A primary election is an election that narrows the field of candidates before the general election. Presidential and statewide primary elections are partisan. Local elections are often non-partisan. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election.

Primaries are common in the United States, where their origins are traced to the progressive movement to take the power of candidate nomination from party leaders to the people.^[1]

Other methods of selecting candidates include caucuses, conventions, and nomination meetings. Historically, Canadian political parties chose their candidates through nominating conventions held by constituency riding associations. Canadian party leaders are elected at leadership conventions, although some parties have abandoned this practice in favor of one member, one vote systems.

Types[link]

Most countries in which primary elections are organized by parties, not the administration, generally distinguish only two types of primaries:

• Closed primary (synonyms: internal primaries, party primaries). In the case of closed primaries, internal primaries, or party primaries, only party members can vote.
• Open primary. All voters can take part in an open primary, but the party may require them to express their support to the party's values and pay a small contribution to the costs of the primary.

In the United States, other types can be differentiated:

• Closed primary. People may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party prior to election day. Independents cannot participate. Note that because some political parties name themselves independent, the term "non-partisan" often replaces "independent" when referring to those who are not affiliated with a political party. Thirteen states — Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota — have closed primaries.^[2]
• Semi-closed. As in closed primaries, registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with any party on Election Day. Fifteen states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming — have semi-closed primaries that allow voters to register or change party preference on election day.^[3][2]
• Open primary. A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his own party affiliation. When voters do not register with a party before the primary, it is called a pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party's primary he or she wishes to vote in on election day. Because of the open nature of this system, a practice known as raiding may occur. Raiding consists of voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party, effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate. The theory is that opposing party members vote for the weakest candidate of the opposite party in order to give their own party the advantage in the general election. An example of this can be seen in the 1998 Vermont senatorial primary with the nomination of Fred Tuttle as the Republican candidate in the general election.
• Semi-open. A registered voter need not publicly declare which political party's primary that they will vote in before entering the voting booth. When voters identify themselves to the election officials, they must request a party's specific ballot. Only one ballot is cast by each voter. In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials or poll workers from their respective parties record each voter's choice of party and provide access to this information. The primary difference between a semi-open and open primary system is the use of a party-specific ballot. In a semi-open primary, a public declaration in front of the election judges is made and a party-specific ballot given to the voter to cast. Certain states that use the open-primary format may print a single ballot and the voter must choose on the ballot itself which political party's candidates they will select for a contested office.
• Run-off. A primary in which the ballot is not restricted to one party and the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. (A run-off differs from a primary in that a second round is only needed if no candidate attains a majority in the first round.)

There are also mixed systems in use. In West Virginia, where state law allows parties to determine whether primaries are open to independents, Republican primaries are open to independents, while Democratic primaries were closed. However, as of April 1, 2007, West Virginia's Democratic Party opened its voting to allow "individuals who are not affiliated with any existing recognized party to participate in the election process".

Primaries in the United States[link]

Primary elections in the United States are used to narrow the field of candidates for the general election. In modern politics, primary elections have been an important vehicle for taking decision-making from political insiders to the voters. State voters start the electoral process for governors and legislators through the primary process, as well as for many local officials from city councilors to county commissioners.^[4] The candidate who moves from the primary to be successful in the general election takes public office.

Non-partisan[link]

Primaries can be used in nonpartisan elections to reduce the set of candidates that go on to the general election (qualifying primary). (In the U.S., many city, county and school board elections are non-partisan.) Generally, if a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary, he or she is automatically elected, without having to run again in the general election. If no candidate receives a majority, twice as many candidates pass the primary as can win in the general election, so a single seat election primary would allow the top two primary candidates to participate in the general election following.

Blanket[link]

When a qualifying primary is applied to a partisan election, it becomes what is generally known as a blanket or Louisiana primary: typically, if no candidate wins a majority in the primary, the two candidates receiving the highest pluralities, regardless of party affiliation, go on to a general election that is in effect a run-off. This often has the effect of eliminating minor parties from the general election, and frequently the general election becomes a single-party election. Unlike a plurality voting system, a run-off system meets the Condorcet loser criterion in that the candidate that ultimately wins would not have been beaten in a two-way race with every one of the other candidates.

Because many Washington residents were disappointed over the loss of their blanket primary, which the Washington State Grange helped institute in 1935, the Grange filed Initiative 872 in 2004 to establish a blanket primary for partisan races, thereby allowing voters to once again cross party lines in the primary election. The two candidates with the most votes then advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Supporters claimed it would bring back voter choice; opponents said it would exclude third parties and independents from general election ballots, could result in Democrat or Republican-only races in certain districts, and would in fact reduce voter choice. The initiative was put to a public vote in November 2004 and passed. On July 15, 2005, the initiative was found unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the Grange's appeal of the case in October 2007. In March 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality the Grange-sponsored Top 2 primary, citing a lack of compelling evidence to overturn the voter-approved initiative.^[5]

In elections using voting systems where strategic nomination is a concern, primaries can be very important in preventing "clone" candidates that split their constituency's vote because of their similarities. Primaries allow political parties to select and unite behind one candidate. However, tactical voting is sometimes a concern in non-partisan primaries as members of the opposite party can strategically vote for the weaker candidate in order to face an easier general election.

Partisan[link]

Presidential Primaries[link]

In the United States, Iowa and New Hampshire have drawn attention every four years because they hold the first caucus and primary election, respectively, and often give a candidate the momentum to win the nomination.

A criticism of the current presidential primary election schedule is that it gives undue weight to the few states with early primaries, as those states often build momentum for leading candidates and rule out trailing candidates long before the rest of the country has even had a chance to weigh in, leaving the last states with virtually no actual input on the process. The counterargument to this criticism, however, is that, by subjecting candidates to the scrutiny of a few early states, the parties can weed out candidates who are unfit for office.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) proposed a new schedule and a new rule set for the 2008 Presidential primary elections. Among the changes: the primary election cycle would start nearly a year earlier than in previous cycles, states from the West and the South would be included in the earlier part of the schedule, and candidates who run in primary elections not held in accordance with the DNC's proposed schedule (as the DNC does not have any direct control over each state's official election schedules) would be penalized by being stripped of delegates won in offending states. The New York Times called the move, "the biggest shift in the way Democrats have nominated their presidential candidates in 30 years."^[6]

Of note regarding the DNC's proposed 2008 Presidential primary election schedule is that it contrasted with the Republican National Committee's (RNC) rules regarding Presidential primary elections. "No presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting may be held for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates or alternate delegates to the national convention, prior to the first Tuesday of February in the year in which the national convention is held."^[7] In 2016, this date is February 2.

2012 Presidential Primary Season[link]

The United States is one of the few countries to select candidates through a primary election system; most countries rely on party leaders to vet candidates, as previously happened in the U.S.^[8] Candidates for U.S. President who seek their party's nomination participate in primary elections run by state governments, or caucuses run by the political parties. Unlike an election where the only participation is casting a ballot, a caucus is a gathering or "meeting of party members designed to select candidates and propose policies."^[9] Both primaries and caucuses are used in the Presidential nomination process, beginning in January and culminating in the late-summer political party conventions. Candidates may earn convention delegates from each state primary or caucus. In 2012, Republican candidates must earn 1144 delegates to receive the GOP nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida beginning August 27. Democrats will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina beginning September 3. Because President Barack Obama is the incumbent and defacto Democratic Party leader, it is typical for him not to have serious opposition from within his party.

Iowa - January 3

Of all the candidates who campaigned for the Iowa Caucuses, Rick Santorum did it the old-fashioned way, by visiting all 99 counties and holding hundreds of town hall meetings. Santorum found himself at the top of the January 3 Iowa Caucus with 29,839 votes and 13 delegates. Mitt Romney followed a close second with a total of 29,805 votes and 12 delegates. The rest of the results are as follows: Ron Paul with 26,036 votes, Newt Gingrich with 16,163 votes, Rick Perry with 12,557 votes, Michele Bachmann with 6,046, Huntsman with 739, and 316 votes for others.

The Iowa Caucus in 2012 primary election brought several candidates to the state for campaigning to try and win the hearts of the voters. Iowa is the first caucus state that candidates can acquire delegates in their bid for nomination to represent the Republicans in the general election. The candidates spent an average of $733,333 each. Rick Perry led all the candidates with $5.5 million invested in campaigning and super PAC’s with Mitt Romney following second spending around $3.7 million.

New Hampshire - January 10

The first U.S. Presidential primary is in New Hampshire, coming on the heels of the traditional first caucus in Iowa. New Hampshire is an independent state that does not directly vote for just one particular party. The New England state is a swing state it can go either way in the general election, therefore New Hampshire is considered the state that sets the stage for the presidential election season.

Its primary election is held on the second Tuesday in March, and in order to participate in the primary the candidates have to file a declaration of candidacy with the Secretary of State in New Hampshire and pay a fee of a $1000. There are seven candidates running in 2012 New Hampshire Primary: Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Buddy Roemer, and Rick Perry. Mitt Romney won the primary with 97,532 votes (39.3%) for five delegates. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, was the only candidate running for the democratic nomination.^[10] In New Hampshire there are ten counties. This is a Republican semi-closed primary election where anyone can register to vote, including on election day. A total of 224,231 residents of New Hampshire came out and voted in the 2012 primary.

