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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 How to Get Elected • Two steps to winning the Presidency OR a seat in Congress 1) Get nominated -Primary (or Primaries) -Intra-party 2) Get elected to office -General Election -Inter-party 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 Strategy • Tone – Positive—build yourself up – Negative—denunciate the opponent • Theme— “Yes We Can;” “I’m With Her;” “Ready for Hillary;” “Make America Great Again” • Timing—unknown candidates campaign early • Target—who is most likely to change their vote? • Coalition Building • Mobilize the Base 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 get most of their information from the electronic mass media in 6second sound bites on the network news and in 30-second spot commercials during campaigns. 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), Al Franken (humorist); Donald Trump (Real Estate Mogul and Reality TV Star). 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, Donald Trump). Campaign Issues Position Issue • 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. Valence Issue • 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” Campaign Ads • We have all seen them, and most of us want to change the channel • But… 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 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 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 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.