2. Campaigns and Political Information Political Campaign: an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns

3. How to Get Elected Two steps to winning seat of President or Congressman –Get nominated Make your name heard –Win election Fundraise and find the time Campaign with a staff and win majority vote

4. The Campaign Committee Includes: fund-raisers, lawyers, accountants, press secretary, travel scheduler, advertising specialist, direct-mail company, pollsters, advisors, volunteers from each state Volunteers educate candidate about their state Advisors write candidate “position papers” about things they should know about

5. Strategy ToneTone –Positive—build yourself up –Negative—denunciate the opponent ThemeTheme— “Yes We Can!” TimingTiming—unknown candidates campaign early TargetTarget—who is most likely to change their vote? Coalition BuildingCoalition Building Mobilize the BaseMobilize the Base

6. Candidate-centered Campaigns Campaigns circa 1900: Party-centered Nominations: Parties controlled who was nominated. Political Organization: Parties monopolized political organization though a system of precinct and block captains held together with the rewards of patronage. Mass Media: And parties controlled the flow of information to the voter through daily and weekly newspapers with clear party affiliation. Campaigns today: Candidate-centered Nominations: Party insiders have lost their power to control who is nominated –Primary voters and caucus goers now determine a party’s nominee Political Organization: Parties’ monopoly of political organization has been destroyed by the rise of countless special interest groups and mass media. Mass Media: Party control of the media has vanished under a blizzard of competition. –Voters who get most of their information from the electronic mass media in 6-second sound bites on the network news and in 30-second spot commercials during campaigns.

7. Results of Candidate-centered campaigns Favors incumbents who have all the advantages of name recognition and the perks of office. Favors political outsiders who have high name recognition: Ronald Reagan (actor), Arnold Schwarzenegger (body builder turned actor), Jesse Ventura (professional wrestler), George W. Bush (president’s son), Al Franken (humorist). Favors people who are handsome and glib, a candidate who is good with a sound bite and looks good saying it (Barak Obama). Favors people who can raise humongous sums of money. (Hillary Clinton & Barak Obama). And it helps to be fabulously rich yourself (Ross Perot, Steve Forbes, & Mitt Romney). Disfavors George Washington Plunkett, et al.

8. Campaign Issues Rival parties or candidates reach out for the support of the electorate by taking different positions on a single issue or policy. Usually complete opposites. A party may be linked in the public’s mind with a universally approved condition of good times or the universally disapproved condition of bad times. Disaster or success in the election may turn on each contender’s ability to weaken these perceptual bonds or “valences” Position IssueValence Issue

9. Campaign Ads We have all seen them, and most of us want to change the channel But…

10. Campaign Ads Communicate Information Campaign Advertisement: communications supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to either a public office or an office of a political party. Candidates use advertisements to influence voters Voters use advertisements to help them make decisions

11. Effects of Campaign Advertising Political ads affect how one feels about a candidate, can cause a greater interest in the election, and can change voters’ opinions Voters with less political knowledge are more likely to be influenced by political advertising

12. Negative Advertising (“Attack Ads”) Political advertising can often be negative. Research has shown that most voters dislike ads that attack another candidate and that most topics in these ads are unfair. Most voters do not trust political ads BUT: It has been found that those who watch or hear political ads remember more about the negative ads than the positive ads

13. Effects of Negative Advertising A voter is most likely going to believe a negative ad, even if it may be false, if he or she dislikes the targeted candidate. These ads reinforce what the voter thinks about his or her preferred candidate.