North Dakota

North Dakota is one of the smaller states delegate wise, with only 28 up for grabs, placing it as the 10th smallest. With North Dakota being a caucus, you must be a registered member of the party putting on the election. Also with it being a caucus, all of those 28 delegates are unpledged though. This allows them to cast their vote at the Republican National Convention for whomever they decide. With that being said, in the 2012 Republican North Dakota caucus Rick Santorum received the largest amount of delegates 11, as well as 4,510 votes which was 39.7%. Ron Paul was second receiving 3,186 votes or 28.1% which was good for 8 delegates. Mitt Romney was third receiving 2,691 votes or 23.7% of them. Romney was able to grab 7 delegates. Newt Gingrich finished a distant fourth with 962 votes or just 8.5%. Gingrich only grabbed 2 delegates from North Dakota.^[11] With North Dakota being a very rural state to begin with, the counties where votes were received show little bias to which candidate was chosen in that area.

South Carolina - January 21

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, the South Carolina Preference Primary was held to help determine the Republican Party nominee who would run against President Barack Obama in the November election. Many candidates took to the ballot for election, including Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.

The results of election are as follows: Newt Gingrich was the winner, taking 40.4% of vote, Mitt Romney, second, with 27.85%; Rick Santorum 16.97%; Ron Paul 12.98%; Herman Cain, 1.05%; Rick Perry, 0.42%; Jon Huntsman, 0.19%; Michele Bachmann, .08%; and Gary Johnson .03%. The delegates however were not all taken by Gingrich who took 92% of the delegates (23 delegates) and Romney who took 8% of delegates, after winning Congressional District 1, took 2 delegates.

In South Carolina candidates have two options to get on the ballot. One is to file with a certified political party. Second, file a nominating petition or the candidate must file with the state organization of one of the nine certified political parties in the state. Another way to be nominated is by petition, the candidate needs 10,000 valid signatures of registered voters to be nominated. Then, there are fees, processing, and dates, which means that all the candidates that were seen on the ballot have done one of these things.

The polls in South Carolina were opened to any registered voter as South Carolina doesn’t require voters to register by party. The open primary recorded 605,623 ballots, about 21.6% of the 2,804,231 registered voters in the state voted. The candidates were vying for the 25 delegates the state has to offer for the Republican nomination. The winner of the statewide popular vote takes 11 delegates and the remaining 14 delegates are separated into 7 Congressional Districts.

Florida - January 31

Mitt Romney won the Florida Primary on January 31 with 776,159 votes (46.4%) and Newt Gingrich came in second with 534,121 votes (31.9%). Rick Santorum finished with 223,249 votes (13.3%) and Ron Paul 117,461 votes (7%). Other names appearing on the ballot were Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson and Rick Perry, all of whom finished with less than 1% of the votes each according to the official election results.^[12] All of the candidates finishing with less than 1% had all dropped out of the election prior to the vote. It is unclear how Florida’s delegates will be distributed after the primary. Florida was punished after moving its primary election ahead of the Republican National Committee (RNC) schedule and was docked half of its delegates, bringing the number down to 50. After the punishment, Florida decided to have a winner-take-all election. While this was approved by the RNC, all it takes is for one registered Republican to file a protest and the party’s contest committee would have to consider the issue when they meet in August 2012.

The issues of the primary were not much different from most other southern states. The top 2012 issues were the failing economy and the increase in immigration. There were four debates in Florida for the 2012election, two in 2011 and the other two in early 2012.

The requirements for primary election ballot access vary from state to state. While some states require the collection of set amount of signatures, or a petition, Florida only requires that a major party submit a list of candidates to the Florida Secretary of State by the set deadline, in this case, October 31, 2011. The names that appear on this list shall appear on the presidential preference primary ballot unless a candidate submits an affidavit to the Department of the Secretary of State prior to the deadline (November 15, 2011) stating that he or she has no intention of becoming a candidate for President at the upcoming nomination convention. Minor party candidates and candidates with no party affiliation must collect the signatures 112,174 registered electors and submit them by July 15, 2011 in addition to submitting the names and addresses of 29 registered electors by September 1, 2011.

Nevada - February 4

The Nevada caucuses are held every four years to determine who Nevada's delegates will support in choosing Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. What is a caucus? A caucus is a meeting of party leaders to select candidates, elect convention delegates, etc.. In a caucus, you must be part of the political party.

The 2012 Nevada Democratic caucuses were held on January 21, 2012. As U.S. President Barack Obama was the only candidate under consideration, the event was used primarily for organizational purposes and to drum up popular support. Approximately 13,000 Democrats participated compared with more than 116,000 who turned out in 2008. For his campaign, Obama somewhat changed his slogan from “Hope for Change” to “Obama 2012” or “Greater Together”. He also did a TV ad that showed how his campaign would be, what he was going to do to further our country the best way he can, and it also showed that he wants to keep helping our country get better for our future.

The 2012 Nevada Republican caucuses were held on February 4. They were closed caucuses. Closed caucuses are when only registered members of a particular political party may participate and select a nominee. Mitt Romney was declared the winner. There are 400,310 registered Republicans voting for 28 delegates. After the voting process, the winner of Nevada was Mitt Romney with a little over 50 percent of the votes (50.2%). Mitt Romney’s campaign consisted of a slogan which was “Believe In America”, and a TV ad that was somewhat the same as Barack Obama’s, but with different views of what he would do for the country to keep us moving upward.

Minnesota - February 7

The state of Minnesota holds a closed caucus during the primary season so the opposing political parties do not try to influence the election results. In either the Democratic or Republican caucus the members that attend must be in line with their party’s principles to participate. This is done to prevent a Democrat voting in the Republican Party caucus and for the opposite. Supporters of caucus argue they want to have a strong party turnout rather than have independents or the opposite party voting in their caucus.

On February 7, 2012 Minnesota held its statewide caucus for the Republican Party. 48,916 votes were cast for the following candidates: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Rick Santorum was declared the winner with 44.95% of the vote. State can vote to bind 13 at-large delegates, 24 delegates elected at congressional district conventions, and 3 Republican National Committee delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate.

Maine - February 11

Maine does not have a primary election; it instead selects candidates during a caucus. A caucus is a meeting of the members of a legislative body who are members of a particular political party, to select candidates or decide policy. Romney won Maine’s caucuses with 2,190 votes (39 percent), while Paul had 1,996 votes (36 percent). These results came from only 84 percent of all of the precincts that were held across the state of Maine.

Paul came close to winning Maine but in the end it was Romney who took the victory. Romney was decided to have won Maine’s caucuses even before Washington County had convened its caucuses. That led to Maine lawmakers considering holding primary elections in the state of Maine as oppose to the caucuses to pick presidential candidates.

In the state of Maine, when electing the candidates for the presidential election, they use a caucus rather than a primary election like most states. A caucus is a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy (Merriam-Webster). During the caucus voters meet in a public place such as city hall or some other central location and decide aloud by physically moving from one side of the room to the other depending on which candidate they are supporting. After the caucus preceding are through and all the voters have chosen their side, delegates award votes to the candidates according to the number of voters in support of each candidate.

In the 2012 Caucus, the four main candidates were Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich. Romney and Paul were the frontrunners though Romney got a slightly higher number of votes from the citizens. Romney, a representative from Massachusetts, barely beat our Paul, the representative from Texas. Romney expressed that he was upset by barely beating out a candidate from the southwest when he is a representative from a fellow New England state. In the 2008 Republican Caucus, Romney beat out John McCain by more than 30% (New York Times) and this year won by less than four percent.

Delegates were awarded to both Romney and Paul. Romney was given 12 while Paul was given 10 (New York Times). The other candidates were not awarded any delegates for the state or the national convention because they did not receive enough votes from the public during the caucus.

Michigan - February 28

The Michigan Republican Primary took place on February 28, 2012. On the ballot were candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Some of the issues addressed by the Michigan Republican Primary were gas prices, whether more money and time should be invested in more oil drilling, and formation of plans for greater energy independence. The final results for the Michigan Republican Primary were Romney with 409,899 votes and 15 delegates, Santorum with 377,521 and 15 delegates, Gingrich with 65,002 votes, and Paul with 115,778 votes.

The candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, Rick Perry, and Buddy Roemer dropped out of the 2012 Presidential race but were still on the ballot for the Michigan primary. Michigan’s Republican Primary was a semi-open primary, meaning potential voters are not required to register with a political party prior to voting, but voters have to request one party ballot. One of the major candidates to visit the state of Michigan during its campaign was Mitt Romney. On February 27, Mitt Romney closed out his campaign with a concert by rock musician Kid Rock and used this opportunity to once again talk about his upbringing in Michigan. Controversy surrounded Rick Santorum’s campaign when he admitted to using telephone messages that urged Michigan Democratic voters to go to the Michigan Republican Primary and vote against his competitor Mitt Romney in order to sway the vote in Santorum’s favor. Mitt Romney is quoted as saying that “Senator Santorum did something today which I think is deceptive and a dirty trick”.

Washington - March 3

The State of Washington holds a caucus, a mechanism for state party voters to gather together to throw support behind a candidate The candidates were Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich.

Mitt Romney, the winner of the Washington Caucus, spent some time campaigning in the state and talking about a few issues. He spent Thursday, March 1 and Friday, March 2 in the state. Romney held a rally at Bellevue’s Highland Community Center. The rally attracted about 500 people and was split between two rooms in order to fit everyone in. Romney gave two speeches that day. Romney was talking about how he wants to fix the economy and bring the troops home “as soon as humanly possible.”

