This article looks into the limits of the invisible party. One limit that this article mentions is that some politicians look like they are succeeding during the “invisible primary” but end up failing miserably when voters arrive. The article looks at Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in 2008, and Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio in 2016. They raised large sums, generated support, and generated lots of media support during the invisible primary but never really stood a chance.
1992 election: https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1992
This article gives a great overview of the 1992 election and emphasizes several important points we’ve covered in class. Bill Clinton (Democrat) defeated George HW Bush (Republican incumbent), as well as Ross Perot (third party independent candidate). While Clinton won the electoral college fairly handily (370 electors against 168 for Bush and 0 for Perot), this election was notable for the popularity of third-party candidate Ross Perot. Despite clearly winning a majority of electors, Clinton only won 43% of the popular vote (compared to Bush’s 37.4% and Perot’s 18.9%). Some may argue these election results reinforce support for the electoral college – in the event a Presidential candidate only garners a plurality of the popular vote (and not a majority), the electoral college provides a method of measurement that lends a majority of support to a candidate. While this election method may reinforce a two-party system, and prevent third-party candidates from having a viable chance at winning the Presidency, there may be value in maintaining a system that prevents a candidate from winning election based on a mere plurality of the popular electorate.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/19/politics/electoral-college-analysis/index.html This article explains why the electoral college is likely to remain in place. It is important to note that if no candidate receives a majority, the election will go to the House of Representatives. Back in the 1968 election, this almost occurred. George Wallace gained 14% of the popular vote and some Southern states however, Nixon still remained on top. At this point in history, many people pushed to change the system in support of the popular vote. There was actually a constitutional amendment to approve the popular vote which was passed by the House in 1969 and supported by Nixon. However, it was shut down by the Senate and this is the last time the U.S. has ever come close to making this shift.
https://people.howstuffworks.com/superdelegate.htm
This article gives a great overview of what superdelegates are and what role they play in the general election. This article brings up several historical examples, such as the role that superdelegates played in the 2008 election of Obama vs Clinton.
This article is about the role Superdelegates play in the Democratic Primaries.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/how-do-superdelegates-work-here-s-what-you-need-know-n554136
Bush v Gore — the recount in Florida during the 2000 presidential election
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/531/98/case.pdf
CHIAFALO ET AL. v. WASHINGTON — argued in 2020 on the issue of “faithless electors”
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf
Provides over 20 famous political cartoons with the artist and a brief summary from the Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cartoonamerica/cartoon-political.html
https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/07/Regulations-of-the-RBC-for-the-2020-Convention-12.17.18-FINAL.pdf