Political campaign

: Truck Rally The message of the campaign contains the ideas that the candidate wants to share with the voters. It is to get those who agree with their ideas to support them when running for a political position. The message often consists of several talking points about policy issues. The points summarize the main ideas of the campaign and are repeated frequently in order to create a lasting impression with the voters. In many elections, the opposition party will try to get the candidate "off message" by bringing up policy or personal questions that are not related to the talking points. Most campaigns prefer to keep the message broad in order to attract the most potential voters. A message that is too narrow can alienate voters or slow the candidate down with explaining details. For example, in the 2008 American presidential election John McCain originally used a message that focused on his patriotism and political experience: "Country First"; later the message was changed to shift attention to his role as "The Original Maverick" within the political establishment. Barack Obama ran on a consistent, simple message of "change" throughout his campaign. According to a 2024 study, political practitioners in the United States poorly predict what kind of messaging is persuasive to the public. The study found that practitioners performed barely better than chance at predicting persuasive effects; practitioners performed about as well as laypeople in predicting persuasive effects; and that practitioners' experience, expertise, information environment, and demographics did affect their accuracy. ==Campaign finance==

Fundraising techniques include having the candidate call or meet with large donors, sending direct mail pleas to small donors, and courting interest groups who could end up spending millions on the race if it is significant to their interests. Funds can also funnel through something called a Political Action Committees (PACs) which the Supreme Court allowed in Citizens United v. FEC (2010). ==Organization==

In a modern political campaign, the campaign organization (or "machine") will have a coherent structure of personnel in the same manner as any business of similar size. The difference is it is a group paid employees and unpaid volunteers. Campaigns are run by campaign managers, political consultants, and activist or volunteers. Campaign manager A campaign manager's primary duty is to ensure marketing campaigns achieve their objectives. They work with the marketing manager to create, execute and monitor the performance of campaigns and provide all the resources required to meet sales targets. Campaign managers lead the way in fundraising, advertising, polling, and getting out to vote. They are the face of the campaign behind the candidate. Political consultants Political consultants advise campaigns on virtually all of their activities, from research to field strategy. Consultants conduct candidate research, voter research, and opposition research for their clients. Their primary focus is mass media and controlling the image. Activists In the context of political campaigns, activists are "foot soldiers" loyal to a campaign's cause. As supporters, they promote the campaign as volunteer activists. Such volunteers and interns may take part in activities such as canvassing door-to-door and making phone calls on behalf of the campaigns. == The Campaign within the Electoral Cycle ==

Political campaigning is not a standalone event but a critical phase integrated into a complex, multi-step electoral cycle. The strategic landscape of any campaign is dictated by administrative categories that precede the actual trail, such as the definition of Electoral Boundaries and the legal framework for Political Party Registration. These factors, along with the accuracy of Voter Lists, determine the scope of voter targeting and resource allocation long before the first advertisement is aired. The campaign's trajectory is further shaped by logistical elements, including Ballot Qualification and Election Security, which ensure a stable environment for candidate messaging. This process does not conclude on election day; it often transitions into the resolution of Electoral Complaints and Disputes, where the conduct of the campaign itself is adjudicated. By operating within this broader data-driven and administrative framework, a campaign functions as a vital mechanism within the overarching machinery of the election process. Standards of Electoral Integrity The legitimacy of a political campaign is anchored in the foundational principles of electoral integrity, transcending mere tactical success. A credible campaign environment is defined by inclusiveness, where systemic barriers are removed to ensure marginalized groups can participate without unreasonable restriction. This inclusivity is reinforced by transparency, requiring that every phase of the electoral cycle—from campaign financing to decision-making—remains open to independent scrutiny and the public’s right to information. The process relies on accountability, establishing a legal framework where candidates and administrative bodies are held responsible for their conduct through effective remedies and the rule of law. Ultimately, these elements foster genuine competitiveness, ensuring that political parties have equitable access to the ballot and that the electorate can engage in the marketplace of ideas free from intimidation or illegal influence. When these standards are met, the campaign functions not just as a race for office, but as a vital mechanism that truly reflects the collective will of the people. ==Techniques==