Ron Paul was the only candidate to run television ads in the state of Washington. He spent about $40,000 on the ads that were shown on the cable channels. Paul’s campaign throughout the state ended up bringing in huge crowds. On Friday, March 2, Paul had a rally in Seattle. His message was that he wanted to “slash the government, eliminate the Federal Reserve and end U.S. military actions abroad.” He also greeted voters in Puyallup on Saturday, March 3 before the caucus opened. Paul was looking to have his first victory of the campaign in Washington and he came in second.

Rick Santorum was in Washington on Thursday, March 2 for the day while Newt Gingrich was campaigning in Ohio getting ready for Super Tuesday on March 6.

Georgia - March 6

The race to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination to challenge President Barack Obama included the “Super Tuesday” election day when 10 states, including Georgia, held primaries on March 6. The primary election in Georgia was focused on these top four Republican candidates: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Georgia is one of the top ten states that have the highest population in the United States estimating at 9,815,210 residents. In other words, whoever wins Georgia’s could get a confidence boost, break a losing streak and will be that much closer to winning the presidential nomination.

Three out of the four main candidates paid a visit to Georgia. They were former U.S. House Speaker Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Romney, and former U.S. Senator Santorum. Gingrich campaigned in Georgia for a week hoping to break his losing streak. He spoke before the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, at the opening of a Cherokee County Republican office and at a rally in Macon. After Dalton, Gingrich made stops in Atlanta, Carrollton, Covington, Gainesville and Rome. Romney went to Snellville, Georgia and while there he served the public pancakes and sweet tea telling voters he was the best choice to lead America. Former Pennsylvania Senator, Santorum went to Dalton, Georgia for a town hall-style meeting, then he headed south to Atlanta.

A few issues that Gingrich promoted during the campaign for primary election were abortion, illegal immigration, entitlement program reform, employment, health care, Afghanistan, budget and the economy. Gingrich’s campaigning included a call to immediately cease public funding for abortion providers. Gingrich advocated changing social security for workers under 30 and give them a personal account that builds through their career which they are required to contribute towards. He also proposed broad changes in the tax code to make it easier for business to grow. He also wants to repeal the President's 2010 health care reform law. Gingrich stated, “Afghanistan is only part of a larger battle with radical Islam, pulling out troops will embolden enemies.”^[13] He said he would listen more to his generals on what his next strategy will be. On the budget and economy, Gingrich advocated modernizing the government would save $500 billion per year in waste. He wants to put people back to work in order to raise revenues without taxes and feels as though the Federal Reserve is a scandal. He wanted to insure banks rather than provide a bailout.^[14]

The results for Georgia Republican Primary recorded Newt Gingrich winning with 47 percent, Mitt Romney following with 26 percent, Rick Santorum with 20 percent, and Ron Paul finishing up with 6 percent.^[15]

Idaho - March 6

The state of Idaho does not hold a primary; instead Idaho is one of twenty states that holds a presidential caucus. A caucus differs from a primary in the fact that a primary is set up and run just like the general election but, during a caucus the vote is run by the political party. Voters in Idaho are divided up by county and vote by secret ballot in successive rounds with the lowest vote-getter being eliminated every round until only two candidates remain on the ballot.

The state of Idaho does not allow everyone to vote in the caucus, they have what is known as a “closed Caucus” meaning only registered voters of the party can vote. So in 2012 only registered Republicans could vote.

The March 6 Idaho caucus was won by Mitt Romney, who took over 61% of the votes and in the “winner take all state” was able to win all of the thirty-two delegates that were up for grabs. Romney, a Mormon, was the favorite going into the caucus as over a quarter of the state’s population belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints giving the state the second largest Mormon population in the country behind Utah.

Ohio - March 6

Some of the major issues in the 2012 Ohio primary were bringing the troops home, health care, the economy, abortion, jobs, and the and the federal budget’s growing deficit. The Ohio primary was the subject of mainstream media, as well as comedy/news programs The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which made fun of the candidates and the seemingly inconclusive nature of the national primary season.^[16][17][18] Mitt Romney managed to win Ohio with 37.9% of the vote (456,513 votes) and gain 35 delegates. Rick Santorum came in a close second with 37.1% of the vote (446,225 votes), earning him 21 delegates. Newt Gingrich was third with 14.6% (175,554 votes) and Ron Paul was last with 9.2% (111,238 votes). Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman were also on the ballot, but had only .6% (7,445 votes) and .5% (6,428 votes) of all votes, respectively.

The Ohio Republican primary took place March 6, 2012, a day also dubbed “Super Tuesday” because much of the voting happens on that day, making the presidential nominee clear after that point. Other states holding primaries that day were Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, and Wyoming, with all states excluding Wyoming having 100% of districts reporting. Including all 66 delegates, Ohio is one of the “winner take all” states, district and statewide. While it is technically a closed primary, if someone votes in the primary, their affiliation is officially changed or declared when they vote in the primary, meaning that someone only needs to ask for a ballot for the primary and they become registered for that particular party or changed from their original party.^[19] It is one of the few states that allows 17-year-olds to vote in the primary given that he or she must be 18 by the time of the general election. Because not all states allow this, it can skew the results of primaries and caucuses nationwide. However, participating states urge other states to follow suit so as not to disqualify soon to be voters. It is also a step in the direction to help prepare young people to vote, as a study showed that a large number of 18-29 year-olds who had never voted were unclear of the process.^[20]

Mitt Romney took the state by a .8% lead over Rick Santorum. Santorum seemed to attack Romney, stating that the health care reform under his term as the governor of Massachusetts inspired the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama in 2010 and that the plan required Catholic hospitals to hand out the morning after pill. Romney made his major focus on bringing the troops home and fixing the economy; Gingrich tried to take a casual approach in Georgia by speaking at a restaurant-bar north of Cincinnati, and stated that Obama’s version of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan was for everyone to pay $9.99 a gallon.^[16]

Romney was most popular in urban areas such as Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Akron, and Columbus. He was also more popular with women than men, had more support from moderate and liberal voters. Santorum’s support was scattered over the state in suburban and rural areas. Men showed most support for him, and he had nearly half of the far right vote.

Oklahoma - March 6

In the state of Oklahoma, primary elections have one purpose: To allow members of a recognized political party to select that party’s nominees to go on the General Election Ballot. Primary on runoff primary elections often are referred to as “Party primaries,” and with good reason. Persons who are not registered members of a party may not participate in the selection of that party’s nominees.

By law, Oklahoma has a closed primary system. That means that in primary ad runoff primary elections, only registered voters of a political party may vote to select their party’s nominees. In other words, at primary and runoff primary elections, registered Democrats may vote only for Democratic candidates, and registered Republicans may vote for Republican candidates only. Persons who are registered Independent (No Party) may not vote for any partial candidates in primary elections. All Independent candidates appear on the ballot only at general elections.

After two Southern losses, Mitt Romney increased his campaign efforts in the economically challenged Midwest; a friendly region for him in hopes to regain his front runner’s momentum when Illinois holds its Republican presidential primary Tuesday.

A voter always can vote for any candidate whose name appears on any ballot that he or she is eligible to receive. But is important to understand that only persons who have chosen to be affiliated with a political party, can participate in selecting the party’s nominees at a primary or runoff primary election. A voter who does not wish to be affiliated with a political party is not entitled to influence the selection of its nominees.

Tennessee - March 6

The Tennessee Primary election was held on March 6, 2012. Presidential candidates included Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum. In this primary, any United States citizen who was a resident of Tennessee, who is or will be at least 18 years old on or before the next general election, who has not been convicted of a felony or has had her/his full citizen rights restored or received pardon may vote.

Primary Results Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, won the Tennessee Primary with 37.2 percent of the vote, followed by Mitt Romney with 28.1 percent, Newt Gingrich with 23.9 percent, and Ron Paul with 9.0 percent. Santorum earned 29 delegates, 17 went to Romney, 9 to Gingrich, and Ron Paul received no delegates.^[21]

GOP Convention Delegates
The Tennessee Republican delegation consists of fifty-eight delegates, three per county. Only 55 of these delegates are bound, meaning that they must vote for the candidate who has won their vote in the primary at the Republican National Convention. The delegate voting process, however, can vary according to the rules set in place by the Republican National Committee at the convention. Tennessee is not a winner-take-all state, and delegates are split into three categories: congressional delegates, statewide delegates, and unbound delegates.

Congressional Delegates (27 Total): If a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote in each congressional district, he or she gets all three of that district’s delegates. If only one candidate manages to receive twenty percent of the vote they will also receive all of the delegates in that district. If two or more candidates reach twenty percent, the top vote receiver gets two delegates and the next highest gets one delegate. If no candidate reaches twenty percent of the vote in a district then each of the top three candidates receives one delegate.

Statewide Delegates (28 Total): If a candidate receives more than two-thirds of the vote statewide, he or she receives all twenty-eight statewide delegates. If only one candidate receives 20 percent or more of the statewide vote, he receives all 28 statewide delegates. If two or more candidates receive more than twenty percent of the vote, the delegates are distributed proportionally to those candidates who receive more than twenty percent of the statewide vote.

Unbound Delegates (3 Total): Tennessee’s National Committeeman, National Committeewoman, and the Chairman of the Tennessee’s Republican Party all attend the National Convention and are unbound delegates.

Issues
The issues important in the Tennessee primary, along with the other Republican primaries, were largely social and religious issues. According to an Edison Research and The Associated Press exit poll, seven of ten Tennessee voters considered themselves born-again Christians, underlining the importance of religious issues among the electorate. Economic issues as well as candidate electability were also important to Tennessee voters during the primary election.^[22]

Vermont - March 6

Vermont held its primary on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Vermont's primary is an open primary, meaning anyone can vote no matter their political party. Depending on the state the candidates of that year will either get all the delegates of that state or the delegates will be divided up between the candidates depending on the vote.

