Effective Political Campaigning in the United States - Research Paper Example

? Effective Political Campaigning in the United s of School Effective Political Campaigning in the United s Introduction A political campaign refers to a planned strategy which makes an effort to have an impact on the process of decision making in a particular group of people (Laure, 2006). More often than not, in a democratic set up; political campaigns are processes that lead to selection of representatives or decision on referendums are made. In the contemporary politics; political campaigns in high profile societies normally involve candidates seeking positions such as head of government or state (Webb et al., 2002). The following essay will cover the keys essential to effective political campaigning, the role of campaign strategist and budget director in meeting the keys to effective political campaign. The essay will sum up by providing some of the lessons that can be learnt in conducting political campaigns and how they can be applied in improving local campaigns. Keys to effective political campaigning Any effective political campaign must put into force various elements to guarantee victory for the political position. These comprise of a political or campaign message, effective campaign financing and efficient organization of the entire political strategy (Richard & Mair, 2005). The campaign message comprises of the vision the candidate intends to share with the potential voters. This normally contains numerous points of discussion in relation to policy matters. These points are frequently repeated with an aim of creating a lasting intuition among the voters. For instance, In Obama’s campaign the campaign message was “The Change we can believe in”. Besides, a successful campaign must have effective mobilization and management of campaign finance. Potential donors must be attracted by the political manifesto which will enhance effective political campaign. Last but not least, the political campaign must have an efficient organization which will entail proper time management, hiring of efficient political consultants and activists and making sure that the affairs are run in a manner that can guarantee victory. Roles played by Campaign strategists and Budget directors in political campaign To ensure that the keys of political campaigning discussed above are achieved, a campaign team must have a campaign strategist and a budget director. Campaign strategist may also be referred to as a campaign managers, consultants or pollsters (Xap Corporation, 2009). Campaign strategist advice candidates during campaigns and at times may continue working during the politician’s term in office. They judge what the electorate needs from leaders and assess how they may react to new policies. A campaign strategist plays a great role in ensuring that the campaign is adequately funded to ensure that the party meets all the voters’ needs (Phillips, Reynolds and Reynolds, 2010). They organize fund raising events to raise funds needed for the campaign. When organizing for funding raising, campaign strategist help identify the best sources of funds for the campaign and reach out to these groups. To convince different individuals contribute finances for the campaign; strategists design the most appealing approaches and especially when it comes to getting money from the private groups. In fund raising, campaign strategists may directly solicit funds, use of the internet or organize events (Xap Corporation, 2009). On the other hand, the budget director also plays a great role in ensuring that the funds available for campaign are effectively allocated to critical different areas that require funding. Moreover, they work hand in hand with the campaign strategist when organizing for fund raising for campaigns. Presence of a budget director in a campaign gives the financers of the campaign that their finances are effectively used in the campaigns. Budget directors also act as accountants during campaigns and are needed in regulation of use of campaign funds by the government and civil authorities to demonstrate that the party did not use finances to influence voters. Consequently, budget directors produce financial reports for the campaign (Phillips, Reynolds and Reynolds, 2010). When it comes to defining the campaign message; a campaign strategist plays a critical role. Campaign strategists work in consultation with the candidate to come up with message to be used in the campaign. The campaign message include the main theme of the political party during a campaign for instance, Obama’s ‘’Yes We Can’’ and the policies that are fronted during political rallies. Campaign strategists are able to assess what the electorates need and from this come up with a message. In addition, campaign strategists evaluate how the electorate may ascertain policy recommendations in the manifesto and thereby help the candidates tell the voters what they would like to hear. Political strategists work day and night to develop new strategies each day to ensure that they endear their candidates to the voters. In developing these strategies, campaign strategists survey the political environment to assess what other candidates are doing so that they can come up with strategies to keep them ahead of the game (Phillips, Reynolds and Reynolds, 2010).   