Important Elements Of A Campaign Strategy

Important Elements of a Campaign Strategy

Campaigning for any type of elected office requires a sharp eye for detail in regard to what voters are looking for in a candidate. A campaign strategy should be comprehensive in its efforts to reach as many voters as possible. Yet, without a solid base of ideas from which to expand upon, the message being conveyed can easily be lost or taken out of context. In order for a campaign manager to avoid this blunder from occurring and maximize the candidate's chances of victory, he or she must pay attention to a few basic campaigning elements before attempting to stretch the campaign to its maximum visibility. First, the campaign manager must identify the important issues in the election as well as the voters supporting the candidate and those who are undecided. Developing a general campaign theme, preferably one with a catchy phrase to use in speeches, is the second critical element. Finally, an important concept that must be incorporated throughout the campaign is the wise use of the media, both paid and earned.

Identifying the important issues and the voting makeup of the constituency is a preparatory task that should be done mainly before the start of the campaign. The decline of partisanship has led to a rise in issue-based voting, therefore making a candidate's knowledge of the issues a much greater factor. Yet, simply having knowledge of an issue is not sufficient. A concrete stance should be taken on positional issues. The phrase "concrete stance" tends to imply that the position taken should be somewhat extreme when all it really infers is that it should be a belief held consistent throughout the campaign.

In all actuality, it is in a candidate's best interest to avoid taking any extreme views if at all possible. Recognizing the voters who are supporting the office seeker is important in managing a campaign because it helps to ensure retaining those voters. More importantly, the undecided voters or those who are

"on the fence" must be targeted for relentless campaigning. This group contains the "sway votes" which are an integral part of winning any election.

Understanding the issues and the voters is something that should be done when running for any office. Obviously, it would be easier for someone in the race for county...

... middle of paper ...

... way of reaching voters with their message by way of paid advertisement. However, with both candidates usually utilizing the media in this fashion, it often results in a stalemate. What then becomes increasingly meaningful is the coverage given to each candidate by the press.

This has been termed "earned" media as opposed to the aforementioned "paid" media. If a candidate can use the press to shape the image of a likeable and trustworthy public servant, he vastly improves his or her chances of election.

However, the news media is a "two way street". Scandal and controversy can also be exploited by the media, thus greatly reducing a candidate's chances. The clever manipulation of the media in order to attract "good press" and deter "bad press" is becoming an increasingly vital part of a campaign strategy. (Shea 1996,

226-227)

A campaign strategy is a complex process of acquiring and allocating resources, polling, image creating, and persuading. The elements discussed here do not produce a truly comprehensive strategy. However, if adhered to, they allow for other aspects of a campaign to fall into place.