Candidate-centered elections

 

                Unlike other comparable democracies, the emphasis of American elections centers upon the merits or otherwise of the candidates rather than the parties. Party labels are relatively weak within the states. To be a Democrat or Republican does not hold anything like to same connotation as being a member of a political party in many other countries. In order to get elected; candidates will seek a party label simply in order to gain activists, campaign finance and more importantly a level of credibility. Party labels are so loose that an independently-minded maverick (such as the self-confessed socialist Bernie Sanders) can be absorbed fairly easily into the major party labels. There are even politicians who have left smaller third parties for one of the two main parties. For example, Ron Paul once ran on the Libertarian Party ticket before moving to the GOP.

 

                Whilst parties will certainly provide money and other methods of support, it is beholden upon the candidate to raise most of the money themselves. During the 2012 presidential election, the DNC provided around a quarter of the total spent by Team Obama. Candidates also have a degree of freedom from the party label and party platform. There is nothing comparable to the party manifesto that characterizes elections in other liberal democracies. Party platforms are agreed during the National Party Conventions, but they are hardly binding upon the party candidates. Although both parties have attempted to strengthen the level of party unity since the turn of the century (namely the Democrats ‘six for ‘06’ and the GOP’s ‘Pledge to America’ in 2010); candidates still have a degree of flexibility in order to put forward their own views or those that are more likely to get them elected. In part, this is a reflection of the federalist character of the states. In order to get elected in the Bos-Wash corridor, it may be necessary for a Republican candidate to adopt a liberal stance on social issues. Equally, a Democrat may have to adopt a fiscal conservative stance in order to gain elected office in the Deep South. This may well lead to the charge that such candidates are DINOs (Democrats In Name Only) or RINOs (Republican In Name Only). From the Republican side, a liberal candidate such as Olympia Snowe from Maine was a RINO. Snowe retired in 2012 citing hyper-partisanship within Congress as the reason for her decision.

 

                Although candidates have this freedom, the extent to which candidates can deviate from the party line has diminished since the collapse of the New Deal in the late-1960s. In other words, the GOP has become more conservative whilst the Democrats have become more liberal. This is most noticeable over those hot-button issues that motivate the party base, such as abortion and gay/equal marriage. RINOs have been pushed out of the party by the threat of defeat in a primary to a right-wing challenger, including the aforementioned Olympia Snowe. Equally, the number of Blue Dog Democrats is in steady decline. Once elected, a representative may find it difficult to gain promotion if the party whips feel that they are insufficiently conservative (from the Republican side) or liberal (from the Democrats). This will invariably lead towards politicians; who by nature are an ambitious group of people, maintaining the party line.

 

                In order to gain election (and re-election), a candidate may have to distance themselves from the incumbent President. Under Obama, this is particularly noticeable when a Democrat is seeking office in a conservative part of the union. A Democrat standing for office in a red state may have to run in opposition to President Obama. At the very least, he/she may well be tainted by association with unpopular policies promoted by the Head of State. However, for many of those seeking re-election a visit from the President or some access to him can play well with the folks back home. Even in a less deferential age, there is a certain aura surrounding the man who sits in the Oval Office.