main rival, Lyndon Johnson. In 2000, Gore was more liberal than many Democratic politicians (although he's just a centrist) and Bush was more conservative than many Republican politicans (one of the reasons Jeffords left the party).

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