In most cases, campaign strategists are maintained in office where they act as political advisers in case their candidate wins. When in office, the strategists seek to ensure that the policies that the candidate are being implemented and recommend actual approaches which would be used in implementing those promise (Kotler and Kotler, 1999). During the term of the candidate, campaign strategists still work to ensure that their candidate continues to receive massive support from the electorate. Furthermore, the policies promised during the campaign must be endorsed by the Congress before being implemented. In light of this, campaign strategists lobbies with members of the congress to enlist support for those policies. For instance, although President Obama had promised to introduce a health insurance plan which would see the all the citizens receive adequate health care, he would not be able to lobby the support from both the Republicans and Democrats alone and therefore the campaign strategists comes into play assisted by the activists. It is not enough to come up with the campaign message, but the message has to get to the intended people, that is, the voters. The campaign strategists play a great role in this where s/he identifies the best channels to be used in reaching out to the people. Moreover, campaign strategists are mostly entrusted with campaign communication which entails both media coverage and advertising of the campaign (Kotler and Kotler, 1999). Campaign consultants design the campaign advertisements in consultation with other campaign staff which have the greatest ability to influence voters. The strategists also manage the media during the campaign where they recommend what is to be told to the media. This is because candidates may be invited to media houses and without the advice of the consultants then, they may issue messages that do harm to their campaigns. In addition, delivering of the message calls may be through use mass rallies, protests or meetings and the timing and choice of venue for these events is done by the strategists. Campaign strategists also recommend the best approach to be used when using technology for campaigns (Kotler and Kotler, 1999). The campaign budget director has a role in ensuring that the message gets to the people. The director works out the cost implication of every policy implication and during campaigns, they give the candidates details of how such policies can be implemented (By, 2001). Moreover, even after candidate is voted into the office, the budget director continues to advice the candidate on cost effective and convincing strategies that demonstrate that the policies may be implemented both to members of the Congress and the public. Moreover, a budget director plays a role in determining the tools to be procured to deliver the campaign message (Dinan, 2010). For instance, the budget director works out all the logistics that are required in the when organizing the campaign advertisement events. Moreover, they ensure that the resources are availed and in the order of the most pressing needs for the campaign. Campaign directors also explore the most cost effective media to be used in the campaign while still ensuring that these channels reach out to the intended audience. A campaign strategist has major role in ensuring that the campaign remains well organized and coordinated. The strategist starts working with the candidate to identify the critical individuals required in the campaign. In the case of elections for instance, the strategist recommends to the candidate that the campaign team needs various personnel and defines the mandate of those personnel. S/he works throughout the campaign period to ensure that each staff is working towards they mandate. In addition, the strategists organize the calendar for the campaign to ensure that all the candidate reach out to all the voters or address the issues in their course (Dinan, 2010). This is because the candidate is usually overwhelmed by the campaign and may forget some critical areas. Campaign strategists also work to ensure that the group or candidate issues consistent messages to the media and any mistake during communication could cost the team and the lead to eventual failure (Xap Corporation, 2009). In addition, campaign strategists organized the advertisement campaigns for the campaigns. They ensure that the channels being used are effective and actually monitor those channels to ensure that they deliver the correct messages. Furthermore, campaign consultants help in organization of the messages to ensure that they flow in a manner that appeal to the voters. The strategists also work with the candidates after they are elected into office to prioritize the implementation. This is because although there are many promises during elections, they must be implemented according to the matter of urgency and therefore the strategies work to organize these strategies (Xap Corporation, 2009). The budget director during campaigns plays a role in ensuring that the budget is organized according to sources of finances and how they will be spent. Budget director also organizes the campaign accounts to ensure that they can be easily understood during regulation and adhere to all standards (By, 2001). Evaluating of Obama’s campaign strategies During the Obama campaign, the main slogan was “the change we believe in” while the chant was “Yes We Can!” ever since declaring his intentions to run for presidency in February, 2007 Obama’s main objective was to restore American economy and care for the citizens. He took various stands regarding social, economic, political and nationwide matters. He made a promise to withdraw the American troops from Iraq and develop the American energy plans. He also placed universal health care as a foremost priority in his campaigns (Phillips, Reynolds and Reynolds, 2010). Reflecting on the key essentials to an effective campaign, it can be noted that all these policy issues were well organized and planned by the campaign strategists and budget director. These are the individuals who established the viability of the promises he intended to deliver to the voters if voted in. Four years along the line, most American voters can attest to the fact the economy is improving slowly but steadily. However, Obama seems not to get credit for all these. Though he promised massive change in the economy, many people have a feeling that they far off to be achieved. This provides us with an opinion that the campaign managers and the organization of his administration have not lived to their tasks (Dinan, 2010). It is clear that despite the campaign strategists and budget directors did an overestimate of the intended policy issues. Therefore, this is an indication that the campaign strategy applied was not that effective at all; if it cannot convince the voters of the improvement (Dinan, 2010). During the Obama’s campaign nurtured in 2008 other policy issues were not met to guarantee to his slogan “The