In Vermont there were 4 major candidates on the GOP ballot: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Romney ended up winning the state with 23,965 votes, earning him 9 delegates. Paul came in second with 15,369 votes, earning him 4 delegates. He was followed by Rick Santorum who had 14,273 votes, also earning him 4 delegates. Coming in last was Gingrich with 4,944 votes and no delegates.

Vermont's primary had 17 RNC delegates at stake. In order for a candidate to receive all of the delegates in Vermont he or she must get 50% of the vote. If the candidate doesn’t then the delegates are split up between the different candidates.

Virginia - March 6

Candidates in the Virginia primary in 2012 were Ron Paul and Mitt Romney since other candidates did not collect the required 10,000 signatures to get om the ballot. Romney won the election with 158,050 votes (60 percent) compared to Paul's 107,471 votes (40 percent). Romney earned 43 delegates; Paul earned three.

Hawaii - March 13

Hawaii traditionally has held Presidential primaries, but on March 13, 2012, The Aloha State had its first-ever caucus. The caucus allowed Republicans to cast their ballots and vote for their choice of Republican Presidential candidates. The caucus, whose only requirement was a completed GOP Party membership form, was used as a party-building exercise.^[23]

For the 2012 Hawaii Caucus, the Republican Presidential candidates were Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich. None of the candidates made a campaign stop in Hawaii, but the children of the candidates — Ronnie Paul, Elizabeth Santorum and Matt Romney — traveled to Hawaii prior to the caucus to rally support for their fathers. Gingrich kept his attention on Alabama and Mississippi primaries, which may reflect the number of allocated delegates. The four candidates were competing for 17 out of Hawaii's 20 delegates, resulting in the following:

Issues and Voters
Many Republican voters seem to focus on economic issues, while they discredit social matters that are popular on the national level, such as abortion and birth control. Moreover, Hawaii’s fiscal policy is a major area of concern for many voting citizens. One voter states, "As for the Presidential race, I have made my mind up. I'm planning on voting for the only fiscal conservative, the only one who is talking about monetary reform, which is my biggest issue – and that's Ron Paul." David Chang, Hawaii Republic Party Chairman, believes that in regards to the increasing national debt, bettering the economy and creating jobs are important to Hawaiian voters. Also, some voters look to the Republican candidates because they do not agree with ObamaCare, and instead support Republican candidates that focus on forefront economic issues. Kymberly Marcos Pine, House Republican Floor Leader, likewise believes that the Republican Party will win Hawaii in the Presidential election because they focus heavily on financial matters.

Who Could Vote
In order to vote, every voter must present a valid photo ID. Voters are then required to fill out a voting card, declaring that they are part of the Hawaii Republican Party. If voters did not show up on the Hawaii Voter List, they were still able to register and vote the day of the caucus if they had valid ID showing their Hawaiian address. Moreover, the law permits residents of Hawaii who are not incarcerated felons, or mentally incompetent to vote in the caucus.

Alabama - March 13

Rick Santorum won the 2012 Alabama primary with 206,166 votes (35 percent), Newt Gingrich received 174,855 (29 percent), Mitt Romney 172,994 (29 percent) and Ron Paul 29,669 (5 percent). In Alabama, 50 delegates were at stake, with Santorum earning 17, Gingrich 12 and Romney 10, with an additional 11 uncommitted.

2011[link]

In California, under Proposition 14 (Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act), a voter-approved referendum, in all races except for that for U.S. President and county central committee offices, all candidates running in a primary election regardless of party will appear on a single primary election ballot and voters may vote for any candidate, with the top two vote-getters overall move on to the general election regardless of party. The effect of this is that it will be possible for two Republicans or two Democrats to compete against each other in a general election if those candidates receive the most primary-election support.^[24][25]

As a result of a federal court decision in Idaho Republican Party v. Ysursa, the 2011 Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 351 implementing a closed primary system.^[26]

2010[link]

Oregon became the first American state in which a binding primary election was conducted entirely via the internet. The election was held by the Independent Party of Oregon in July, 2010.^[27]

2008[link]

For information about a particular state's primary system as of January 2008, see list below. The best source of up-to-date information is often the official website of the state in question, but this can be hard to find. For example, California lists detailed information about its current "modified closed" (i.e. semi-closed) system on the California state website.^[28] Similarly, information on the Arizona semi-closed primary system can be found on the Arizona state website.^[29][30] For Presidential candidate delegate assignment, however, Arizona conducts a Presidential Preference Election (PPE), distinguishing the contest from the state's primary election laws. Arizona's PPE is closed to those not registered with a state-recognized party.^[31]

• Alabama – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (10 Days – Jan 26).
• Alaska – Caucuses (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Arizona – Closed PPE (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Arkansas – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• California – Semi-Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (15 Days – Jan 22).
• Colorado – Caucuses (Feb 5). Deadline (29 Days – Jan 7). (For Democrats, the deadline to register is Feb 5)
• Connecticut – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (12 Noon, Feb 4).
• Delaware – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (24 Days – Jan 12).
• District of Columbia – Primary (Feb 12). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 13).
• Florida – Closed Primary (Jan 29). Deadline (29 Days – Jan 1).
• Georgia – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (Jan 7).
• Hawaii – Open Caucuses (Mar 2). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 1).
• Idaho – Open Primary (May 27). Deadline (May 2 for pre registration. Registration allowed on Election Day).
• Illinois – Semi-Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (27 Days – Jan 9).
• Indiana – Open Primary (May 6). Deadline (28 Days – Apr 9).
• Iowa – Caucus (Jan 3). Deadline (10 days – Dec 24, 2007).
• Kansas – Caucuses (Feb 9). Deadline (15 Days – Jan 25).
• Kentucky – Closed Primary (May 20). Deadline for new registrations (28 Days – Apr 22). Deadline for party switch (Dec 31, 2007).
• Louisiana – Caucus (Feb 9). Deadline (Jan 11).
• Maine – Caucuses (February 1 through February 3). Deadline (None – Day of Election though check the rules regarding this caucus).
• Maryland – Closed Primary (Feb 12). Deadline (21 Days – Jan 22).
• Massachusetts – Semi-Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (1 Day – Jan 16).
• Michigan – Open Primary (Jan 15). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Minnesota – Open Caucuses (Feb 5 *). Deadline (20 Days – Jan 16).
• Mississippi – Closed Primary (Mar 11). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 10).
• Missouri – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (4th Wednesday Prior – Jan 9).
• Montana – Open Primary (Jun 3). Deadline (30 Days – May 4).
• Nebraska – Primary (May 13 *). Deadline (Second Friday before an election, May 2).
• Nevada – Caucuses (Jan 19). Deadline (30 Days – Dec 20, 2007).
• New Hampshire – Semi-Open Primary (Jan 8). Deadline (10 Days – Dec 28, 2007).^[32]
• New Jersey – Primary (Feb 5). Deadline for new registrations (21 Days – Jan 15, 2008). Deadline for party switch (50 days – Dec 17, 2007). Unaffiliated voters can declare on the day of primary.
• New Mexico – Republican Primary (Jun 3). Deadline (28 Days – May 6). Democrat closed caucus Feb 5, 2008 (deadline January 4).
• New York – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (25 Days – Jan 11).
• North Carolina – Semi-Open Primary (May 6 *). Deadline (30 Days – Apr 6). Early voting starts April 17.
• North Dakota – Open Caucuses (Feb 5). Deadline (No registration. Must have residency for 30 days – Jan 6).
• Ohio – Semi-Open Primary (Mar 4). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 3).
• Oklahoma – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (24 Days – Jan 12).
• Oregon – Closed Primary (May 20). Deadline (21 Days – Apr 29).
• Pennsylvania – Closed Primary (Apr 22). Deadline (30 Days – Mar 23).
• Rhode Island – Primary (Mar 4). Deadline (30 Days – Feb 3).
• South Carolina – Open Primary (Jan 19 for Republicans, Jan 26 for Democrats). Deadline (30 days – Dec 20, 2007 for Republicans and Dec 25, 2007 for Democrats).
• South Dakota – Closed Primary (Jun 3). Deadline (15 Days – May 19).
• Tennessee – Open Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Texas – Semi-Open Primary (Mar 4) & Closed Caucus (begins Mar 4, schedule based on party rules). Voting in primary is prerequisite for caucusing at precinct convention, which convenes after primary polls close. Deadline (Feb 4, 2008).
• Utah – Closed Primary (Feb 5). Deadline (30 Days – Jan 6).
• Vermont – Open Primary (Mar 4). Deadline (Feb 27, 2008).
• Virginia – Open Primary (Feb 12). Deadline (29 Days – Jan 14).
• Washington – Open Caucus (Feb 9) & Primary (Feb 19). This is a two step process. Deadline (30 Days via mail or online, 15 Days in Person Friday, Jan 25).
• West Virginia Semi-open Primary (18 Delegates at the State Convention on Feb 5 (ask the state party for details), 12 Delegates for the May 13 Primary).
• Wisconsin – Open Primary (Feb 19). Deadline (The day before or the day of at your polling precinct).
• Wyoming – Caucus (Mar 8).

* – Note that these Primaries / Caucuses may be changed to a date earlier than stated.

