Win the white house

The Candidate’s Mind Map Activity One

Creating Your Campaign Candidate's Mind Map Running for president involves a lot of different tasks. Complete the mind map with supporting details. Raising Money Creating Your Campaign Running For President Have students brainstorm their ideas on their half sheets. Then, call on individual students to write some of the tasks they thought of on the scroll on the interactive white board. Discuss students’ ideas with the class. If they need help, try the following reframing: Creating Your Campaign: What are some of the first decisions a candidate must make? (party, issues they care about, etc.) Raising Money: Where does the money come from? How do you get it? (individual donors, companies, the party, fundraisers in person/online, etc.) Sharing Your Message: How will voters know about you? (TV/internet/radio ads, personal speeches, endorsements) Getting Good Data: How do you how well you are doing? What the voters care about? (national and regional polls) Getting Good Data Sharing Your Message

Ingredients of a Campaign Activity Two

Money makes campaigns go ‘round Why do candidates need money to run for office? Getting the word out about you and your campaign costs a lot of money. Examples: commercials, flyers, yard signs, office space Campaigns have volunteers that work for free, but they rely on a paid staff too. What are some sources of campaign funding? Individual funders Political Action Campaigns (PACs) and SuperPACs Once a candidate gets the nomination, the political party will assist with fundraising.

Polls, data, and pie charts, oh my! Why do candidates need data? Shows what people believe Determines how they feel about something or someone Predicts how people may vote Helps focus messaging Informs campaign direction Shows impact of efforts Where does data come from? Polls and surveys conducted by a candidate’s campaign Independent polls and surveys (by colleges, newspapers, etc.) Exit polls at voting places Larger data collections like the US Census and historical research

Lights, Camera, Appearance! Political Campaign Ads Can be found on TV, radio, the internet, and in print Helps spread a candidate’s message over a wide area, but can be expensive The message may be positive focusing on the candidate, or be negative attacking the candidate’s opponent. Personal Appearances Allows for face-to-face meetings with voters. May be in a small town hall setting, or in an arena of thousands. Requires a lot of travel, which can be expensive and exhausting. May not always go as planned if the crowd isn’t friendly.

Next… Tell students they will be playing a game called “Win the White House” that will drop them right into the middle of their own presidential campaign! You are nearly a campaign expert! Play Win the White House to put your new skills to the test and run for president!

Candidates do what? When? Activity Three

Candidates do what? When? Drag the tasks to the best phase of a campaign. Fundraise, fundraise, fundraise Pick a political party and jump in Take a stand on the issues Campaign in person across the country Keep an eye on your opponent Win over 270 Electoral Votes Earn your party’s nomination Win delegates at primaries & caucuses Run savvy campaign ads

Mini-Quiz Test Your Knowledge Work through the mini-quiz, asking for whole-group responses from your class. Click to show the answer before advancing each slide.

 1) Which step of the electoral process comes before the others? A. National election B. Primary elections C. National party conventions D. Primary debates 

2) How many Electoral College votes must you win to become president? A. At least 538 votes B. 270 or more votes C. At least 2/3 of votes D. All the votes 

 3) Fundraising is important to a presidential campaign because… A. Campaigns are expensive! B. Votes cost a lot of money C. Commercials are free to candidates.

 4) Which of these is not a benefit of campaign ads? Allow face to face time with voters Help spread the message across a broad audience Can be used across TV, radio, internet, and print

 5) Positive campaign ads… Criticize the candidate’s opponent Focus on the candidate Talk about the issues only, not the candidates 

6) A candidate that might support an issue or two from the other party is called a… Split ticket Maverick Third party candidate 

 7) Which of these is not an source of campaign funding? National Parties Individual Donors Political Action Committees (PACs) or Super PACs Taxpayer Money 

8) When running an effective ad in Win the White House, what must you consider?  Issues that the people of the state supports and opposes Who is leading in the state How much time you have left in the campaign

9) Running a negative ad allows you to show that the candidate you are running against… Agrees with you on the issues Lacks a strong campaign manager Supports issues that the voters of a state oppose 

 10) Which type of data is most likely to be biased? Polls and surveys conducted by a candidate’s campaign Independent polls and surveys (by colleges, newspapers, etc.) Exit polls at voting places

Answers Activity Answer Key Work through the mini-quiz, asking for whole-group responseS from your class. Click to show the answer before advancing each slide.

Candidates do what? When? Drag the tasks to the best phase of a campaign. Campaign in person across the country. Take a stand on the issues. Pick a political party and jump in! Run savvy campaign ads. Fundraise, fundraise, fundraise! Win delegates during primaries & caucuses. Keep an eye on your opponent! Earn your party’s nomination. Win over 270 Electoral Votes