Winning an Election President Incumbent

¶ … incumbent is the existing holder of a political office who normally has a structural advantage over challengers during an election," ("The Power of Incumbency" 1). In the House of Representatives, incumbents win over 80% of their elections ("The Power of Incumbency" 1). For the presidential race, the power of incumbency is different and in many ways, weaker due to term limits and the nature of the executive office. Anti-incumbency can haunt presidents who, for whatever exogenous or endogenous factors, had a difficult presidency. Prevailing party fatigue can also be a factor boosting the chances of a non-incumbent from the opposing political party. In the case of presidential elections taking place after a two-term president such as in 2016, there is no incumbent and therefore the process by which the hopefuls win their party's nomination becomes the focal point of their campaign work.

Incumbents enjoy obvious advantages over their non-incumbent counterparts such as name and brand recognition, access to campaign finance, access to state party leaders, and even access to government resources "that can be indirectly used to boost a campaign," ("The Power of Incumbency" 1). One of the most important means of boosting a presidential campaign is through the party conventions and committee chairs, and incumbents clearly have the advantage in these scenarios. Convention dates can even be "manipulated to the benefit of the incumbent," and held relatively late so as to be "after those of the opposition party" and aiding the building of "momentum for the upcoming general election campaign," (Nelson 949). Likewise, the location of the convention may boost the chances of the incumbent's being selected as the nominee. The non-incumbent candidates and presidential hopefuls need to remain vigilant throughout the lengthy pre-election process in order to secure a better chance of earning their party's nomination.

The process by which a non-incumbent would go about building a successful presidential campaign would vary depending on the situation. Initial steps include the official campaign announcement, the delivery of speeches to the press and public, and taking advantage of any media attention that can be garnered at this early stage. After this, the candidate needs to network aggressively with compatriots in the party. First, the non-incumbent would need to build brand identity and recognition through concerted efforts to work with the media. Visibility is crucial, as it would garner support for "sleeper" candidates like Bernie Sanders. As the party caucuses and conventions approach, the committees would prefer to select a candidate who has the greatest chance of winning the ticket. Therefore, gaining momentum in the days, weeks, and months immediately preceding the conventions is of the utmost importance. Non-incumbent candidates should plan accordingly and schedule their campaign with convention dates in mind. The winning of party delegates is the primary focus during this primary time.

Second, the non-incumbent needs to consider strategic political alliances. During the caucusing and primary stage, the general public will be involved in the selection of presidential candidates but in the past, only party leaders would have been able to perform the nomination. Therefore, caucuses are critical for feeling out the results of polls and determining what issues will be central to the voting public. These are the issues the non-incumbent candidate will need to focus on when discussing party platforms in debates or speeches. At this point, the non-incumbent needs as much support as possible, which is why paying attention to the needs and interests of voters is important.

The running mate will be a critical component of success at the ballot box. Therefore, no-incumbents need to be especially smart about allying with a vice presidential nominee that reflects the values and beliefs held by the party platform. Voters at the conventions later become less important than voters at the ballot box, who are then choosing between different political parties as opposed to different candidates within the same political party.