It takes a long time to elect an American president. Candidates spend months or even years trying to build support and raise money. Candidates come from many different backgrounds and various careers, but most have been elected to a state or national office before becoming president. They are usually members of a political party.
The United States has two main political parties: Democratic and Republican. There are other smaller parties that are known as third parties. An Independent candidate is one who is not bound by or committed to a political party.
Only one person can be president. However, many people will want to try. Each presidential election starts with many candidates trying to become the favorite of their political party. Candidates crisscross the country to show that they care about the local people. They hold rallies. They seek attention from the media. They participate in televised debates with their fellow candidates to discuss important issues and clarify their positions. They also spend a lot of time asking for money, because elections are very expensive.
Candidates hire people to help them. Also, supporters volunteer to help. Campaign staff and volunteers try to get people excited about their candidate, register voters, and help people get to their voting place.
Each political party picks its candidate through a set of statewide elections. For their elections, each state uses one of two systems: primaries and caucuses.
• Primary: Party members go to a polling place and vote for their candidate.
• Caucus: Party members meet locally to discuss and vote and discuss and vote and repeat the process until they decide on the candidate they want.
During the Primary season, candidates of the same party challenge each other. Sometimes they are tough on each other. They are trying to sway voters to pick them as the party nominee over their competition.
Each party has a national convention, where members from each state meet to pick the presidential candidate. Conventions are gigantic events with speeches, funny hats, signs, more speeches, singing, voting, more speeches, more funny hats, more speeches, and balloons! And speeches! So many speeches!
Finally, the party candidate is nominated. Everyone in the party gathers to support that person against the other party’s nominee, and the general election begins!
The General Election is the final push toward election day. At this point, there are only two main candidates: one from each major party. The candidates spend the fall traveling the country trying to get people excited to vote for them. There are debates, rallies, speeches, news interviews, and other events to get attention for the candidate.
News organizations and other media outlets spend an enormous amount of time trying to figure out who will win the race. Voters might be interested in this horse-race view of the election, but information on the candidates’ records and ideas are more important. Voters must get informed to understand the issues and what each candidate might do if elected.
Journalism is the act of gathering and sharing information about things that happen. Journalists tell us the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of events. Journalists share their findings in print, online, on TV, on the radio, and in other formats.
The United States has a free press, which means that the government cannot control or influence what is reported. A free press acts like a watchdog and helps citizens know when its officials are doing their jobs well and when they are not. It can even reveal abuses of power or illegal actions.
Journalism and a free press are essential to a thriving democracy.
A journalist’s job is to report the truth. That means accurately reporting facts. They must make sure the facts can be proven. Journalists also give facts a context so people can understand them. Journalists have a responsibility to point out errors, missing information, and even lies from leaders. The loyalty of journalists is to the readers, not to the people who pay their salaries or print their work or who have political power or other kinds of power.
There are many kinds of journalists. All base their work on verifiable facts and make an honest effort to analyze those facts.
• Reporters collect facts and report stories.
• Columnists explain their point of view on a topic.
• Editorial cartoonists use art and often humor to express an opinion of a news event.
• Editorial writers express the views of the publication on a topic.
News sources that uphold the principles of good journalism help citizens to understand what is happening. However, not all sources that claim to be news sources do this. Some distort the truth or spread false information. They can do this by reporting incorrect information or by leaving out important details.
Being a journalist is hard work. It can also be dangerous work. In many countries, a journalist who disagrees with the government or who reports on the government’s bad actions can be attacked or thrown in prison or worse. Freedom of the press is a right that can be lost if it is not protected.
Democracy danger: Pay attention when politicians call journalists bad names because they do not like the stories that are reported. Ask yourself why the politician is trying to make people doubt the story. Do your research. Are the reporters doing their jobs and using evidence? Do other credible news outlets confirm the reporting?
Democracy danger: Beware of anyone who calls the free press the “enemy of the people.” These words have been used by tyrants for centuries. They are powerful and dangerous words meant to make people stop trusting facts. Once the people stop believing facts, they are easy to fool. People who are easily fooled are easily taken advantage of by bad leaders. That is when democracy fails. That is when fear and violence govern instead of laws. Always be suspicious of a leader who says this!