Political Campaign

Part of the Politics Series A political campaign is an organized effort to influence the decision making process within a group. ... Image File history File links Politicalsigns. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Politics Look up Politics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Politics (disambiguation) Democracy History of democracy List of democracy and elections-related topics List of years in politics List of politics by country articles Political corruption Political economy Political movement Political parties of... Key People Candidate Political Consulting Campaign Manager Political campaign staff The contents of this page have been moved to http://en. ... Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. ... In United States and other democracies, political campaigns larger than a few individuals generally include a campaign manager whose role is to coordinate the campaigns operations. ... Campaign Message Campaign Advertising Opposition Research In politics, campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc. ... Opposition research often referred to as oppo is the section of an election campaign designed to investigate the life and record of the opposing candidate. ... Campaign Money Campaign Finance Independent Expenditure Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for political election campaigns. ... In elections in the United States, an independent expenditure is a political activity intended to assist or oppose a specific candidate for office which is made without their cooperation, approval, or direct knowledge. ... Negative Campaigning Negative Campaigning Attack Ad I approve this message Push poll Smear campaign Voter suppression Negative campaigning is trying to win an election by attacking an opponent rather than emphasizing ones own positive attributes or policies. ... An attack ad in election terms is an advertisement whose message is meant as an attack against another candidate or political party. ... In American politics, I approve this message (sometimes in the past tense, with authorize in place of approve, or with ad instead of message) is a phrase frequently said by candidates for federal office in political advertisements on television and radio in order to comply with the so-called stand... A push poll is a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll. ... A smear campaign or smear tactics are deliberate attempts by an individual or group to malign another individual or groups reputation. ... Voter suppression refers to the devious use of governmental power, political campaign strategy, and resources aimed at suppressing (i. ...

The staff of political campaigns are the people who get paid to formulate and implement the strategy needed to win an election. Many people have made careers out of working full-time for campaigns and groups that support them. Information on political consultants, people who do not work for the campaign full-time but still provide assistance in the form of advice and creative expertise, are discussed in the political consultants article. A political campaign is an organized effort to influence the decision making process within a group. ... Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. ...

This article provides a generic description of a campaign's staff and organization. Different campaigns have different structures.

Structure of a campaign

Campaigns are usually overseen by a campaign manager. The campaign manager coordinates the campaign making sure that the rest of the staff and the campaign's consultants are focused effectively on winning the election. In small local campaigns, the campaign manager will often be the only paid staff member and will be responsible for every aspect of the campaign that is not covered by the candidate or volunteers. In larger campaigns, such as a presidential campaign, hundreds of staff members will cover the required tasks. While campaign managers are often the lead strategists in local campaigns, larger campaigns hire consultants to serve as strategists and the campaign manager focuses mostly on coordinating the campaign staff. Campaign managers will often have deputies who oversee various aspects of the campaign at a closer level. In United States and other democracies, political campaigns larger than a few individuals generally include a campaign manager whose role is to coordinate the campaigns operations. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... A political campaign is an effort to reach a certain political goal. ...

Directly below the campaign manager on the organization chart are department directors who coordinate specific aspects of the campaign. These staff members often have deputies as well.

Below the department level, campaigns vary widely in their structure. On larger campaigns, their will be various coordinators for certain functions within each department. For example, within the fundraising department, there might be a staff member who focuses only on direct mail fundraising. Direct marketing is a form of marketing that attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, often without the use of intervening media. ...

At the bottom of the totem pole are the interns and volunteers who perform the least glamorous tasks of the campaign. These can include addressing envelopes, entering data into databases, and canvassing voters on behalf of the campaign. A database is an information set with a regular structure. ... In an election canvassing is a method used by a political campaign to directly speak to large numbers of voters. ...

