How to Run a Political Campaign
Thursday
Jan 28, 2010
This post is designed to be an easy to follow guide to help you get started with a political campaign. It pulls together many of the blog posts on this site that are designed to offer tips for candidates and campaign managers in local campaigns . Since this is a non-partisan site, all the tips should be equally useful to Republicans, Democrats and those with no party preference.
This website provides advice for both campaign managers and candidates. The posts below focus directly on the goal of winning an election. Additional posts addressing how to become a campaign manager are also available on the site.
Should you run for office?
Politics can be an honorable profession for those who run for office for the right reasons. If your motivation is to serve and improve the quality of government, you should definitely consider becoming a candidate. However, political campaigns can be tough on both candidates and their families. Before you run, take a look at these two posts to evaluate your readiness to be a candidate. If you have already decided to run, these posts are still worth a look to help you prepare for the pitfalls you may face during a political campaign.
Making the decision to run part 1 and deciding to run part 2
If you are considering running against an incumbent, there are a few other issues you should consider.
Setting up a political campaign
You will need to decide on a realistic budget for you campaign, but before you do that you will need to fill the very important job of campaign treasurer. You may sign up a treasurer first or you may want to choose someone to run your campaign. First, you need to understand the difference between campaign consultants and campaign managers.
After you have decided whether a campaign manager or consultant will lead your campaign, here are some things you should know about hiring a campaign consultant. Much of the advice on hiring a consultant will also apply to hiring a professional campaign manager.
If you are not an experienced public speaker, you will want to improve your speech making skills before your campaign starts. And, one other step is necessary before you launch your campaign. You must set up an effective campaign website.
Political Campaign Polling
If you have the budget, a political campaign poll done by a professional pollster can be a huge help in targeting your voters. Lots of individuals and companies promote themselves as pollsters. However, unless you get a very competent pollster, the results of your public opinion poll can actually lead to your campaign making decisions that will hurt your chances. Here are a few thoughts on how to select a pollster.
Once you complete your poll, it is vital that you know how to use the information you have gained. Polls do not get you elected. They are tools that can help your campaign if used properly. Using a political campaign poll properly takes knowledge and skill.
If you can’t fit a professional public opinion poll into your campaign budget, there are some other methods you can use to help you gauge public opinion in your district.
Campaign Finance
Every campaign needs some money to get the message out to voters. You have two basic options. Give your own money to your campaign or raise money from other contributors. These two articles cover the pluses and minuses of these two fund raising strategies.
Early steps in your political campaign
Your ballot designation is one of the most important choices you will make on your campaign. The deadlines for making this choice will vary depending on the rules in the location where you are running for office and may come later in your campaign. However, when you are planning your polling and putting together campaign advertising, you will want to be consistent in how you list yourself.
You will want to set up your volunteer effort early in your campaign. It is also worthwhile to buy some campaign signs. Your supporters won’t really feel like it is a real campaign unless there are some signs. The amount of your budget that is spent on campaign signs depends on your individual campaign strategy and budget.
Announcing that you are running for office is sometimes considered the first step in a campaign. However, in a properly run political campaign, the announcement takes place after a great deal of ground work has already been done.
Campaign Advertising
It is extremely important that your campaign advertising be designed to be effective and to give the maximum benefit for every contributor’s dollar you spend. Many campaigns waste their advertising dollars. You want your campaign advertising to win votes. This article gives some tips for successful campaign advertising.