Election Campaigns

Election Campaigns

• We have talked about the important role money plays in campaigns, but money does not just pay for costs associated with elections, it pays for the entire apparatus that is needed to support the candidate through the race.

• Candidates require campaign staff, managers, and temporary consultants, all on the payroll to ensure that the campaign process is running and creating the opportunity for the candidate to win.

• More money can afford higher quality staff that could lead to more elections success.

• However, the vast majority of the network of individuals tied to a campaign are unpaid volunteers.

• Fundraising happens long before elections and continues long after

• Senate races toping $350 million dollars in battleground states.

How you spend resources and organize staffing leads to the creation of a campaign strategy.

• How will a candidate win? What will be their message? What voters will they target?

• How you campaign will be largely dictated by the ideological make-up of the district or state you are trying to win.

• Grassroots v media campaigns.

• The media plays an increasingly important role in elections, as more and more people can access media - media can tell you a lot about the candidate.

• Debates are a byproduct of the rise of media usage in politics, and can be extremely helpful or damaging to candidates depending on performance.

• Media usage has further evolved with the advent and popularity of social media and the creation of more refined data sets and message targeting capability.