A campaign team (which may be as small as one inspired individual, or a heavily resourced group of professionals) must consider how to communicate the message of the campaign, recruit volunteers, and raise money. Campaign advertising draws on techniques from commercial advertising and propaganda, also entertainment and public relations, a mixture dubbed politainment. The avenues available to political campaigns when distributing their messages is limited by the law, available resources, and the imagination of the campaigns' participants. These techniques are often combined into a formal strategy known as the campaign plan. The plan takes account of a campaign's goal, message, target audience, and resources available. The campaign will typically seek to identify supporters at the same time as getting its message across. The modern, open campaign method was pioneered by Aaron Burr during the American presidential election of 1800. Another modern campaign method by political scientist Joel Bradshaw points out four key propositions for developing a successful campaign strategy. "First, in any election the electorate can be divided into three groups: the candidate's base, the opponent's base, and the undecided. Second, past election results, data from registered voter lists, and survey research make it possible to determine which people fall into each of these three groups. Third, it is neither possible nor necessary to get the support of all people. Fourth, and last, once a campaign has identified how to win, it can act to create the circumstances to bring about this victory. In order to succeed, campaigns should direct campaign resources – money, time, and message – to key groups of potential voters and nowhere else." Campaign communication Election campaign communication refers to party-controlled communication, e.g. campaign advertising, and party-uncontrolled communication, e.g. media coverage of elections. It is the strategy used to sway public opinion and gather support for a candidate. Campaign advertising Campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc.) to influence the decisions made for and by groups. The ads are designed by political consultants and the campaign's staff as it is part of their role. The use of campaign advertising varies around the world. In the United States its a free market but in some countries like Ireland its forbidden to advertise campaigns. Media management Media management refers to the ability of a political campaign to control the message that it broadcasts to the public. The forms of media used in political campaigns can be classified into two distinct categories: "paid media" or "earned media". There are times where some campaigns get little attention, but the ones that do get highlighted for the effectiveness and dramatic events. In the book Campaigns and Elections by author John Sides, it says, "For those that do get attention, media coverage often emphasizes what is new, dramatic, or scandalous. Unlike the candidates themselves, the news media or at least those outlets that strive for objectivity are not seeking to manipulate citizens into voting for their particular candidates." (Sides 2018). Paid media refers to any media attention that is directly generated from spending. This form of media is commonly found through political advertisements and organized events. An advantage of paid media is that it allows political campaigns to tailor the messages they show the public and control when the public sees them. Campaigns often prioritize spending in contested regions and increase their paid media expenses as an election approaches. Electoral campaigns often conclude with a "closing argument ad", an advertisement that summarizes the campaign's core themes and explains the candidate's vision for the future. In the 2020 US presidential election, Joe Biden's "Rising" ad starts with him saying "we're in a battle for the soul of this nation" and a worker in Donald Trump's Pennsylvania ad stated "that will be the end of my job and thousands of others" if Trump lost. Earned media describes free media coverage, often from news stories or social media posts. Unlike paid media, earned media does not incur an expense to the campaign. Earned media does not imply that the political campaign is mentioned in a positive manner. Political campaigns may often receive earned media from gaffes or scandals. In the 2016 United States Presidential Election, a majority of the media coverage surrounding Hillary Clinton was focused on her scandals, with the most prevalent topics being topics related to her emails. Experts say that effective media management is an essential component of a successful political campaign. Studies show that candidates with higher media attention tend to have greater success in elections. Each form of media can influence the other. Paid media may raise the newsworthiness of an event which could lead to an increase in earned media. Campaigns may also spend money to emphasize stories circulating through media networks. Research suggests that neither form of media is inherently superior. A 2009 study found that media coverage was not significantly more effective than paid advertisements. Demonstrations , featuring Betty Ford campaigning for her