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The Campaign

The Campaign. The Structure of a Campaign. All campaigns have common characteristics. Each election campaign consists of several smaller campaigns that balance one another. Nomination Campaign General Election Campaign Personal Campaign Organizational Campaign Media Campaign.

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The Campaign

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  1. The Campaign

  2. The Structure of a Campaign • All campaigns have common characteristics. • Each election campaign consists of several smaller campaigns that balance one another. • Nomination Campaign • General Election Campaign • Personal Campaign • Organizational Campaign • Media Campaign

  3. Nomination Campaign • That part of a political campaign aimed at winning a primary election • Candidates adjust to spotlight • Seek the support of party leaders and interest groups, test themes, and slogan • Critical time for gaining and maintaining support within the party and the broader electorate • Candidate must be careful not to move too far to his/her party’s extreme during the nomination campaign. Could be harmful during the general election.

  4. General Election Campaign • Part of a political campaign aimed at winning the general election • Occurs after candidate has won party’s nomination • Focus on gaining support from groups and voters • Decide on issues to emphasize • Adopt a brief theme to serve as rallying cry • “A Stronger America” – 2004 Kerry/Edwards • “In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right” – 1964 Goldwater • Candidate must also define his or her stance on other topics of interest to voters.

  5. The Personal Campaign • That part of the political campaignconcerned with presenting the candidate’s public image • Candidates try to meet as many people as possible. • Exhausting schedule • Little time for family, reflection, or long-range planning

  6. The Organizational Campaign • That part of the political campaign involved in fund-raising, literature distribution, and all other activities not directly involving the candidate • Organizational activity funds and supports the campaign • Volunteers • Voter canvas: process by which a campaign reaches individual voters, either by door-to-door solicitation or by telephone.

  7. The Organizational Campaign • GOTV • a push at the end of a political campaign to encourage supporters to go to the polls • Campaign manager • the individual who travels with the candidate and coordinates the many different aspects of the campaign • Campaign consultant • the private sector professionals and firms who sell to a candidate the technologies, services, and strategies required to get the candidate elected • Finance chair • a professional who coordinates the fund-raising efforts for the campaign.

  8. The Organizational Campaign • Finance chair • A professional who coordinates the fund-raising efforts for the campaign • Pollster • A professional who takes public opinion surveys that guide political campaigns • Direct Mailer • A professional who supervises a political campaign’s direct-mail fund-raising activities • Do consultants strip the campaign of substance? Reduce them to a clever bag of tricks for sale? • Can voters tell the difference between a good candidate versus a bad one?

  9. The Media Campaign • That part of the political campaign in which the candidate reaches out to the voters, in person or via the media, to create a positive impression and gain votes • Communication director: develops the overall media strategy. • Press secretary: interacts and communicates with journalists. • Media consultant: produces candidate’s television, radio, and print ads.

  10. The Media and Campaigns • What voters hear and see of the candidate is primarily determined by • Paid media • Free media • The amount, form, and content of paid media are dictated by the campaign. • Free media consists of independent press coverage.

  11. Paid Media • Positive ad • Advertising on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate’s qualifications, family, and issue positions, without reference to the opponent • Negative ad • Advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent’s platform or character

  12. Paid Media • Contrast ad • Ad that compares the records and proposals of the candidates, with a bias toward the sponsor • Spot ad • Television advertising on behalf of a candidate that is broadcast in sixty-, thirty-, or ten-second duration • Inoculation ad • Advertising that attempts to counteract an anticipated attack from the opposition before the attack is launched

  13. Free Media • Coverage of the campaign • Newsworthy • View candidates with suspicion • Obsessed with the “horse race” • Expectations and predictions

  14. Campaign Media Strategies • Isolate candidate from the press • Campaign stages media events • Spin • Circumvent press with entertainment-oriented talk shows – a less critical forum • Take great care with debates

  15. Technology and Campaign Strategy • Technological advances impacted political campaigns • Direct access to voters • Can gather and disseminate information better than ever • Rapid-response techniques • The formation of prompt and informed responses to changing events on the campaign battlefield • Internet • Recorded phone messages

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