1. Ap u.s. government & politics
Monday, October 16, 2017

2. Current events discussion
7 Minutes

3. Political campaigns: strategy and process

4. The Campaign Committee
Composed of:
fund-raisers
lawyers
accountants
press secretary
travel scheduler
advertising specialist
direct-mail company
pollsters
advisors
volunteers

5. Strategic Considerations
Tone
Theme
Timing
Target Voters
Mobilization

6. Selling the Candidate (Candidate-Centered Campaigning)
Campaigns circa 1900: Party-centered
Nominations: Parties controlled who was nominated.
Political Organization: Parties monopolized political organization
Mass Media: And parties controlled the flow of information to the voter
Campaigns today: Candidate-centered
Nominations: 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 special interest groups
Mass Media: Party control of the media has vanished

7. Results of Candidate-centered Campaigning
*Favors incumbents *Favors political outsiders who have high name recognition: *Favors people who are handsome and glib, *Favors people who can raise humongous sums of money. **And it helps to be fabulously rich yourself

8. Types of Campaign Issues
Position Issue:
An policy dispute on which the candidates take different (often opposite) stances
Examples:
Health Care Reform
Gun Control
Military Policy towards North Korea
Valence Issue:
An issue of generalized feelings among voters that can have a strong influence on perceptions of candidates, and or tendencies to vote for or against a candidate
Examples:
Direction of the Country
State of the Economy
Candidate “Likeability”

9. Media Influence on Campaigns
How the media contributes to Candidate-Centered Campaigns:
Coverage of candidates’ backgrounds
“Horserace Journalism”
Image/personality-centered coverage
“Feeding frenzy”
Focus on candidates’ gaffes
How candidates’ use of media contributes:
Image-building
Choreographed public appearances
Negative commercials/advertisements
Use of sound bites

10. Communicating with Voters
Social Media
Campaign Ads
Micro-Targeting
Election Day Check-ins

11. More on 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. Exit Ticket: Practice MCQ
The largest amount of political coverage in newspapers during presidential campaigns is devoted to
a. Day‐to-day campaign activities.
b. The platforms of the major parties.
c. Candidates’ policy stands on domestic issues.
d. Candidates’ stands on foreign policy issues.
e. Candidates’ experience and qualifications.

14. Homework
“Going Dirty” & Reading Questions
Lanahan, p