Primary classifications[link]

While it is clear that the closed/semi-closed/semi-open/open classification commonly used by scholars studying primary systems does not fully explain the highly nuanced differences seen from state to state, still, it is very useful and has real-world implications for the electorate, election officials, and the candidates themselves.

As far as the electorate is concerned, the extent of participation allowed to weak partisans and independents depends almost solely on which of the aforementioned categories best describes their state's primary system. Clearly, open and semi-open systems favor this type of voter, since they can choose which primary they vote in on a yearly basis under these models. In closed primary systems, true independents are, for all practical purposes, shut out of the process.

This classification further affects the relationship between primary elections and election commissioners and officials. The more open the system, the greater the chance of raiding, or voters voting in the other party's primary in hopes of getting a weaker opponent chosen to run against a strong candidate in the general election. Raiding has proven stressful to the relationships between political parties, who feel cheated by the system, and election officials, who try to make the system run as smoothly as possible.

Perhaps the most dramatic effect this classification system has on the primary process is its influence on the candidates themselves. Whether a system is open or closed dictates the way candidates run their campaigns. In a closed system, from the time a candidate qualifies to the day of the primary, he must cater to strong partisans, who tend to lean to the extreme ends of the ideological spectrum. In the general election, on the other hand, the candidate must move more towards the center in hopes of capturing a plurality.

Daniel Hannan, a British politician and Member of the European Parliament, claimed, "Open primaries are the best idea in contemporary politics. They shift power from party hierarchs to voters, from Whips to backbenchers and from ministers to Parliament. They serve to make legislatures more diverse and legislators more independent."^[33]

Primaries in Europe[link]

In Europe, primaries are not organized by the public administration but by parties themselves. Legislation is mostly silent on primaries. The main reason to this is that the voting method used to form governments, be it proportional representation or two-round systems, lessens the need for an open primary. Party fragmentation reduces wasted votes and does not hamper the chances to win, like in single-winner elections. Coalitions can be formed before (Sweden) or afterwards (Netherlands).

Governments are not involved in the process, however, parties may need their cooperation, notably in the case of an open primary, e.g. to obtain the electoral roll, or to cover the territory with a sufficient number of polling stations.

Whereas closed primaries are rather common within many European countries, few political parties in Europe already opted for open primaries. Parties generally organise primaries to nominate the party leader (leadership election). The underlying reason for that is that most European countries are parliamentary democracies. National governments are derived from the majority in the Parliament, which means that the head of the government is generally the leader of the winning party. France is one exception to this rule.

Unlike at Member State level, primaries are completely unknown at the level of the European Union. So far, European political parties, which are federations of national political parties and are mainly based in Brussels, never consult individual party members (let alone voters) while designating their top candidates; however, some European parties are considering to change that for the next European elections in 2014.

Closed primaries happen in many European countries, while open primaries have so far only occurred in the socialist and social-democratic parties in Greece and Italy, whereas the France's Socialist Party organised the first open primary in France in October 2011.

Italy[link]

In Italy, the first open primaries took place on the 16th October 2005. It led to the designation of Romano Prodi as leader of the Olive Tree coalition, which gathered several center and left-wing parties, for the legislative elections of the 9th and 10th April 2006. Romano Prodi won the election, but his small advance in the Senate (two seats) helped the Upper house pass a vote of no-confidence two years later.

France[link]

In France, parties are frequently created, akin to the Fifth Republic's nonpartisan ideal (a President beyond partisanship). This long prevented the making of primaries, but it has grown in popularity on the left-wing as a tool to overcome divisions.

In presidential races, parties are usually the tool of their leader. None of the six Presidents elected through direct election faced a competitive internal election. The first round of voting is used instead as an open primary, sometimes to the dismay of a whole camp.

• In 2007, Sarkozy, President of the UMP, organized an approval "primary" without any opponent. He won by 98% and made his candidacy speech thereafter.
• On the left however, the Socialist Party, which helped Mitterrand gain the Presidency for 14 years, has been plagued by internal divisions since the latter departed from politics. Rather than forming a new party, which is the habit on the right-wing, the party started to elect its nominee internally.
  • A first try in 1995: Lionel Jospin won the nomination three months before the election. He lost in the run-off to Chirac. Later in 2002, although the candidacy of then-PM Jospin was undisputed, each of the 5 left-wing parties of the government he led sent a candidate... paving the way for a loss of all five.
  • The idea made progress coming near the 2007 race, once the referendum on a European constitution was over. The latter showed strong ideological divisions within the left-wing spectrum, and the Socialist party itself. This prevented the possibility of a primary spanning the whole left-wing, that would give its support to a presidential candidate, similar to the Italian example. Given that no majority supported either a leader or a split, a closed primary was organized, which Ségolène Royal won. She qualified to the national run-off that she lost to Sarkozy. She had previously convinced the party to launch a massive registration campaign, enabling membership for only 20 euros.
  • In 2011, the Socialist Party decided to organise the first ever open primary in France to pick up the Socialist party and the Radical Party of the Left nominee for the 2012 presidential election. Inspired by the 2008 U.S. primaries, it was seen as a way to reinvigorate the party. It was also criticized for going against the nature of the regime. It shall be noted that the open primary was not state-organized. The party took charge of all the electoral procedures, planning to set up 10,000 voting polls. Those on the electoral rolls, party members of Socialist party and the Radical Party of the Left, and members of the parties' youth organisation (MJS and JRG), including minors of 15 to 18 years old, were entitled to vote in exchange of a euro to cover the costs. More than 3 million people participated in this first open primary, which was considered a success, and former party leader François Hollande was designated the Socialist and Radical candidate for the 2012 presidential election.
• Other parties organize membership primaries to choose their nominee, such as Europe Ecologie – Les Verts (EE-LV) (2006, 2011), and the French Communist Party in 2011.
• At the local level, primaries are extremely rare: In order to tame potential feud in his party, and prepare the ground for a long campaign, Sarkozy pushed for a closed primary in 2006 to designate the UMP candidate for the 2008 election of the Mayor of Paris. Françoise de Panafieu was elected in a four-way race. However, she did not clinch the mayorship two years later.

Socialist parties[link]

In autumn 2011, here was how the twenty-nine socialist, social-democratic, and labour parties member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) had designated their party leader:

• Only three parties organised an open primary: France (PS), Greece (ΠΑΣΟΚ), Italy (PD)
• Closed primary happened in nine parties: Belgium (sp.a, PS), Cyprus (ΕΔΕΚ), Denmark (SD), France (PS) until 2011, Ireland (LP), Netherlands (PvdA), Portugal (PS), United Kingdom (Labour)
  The case of UK's Labour party leadership election is specific, as three electoral colleges, each accounting for one third of the votes, participate in this primary election: Labour members of Parliament and of the European Parliament, party members and members of affiliated organisations such as trade unions.
• The designation of the party leader was made by the party's congress in the eighteen remaining parties: Austria (SPÖ), Bulgaria (БСП), Czech Republic (ČSSD), Estonia (SDE), Finland (SDP), Germany (SPD), Hungary (MSZP), Latvia (LSDSP), Lithuania (SDPL), Luxembourg (LSAP), Malta (LP), Poland (SLD, UP), Rumania (PSD), Slovakia (SMER-SD), Slovenia (SD), Spain (PSOE), Sweden (SAP), United-Kingdom / Northern Ireland (SDLP)

European Union[link]

With a view to the European elections, many European political parties consider organising a presidential primary.

Indeed, the Lisbon treaty, which entered into force in December 2009, lays down that the outcome of elections to the European Parliament must be taken into account in selecting the President of the Commission; the Commission is in some respects the executive branch of the EU and so its president can be regarded as the EU prime minister. Parties are therefore encouraged to designate their candidates for Commission president ahead of the next election in 2014, in order to allow voters to vote with a full knowledge of the facts. Many movements are now asking for primaries to designate these candidates.

• Already in April 2004, a former British conservative MEP, Tom Spencer, advocated for American-style primaries in the European People's Party: "A series of primary elections would be held at two-week intervals in February and March 2009. The primaries would start in the five smallest countries and continue every two weeks until the big five voted in late March. To avoid swamping by the parties from the big countries, one could divide the number of votes cast for each candidate in each country by that country's voting weight in the Council of Ministers. Candidates for the post of president would have to declare by 1 January 2009."^[34]

• Following the defeat of the Party of European Socialists during the European elections of June 2009, the PES Congress that took place in Prague in December 2009 made the decision that PES would designate its own candidate before the 2014 European elections. A Campaign for a PES primary^[35] was then launched by PES supporters in June 2010, and it managed to cinvince the PES Council meeting in Warsaw in December 2010 to set up Working Group "Candidate 2014" in charge of proposing a procedure and timetable for a "democratic" and "transparent" designation process "bringing on board all our parties and all levels within the parties".^[36]

The European think-tank Notre Europe also evokes the idea that European political parties should designate their candidate for Vice-president / High representative of the Union for foreigh affairs.^[37] This would lead European parties to have "presidential tickets" on the American model.

