Political campaigns aim to inform voters about candidates and issues, influence voters' preferences, and mobilize supporters. Campaign strategies borrow from marketing, focusing on crafting a candidate's image, targeting key voter groups, and using various communication channels to spread their message. However, campaigns may not achieve their goals, as voters often have limited information and false beliefs, and elections may not reflect actual public opinion due to incumbency advantages and focus on peripheral issues rather than policy positions.

1. Political campaigns
What’s it all about?

2. What are elections for?
• To determine who will hold governmental
positions
– Not all positions
• To maintain public control over the
government
– Throw the rascals out
• To re-legitimize the system and the regime
– Government claim to consent of the governed
– Elections as rituals

3. What are campaigns for?
• To inform the public of what the government
has been doing and to critique the
performance of officials
• To stir up excitement for the system, and for
politics in general
• To inform officials of the preferences of the
electorate and to set priorities for action
– Agenda setting

4. Do elections do what they are
supposed to do?
• Many examples of politicians who have been
found guilty of crimes were returned to office.
• Candidates who are in other ways unfit are
returned to office
– Candidates who are at death’s door, etc.

5. Do elections do what they are
supposed to?
• Incumbency determines
– Since World War II, 92% of incumbents who ran
for reelection were successful. (Wikipedia)
• However, high-quality challengers are not always
available
• Incumbents with serious problems may not run again

6. Advantages incumbent
Congresspersons hold
• Experience – an incumbent by definition is experienced. He or
she has already won at least one election.
• Franking – congressional privilege that allows
congresspersons to send out mail to their constituents for
free. It’s in the Constitution.
• Free Media – local media like covering congressman.
Furthermore, they can go on national TV shows, they have an
office in Washington that can create media releases.

7. • Money – congressmen bring federal spending into their local
areas to benefit the district (which thus increases goodwill in
the district for them).
• Casework – when individual constituents have a problem and
call their congressman. It’s an easy, non-controversial way of
making voters happy. People helped (no matter what party)
will be more likely to vote for him and they will tell their
friends.
• Campaign finance – officeholders have a big advantage over
challengers because they are already in congress with a vote
over legislation and thus interest groups will attempt to
influence them (whatever their party).
– Wikipedia

8. Election outcomes
• There are at least some scholars that argue
that the outcome of elections does not seem
to reflect public opinion
– Candidates are elected that appear to oppose
majority opinion on a wide range of topics
– Decisions based on emotion and/or peripheral
issues rather than rational self-interest, which is
supposed to rule

9. Do campaigns do what they are
supposed to do?
• Voters rarely know very much about most of the
candidates on the ballot
– Name recognition may determine winners
• Even when they are acquainted with candidates
voters often do not know much about those
seeking office
– Few can actually identify candidate background, issue
positions, etc.
• False beliefs common
– Assume policy agreement where none exists

10. Information gain
• A great deal of research indicates that members
of the electorate gain only limited information
about candidates during the campaign
– (Leshner, Benoit and Hansen)
• Much of what the public learns is questionable,
inaccurate or biased
• Focus is often on peripheral cues rather than
issues
– Physical attractiveness, speaking tone, height

11. Information gain
• Biased reception
– The same information gained about a favored
candidate and a disfavored candidate would be
interpreted differently

12. Vote intention
• Traditionally, there has been little change in
vote intent during the campaign
– Most people’s votes can be predicted from
demographic information prior to the beginning of
the campaign

13. Content of campaign communications
• Distortion, untruth
• Images and symbolism
• Propaganda techniques
• Hoopla
• How could anyone make an intelligent
decision based on all this junk?

14. Politics as marketing
• The candidate is the ‘product’
– What are the ‘attributes’ of the candidate?
• A one-day ‘sale’
– Date is predetermined
• The monetary ‘price’ is zero
• Far more competitive/antagonistic environ
than most ‘products’

15. Marketing strategy and political
campaigns
• Goal is to win
• Use methods developed for marketing
branded products
• Historical transition from product orientation
to sales orientation to marketing orientation

16. Marketing strategy
• Image/positioning
– Limited by prior performance of candidate
• Market research
– Polling
• Targeting
– “Two campaigns”
– Likely voters
– Persuadable groups
• Communication channels
– Interpersonal
– Mediated
– New media

17. • Message
– “Product attributes”
– Critique of opposition (far more prevalent in political
campaigns)
• Fundraising
• PR
– ‘Earned media’
– Press relations
• Development of organization
– Pre-existing organization in traditional marketing
campaigns
• GOTV

18. Image

20. Targeting
• Primaries v. general election
• Voters v. non-voters
– Talking to those who vote
– Convincing those who are supportive to go to the polls
• Demographics
• Persuasibility
• Accessibility
• Popular vote v. electoral college
– Gore won popular vote
– Plouffe analysis

21. Communication channels
• Interpersonal
– Face-to-face
• Too time-consuming for major elected office
• Still the main means for local
– Public meetings
– Speeches at gatherings
– Debates

22. • Media
– TV ads still most significant
• Lion’s share of campaign budgets in higher office
– Radio important for targeting
• Latino
– Newspapers mainly for elite

23. • New media
– Growing importance
– Innovative area
– Microtargeting

24. Message
• Issue
• “Character”
• Positive v. negative tone
• Issues of distortion, dishonesty

25. Fundraising
• Classic model
– PACs
– Large donors, dinners, etc.
– Large portion of candidate’s time personally soliciting donations
• Concern over undue influence
• New model
– Obama
• Vast numbers of small donors/Internet
• Public funding (McCain/Feingold)
– Limits on spending
• Other groups
– 527 groups

27. PR
• Media relations are tremendously important
– Spin
• Interaction with candidate
• Supporters providing press with background,
etc.
• On-air pundits
• Non-news media

28. Development of organization
• Obama v. Clinton
– Mass volunteer organizations
– Early preparation
– Online organizing

29. GOTV
• Phone reminders
• Transporting likely supporters to the polls
• Registering potential voters
• Tracking supporters