husband, U.S. President Gerald Ford, during the 1976 presidential campaign Modern technology and the internet The internet is now a core element of modern political campaigns. Communication technologies such as e-mail, websites, and podcasts for various forms of activism enable faster communications by citizen movements and deliver a message to a large audience. These Internet technologies are used for cause-related fundraising, lobbying, volunteering, community building, and organizing. Individual political candidates are also using the internet to promote their election campaign. In a study of Norwegian election campaigns, politicians reported they used social media for marketing and for dialogue with voters. Facebook was the primary platform for marketing and Twitter was used for more continuous dialogue. Signifying the importance of internet political campaigning, Barack Obama's presidential campaign relied heavily on social media, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and new media channels to engage voters, recruit campaign volunteers, and raise campaign funds. The campaign brought the spotlight on the importance of using internet in new-age political campaigning by utilizing various forms of social media and new media (including Facebook, YouTube and a custom generated social engine) to reach new target populations. The campaign's social website, my.BarackObama.com, utilized a low cost and efficient method of mobilizing voters and increasing participation among various voter populations. This new media was incredibly successful at reaching the younger population while helping all populations organize and promote action. In the book Campaigns and Elections author John sides also speaks upon this on page 235 and says, "Online communities can still promote involvement in campaigns: large experiments on Facebook found that users who saw that their Facebook friends had reported voting were themselves a bit more likely to turn out to vote. But there is also evidence that offering token public support for a cause on Facebook or Twitter may make one less likely to be involved in offline campaign activities" (Sides 2018). Now, online election campaign information can be shared in a rich information format through campaign landing pages, integrating Google's rich snippets, structured data, social media open graphs, and husting support file formats for YouTube like .sbv, , and . High proficiency and effective algorithmic integration will be the core factor in the framework. This technology integration helps campaign information reach a wide audience in split-seconds. This was successfully tested and implemented in the 2015 Aruvikkara election and the 2020 Kerala elections. Marcus Giavanni, social media consultant, blockchain developer and second place opponent in the 2015 Denver mayoral election, was first to file for the 2019 election. Marcus Giavanni used advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence, and voice indexing predictions to box in campaigns. Husting A husting, or the hustings, was originally a physical platform from which representatives presented their views or cast votes before a parliamentary or other election body. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event, such as debates or speeches, during an election campaign where one or more of the representative candidates are present. In modern terms it means the campaign trail in Canada and Britain. Other techniques leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe greet babies - a traditional campaign activity - at the Fête nationale du Québec in Montreal • Writing directly to members of the public (either via a professional marketing firm or, particularly on a small scale, by volunteers) • By distributing leaflets or selling newspapers • Election posters • Phone Banking • Through websites, online communities, and solicited or unsolicited bulk email • Through a new technique known as microtargeting that helps identify and target small demographic slices of voters • Through a whistlestop tour - a series of brief appearances in several small towns • Hampering the ability of political competitors to campaign, by such techniques as counter-rallies, picketing of rival parties' meetings, or overwhelming rival candidates' offices with mischievous phone calls (most political parties in representative democracies publicly distance themselves from such disruptive and morale-affecting tactics, with the exception of those parties self-identifying as activist) • Using endorsements of other celebrated party members to boost support (see coattail effect) • Using a campaign surrogate - a celebrity or person of influence, campaigning on a candidate's behalf • Remaining close to or at home to make speeches to supporters who come to visit as part of a front porch campaign • Vote-by-mail, previously known as "absentee ballots", have grown significantly in importance as an election tool. Campaigns in most states must have a strategy in place to impact early voting. • Sale of official campaign merchandise (colloquially known as swag, in reference to the baiting technique) as a way of commuting a competitor's popularity into campaign donations, volunteer recruitment, and free advertising ==Campaign types==