Finally, the European Parliament envisaged to introduce a requirement for internal democracy in the regulation on the statute of European political parties. European parties would therefore have to involve individual members in the major decisions such as designating the presidential candidate.^[38]

Primaries worldwide[link]

• United States presidential primary.
  • Democratic Party presidential primaries (recent: 2008).
  • Republican Party presidential primaries (recent: 2012, 2008).
• Primary elections in Italy.
• Chile.
• Uruguay, since 1999.
• United New Democratic Party (South Korea, 2007).
• Armenia. In an innovation on 2007 November 24 and 25, one political party conducted a non-binding Armenia-wide primary election. The party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, invited the public to vote to advise the party which of two candidates they should formally nominate for President of Armenia in the subsequent official election. What characterized it as a primary instead of a standard opinion poll was that the public knew of the primary in advance, all eligible voters were invited, and the voting was by secret ballot. "Some 68,183 people . . . voted in make-shift tents and mobile ballot boxes . . ."^[39]
• United Kingdom. On August 4, 2009, Dr Sarah Wollaston was chosen by Open Primary as the Conservative Party candidate for Totnes, for the 2010 general election, the first time such a mechanism has been used to pick a prospective candidate for an election in the UK. This was after the current incumbent Anthony Steen decided to step down in the wake of the MPs expenses scandal. The Conservatives have plans to roll this out further and there are hopes other parties may nominate future candidates in this way.^[40][41]
• Colombia In 2006, the Liberal Party and the socialist Democratic Pole hold primary elections, electing Horacio Serpa as liberal candidate and Carlos Gaviria as candidate of the Democratic Pole. For 2010 presidential electiones, four parties held primary elections: The Liberal Party elected former minister Rafael Pardo as candidate, the Democratic Pole elected senator Gustavo Petro, the Conservative Party chose ambassador Noemi Sanin and the Green Party chose former mayor of Bogota Antanas Mockus.
• Republic of China (Taiwan): The Democratic Progressive Party selects all its candidates via opinion polls. The candidate with the highest poll rating will be nominated. The KMT selects candidates using a combination of opinion polls (worth 70%) and primary elections (worth 30%).

See also[link]

• Sore-loser law, which states that the loser in a primary election cannot thereafter run as an independent in the general election

People

• Thomas W. Williams (Los Angeles), opposed the direct primary, 1915

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bibby, John, and Holbrook, Thomas. 2004. Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis, 8th Edition. Ed. Virginia Gray and Russell L. Hanson. Washington D.C.: CQ Press, pp. 62–100.
• Brereton Charles. First in the Nation: New Hampshire and the Premier Presidential Primary. Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall Publishers, 1987.
• Hershey, Majorie. Political Parties in America, 12th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. pp. 157–73.
• Kendall, Kathleen E. Communication in the Presidential Primaries: Candidates and the Media, 1912–2000 (2000)
• Primaries: Open and Closed
• Palmer, Niall A. The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process (1997)
• Scala, Dante J. Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics (2003)
• Ware, Alan. The American Direct Primary: Party Institutionalization and Transformation in the North (2002), the invention of primaries around 1900

External links[link]

• The Green Papers – Voter Eligibility
• How Political Primaries Work at HowStuffWorks

Barack Obama
44th President of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office January 20, 2009
Vice President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	George W. Bush
United States Senator from Illinois
In office January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008
Preceded by	Peter Fitzgerald
Succeeded by	Roland Burris
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 13th District
In office January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004
Preceded by	Alice Palmer
Succeeded by	Kwame Raoul
Personal details
Born	Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-08-04) August 4, 1961 (age 50)[1] Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.[2]
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Michelle Robinson (1992–present)
Children	Malia (born 1998) Sasha (born 2001)
Residence	White House (Official) Chicago, Illinois (Private)
Alma mater	Occidental College Columbia University (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Profession	Community organizer Lawyer Constitutional law professor Author
Religion	Christianity[3]
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize
Signature
Website	barackobama.com

	This article is part of a series on Barack Obama
Background Illinois Senate US Senate Political positions Public image Family 2008 primaries Obama–Biden campaign Transition Inauguration Electoral history Presidency Timeline '09 '10 '11 '12 First 100 days Nobel Peace Prize Re-election campaign

Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.

As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Other domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Budget Control Act of 2011. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to openly support legalizing same-sex marriage. In foreign policy, he ended the war in Iraq, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. involvement in the 2011 Libya military intervention, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

Early life and career[link]

Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapiʻolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii,^[2][4][5] and is the first President to have been born in Hawaii.^[6] His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, and was of mostly English ancestry,^[7] along with Scottish, Irish, German, and Swiss.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian class at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship.^[13][14] The couple married on February 2, 1961,^[15] separated when Obama Sr. went to Harvard University on scholarship, and divorced in 1964.^[13] Obama Sr. remarried and returned to Kenya, visiting Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971. He died in an automobile accident in 1982.^[16]

After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro's home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled, and the family moved to the Menteng neighborhood of Jakarta.^[4][17] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.^[18]

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and with the aid of a scholarship attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.^[19] Obama's mother returned to Hawaii in 1972, remaining there until 1977 when she went back to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer.^[15][20]

Of his early childhood, Obama recalled, "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind."^[14] He described his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.^[21] Reflecting later on his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: "The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear."^[22] Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."^[23] At the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency, Obama described his high-school drug use as a great moral failure.^[24]

Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend Occidental College. In February 1981, he made his first public speech, calling for Occidental to divest from South Africa in response to its policy of apartheid.^[25] In mid-1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and sister Maya, and visited the families of college friends in Pakistan and India for three weeks.^[25] Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations^[26] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation,^[27] then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.^[28][29]

Chicago community organizer and Harvard Law School[link]

Two years after graduating, Obama was hired in Chicago as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.^[29][30] He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.^[31] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.^[32] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time.^[33] He returned to Kenya in August 2006 for a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya.^[34]

In late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,^[35] and president of the journal in his second year.^[31][36] During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.^[37] After graduating with a J.D. magna cum laude^[38] from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.^[35] Obama's election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media attention^[31][36] and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations,^[39] which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.^[39]

University of Chicago Law School and civil rights attorney[link]

In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book.^[39][40] He then taught at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years—as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004—teaching constitutional law.^[41]

From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote, a voter registration campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be.^[42] In 1993, he joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004. His law license became inactive in 2002.^[43]

From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project; and of the Joyce Foundation.^[29] He served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1999.^[29]

Legislative career: 1997–2008[link]

State Senator: 1997–2004[link]

Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding State Senator Alice Palmer as Senator from Illinois's 13th District, which at that time spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park – Kenwood south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn.^[44] Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation that reformed ethics and health care laws.^[45] He sponsored a law that increased tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare.^[46] In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.^[47]

Obama was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was reelected again in 2002.^[48] In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.^[49]

In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority.^[50] He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.^[46][51] During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.^[52] Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.^[53]

U.S. Senate campaign[link]

County results of the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois. Counties in blue were won by Obama.

In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race; he created a campaign committee, began raising funds, and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002. Obama formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.^[54]

Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[55] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,^[56] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,^[57] and spoke out against the war.^[58] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.^[59]

Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun to not participate in the election resulted in wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates.^[60] In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.^[61] In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention,^[62] seen by 9.1 million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party.^[63]

Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004.^[64] Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan.^[65] In the November 2004 general election, Obama won with 70 percent of the vote.^[66]

U.S. Senator: 2005–2008[link]

Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005,^[67] becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus.^[68] CQ Weekly characterized him as a "loyal Democrat" based on analysis of all Senate votes in 2005–2007. Obama announced on November 13, 2008, that he would resign his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, before the start of the lame-duck session, to focus on his transition period for the presidency.^[69]

Legislation[link]

Obama cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act.^[70] He introduced two initiatives that bore his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons;^[71] and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending.^[72] On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain—introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.^[73]

Obama sponsored legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee.^[74] Regarding tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA warrantless wiretapping operations.^[75]

Obama and U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) visit a Russian facility for dismantling mobile-missiles (August 2005).^[76]

In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.^[77] In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007.^[78] Obama also introduced Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections,^[79] and the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007,^[80] neither of which was signed into law.

Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges.^[81] This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.^[82] He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which has not passed committee; and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.^[83] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.^[84]

Committees[link]

Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006.^[85] In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.^[86] He also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs.^[87] As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan government.^[88]

Presidential campaigns[link]

2008 presidential campaign[link]

Obama stands on stage with his wife and daughters just before announcing his presidential candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, February 10, 2007.

President George W. Bush meets with President-elect Obama in the Oval Office on November 10, 2008.

On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.^[89][90] The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic because it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic "House Divided" speech in 1858.^[89][91] Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care,^[92] in a campaign that projected themes of "hope" and "change".^[93]

A large number of candidates entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries. The field narrowed to a duel between Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after early contests, with the race remaining close throughout the primary process but with Obama gaining a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules.^[94] On June 7, 2008, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama.^[95]

On August 23, Obama announced his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.^[96] Biden was selected from a field speculated to include former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.^[97] At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support.^[98] Obama delivered his acceptance speech, not at the center where the Democratic National Convention was held, but at Invesco Field at Mile High to a crowd of over 75,000; the speech was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide.^[99][100]

During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations.^[101] On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.^[102]

McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate and the two engaged in three presidential debates in September and October 2008.^[103] On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain.^[104] Obama won 52.9 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7 percent.^[105] He became the first African American to be elected president.^[106] Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park.^[107]

2012 presidential campaign[link]

On April 4, 2011, Obama announced his re-election campaign for 2012 in a video titled "It Begins with Us" that he posted on his website and filed election papers with the Federal Election Commission.^{[108][109][110]} As the incumbent president he ran almost unopposed in the Democratic Party presidential primaries,^[111] and on April 3, 2012, Obama had secured the 2778 convention delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.^[112]

Presidency[link]

First days[link]

Barack Obama takes the oath of office as President of the United States.

