1. The Campaign Chapter 14 American Government: Continuity and Change
9th Edition
to accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, Texas, and Essentials Editions
O’Connor and Sabato
Pearson Education, Inc. © 2008

2. The Nature of Modern Political Campaigns
“Campaign” is the military term for an armed struggle to achieve a specific objective.
No two are the same; dynamic
Despite the unique qualities of each race, electoral contests are similar in structure, consisting in some form of nomination campaign and a general election.

3. Nomination Campaign
That part of a political campaign aimed at winning a primary election
Candidates adjust to pressure of the spotlight
Seek the support of party leaders and interest groups, test themes, and slogan
Critical time for gaining and maintaining support within the party and the broader electorate
Candidate must be careful not to move too far to his/her party’s extreme during the nomination campaign. Could be harmful during the general election

4. General Election Campaign
Part of a political campaign aimed at winning the general election
Occurs after candidate has won party’s nomination
Focus on gaining support from groups and voters
Decide on issues to emphasize
Adopt a brief theme to serve as rallying cry
“A Stronger America” – 2004 Kerry/Edwards
“In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right” – 1964 Goldwater
Opposition: “In your guts, you know he’s nuts”
Candidate must also define his or her stance on other topics of interest to voters

5. The Key Players: The Candidate and the Campaign Staff
Most important aspect of the campaign is the quality of the candidate and the attributes of the campaign team
Package and project the message requires expertise in media and public relations
Ability to raise funds
Strong candidate
Experienced campaign staff

6. The Candidate Enter for variety of reasons Must generate support
Meet and greet; one-on-one
Media coverage
Exhausting schedule

7. The Campaign Staff Volunteer Campaign Staff
Voter canvas
GOTV
Candidate’s Professional Staff
Campaign manager
Finance chair
Pollster
Direct Mailer
Communications Director
Press Secretary
Internet Team
Hired Guns
Campaign consultants
Media consultants
Personal Advisors

9. Coverage of the Game: The Media’s Role in Defining the Playing Field
What voters hear and see of the candidate is primarily determined by
Paid media
Free media
The amount, form, and content of paid media are dictated by the campaign.
Free media consists of independent press coverage.

10. Paid Media Positive ad Negative ad
Advertising on behalf of a candidate that stresses the candidate’s qualifications, family, and issue positions, without reference to the opponent
Negative ad
Advertising on behalf of a candidate that attacks the opponent’s platform or character

11. Paid Media Contrast ad Spot ad Inoculation ad
Ad that compares the records and proposals of the candidates, with a bias toward the sponsor
Spot ad
Television advertising on behalf of a candidate that is broadcast in sixty-, thirty-, or ten-second duration
Inoculation ad
Advertising that attempts to counteract an anticipated attack from the opposition before the attack is launched

12. Free Media Coverage of the campaign Newsworthy
View candidates with suspicion
Obsessed with the “horserace”
Expectations and predictions

13. The New Media Technological advances impacted political campaigns
Can gather and disseminate information better than ever
Rapid-response techniques
The formation of prompt and informed responses to changing events on the campaign battlefield
Internet
1996 Bob Dole
Blogs

14. Campaign Strategies to Control Media Coverage
Isolate candidate from the press
Campaign stages media events
Spin
Circumvent press with entertainment-oriented talk shows – a less critical forum
Take great care with debates

15. The Rules of the Game: Campaign Finance
Reform
Tillman Act (1907)
Corrupt Practices, Hatch Act, Taft-Hartley Act
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act 2002
McConnell versus FEC
Concluded that the government’s interest in preventing political-party corruption overrides the free speech rights to which the parties would otherwise be entitled

16. Current Rules
Political money is now regulated by the federal government under terms of BCRA of 2002
Outlaws unlimited and unregulated contributions to parties (soft money) and limits the amounts that individual, interest groups and political parties can give to federal candidates

18. Sources of Political Contributions
Political money regulated by the federal government can come from
Individual Contributions
Political Action Committee Contributions
Political Party Contributions
Member-to-Candidate Contributions
Candidates’ Personal Contributions
Public Funds
Donations from the general tax revenues to the campaigns of qualifying presidential candidates
Matching funds
Availability

21. The Fall of the Soft-Money Loophole and The Rise of the 527 Loophole
The virtually unregulated money funneled by individuals and political committees through state and local parties
Now prohibited under BCRA
Result: Hard money fundraising increased and the emergence of 527s
Hard money: legally specified and limited contributions that are clearly regulated by federal law
527 political committees: nonprofit and unregulated interest groups that focus on specific causes or policy positions and attempt to influence voters

23. The Main Event: The 2004 Presidential Campaign
The 2004 election for president may go down in history as one of the most divisive.
A month before the election only 3% undecided
Heated race between incumbent President, George W. Bush and Massachusetts Senator, John Kerry

24. The Party Nomination Battle
No significant opposition to Bush in the Republican primaries
Democrats had 10 candidates competing for the nomination.
Dynamic campaign resolved in March with John Kerry as the nominee

26. The Democratic Convention
Kerry announced his choice for vice-president 20 days before the start of the convention.
Not since Ronald Reagan in 1980 had a nominee picked a primary rival as a running mate.
Also the earliest vice presidential selection in a modern presidential campaign
Attempt to balance the ticket
Theme of convention: Respected abroad, stronger at home
Solid performance, but Kerry-Edwards did not receive a significant post-convention “bounce”
This was unusual; not since McGovern in 1972 had this happened
Explanation: no room for bounce; already a very close race

27. The Republican Convention
Theme: A Nation of Courage
Surprise of the convention: Zell Miller, a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate, gave a heated speech that was critical of Kerry.
New York abounded with protesters.
Bush-Cheney received a modest 2% bounce in the polls.
Support of 53% of likely voters

28. Debates, Fall Campaign, and the General Election
Tight election made debates very critical
1st debate watched by 62.5 million viewers
Kerry thought to have won first debate and did well in subsequent ones
Impact: leveled the playing field
Much of campaign activity focused in swing states.
Bush stayed on message; painting Kerry as a flip-flopper
Kerry on attack, but then on defensive
Results: Long night and no decision until the morning with Bush carrying the election

29. Election Results Bush began to show a convincing lead in Florida.
Networks remained cautious.
At midnight, made the call for Bush
Ohio remained too close to call.
Later Wednesday morning, Bush campaign declared victory

31. Analyzing the Outcome of the 2004 Election
Turnout had been the highest since 1968 with 59.6% eligible citizens participating.
The major partisan divide is seen as the primary cause for such high numbers.
In many ways, similar to 2000 election
Red states remained red and blue states remained blue.
Most of the action took place in a handful of competitive states.
Was the most expensive presidential race in the nation’s history
Merely a continuation of longstanding modern trends
60 million people left the election disappointed.
But the event unfolded without incident as Americans accepted and took comfort in the results of their nation’s democratic process.