2012 US Presidential Elections

US Presidential Elections are always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November

The 57th quadrennial United States Presidential Election will be held on Tuesday Nov 6, 2012.The Presidential Election, which would also see the appointment of a Vice President, will commence with nationwide state level primaries and caucuses scheduled to kick-off January 3, 2012, in Iowa and ending on June 5, 2012 in Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota.
The five-month process will culminate with the Republican and Democratic Party convention, which will be held on August 27-30 in Tampa and September 3-6 in Charlotte, respectively.

Previous US Presidents

44)Barack Obama (Democratic Party) - Jan 2009

43)George W Bush(Republic Party) - Jan 2001 to Jan 2009

42)Bill Clinton(Democratic Party) - Jan 1993 to Jan 2001

41)George H W Bush (Republic Party) - Jan 1989 to Jan 1993

40) Ronald Reagan(Republic Party) - Jan 1981 to Jan 1989

Candidates in the Election
Barack Obama(44th and Current President and Senator from Illinois - Jan 05,2008 to Nov 16,2008)who is eligible for a second and final term as President, has announced that he will seek nomination to be the Democratic Party's candidate in this election

Republican Party Presidential Candidates

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich(Speaker of the U S House of Representatives 1995-99) is a candidate for Republican Party Nomination

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (member of the U S House of Representatives from Texas)is a candidate for Republican Party Nomination.

Willard Mitt Romney(governor of Massachusetts 2003-07)is a candidate for Republican Party Nomination.

Richard John "Rick" Santorum(Senator for Pennsylvania from 1995)is a candidate for Republican Party Nomination.

Rick Perry Drops Out of US Presidential Race

Texas Governor Rick Perry on Thursday Jan 19,2012 dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Newt Gingrich(Speaker of the U S House of Representatives 1995-99) as a candidate for the Republican Nomination in the 2012 US Presidential Election

adding a fresh layer of unpredictability to the campaign two days before the South Carolina primary.

"Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?" Perry said. He called the former House Speaker a "conservative visionary" best suited to replace Barack Obama in the White House.

Presidential Primary Elections And Caucuses(meeting of supporters of party)

Some states only hold primary elections, some only hold caucuses and others use a combination of both. These primaries and caucuses are staggered between January and June before the general election in Nov 2012.
The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events that are directly run by the political parties themselves.
A state's primary election or caucus usually is an indirect election instead of voters directly selecting a particular person running for President, it determines how many delegates each party's national convention will receive from their respective state. These delegates then in turn select their party's presidential nominee.
The major advantage is that candidates can concentrate their resources in each area of the country one at a time instead of campaigning in every state simultaneously.

The first binding event, in which a candidate can secure convention delegates, is traditionally the Iowa caucus, held in early January of the presidential election year. It is followed by the New Hampshire primary, the first primary by tradition and New Hampshire state law.In recent elections, the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary have garnered over half the media attention paid to the entire selection process.

An incumbent President seeking re-election usually faces no major opposition during his respective party's primaries, especially if he is still popular within his own party.
It takes 1,144 to win the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Tampa next summer.