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President, and Joe Biden as Vice President, took place on January 20, 2009. In his first few days in office, Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U.S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq.^[113] He ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp,^[114] but Congress prevented the closure by refusing to appropriate the required funds.^{[115][116][117]} Obama reduced the secrecy given to presidential records,^[118] and changed procedures to promote disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.^[119] He also reversed George W. Bush's ban on federal funding to foreign establishments that allow abortions.^[120]

Domestic policy[link]

The first bill signed into law by Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits.^[121] Five days later, he signed the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover an additional 4 million uninsured children.^[122] In March 2009, Obama reversed a Bush-era policy which had limited funding of embryonic stem cell research and pledged to develop "strict guidelines" on the research.^[123]

Barack Obama speaking at Joint session of Congress with Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on February 24, 2009

Obama appointed two women to serve on the Supreme Court in the first two years of his Presidency. Sonia Sotomayor, nominated by Obama on May 26, 2009, to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter, was confirmed on August 6, 2009,^[124] becoming the first Hispanic to be a Supreme Court Justice.^[125] Elena Kagan, nominated by Obama on May 10, 2010, to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, was confirmed on August 5, 2010, bringing the number of women sitting simultaneously on the Court to three, for the first time in American history.^[126]

On September 30, 2009, the Obama administration proposed new regulations on power plants, factories and oil refineries in an attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to curb global warming.^[127][128]

On October 8, 2009, Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a measure that expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.^[129][130]

On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, a reconciliation bill which ends the process of the federal government giving subsidies to private banks to give out federally insured loans, increases the Pell Grant scholarship award, and makes changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.^[131][132]

In a major space policy speech in April 2010, Obama announced a planned change in direction at NASA, the U.S. space agency. He ended plans for a return of human spaceflight to the moon and development of the Ares I rocket, Ares V rocket and Constellation program, in favor of funding Earth science projects, a new rocket type, and research and development for an eventual manned mission to Mars, and ongoing missions to the International Space Station.^[133]

On December 22, 2010, Obama signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, fulfilling a key promise made in the 2008 presidential campaign^[134][135] to end the Don't ask, don't tell policy of 1993 that had prevented gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the United States Armed Forces.^[136]

President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address focused on themes of education and innovation, stressing the importance of innovation economics to make the United States more competitive globally. He spoke of a five-year freeze in domestic spending, eliminating tax breaks for oil companies and reversing tax cuts for wealthy Americans, banning congressional earmarks, and reducing healthcare costs. He promised that the United States would have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 and would be 80% reliant on "clean" electricity.^[137][138]

As a candidate for the Illinois state senate Obama had said in 1996 that he favored legalizing same-sex marriage;^[139] but by the time of his run for the U.S. senate in 2004, he said that while he supported civil unions and domestic partnerships for same-sex partners, for strategic reasons he opposed same-sex marriages.^[140] On May 9, 2012, shortly after the official launch of his campaign for re-election as president, Obama said his views had evolved, and he publicly affirmed his personal support for the legalization of same-sex marriage, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so.^[141][142]

Economic policy[link]

Obama presents his first weekly address as President of the United States on January 24, 2009, discussing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession.^[143] The act includes increased federal spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals,^[144] which is being distributed over the course of several years.

In March, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, took further steps to manage the financial crisis, including introducing the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, which contains provisions for buying up to $2 trillion in depreciated real estate assets.^[145] Obama intervened in the troubled automotive industry^[146] in March 2009, renewing loans for General Motors and Chrysler to continue operations while reorganizing. Over the following months the White House set terms for both firms' bankruptcies, including the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat^[147] and a reorganization of GM giving the U.S. government a temporary 60 percent equity stake in the company, with the Canadian government shouldering a 12 percent stake.^[148] In June 2009, dissatisfied with the pace of economic stimulus, Obama called on his cabinet to accelerate the investment.^[149] He signed into law the Car Allowance Rebate System, known colloquially as "Cash for Clunkers", that temporarily boosted the economy.^{[150][151][152]}

Although spending and loan guarantees from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department authorized by the Bush and Obama administrations totaled about $11.5 trillion, only $3 trillion had been spent by the end of November 2009.^[153] However, Obama and the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the 2010 budget deficit will be $1.5 trillion or 10.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the 2009 deficit of $1.4 trillion or 9.9 percent of GDP.^[154][155] For 2011, the administration predicted the deficit will slightly shrink to $1.34 trillion, while the 10-year deficit will increase to $8.53 trillion or 90 percent of GDP.^[156] The most recent increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to $16.4 trillion was signed into law on January 26, 2012.^[157] On August 2, 2011, after a lengthy congressional debate over whether to raise the nation's debt limit, Obama signed the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011. The legislation enforces limits on discretionary spending until 2021, establishes a procedure to increase the debt limit, creates a Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose further deficit reduction with a stated goal of achieving at least $1.5 trillion in budgetary savings over 10 years, and establishes automatic procedures for reducing spending by as much as $1.2 trillion if legislation originating with the new joint select committee does not achieve such savings.^[158] By passing the legislation, Congress was able to prevent an unprecedented U.S. government default on its obligations.^[159]

Employment statistics (changes in unemployment rate and net jobs per month) during Obama's tenure as U.S. President^[160][161]

The unemployment rate rose in 2009, reaching a peak in October at 10.1 percent and averaging 10.0 percent in the fourth quarter. Following a decrease to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate fell to 9.6 percent in the second quarter, where it remained for the rest of the year.^[162] Between February and December 2010, employment rose by 0.8 percent, which was less than the average of 1.9 percent experienced during comparable periods in the past four employment recoveries.^[163] GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a rate of 1.6 percent, followed by a 5.0 percent increase in the fourth quarter.^[164] Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7 percent in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year.^[164] In July 2010, the Federal Reserve expressed that although economic activity continued to increase, its pace had slowed, and Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the economic outlook was "unusually uncertain."^[165] Overall, the economy expanded at a rate of 2.9 percent in 2010.^[166]

The Congressional Budget Office and a broad range of economists credit Obama's stimulus plan for economic growth.^[167][168] The CBO released a report stating that the stimulus bill increased employment by 1–2.1 million,^{[168][169][170][171]} while conceding that "It is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package."^[167] Although an April 2010 survey of members of the National Association for Business Economics showed an increase in job creation (over a similar January survey) for the first time in two years, 73 percent of 68 respondents believed that the stimulus bill has had no impact on employment.^[172]

Within a month of the 2010 midterm elections, Obama announced a compromise deal with the Congressional Republican leadership that included a temporary, two-year extension of the 2001 and 2003 income tax rates, a one-year payroll tax reduction, continuation of unemployment benefits, and a new rate and exemption amount for estate taxes.^[173] The compromise overcame opposition from some in both parties, and the resulting $858 billion Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress before Obama signed it on December 17, 2010.^[174]

Health care reform[link]

Barack Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House, March 23, 2010

Obama called for Congress to pass legislation reforming health care in the United States, a key campaign promise and a top legislative goal.^[175] He proposed an expansion of health insurance coverage to cover the uninsured, to cap premium increases, and to allow people to retain their coverage when they leave or change jobs. His proposal was to spend $900 billion over 10 years and include a government insurance plan, also known as the public option, to compete with the corporate insurance sector as a main component to lowering costs and improving quality of health care. It would also make it illegal for insurers to drop sick people or deny them coverage for pre-existing conditions, and require every American carry health coverage. The plan also includes medical spending cuts and taxes on insurance companies that offer expensive plans.^[176][177]

On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,017-page plan for overhauling the U.S. health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of 2009.^[175] After much public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over the proposals.^[178] In March 2009, Obama lifted a ban on stem cell research.^[179]

On November 7, 2009, a health care bill featuring the public option was passed in the House.^[180][181] On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed its own bill—without a public option—on a party-line vote of 60–39.^[182] On March 21, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by the Senate in December was passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 212.^[183] Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010.^[184]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes health-related provisions to take effect over four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) starting in 2014,^[185] subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400 percent of the FPL ($88,000 for family of four in 2010) so their maximum "out-of-pocket" payment for annual premiums will be from 2 to 9.5 percent of income,^[186][187] providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, prohibiting annual coverage caps, and support for medical research. According to White House and Congressional Budget Office figures, the maximum share of income that enrollees would have to pay would vary depending on their income relative to the federal poverty level.^[186][188]

The costs of these provisions are offset by taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for those in high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies;^[189] there is also a tax penalty for those who do not obtain health insurance, unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons.^[190] In March, 2010, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the net effect of both laws will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade.^[191]

In March 2012, the Supreme Court heard arguments by a coalition of 26 states maintaining that it is unconstitutional to force individuals to buy health insurance.^[192]

Gulf of Mexico oil spill[link]

On April 20, 2010, an explosion destroyed an offshore drilling rig at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a major sustained oil leak. The well's operator, BP, initiated a containment and cleanup plan, and began drilling two relief wells intended to stop the flow. Obama visited the Gulf on May 2 among visits by members of his cabinet, and again on May 28 and June 4. On May 22, he announced a federal investigation and formed a bipartisan commission to recommend new safety standards, after a review by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and concurrent Congressional hearings. On May 27, he announced a 6-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits and leases, pending regulatory review.^[193] As multiple efforts by BP failed, some in the media and public expressed confusion and criticism over various aspects of the incident, and stated a desire for more involvement by Obama and the federal government.^[194]

Foreign policy[link]

Barack Obama speaking on "A New Beginning" at Cairo University on June 4, 2009

In February and March, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a "new era" in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms "break" and "reset" to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration.^[195] Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab cable TV network, Al Arabiya.^[196]

On March 19, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year's video message to the people and government of Iran.^[197] This attempt at outreach was rebuffed by the Iranian leadership.^[198] In April, Obama gave a speech in Ankara, Turkey, which was well received by many Arab governments.^[199] On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for "a new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.^[200]

On June 26, 2009, in response to the Iranian government's actions towards protesters following Iran's 2009 presidential election, Obama said: "The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. We see it and we condemn it."^[201] On July 7, while in Moscow, he responded to a Vice President Biden comment on a possible Israeli military strike on Iran by saying: "We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East."^[202]

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Barack Obama, during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit.