Informational campaign -led political campaign brochure for the Mayor of London An informational campaign is a political campaign designed to raise public awareness and support for the positions of a candidate (or her/his party). It is more intense than a paper campaign, which consists of little more than filing the necessary papers to get on the ballot, but is less intense than a competitive campaign, which aims to actually win election to the office. An informational campaign typically focuses on low-cost outreach such as news releases, getting interviewed in the paper, making a brochure for door to door distribution, organizing poll workers, etc. Paper campaign A paper campaign is a political campaign in which the candidate only files the necessary paperwork to appear on the ballot. The purpose of such a token effort may be simply to increase name awareness of a minor political party, to give voters of a certain ideology an opportunity to vote accordingly, or to ensure that the party has candidates in every constituency. It can be a cost-effective means of attracting media coverage. An informational campaign, by contrast, may involve news releases, newspaper interviews, door-to-door campaigning, and organizing polls. As the level of seriousness rises, the marginal cost of reaching more people rises accordingly, due to the high cost of TV commercials, paid staff, etc. which are used by competitive campaigns. Paper candidates do not expect to be elected and usually run simply as a way of helping the more general campaign. However, an unexpected surge in support for the party may result in many paper candidates being unexpectedly elected, as for example happened to the New Democratic Party in Quebec during the 2011 federal election. == Effects ==

A 2018 study in the American Political Science Review found that campaigns have "an average effect of zero in general elections". The study found two instances where campaigning was effective: "First, when candidates take unusually unpopular positions and campaigns invest unusually heavily in identifying persuadable voters. Second, when campaigns contact voters long before election day and measure effects immediately — although this early persuasion decays." Another study suggests that at the 2017 Austrian legislative election, 31% of voters admitted to either developing of changing their party preferences during the election campaign. The study provides data that shows how the main parties within Austria had differing levels of voters flipping toward them, thus proving that an election campaign has some level of effectiveness that differs between parties, depending on factors such as media presence. Spending In presidential campaigns in the United States, research indicates that a $10 million advantage in spending in an individual states leads to approximately 27,000 more votes for the campaign in the state, which can be sufficient to win a close race. In down-ballot races, spending matters more. Scholars have estimated that a $2 million advantage can net a Senate campaign 10,000 votes. However, campaigns may be necessary to enlighten otherwise uninformed voters about the fundamentals, which thus become increasingly predictive of preferences as the campaign progresses. Research suggests that "the 2012 presidential campaigns increased turnout in highly targeted states by 7–8 percentage points, on average, indicating that modern campaigns can significantly alter the size and composition of the voting population". National conventions A consensus in the political science literature holds that national conventions usually have a measurable effect on presidential elections that is relatively resistant to decay. Rather than encourage viewers to update their political views in accordance with the most persuasive arguments, viewers instead update their views to merely reflect what their favored candidate is saying. Presidential primaries The fundamentals matter less in the outcome of presidential primaries. One prominent theory holds that the outcome of presidential primaries is largely determined by the preferences of party elites. Presidential primaries are therefore less predictive, as various types of events may impact elites' perception of the viability of candidates. Gaffes, debates and media narratives play a greater role in primaries than in presidential elections. Strategies in 2022 Traditional ground campaigning and voter contacts remain the most effective strategies. Some research suggests that knocking on doors can increase turnout by as much as 10% and phone calls by as much as 4%. One study suggests that lawn signs increase vote share by 1.7 percentage points. A review of more than 200 get-out-the-vote experiments finds that the most effective tactics are personal: Door-to-door canvassing increases turnout by an average of about 2.5 percentage points; volunteer phone calls raise it by about 1.9 points, compared to 1.0 points for calls from commercial phone banks; automated phone messages are ineffective. Using out-of-state volunteers for canvassing is less effective in increasing turnout than using local and trained volunteers. There are many different types of strategies that are also used during these campaigns that target certain people and try to win them over. people are also paid to help get candidates to vote for a certain side. In the book Campaigns and Elections, author John Sides says, "Campaigns involve a variety of actors. More visible are the candidates themselves. Their strategic choices involve every facet of a campaign: whether to run in the first place, what issues to emphasize, what specific messages or themes to discuss, which