Departments and their purpose

Field Department

The field department focuses on the "on-the-ground" organizing that is required in order to personally contact voters through canvassing, phone calls, and other "field techniques." Field departments will often be organized by geography with a field director, regional field directors, and local field organizers working together to identify supporters and turn out the vote. In addition to voter persuasion, field staff will often provide information for the campaign headquarters as to what is going on in the communities they work in. Also, field staffers will often liaison between the campaign and local influentials such as interest group leaders and prominent community activists.

Communications Department

The communications department oversees both the press relations and advertising involved in promoting the campaign in the media. They are responsible for the campaign's message and image among the electorate. Press releases, advertisements, phone scripts, and other forms of communication must be approved by this department before they can be released to the public. The staffers within this office vary widely from campaign to campaign. However they generally include:

• A press secretary who monitors the media and coordinates the campaign's relations with the press. Press secretaries set up interviews between the candidate and reporters, brief the press at press conferences, and perform other tasks involved in press relations.
• Researchers who provide information to the campaign on issues and the backgrounds of candidates (including the candidate they work for) in order to be aware of skeletons in the various candidates' closets. The latter practice is known as opposition research. Researchers often work in their own department but can be folded into the communications office.
• A rapid response director who makes sure that the campaign responds quickly to the attacks of the other campaigns. They and their staff constantly monitor the media and the moves of their opponents, making sure that attacks are rebutted quickly.

Opposition research often referred to as oppo is the section of an election campaign designed to investigate the life and record of the opposing candidate. ...

Finance Department

The finance department coordinates the campaign's fundraising operation and ensures that the campaign always has the money it needs to operate effectively. The techniques employed by this campaign vary based on the campaign's needs and size. Small campaigns often involve casual fundraising events and phone calls from the candidate to donors asking for money. Larger campaigns will include everything from high-priced sit-down dinners to e-mail messages to donors asking for money. This page is an encyclopedia article on fundraising; for fundraising on Wikipedia, see our fundraising page, or read about how we use the money. ...

Compliance and Legal Departments

The compliance and legal departments makes sure that the campaign is consistent with the law and also makes sure that the campaign files the appropriate forms with government authorities such as the Federal Election Commission. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency created in 1975 by Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance legislation in the United States. ...

This department will also be responsible for all financial tracking, including bank reconciliations, loans and backup for in-kind donations. They are generally required to keep both paper and electronic files.

Small campaigns will often have one person (the committee treasurer) responsible for financial disclosure while larger campaigns will have dozens of lawyers and treasurers making sure that the campaign's activities are legal.

After the election, the compliance and legal department must still respond to audit requests and, when required, debt retirement.

Technology Department

The technology department designs and maintains campaign technology such as Voter File and websites. While small campaigns might have a volunteer or two who know how to use computers, large campaigns will have armies of computer professionals spread across the state or country handling everything from websites to blogs to databases. A voter file is a list of all registered voters in an area. ... A website, Web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of webpages, that is, HTML/XHTML documents accessible via HTTP on the Internet; all publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. ... A website, Web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of webpages, that is, HTML/XHTML documents accessible via HTTP on the Internet; all publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. ... A blog is a website in which journal entries are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. ... A database is an information set with a regular structure. ...

Scheduling and Advance

The scheduling and advance department makes sure that the candidate and campaign surrogates are effectively scheduled so as to maximize their impact on the voters. This department also oversees the advance people who arrive at events before the candidate to make sure everything is in order. Often, this department will be a part of the field department.

Other staff members may exist as well.

On small campaigns the scheduling coordinator may be responsible for developing and executing events. The scheduling coordinator typically:

a) manages the candidate's personal and campaign schedule b) manages the field and advance team schedules c) gathers important information about all events the campaing and candidate will attend

Candidates and other members of the campaign must bear in mind that only one person should oversee the details of scheduling. Fluid scheduling is one of the many keys to making a profound impact on voters.

See also

• Political consultant
• Election campaign

Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. ... A political campaign is an effort to reach a certain political goal. ...

Sources

• EMILY's List Campaign Manual
• The Role of the Campaign Treasurer