Republican Party Presidential Primaries 2012

Date	Location	Contest Type	Unbound delegates	Bound delegates	Delegate allocation	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
Jan. 3	Iowa	Caucus	28	0	Convention	Rick Santorum	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul
Jan. 10	New Hampshire^#	Primary (semi-closed)	0	12	Proportional	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul	Jon Huntsman
Jan. 21	South Carolina^#	Primary (open)	0	25	Winner-take-all	Newt Gingrich	Mitt Romney	Rick Santorum
Jan. 31	Florida^#	Primary (closed)	0	50	Winner-take-all	Mitt Romney	Newt Gingrich	Rick Santorum
Feb. 4	Nevada	Caucus	0	28	Proportional	Mitt Romney	Newt Gingrich	Ron Paul
Feb. 7	Colorado	Caucus	36	0	Convention	Rick Santorum	Mitt Romney	Newt Gingrich
	Minnesota	Caucus	40	0	Convention	Rick Santorum	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney
	Missouri	Primary (nonbinding)^b	0	0	N/A	Rick Santorum	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul
Feb. 11	Maine	Caucus	24	0	Convention	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul	Rick Santorum
Feb. 28	Arizona^#	Primary (closed)	0	29	Winner-take-all	Mitt Romney	Rick Santorum	Newt Gingrich
Feb. 28	Michigan^#	Primary (open)^c	0	30	Proportional (AL) Winner-take-all (CD)	Mitt Romney	Rick Santorum	Ron Paul
Mar. 3	Washington	Caucus	3	40	Convention
Mar. 6	Alaska	Caucus	3	24	Proportional
	Georgia	Primary (open)	0	76	Proportional
	Idaho	Caucus	0	32	Proportional
	Massachusetts	Primary (semi-closed)	3	38	Proportional
	North Dakota	Caucus	28	0	N/A
	Ohio	Primary (semi-closed)	3	63	Proportional (AL)^e Winner-take-all (CD)
	Oklahoma	Primary (closed)	3	40	Proportional^e
	Tennessee	Primary (open)	3	55	Proportional^f
	Vermont	Primary (open)	0	17	Proportional (AL)^e Winner-take-all (CD)
	Virginia	Primary (open)	3	46	Proportional (AL)^e Winner-take-all (CD)
Mar. 6–10	Wyoming	Caucus	29	0	N/A
Mar. 10	Kansas	Caucus	0	40	Proportional (AL) Winner-take-all (CD)
	U.S. Virgin Islands	Caucus	9	0	N/A^g
	Guam	Caucus	9	0	N/A^g
Mar. 13	Alabama	Primary (open)	3	47	Proportional^e
	American Samoa	Caucus	9	0	N/A^a
	Hawaii	Caucus	3	17	Proportional
	Mississippi	Primary (open)	3	37	Proportional
Mar. 17	Missouri	Caucus	0	52	Convention^d
Mar. 18	Puerto Rico	Primary (open)	3	20	Winner-take-all
Mar. 20	Illinois	Primary (open)	69	0	N/A
Mar. 24	Louisiana	Primary (closed)	21	25	Proportional (AL) Unbound (CD)
Apr. 3	Maryland	Primary (closed)	0	37	Winner-take-all
	Texas	Primary (open)	0	155	Proportional
	Washington, D.C.	Primary (closed)	3	16	Winner-take-all
	Wisconsin	Primary (open)	3	39	Winner-take-all
Apr. 24	Connecticut	Primary (closed)	3	25	Proportional (AL)^e Winner-take-all (CD)
	Delaware	Primary (closed)	0	17	Winner-take-all
	New York	Primary (closed)	3	92	Proportional^e
	Pennsylvania	Primary (closed)	72	0	N/A
	Rhode Island	Primary (semi-closed)	3	16	Proportional
May 8	Indiana	Primary (open)	19	27	Winner-take-all (CD) Unbound (AL)
	North Carolina	Primary (semi-closed)	0	55	Proportional
	West Virginia	Primary (semi-closed)	3	28	Proportional
May 15	Nebraska	Primary (nonbinding)^b	3	32	Convention^d
May 15	Oregon	Primary (closed)	3	25	Proportional
May 22	Arkansas	Primary (open)	3	33	Proportional^e
May 22	Kentucky	Primary (closed)	3	42	Proportional
Jun. 5	California	Primary (closed)	3	169	Winner-take-all
	Montana	Primary (nonbinding)^b	26	0	N/A
	New Jersey	Primary (semi-closed)	0	50	Winner-take-all
	New Mexico	Primary (closed)	3	20	Proportional
	South Dakota	Primary (closed)	3	25	Proportional
Jun. 26	Utah	Primary (semi-closed)	0	40	Winner-take-all
Jul. 31	Northern Mariana Is.	Caucus	9	0	N/A

Supporters of Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

Republican Presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with his wife Callista

Michigan Primary(Native State of Mitt Romney)

With 91% of the votes in Michigan counted, Romney had 41%, Santorum 38%, Ron Paul 12% and Newt Gingrich 6.5%.
Although Romney won the popular vote in Michigan, Santorum could emerge with more of the delgates because much of Romney's support came from one county and Santorum's was more widespread

Arizona Primary
With 73% of the votes counted, Romney had 47.5%, Santorum 26%, Gingrich 16% and Paul 8.5%.
Romney won all 30 delegates in Arizona to add to his tally.

