Presidential Election Process

2016 is a Presidential election year as most of are aware of. However, an overwhelming majority of people seem to be displeased with the options the Republican and Democratic parties have pushed through to the general election this cycle. How is it, many people may wonder, that two people who are so disliked became our options for president this year? The answer may be in the way people are nominated in the primary cycle. So what are some key features of how this process goes about? This may not be such a clear answer, as the process has changed moderately over recent decades. For example, one thing a candidate must do is gather delegate support in order to gain the nomination. However, pre-1972 candidates had to gather these delegates support
This has become a buzz word of sorts this nomination cycle in particular, but why is that? A super delegate on the Democratic side is an unpledged delegate that automatically has a seat at the National Convention and nominates whoever they wish, regardless of their states election results. These delegates account for approximately 15% of the total delegates, while the remaining 85% include the pledged delegates decided by the election results. This differs from the Republican process because although they have delegates automatically seated at the National Convention as well, they are not free to nominate whoever they wish, and rather must select the person who received the majority of votes in their state (Liz Olson,
The RNC stances follow respectively: Government should play a minimal role in the economy, lower taxes will raise investment and disposable incomes at every socio-economic level and kick start economic growth and progress, this includes lowering taxes at all levels of income and business. Strong support of the second amendment, the right to bear arms, against the ban on assault weapons, although some agreement on people with mental health problems and on the no-fly list banned from weapons. Strong immigration policy, recognizes the importance of immigrants to the economy, but sees a lack of leadership in immigration reform, plans on policies to secure the border and vastly minimize illegal immigration. Energy independence to encourage investment and create jobs, support responsible fracking, Economy over environment generally (GOP.com). Pro-life policy, oppose abortion funding, adoption, and abstinence, human life amendment, and ban abortion (On the