Political Campaign Strategy

This is an advanced guide to running political campaigns. It provides invaluable, practical advice from the leading pros in the industry.

"Professor Bruce I. Newman correctly points out that in this information age, a candidate and his staff can test a new issue or idea very quickly, and if it looks salable, arrange to have the candidate get it before the correct bloc of voters in a very short period of time. . . . Newman is also correct in noting that the political party, as an institution, is no longer as dominant in elections. . . . Political junkies will love this material." --Conservative Review The Marketing of the President documents how political candidates are marketed by the same sophisticated techniques that experts use to sell legal and medical services. Bruce I. Newman addresses issues of serious concern to the health of the political process as he examines the roles of polling, direct mail, 900 numbers, and television in advertising. Using the 1992 presidential election as a case study, this extraordinary volume reveals how the American political process has been transformed--for better or worse--by the use of marketing techniques.

Articles provide advice for candidates, campaign managers, and party workers on running a political campaign, including strategies, research, finances, advertising, and related topics.

This book is at once both a commentary on recent political history and a guide to effective political practice. A must read for politics watchers, activists, and students of politics.

Strategy is a simple and powerful method of analysis, it works in the abstract and it is new to most readers. Designed for the overburdened political operative, constituent steps of strategy are easy to understand, analyse or design once divested of their theoretical apparatus. Strategy's powers for coping with uncertainty and the unexpected are easily harnessed for the achievement of political success, and it is by this ease of application that the design of the present book may be judged. It is possible, for example, for the harried reader to go directly to the chapters on developing a campaign strategy or designing a response to a political tactic. The goal of the present book is to propose that strategy can be a suitable foundation for the analysis and development of any electoral candidate's campaign, the significance of events in the course of that campaign, and the prescription of a course of action, strategic or tactical, for winning elections. By taking into account strategic interventions as well as strategic interactions, it is possible to run a successful campaign for parties or individual candidates. Strategy provides a useful forecasting tool for relations between all the actors who may be involved (individuals, groups, political parties, factions within those parties, governments at various levels, pressure groups and even election officials), which are fraught or otherwise difficult. This book is the most recent instalment in a series of books and articles introducing a new general theory of strategy and its applications to an audience primarily composed of non-strategists. The present series of books also fit into a broader oeuvre, integrated along three axes. The first axis focuses on the methodological and theoretical development of this new theory of strategy. The second axis presents several structured sets of case studies focusing on the various types of actors in political systems, broadly defined. The third axis presents a series of exercises and worksheets which pertain either to particular applications of strategy or which spans the intellectual development of a good strategist. This book covers both the first and third axes, explaining the use of strategy in election campaigns.

"Providing practical insights and vote-winning tips, this book is an invaluable resource for candidates - newcomer, challenger and experienced incumbent alike - pursuing a political career at any level." "As campaigns have become more expensive, sophisticated, and competitive, today's candidates need a clear understanding of the challenges they will face - as well as the tools and techniques available to them." "Put together in one place for the first time, Running for Office covers the essentials of assembling a winning campaign, from big-picture items to the smallest details."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

It may seem like some candidates win elections simply because of their passion for an issue or their innate ability to connect with voters. In reality, successful political campaigns require a winning strategy. This compelling book gives readers an introduction to how political candidates develop campaign strategies, create a central message, develop a winning campaign team, connect with voters, and ultimately win elections. Profiles of young activists who have successfully organized people in their communities to advance a political cause provide inspiration for readers to get involved in the political process themselves.