Maine Caucus Result
Mitt Romney eked out a narrow win in Maine’s Republican caucuses.
In Maine, at a state party gathering in Portland, state Republican Chairman Charlie Webster announced Romney had won with 2,190 votes, or 39 per cent,
Ron Paul compared got 1,996 votes, or 36 per cent,
Santorum received 989 votes, or 18 per cent and
Gingrich got 349 votes, or 6 per cent

Nevada Caucus Result
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney cruised to victory in the Nevada caucuses. Returns from 14 of 17 counties showed Romney with 42 percent support, Gingrich with 25 percent, Paul with 20 percent and Santorum with 13 percent.

Rick Santorum Drops Out of GOP Presidential Race

Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum abruptly dropped out of the race this afternoon Tuesday April 03,2012, citing the health of his infant daughter, Bella, in a move that allows former Massachusetts Gov.Mitt Romney to clinch the GOP nomination and target President Obama.

The former Pennsylvania senator had been Romney’s top opponent, but he suffered a trio of defeats last week in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and over the weekend his daughter, Bella, was hospitalized for the second time this campaign due to complications from a rare genetic disorder.
In announcing his decision, Santorum said Bella’s condition caused him to reconsider his campaign but that she “is a fighter and doing extraordinarily well.”

Santorum won contests in 11 states, but all of his primary victories were relegated to the South, and he failed to win any of a string of primaries in the Midwest.Santorum is currently second in the delegate race, but he would have to win upwards of three-fourths of the remaining delegates in order to secure the nomination.

Gingrich Announces Withdrawal from Republican Primaries

Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich announced Wednesday May 02,2012 that he is withdrawing from the Republican primaries, leaving the way clear for the front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, to capture the party's nomination.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives announced his intention to abandon the race, managed to win only the South Carolina and Georgia primaries and he never was able to close the gap in the polls with Romney.

Mitt Romney is the Republican Challenger to Barack Obama

Mitt Romney has secured his place as the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in November's US presidential election, following a primary in Texas.With 1,086 delegates secured as he entered the Texas race, Mitt Romney only needed 58 to pass the 1,144 mark, and he won 69% of the vote. Texas awards 152 delegates proportionally.

Mitt Romney surpass his father, George Romney, a former Michigan governor who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 1968.

2012 Republican National Convention

The 2012 Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa,Florida during Aug 27-30,2012 officially nominated Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for President and Vice-President

2012 Democratic National Convention - Sep 4 to 6, 2012

First Lady Michelle Obama highlighted the 1st day on Sep 04,2012, talking about her husband’s humble roots and compassion for those living through tough times.

Former President Bill Clinton delivered a spirited defense of President Obama’s handing of the nation’s struggling economy here on Wednesday night Sep 05,2012, criticizing the agenda and philosophy of Mitt Romney and accusing the Republican Party of ideological rigidity and an unwillingness to compromise.In a speech formally nominating Obama for a second term, Clinton argued that the president has spent the past four years putting in place policies that will lead to a more vibrant and balanced economy and asserted that, despite problems, Americans are “clearly better off” than they were when the president was sworn into office.

After Clinton’s speech, Democrats formally approved Obama’s nomination in a roll call vote.

Barack Obama’s speech marked the climax of the 3-day convention.Barack Obama, his re-election in doubt, promised better days ahead, as he accepted the Democratic Party nomination for President before thousands of charged-up party loyalists and millions of television viewers.

“Yes, our path is harder but it leads to a better place,” he said.

The Obamas at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, USA

US Presidential Debate

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced 4 debates -

Wednesday October 3: The 1st Presidential Debate at the University of Denver in Denver,Colorado, moderated by Jim Lehrer.

Thursday October 11: The Vice-Presidential Debate is scheduled to take place atCentre College in Danville,Kentucky, moderated by Martha Raddatz.
Tuesday October 16: The 2nd Presidential Debate is scheduled to take place at Hofstra University in Hempstead,New York, moderated by Candy Crowley
Monday October 22: The 3rd and Final Presidential Debate is scheduled to take place at Lynn University in Boca Raton,Florida, moderated by Bob Schieffer.

Hugo Chavez: I'd vote for Barack Obama

"If I were American, I'd vote for Obama," Mr Chavez said in a televised interview that aired Sunday Sep 30,2012.

