Why is it hard for senators to become president

Bush in , Obama benefited enormously from not having to fight for his party's nomination. Gerald Ford in , Jimmy Carter in , and George Bush in had to wage such battles, and each of them was defeated by his general election opponent in November. In contrast, Obama was able to use the first eight months of to raise money, rebuild his campaign organization, develop lines of attack on his likely Republican opponents, and launch his general election campaign from a united, enthusiastic Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Caroline, in September Following the pattern of reelection-seeking presidents since the s, Obama chose Vice President Biden to run with him for a second term.

While Obama was uniting his party for the fall, the Republicans were waging a fierce intraparty battle to choose their nominee. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the nomination, but was subjected to severe attacks by his Republican rivals. Romney won the nomination and placated conservatives by choosing the chair of the House Budget Committee, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, as his vice presidential running mate in advance of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

But only then was he able to focus on raising money for the general election, move toward the more popular political center, and direct his campaign toward defeating Obama. The Supreme Court's decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates to corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals to spend massive amounts of money in an effort to elect either Obama or Romney, as well as in the congressional elections.

Obama, like many incumbents, turned in a rusty and therefore ineffective performance. But, chastened by his weak showing, Obama came back strongly in the second and third debates and regained his lead over Romney. Toward the end of the campaign, the unemployment rate finally dipped below 8 percent, reinforcing Obama's claim that his economic policies had placed the nation on the road to prosperity.

Obama defeated Romney by 51 percent to 47 percent in the national popular vote and by to in the electoral vote. His margin of victory was down slightly from , making him the first president since Woodrow Wilson to be reelected by a smaller majority than in his first election. Also disappointing to Obama, the House of Representatives remained in Republican control, by a margin to to Even though twenty-three of their seats were on the ballot in compared with only ten for the Republicans, the Democrats actually gained two seats in the election, raising their majority in the upper chamber to 55 to Still more important for the long term, Obama ran best among those groups in the electorate that were growing most rapidly: young people, single people, nonreligious people, Latinos, and Asian Americans.

Despite his victories, Obama began his second term with a very limited mandate. His campaign's one-word theme was content-free—Forward! The one specific issue Obama did stress on the campaign trail—his continuing desire to raise taxes on wealthy Americans—bore fruit one month after the election, when Congress voted to raise the marginal income tax rate from But during the campaign, he deemphasized other issues that were important to him but politically risky, including immigration reform, climate change, and gun control.

As in , voter turnout was considerably lower in than it had been two years previously: 34 percent in the lowest in a national election since compared with 58 percent in Because midterm electorates tend to have a higher concentration of the older and more conservative white voters who tend to favor Republican candidates, the Democrats were likely to suffer.

Adding to their disadvantage in the Senate elections was that Democrats held 21 of 36 seats on the ballot in , seven of them in states that Obama had lost to Romney. Republicans gained nine seats in the Senate elections, the largest gain for any party since , and took away control of the chamber from the Democrats with a majority.

They added two to their ranks of governors, leaving them in control of the executive in 31 states. They also won majorities in ten additional state legislative chambers, giving them control of 67 of The midterm election guaranteed that Obama spent the last two years of his presidency with a Republican Congress. Although the 22nd Amendment barred Obama from seeking a third term as president in , he was intensely interested in seeing a Democrat succeed him, especially because all of the contenders for the Republican presidential nomination promised to seek the repeal of major parts of his legislative legacy if one of them was elected.

Obama did not endorse either of the leading candidates for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, but he clearly favored Clinton as the most electable and privately discouraged Vice President Biden from entering the contest for fear of dividing his supporters between Biden and Clinton. In the fall campaign, Obama campaigned ardently in multiple battleground states for Clinton and against the Republican nominee, Donald J.

Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. A modern Presidential campaign is a billion-dollar business built in a very short period time. Read More. The path to the White House. Overall, 16 presidents served in the Senate at some point in their careers, but most of them served in high-level executive or foreign policy positions before moving to the Oval Office. The most common job prior to the presidency that involves time spend in the upper chamber is the vice presidency, a good sign for former Vice President Joe Biden, who has said he'll make a decision on a future run by the end of the year.

Another common path for Senators to bolster executive and foreign policy experience came from serving as a governor, Cabinet secretary or ambassador, though all the success stories from this group came before the end of the Civil War. As for those elected commander in chief who did not spend time on the Senate floor? Each State delegation has one vote and it is up to the individual States to determine how to vote.

Since the District of Columbia is not a State, it has no State delegation in the House and cannot vote. A candidate must receive at least 26 votes a majority of the States to be elected.

The Senate elects the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. Each Senator casts one vote for Vice President. Since the District of Columbia is has no Senators and is not represented in the vote. A candidate must receive at least 51 votes a majority of Senators to be elected. A tie is a statistically remote possibility, even in smaller States, and would not be known until late November or early December, after a recount and after the Secretary of State for the State had certified the election results.

Following the November election, one candidate for a Virginia House of Delegates seat was ahead by two 2 votes. Since the results were so close, there was a recount which found that one 1 vote had been miscounted.

After the recount, the candidates had the same number of votes. Following State law, they drew lots for a winner. The candidates put their names on individual pieces of paper and put the pieces in a bowl. A neutral third party pulled a name out of the bowl and that candidate was declared the winner. A very close finish could also result in a run-off election or legal action to decide the winner. Just like a tie, State law determines how the winner is decided, and would be conclusive in determining the selection of electors.

The law provides that if States have laws to determine controversies or contests as to the selection of electors, those determinations must be completed at least six days before the meeting of the electors.

The objection must be made in writing and signed by at least one Senator and one member of the House of Representatives. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives debate the objection separately.

Debate is limited to two hours. After the debate, both the Senate and the House of Representatives rejoin and both must agree to reject the votes.

After debate, the Senate and the House failed to agree to reject the votes. Uniformed Services include the U. For more information, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program web site. Can citizens of U.