kinds of media to use, and which citizens to target." According to political scientists Donald Green and Alan Gerber, it costs $31 to produce a vote going door to door, $91-$137 to produce a vote by sending out direct mailers, $47 per vote from leafletting, $58-$125 per vote from commercial phone banking, and $20-$35 per vote from voluntary phone banking. A 2018 study in the American Economic Review found that door-to-door canvassing on behalf of the Francois Hollande campaign in the 2012 French presidential election "did not affect turnout, but increased Hollande's vote share in the first round and accounted for one fourth of his victory margin in the second. Visits' impact persisted in later elections, suggesting a lasting persuasion effect." According to a 2018 study, repeated get-out-the-vote phone calls had diminishing effects but each additional phone call increased the probability to vote by 0.6-1.0 percentage points. Another 2018 study found that "party leaflets boost turnout by 4.3 percentage points while canvassing has a small additional effect (0.6 percentage points)" in a United Kingdom election. A 2016 study found that visits by a candidate to states have modest effects: "visits are most effective in influencing press coverage at the national level and within battleground states. Visits' effects on voters themselves, however, are much more modest than consultants often claim, and visits appear to have no effects outside the market that hosts a visit." The authors of the study argue that it would be more effective for campaigns to go to the pockets of the country where wealthy donors are (for fundraising) and hold rallies in the populous states both to attract national press and raise funds. On the other hand, a 2017 paper of the 1948 presidential election provides "strong evidence that candidate visits can influence electoral returns". Other research also provides evidence that campaign visits increase vote share. Campaigns may also rely on strategically placed field offices to acquire votes. The Obama 2008 campaign's extensive use of field offices has been credited as crucial to winning in the states of Indiana and North Carolina. Each field office that the Obama campaign opened in 2012 gave him approximately a 0.3% greater vote share. According to one study, the cost per vote by having a field office is $49.40. According to a 2020 study, campaign spending on messaging to voters affects voter support for candidates. Another 2020 study found that political advertising had small effects regardless of context, message, sender, and receiver. A 2022 study found that voters are persuadable to switch support for candidates when they are exposed to new information. Political science research generally finds negative advertisement (which has increased over time) to be ineffective both at reducing the support and turnout for the opponent. A 2021 study in the American Political Science Review found that television campaign ads do affect election outcomes, in particular in down-ballot races. A 2019 study of online political advertising conducted by a party in the 2016 Berlin state election campaign found that the online-ad campaign "increased the party's vote share by 0.7 percentage points" and that factual ads were more effective than emotional ads. ==History==

'' by John Everett Millais in 1879, during the Midlothian campaign Political campaigns have existed as long as there have been informed citizens to campaign amongst. Democratic societies have regular election campaigns, but political campaigning can occur on particular issues even in non-democracies so long as freedom of expression is allowed. Often mass campaigns are started by the less privileged or anti-establishment viewpoints (as against more powerful interests whose first resort is lobbying). The phenomenon of political campaigns are tightly tied to lobby groups and political parties. The first modern campaign is often described as William Ewart Gladstone's Midlothian campaign in 1878–80, although there may be earlier recognizably modern examples from the 19th century. The 1896 William McKinley presidential campaign laid the groundwork for modern campaigns. History of election campaigns in America In the 19th Century, American presidential candidates seldom traveled or made speeches in support of their candidacies. Through 1904, only eight major presidential candidates did so (William Henry Harrison in 1840, Winfield Scott in 1852, Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, Horatio Seymour in 1868, Horace Greeley in 1872, James A. Garfield in 1880, James G. Blaine in 1884, William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900, and Alton B. Parker in 1904), whereas every major presidential candidate since then has done so, with the sole exception of Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In 1896, William McKinley recruited the help of Marcus A. Hanna. Hanna devised a plan to have voters come to McKinley. McKinley won the race with 51% of the votes. The development of new technologies has completely changed the way political campaigns are run. In the late 20th Century, campaigns shifted into television and radio broadcasts. The early 2000s brought interactive websites. By 2008 the world of campaigns was available to millions of people through the internet and social media programs. 2008 marked a new era of digital elections because of the fast-paced movement of information. ==See also==