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

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.

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.

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Bush Campaign Organization

The Personal Campaign

• That part of the political campaign concerned 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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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Free Media

• Coverage of the campaign– Newsworthy – View candidates with suspicion– Obsessed with the “horserace”– Expectations and predictions

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

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

Campaign Finance

• Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

• Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act 2002– McConnell versus FEC

• Concluded that the government’s interest in preventing political-party corruption overrides the free speech rights to which the parties would otherwise be entitled

Sources of Political Contributions• Political money regulated by the federal

government (FECA 1971). This money can come from– Individual Contributions– Political Action Committee Contributions– Political Party Contributions– Member-to-Candidate Contributions– Candidates’ Personal Contributions– Public Funds– Independent Expenditures

Growth in Total Contributions by PACs

Expenditures by PACs in 2004 Election Cycle

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PACs

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Internet

• Has the potential to alter the way money is raised for campaigns.– McCain 2000– Dean 2004

• Promises headaches for FEC– Business links with campaign link? Are these

in-kind contributions?• Yes

– Can internet funds be matched by public funds during the presidential nomination campaign?

• No

Soft Money and Issue Advocacy Advertisements• Soft Money

– The virtually unregulated money funneled by individuals and political committees through state and local parties

– Now prohibited under BCRA– Result: Hard money fundraising

increased and the emergence of 527s

How the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 Alters Money Flow

Are PACs Good or Bad for the Process?• The Bad

– PACs are the embodiment of corrupt special interests that use their contributions to buy votes of legislators.

• Evidence is mixed

– Moreover, the less affluent and minority members of our society do not enjoy equal access to these political organizations.