CAMPAIGN PROCESS

Chapter 14

The Nomination & General Election Campaign

• Nominating Campaign- The phase of a political campaign aimed at winning a primary election

• General Election Campaign- The phase of a political campaign aimed at winning election to office.

Campaign Staff

Campaign Manager

Travels with the candidate and coordinates the campaign

Finance Chair Coordinates the financial business of the campaign

Communicator Director

Develops the overall media strategy for the candidate

Press Secretary Charged with interacting and communicating with journalists on daily basis.

Campaign Consultant

Private-sector professional who sells to candidate the technologies, services, and strategies required to get that candidate elected.- Pollster- consultant conducts public opinion surveys.

Volunteers Lifeblood of national, state and local campaigns.- Answer phone calls, staff candidates booths at festivals,

serve as the public face of campaign- Voter Canvas– process by which a campaign reaches

individuals voters, either by door to door or by phone- GOTV- a push at the end of political campaign to

encourage supporters to go to the polls.

Raising Money

Source of Campaign Funding (1 of 2)

Individuals - Maximum amount of individual contribution for congressional and presidential election is $2,400 per election. Primaries and generals are considered individual.- In 2008, $745 million fund-raising came from individuals.

Political Parties - National Parties can give up to $5,000 to a House candidate & $46,600 to a Senate candidate per election.

- In 2008, both parties raised about $2 billion.

Political Action Committee

(PACs)

- Interest groups such as labor unions, corporations, single issue groups donate money to campaign they must do so by establishing a PACs

- PACs are officially recognized as fund-raising organizations that represent interest groups in the political process.

- PACs can not give more than $5,000 per candidate per election, and $15,000 each year to the national party committees.

- PAC contributions count for about 33% of the “war chests (campaigning funds)” of House candidates.

Member PACs - In congress and state legislature, well-funded, incumbents often contribute campaign money to their party’s candidate who are struggling to raise money and/ or are in competitive races. Known as “leadership PACs”.

Personal Savings

- In Buckey v. Valeo (1976) stated that not limited could be placed on the amount of money candidates can spend from their own families’ resources, since spending is considered a 1st Amednment right of free speech.

Source of Campaign Funding (2 of 2)

Public Funds Public funds- Donations from general tax revenues to the campaign of qualifying presidential candidates.- Only given to presidential candidates Matching Funds- donations to presidential campaigns whereby every dollar raised from individuals in amounts less than $251 is matches by the federal treasury.

Soft Money Groups

- Two major groups:1. 527 political committee – tax-exempt organizations created to raise money for

political activities such as voter mobilization and issue advocacy. - Same as PACs just that 527 have a different code under the IRS.2. 501 groups- nonprofit, tax, exempt interest groups that can engage in varying levels of political activity; not subject to FEC (Federal Election Committee) disclosure rules.- This group can engage in any political activity with the exemption of voter registration.

Reaching Voters

Traditional Media:

• During the campaign process media is constantly reporting political news

• What they report is basically based on editor’s decision of what is newsworthy or “fit to print”.

• Reporters are obsessed with horse-race – who’s ahead, who’s behind. … this helps name recognition.

Strategies to Control Media Coverage:

- Candidates and their media consultant use various strategies in an effort to obtain favorable press coverage.

1. Campaign staff members often seek to isolate the candidate from press (reducing the changes reporters will bait the candidate into saying something that might damage the electiona0

2. Campaign stages media events: activities designed to include brief, clever quotes called sound bites and staged with appeling backdrops so that they will be covered on the tv news and in newspapers.

3. Campaign staff and consultants have cultivated a technique termed spin- they put forward the most favorable possible interpretation for their candidate (& most negative for opponent) on any circumstance occurring in the campaign.

4. Candidates have found ways to avoid tradition reporters by appearing on talk shows such as Oprah, the View, Saturday Night Live…etc

Reaching Voters

Traditional Media:

• Candidates Debates: 1st face-to-face debate 1960s –Kennedy (D) & Nixon (R); however they did not part of the presidential debate until the 1980s

• Debates can be a turning point during election, although candidates practice their response they cannot avoid the dangers of spontaneity.

• Errors or slip of the tongue can affect the election results.

EX. Pres. Gerald R. Ford’s erroneous insistence during an October 1976 debate with Jimmy Carter that Poland was not under Soviet control (when it fact it was) may have caused him the election. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1844704_1844706_1844449,00.html

- Also, George Bush’ bored expression and repeated glances at his watch during the 92’ debate with Bill Clinton certainly caused the election.

Reaching Voters

New Media

• Video technology, internet, pre-recorded messages, e-mail, teleconferencing

• Nowadays;

• The first use of internet was in 92’ by Bill Clinton and running mate Al Gore. The website had biographies, speeches and party’s platform/ planks.

• In 08’ many celebrities, and politicians recorded their messages to support a candidate.

• Ex. Jay-Z, Scarlett Johansson pre-recorded messages for Obama

• Republicans heard from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood.

Reaching Voters

Camping Advertisements

• Positive Ad- advertisement on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate’s qualification, family, and issue positions, with no direct reference to the opponent.

• Negative ad- advertisement on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent’s character or platform.

• Contrast Ad- at that compares the record and proposal of the candidate, with a bias toward the candidate sponsoring the ad.

- Ex: Peace Litter Girl (pulled out of the air after the first broadcast)/ Barry Goldwater (R) v. Pre. Lyndon Johnson PAGE 468.

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1964/peace-little-girl-daisy

• Inoculation ad- advertisement that attempts to counteract an anticipating attack from the opposition before the attack in launched.

- Ex: A senator that fears broadside about her voting record on veteran's issue might air advertisement featuring veterans or their families praising her support.

Slogans

2008 Presidential Campaign• Senator Barack Obama v. Senator John McCain

• No incumbent president or V.P running for election

• Primaries: Demo: Hilary Clinton & Barack Obama plus 7 others/ Rep: 13 candidates during the primaries.

• Democratic / Republican Race:

Candidates begin to candidates begin to campaign and fun-raise money during the spring/ summer before the election year.

Party Convention

- During the summer .each candidate presents their planks and party platform.

- Celebrities, candidate’s wife, and vice-president candidate present their speeches and endorse candidate.

- Millions of people watch this event

General Election

- Candidate debates ( September-October)

- Final Days: Campaigning across the country and on Election Day GOTV

- Final Day (Election Day) Usually projected wining candidate congratulates the opposite candidate.

2012 Campaign • Post-election reports show a flurry of activity in the campaign's waning

days. President Obama took in $88.1 million between Oct. 18 and Nov. 26 and spent more than $176 million, including nearly $108 million on television commercials, online ads and other advertising expenses.

• Romney's campaign and its related arms took in $85.9 million, and he spent $66 million on advertising in the final weeks of the election.