change we can believe in”. The external events and administration according to the majority’s judgments have not been met. The point as to whether the policies failed or it was the communication of the policies that failed is debatable to a certain extent. Some may be of the opinion that some of the policies have been met; such as health care for all and withdraw of the US troops in Iraq. It is then clear that the organizers of Obama’s campaign must be reshuffled or advised accordingly of the type of campaign strategy they intend to use and the ability to meet the promised issues. On the other hand, the campaign finances were well organized and mobilized given the fact that during his campaign, Obama managed to raise a total of US $ 747.8 million. This was the highest ever to be achieved by any presidential candidate (David, 2005). This has the implication all campaign agendas were well financed hence the success of the political campaign. The job of Campaign Strategist & Budget Director is more essential in Obama’s campaign in the sense that he plans all the campaign rallies that will be conducted in the entire State. During Obama’s campaign David Axelrod was his campaign senior advisor and campaign manager. As a campaign advisor he implements a strategy that will suit the voters and the presidential candidate. It can be noted that Axelrod allowed people’s participation in the political campaign for Obama which is very essential for any presidential campaign (David, 2005). Therefore such services cannot be done away with at all cost. The presidential candidate gives details of the overall desires he wants to be initiated in his or her campaign and campaign strategist and budget director puts them into practice. In people’s opinion, volunteers are very important in any political campaign and according to Axelrod this has become a legacy of political campaign (David, 2005). The volunteers are mobilized through the internet and websites technology which are instrumental in gaining support for grassroots plans. Obama’s platforms over the web site permitted the supporters to make their own individual pages, to blog and even lobby for financial support at their own convenience. Fundamentally the services of the campaign strategists cannot be underrated in any way given the fact that through the internet Obama was able to build and develop voters under the age of 30 and establish over 475,000 donors in his political campaigns. Most of these donors were internet donors who made a contribution of $ 100 each (David, 2005). However, improvement is required on their part in terms of balancing between the strategies and promises made against the reality on the ground (Dinan, 2010). Lessons That Can Be Learnt In Improving the Local Campaigns Often, local campaigns are normally faced with lack of adequate timing. The candidates must understand that timing is normally critical especially in determining when and when not to take certain statements positions (Webb et al., 2002). The local campaigners must also ensure that the message is comprehensible, plain and effective. At the local level, it must be noted with much emphasis that the campaigns target specific people with particular needs. Therefore, the message must be comprehended by all residents. A successful local campaign must also have strategies that can be put on the ground (Xap Corporation, 2009). The strategies must be strong and easily adaptable. The local candidates must promise ideas they will be able to fulfill; otherwise their credibility will be put at risk. This might more detrimental if the local campaigns can promise things that cannot be achieved considering they are dealing with a smaller population. Confidence is also a factor to go with. The local candidates or campaigns must be confident of their manifesto but not overconfident. Sometimes, being overconfident might destroy the candidates’ perception of the local voters and eventually harm the volunteer turnout. Notably, certain campaign strategies that are done at higher profile level cannot be done at the local level. For instance, using mass media to sale a political manifesto or message; this must noted that it is an expensive affair (Thomas & Webb, 2000). If one intends to campaign locally, other media such as posters, placards and fliers can be used. On the contrary, local campaigns as opposed to national campaigns require less input in terms of media such national radios and television coverage. References Axelrod, David (2005). “A well-Oiled Machine; A system that works; Political Debts contribute to better city services”. Chicago Tribune By, J. M. (2001, Aug 15). The enforcer: Bush budget director jousts with congress, and big fight is likely --- fading surplus spells trouble; Mitch Daniels is annoying some legislators already --- resistance to Rumsfeld, too. Wall Street Journal, pp. A.1-A.1. http://search.proquest.com/docview/398779112?accountid=45049 Dinan, S. (2010, Jul 13). Obama picks Lew as budget director. McClatchy - Tribune Business News, pp. n/a. http://search.proquest.com/docview/608644235?accountid=45049 Katz, Richard S., and Peter Mair (2000), "Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party," Party Politics, Vol. 1, No. 1, 5-28 Kotler, P. and Kotler, N. (1999). Political marketing: generating effective candidates, campaigns, and causes, in Newman, B.I. (Ed.). Handbook of Political Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 3-18. Paquette, Laure (2006). Campaign Strategy, New York: Nova Phillips, J. M., Reynolds, T. J., & Reynolds, K. (2010). Decision-based voter segmentation: An application for campaign message development. European Journal of Marketing, 44(3), 310-330. Poguntke, Thomas, and Paul Webb, (2000), “The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies”. Oxford University Press Webb, Paul, David Farrell, and Ian Holliday (2002), Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, Oxford University Press Xap Corporation (2009). Political Strategist; what they do. Retrieved 25th June, 2012 from < http://www.collegefortn.org/Career_Planning/Career_Profile/Career_Profile.aspx?id=brKDga9mCotJfFOGYghoowXAP3DPAXXAP3DPAX> Read More