[EL] presidential primary ballot access is easy

[Trevor Potter]

I always fear to disagree with Richard Winger on ballot access as he knows so much more than I. BUT as McCain general counsel I found ballot access a huge task. McCain had little money to spare throughout the primaries, so we had to rely on local volunteers. While some states allow a campaign to get on the primary ballot through the easy methods mention below, many require real legwork. We spent thousands (literally)of hours making sure we qualified in Indiana and Virginia.

 On the Democratic side the Presidential candidates benefited from shared petition drives under local party auspices. That never occurs on the GOP side-the better financed candidates believe they have a competitive edge and do not want it diluted. As a result the RNC in 2008 played "fair" and provided absolutely no help to any campaign.

Further, I am not clear if the "qualified for federal matching funds" ballot access option (enshrined in many stat's laws, and used by McCain last time even though he ended up not taking those funds) is being used by any GOP candidate this year. Does anyone know if any of the candidates has taken steps at the FEC to qualify? If not, the ballot access hurdle is significantly higher . 
Trevor Potter

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 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Richard Winger [mailto:richardwinger at yahoo.com]
Sent:	Thursday, October 20, 2011 07:08 PM Eastern Standard Time
To:	Jeff Hauser
Cc:	law-election at uci.edu
Subject:	[EL] presidential primary ballot access is easy

No state will require Herman Cain, or any other Republican who is in the debates, to submit more than 3,000 signatures, except that Indiana requires 4,500 and Virginia requires 10,000.  Ballot access in presidential primaries, for candidates who are discussed in the news media, is automatic in about half the states, and in other states it is automatic for candidates who qualify for primary season matching funds or who pay a filing fee.

Severe ballot access laws are reserved for outsiders, like independent candidates, minor parties, and presidential primary candidates in the major parties who aren't discussed in the news media and who don't qualify for primary season matching funds.

Richard Winger

415-922-9779

PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147

--- On Thu, 10/20/11, Jeff Hauser <jeffhauser at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Jeff Hauser <jeffhauser at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [EL] the wiliness of Herman Cain
To: richardwinger at yahoo.com
Cc: law-election at uci.edu
Date: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 3:52 PM

Is there a good summary of the calendar of the GOP ballot access and whether cain has a real chance to get on all 50 GOP primary ballots?  Because I wouldn't assume he will accomplish that.


On Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 6:46 PM, Richard Winger <richardwinger at yahoo.com> wrote:

I am starting to think Herman Cain has the same aptitude for presidential politics that Ronald Reagan had.

Cain has sometimes taken extreme stands, but then he finds a way to back away.  The value of this is that when he initially takes the extreme stand, that makes an emotional connection with the voters who share that emotion.


For example, abortion.  Political Wire earlier today had a description of something he said somewhere recently, an interview or a speech.  He said he is totally pro-life, "no exceptions" for pregnancy caused by rape or incest.  But then in the next breath he says that it doesn't follow logically that his values should be enshrined in law and enforced on everyone else.


Gays in the military...first he was adamantly opposed to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.  But then later he says this is a
 settled issue and we should forget about it.

On illegal immigrations, first he says he is so opposed to illegal immigrants, he wants an electrified fence.  But later he backs away.

In each case, his initial extreme stand, in my opinion, makes an favorable emotional impact on voters who like to hear that, even though that voter knows inside that the extreme stand is not really sensible or viable.  So the voter now "likes" Herman Cain, because there has been a shared emotion.


Ronald Reagan did that also.  In his years as a spokesperson for General Electric, he was very, very anti-government.  When he got into office as Governor, of course he doubled the California state income tax, signed a bill liberalizing abortion, etc.  As president he was also pragmatic.


Another trait Reagan and Cain have in common is their sunny good-naturedness.  One would not see either one of them attacking a fellow
 Republican the way Romney and Perry have been attacking each other.

Richard Winger

415-922-9779

PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147
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