On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.^[203]

In March 2010, Obama took a public stance against plans by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building Jewish housing projects in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.^[204][205] During the same month, an agreement was reached with the administration of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new pact reducing the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the arsenals of both countries by about one-third.^[206] The New START treaty was signed by Obama and Medvedev in April 2010, and was ratified by the U.S. Senate in December 2010.^[207]

On December 6, 2011, he instructed agencies to consider LGBT rights when issuing financial aid to foreign countries.^[208]

Iraq War[link]

On February 27, 2009, Obama declared that combat operations in Iraq would end within 18 months. His remarks were made to a group of Marines preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Obama said, "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."^[209] The Obama administration scheduled the withdrawal of combat troops to be completed by August 2010, decreasing troops levels from 142,000 while leaving a transitional force of 35,000 to 50,000 in Iraq until the end of 2011. On August 19, 2010, the last United States combat brigade exited Iraq. The plan is to transition the mission of the remaining troops from combat operations to counter-terrorism and the training, equipping, and advising of Iraqi security forces.^[210][211] On August 31, 2010, Obama announced that the United States combat mission in Iraq was over.^[212] On October 21, 2011 President Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq in time to be, "home for the holidays".^[213]

War in Afghanistan[link]

Early in his presidency, Obama moved to bolster U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan.^[214] He announced an increase to U.S. troop levels of 17,000 in February 2009 to "stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan", an area he said had not received the "strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires".^[215] He replaced the military commander in Afghanistan, General David D. McKiernan, with former Special Forces commander Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in May 2009, indicating that McChrystal's Special Forces experience would facilitate the use of counterinsurgency tactics in the war.^[216] On December 1, 2009, Obama announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 military personnel to Afghanistan.^[217] He also proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date.^[218][219] McChrystal was replaced by David Petraeus in June 2010, after McChrystal's staff criticized White House personnel in a magazine article.^[220]

Israel[link]

Obama meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, 2009

During the initial years of the Obama administration, the U.S. increased military cooperation with Israel, including a record number of U.S. troops participating in military exercises in the country, increased military aid, the re-establishment of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Political Military Group and the Defense Policy Advisory Group, and an increase in visits among high-level military officials of both countries, including Ehud Barak and Admiral Mike Mullen.^[221]

In 2011, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, with the United States being the only nation to do so.^[222] Obama supports the two-state solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict based on the 1967 borders with land swaps.^[223]

War in Libya[link]

In March 2011, as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi advanced on rebels across Libya, calls for a no-fly zone came from around the world, including Europe, the Arab League, and a resolution^[224] passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.^[225] In response to the unanimous passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 on March 17, Gaddafi who had previously vowed to "show no mercy" to the citizens of Benghazi^[226]—announced an immediate cessation of military activities,^[227] yet reports came in that his forces continued shelling Misrata. The next day, on Obama's orders, the U.S. military took a lead role in air strikes to destroy the Libyan government's air defense capabilities in order to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly-zone,^[228] including the use of Tomahawk missiles, B-2 Spirits, and fighter jets.^{[229][230][231]} Six days later, on March 25, by unanimous vote of all of its 28 members, NATO took over leadership of the effort, dubbed Operation Unified Protector.^[232] Some Representatives^[233] questioned whether Obama had the constitutional authority to order military action in addition to questioning its cost, structure and aftermath.^[234][235]

Osama bin Laden[link]

Obama and the U.S. national security team gathered in the Situation Room to monitor the military operation resulting in the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011.

Starting with information received in July 2010, intelligence developed by the CIA over the next several months determined what they believed to be the location of Osama bin Laden in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area 35 miles from Islamabad.^[236] CIA head Leon Panetta reported this intelligence to President Obama in March 2011.^[236] Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs.^[236] The operation took place on May 1, 2011, resulting in the death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers and computer drives and disks from the compound.^[237][238] Bin Laden's body was identified through DNA testing,^[239] and buried at sea several hours later.^[240] Within minutes of the President's announcement from Washington, DC, late in the evening on May 1, there were spontaneous celebrations around the country as crowds gathered outside the White House, and at New York City's Ground Zero and Times Square.^[237][241] Reaction to the announcement was positive across party lines, including from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush,^[242] and from many countries around the world.^[243]

2010 midterm election[link]

Obama called the November 2, 2010 election, where the Democratic Party lost 63 seats in, and control of, the House of Representatives,^[244] "humbling" and a "shellacking".^[245] He said that the results came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery.^[246]

Cultural and political image[link]

Obama conducting the first completely virtual interview from the White House in 2012^[247]

Obama's family history, upbringing, and Ivy League education differ markedly from those of African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement.^[248] Obama is also not a descendant of American slaves.^[249] Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough", Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong".^[250] Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."^[251]

Obama is frequently referred to as an exceptional orator.^[252] During his pre-inauguration transition period and continuing into his presidency, Obama has delivered a series of weekly Internet video addresses.^[253]

According to the Gallup Organization, Obama began his presidency with a 68 percent approval rating^[254] before gradually declining for the rest of the year, and eventually bottoming out at 41 percent in August 2010,^[255] a trend similar to Ronald Reagan's and Bill Clinton's first years in office.^[256] He experienced a small poll bounce shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden, which lasted until around June 2011, when his approval numbers dropped back to where they were prior to the operation.^{[257][258][259]} Polls show strong support for Obama in other countries,^[260] and before being elected President he has met with prominent foreign figures including then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair,^[261] Italy's Democratic Party leader and then Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni,^[262] and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.^[263]

Obama talks with pub-goers as the First Lady draws a pint of stout at the Ollie Hayes pub in Moneygall, Ireland, in 2011

In a February 2009 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the International Herald Tribune, Obama was rated as the most respected world leader, as well as the most powerful.^[264] In a similar poll conducted by Harris in May 2009, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn.^[265][266]

Obama won Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Awards for abridged audiobook versions of Dreams from My Father in February 2006 and for The Audacity of Hope in February 2008.^[267] His concession speech after the New Hampshire primary was set to music by independent artists as the music video "Yes We Can", which was viewed 10 million times on YouTube in its first month^[268] and received a Daytime Emmy Award.^[269] In December 2008, Time magazine named Obama as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as "the steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments".^[270]

On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".^[271] Obama accepted this award in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2009, with "deep gratitude and great humility."^[272] The award drew a mixture of praise and criticism from world leaders and media figures.^[273][274] Obama is the fourth U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the third to become a Nobel laureate while in office.

Family and personal life[link]

Barack Obama posing in the White House with wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia in 2009

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "It's like a little mini-United Nations", he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher."^[275] Obama has a half-sister with whom he was raised, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband and seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family – six of them living.^[276] Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham,^[277] until her death on November 2, 2008,^[278] two days before his election to the Presidency. Obama also has roots in Ireland; he met with his Irish cousins in Moneygall in May 2011.^[279] In Dreams from My Father, Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.^[280]

Obama was known as "Barry" in his youth, but asked to be addressed with his given name during his college years.^[281] Besides his native English, Obama speaks Indonesian at the conversational level, having learned the language during his four childhood years in Jakarta.^[282] He plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team.^[283]

Obama taking a shot during a game on the White House basketball court, 2009

Obama is a well known supporter of the Chicago White Sox, and threw out the first pitch at the 2005 ALCS when he was still a senator.^[284] In 2009, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the all star game while wearing a White Sox jacket.^[285] He is also primarily a Chicago Bears fan in the NFL, but in his childhood and adolescence was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and recently rooted for them ahead of their victory in Super Bowl XLIII 12 days after Obama took office as President.^[286] In 2011, Obama invited the 1985 Bears to the White House; in 1986, the team did not attend due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.^[287]

In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.^[288] Assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial requests to date.^[289] They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992.^[290] The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann, was born on July 4, 1998,^[291] followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), on June 10, 2001.^[292] The Obama daughters attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When they moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, the girls started at the private Sidwell Friends School.^[293] The Obamas have a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo, a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy.^[294]

Applying the proceeds of a book deal, the family moved in 2005 from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $1.6 million house in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago.^[295] The purchase of an adjacent lot—and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko—attracted media attention because of Rezko's subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama.^[296]

In December 2007, Money magazine estimated the Obama family's net worth at $1.3 million.^[297] Their 2009 tax return showed a household income of $5.5 million—up from about $4.2 million in 2007 and $1.6 million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books.^[298][299] On his 2010 income of $1.7 million, he gave 14 percent to non-profit organizations, including $131,000 to Fisher House Foundation, a charity assisting wounded veterans' families, allowing them to reside near where the veteran is receiving medical treatments.^[300][301]

As per the latest financial disclosure, Obama may be worth as much as $10 million.^[302]

Obama tried to quit smoking several times, sometimes using nicotine replacement therapy, and, in early 2010, Michelle Obama said that he had successfully quit smoking.^[303][304]