The Venezuelan leader called Obama "a good guy" and said if the US president were a Venezuelan, "I think ... he'd vote for Chavez."

2012 US Presidential Elections - Early Voting

Early Voting means casting vote before the Election Day either by mail or in person. The time and date of early voting varies from State to State.

Barack Obama, who cast his vote through early voting along with First Lady Michelle Obama, led from the front as he became the first U.S. President to do so.
Barack Obama created history when he went to a polling booth in his home town of Chicago to cast his vote on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, over 12 days ahead of the November 6,2012 elections, thus becoming the first U.S. President to vote early.
Barack Obama flew in from Richmond in Virginia to cast his vote at the Martin Luther King Community Center in his home town of Chicago.

According to latest figured complied by the U.S. Election Project of the George Mason University, more than 30.5 million voters had already cast their ballots.

Michael P. McDonald, an associate professor at the university, has projected that some 35 per cent of the total eligible electorates will case early voting this year.

In some States like Florida, more than half of the voters will have already cast their votes. In Florida, more than 4.5 million people had already cast their votes.

The number was high in several other States as well with Colorado (1.7 million), Georgia (1.8 million), Iowa (640,000), North Carolina (2.7 million), Ohio (1.6 million), Oregon (1.1 million), Tennessee (1.45 million) and Texas (3.4 million), according to figures released by the project.

Eligible Voters

Any U.S. citizen above the age of 18 is eligible to vote in the U.S. general elections. According to the project, in 2012 an estimated 219 million people are eligible to cast their votes.

Ineligible Voters

Those in prison, probation or in parole are debarred from voting. An estimated 3.2 million — though having attained the voting age — are not eligible to vote because either they are in prison (1.6 million) or are on probation (1.32 million) or are on parole (about 630,000)

Final Caampaigning

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave to supporter during the final 2012 campaign event in downtown Des Moines, Iowa

Republican Candidate Mitt Romney(former Massachusetts Governor)speaks at a New Hampshire campaign rally at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire

US begins voting for next President

Voters wait hours in long lines to cast their vote at the Summit County Board of Elections in Akron, Ohio.

538 votes will decide the election between President Barack Obama and his republican challenger Mitt Romney. CNN's poll finds Obama barely leading Romney 49 % to 48 %.

President Barack Obama seems to have lost the high of 2008 and is just inches ahead of Mitt Romney. The US President is chosen by electoral college, which is comprised of 538 voters across 50 states in the US. Each state votes according to its population.

CNN predicts Obama will take confidently 237 and that Romney will take 206

How the US Electoral College works

The US Electoral College was established in the Constitution as a compromise between electing a president by a vote in Congress and by popular vote of citizens.
The Electoral College, which is not a place but a process, consists of 538 electors. To win the presidency, a candidate must win at least 270 electors.
The number of electors equals the number of lawmakers in Congress - 435 in the House of Representatives and 100 in the Senate, plus three for the District of Columbia.
Each state's allotment of electors equals its number of representatives in the House plus one for each of its two senators.
If no presidential candidate reaches 270 electoral votes, the election goes to the House of Representatives, with each state having one vote.The House has decided two presidential elections - that of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824.
The Senate would elect the vice president, with each senator casting one vote. That raises the possibility of a president and vice president from different parties.

Barack Obama Wins 2012 US Presidential Election

	Votes	% won
Barack Obama	61,170,405	50.5%
Mitt Romney	58,163,977	48.0
Others	1,903,500	1.6

President Barack Obama cries while addressing campaign staff

Barack Obama visited his campaign headquarters in the Prudential Building near Lake Michigan before returning to Washington, the day after his re-election victory. Wearing a white dress shirt, with the top button undone and his silver tie a bit loosened, Obama stood at a microphone in front of two blue signs with his campaign slogan “Forward.”
He told the assembled staff, most of whom were young people in their 20s and 30s, that their work organizing his vast ground operation reminded him of his time as a community organizer in Chicago when he was their age.
“It’s not that you remind me of myself; it’s that you’re so much better than I was. You’re smarter and you’re better organized and you’re more effective,” he said

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Friday, January 20, 2012

2012 US Presidential Elections