A few minutes with Andy Rooney by Rooney Andrew A

Author:Rooney, Andrew A
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: American wit and humor, Television scripts
Publisher: New York : Atheneum
Published: 1981-03-11T05:00:00+00:00

HOW WE ELECT THE PRESIDENT

MOST of US know how we elect our President, of course. It's a very simple democratic process. All it is is every American citizen over the age of eighteen votes for whomever he or she wants. That's all there is to it—practically all. There are a feiv little details.

For instance, first the voters pick the two people they want to run against each other, two outstanding Americans. This year it looks as though it'll be an old movie actor and a former peanut farmer.

Actually the voters don't choose those people, the members of the political parties do. It's called the primary system. The first primary is held in New Hampshire in February because it's—well, it doesn't matter why it's held there then, but it is.

So, beginning with New Hampshire, the two parties pick a candidate. They sort of pick a candidate. What really happens is they pick the delegates who will go to their party's convention. The delegates have to vote for the candidate the party members want them to—or at least in some states they have to. In other states, the delegates picked can vote for anybody they want to once they get to the convention. Then these thoughtful, handpicked Americans, who represent the whole country, solemnly decide who they want.

I think you can see how simple this system is that we have for electing our President. Once the candidates are chosen by the two parties, that's about it . . . unless, of course, there's a third party.

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