The caucus was an informal, voluntary
gathering of the party members in the two houses to canvass the
political situation and decide upon the men to be supported by the
rank and file of the party for the presidency and vice presidency. In
the lack of other nominating machinery it served a useful purpose, and
nominations had been commonly made in this manner from 1796 onwards.
There were obvious objections to the plan--chiefly that the authority
exercised was assumed rather than delegated--and, as the campaign of
1824 approached, opposition flared up in a very impressive manner.
Crawford, as the "regular" candidate, wanted a caucus, and his
adherents supported him in the wish. But all his rivals were opposed
to it, partly because they felt that they could not gain a caucus
nomination, partly because their followers generally objected to the
system. "King Caucus" became the target of general criticism.
Newspapers, except those for Crawford, denounced the old system;
legislatures passed resolutions against it; public meetings condemned
it; ponderous pamphlets were hurled at it; the campaigns of Jackson
and Clay, in particular, found their keynote in hostility toward it.
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