Campaigns

John Reiling asked:


Is a Political Campaign a Project?

I say, a resounding “YES” to the question “Is a political campaign a project?”. Why? Well, a political campaign has a distinctive beginning and end, and in between there is a lot of planning, a great deal of execution, and a great deal of monitoring and controlling. And of course there is a closing – usually with lots of lessons learned. Let us look a bit at these elements and explore if a political campaign is a project.

Project Management Processes in Political Campaigns

We live in an increasingly projectized world, and projects abound all around us. Let’s take a look at how the Project Management Process Groups as per the PMBOK map to a political campaign.

1.Initiating – How many times have you heard candidates say that they are considering running for a particular position? This is part of the initiating process. This involves assessing chances of success, introspection regarding desire to do the campaign and to occupy the office, as well as, effects on personal life and career. Financial and organizational assets are also a major factor in the initiation process for a political campaign.

2.Planning – Once it has been decided to undertake a political campaign, there is a great deal of true project planning. If you use professional project management terminology, a work breakdown schedule is clearly plays a part in managing a political campaign, as there are many tasks to be coordinated. There is a great deal of planning related to where to spend money, where to travel, what to say, and a myriad of other things, to achieve the goal of winning the campaign.

3.Execution – Putting the plan into action is a key to a political campaign. Having the feet on the ground (volunteers and paid), in action, handing out leaflets, putting out posters, organizing others, making phone calls, setting up ads, setting up engagements – all of these are part of the project execution process for a political campaign.

4.Monitoring and Controlling – Just a cursory look at what happens in national campaigns in the United States reveals that the process of monitoring and controlling is not only of critical importance, but has gotten much more sophisticated. One example is the visual graphing of audience reaction – on a word-by-word basis – to what candidates say. Here the candidates get favorable, unfavorable, or in between ratings from listeners on virtually every word or phrase they utter! Campaign rhetoric strategy and approaches is changing constantly to try to adapt to political opinion and developments on the campaign trail.

5.Closing – The ultimate objective of the campaign is to win the election. Win or loose, the campaign will actually end at the conclusion of the election. Eventually, the campaign organization will need to be dissolved and the project will be “in the books”.

Absolutely, Political Campaigns are Projects!

Yes, simply thinking about a political campaign in terms of the PMBOK Project Management Processes makes it clearer than I ever thought before that a political campaign indeed is a project. In fact, I think it is a quintessential project and one that most of us experience simply by living on a day-to-day basis. Indeed, it is plausible to consider that a political campaign is even a series of projects, but that can be a subject for exploration at another time.



Hannah Black

Martin Day asked:


r campaigning for government, a local chapter or for election to the school council online surveys are the easy and effective election tool that will benefit any campaign. Use surveys to discover more about the electorate, to identifying the issues that really concern them so that each campaign can be tailored to reach the hearts and minds of the voters.

Objective

For any survey it is important to decide from the beginning what the objective of the survey is and when considering conducting a survey in support of a particular candidate consider if the purpose of the survey is to discover what the ‘issues’ are; or is the survey to be used to promote the candidates image and policies?

In many cases objectives will be in line with the different phases of an election process.

Pre-Campaign

Before campaigning begins a survey is an ideal method to canvass the voters and to determine what the important issues are likely to be. To gain a wider response across the whole political spectrum the survey will preferably be conducted through an independent channel so that people’s opinion of a particular candidate does not influence the research.

For a political survey it is essential that the demographics of those surveyed are established as different groups are likely to have both common and varied views. With demographic information there is an opportunity to establish what the main issues are by age group, by income and by gender; do people who rent have the same concerns as those that own their own homes?

A pre-campaign survey will be able to monitor the mood of the voters. Some may, if asked, even indicate who they are likely to vote for in a future election. By listening to the electorate a campaign can be planned better and will allow printed and oral marketing to be properly targeted at the issues that people want addressed.

For candidates that appear out of step with the electorate surveys can provide a measure of how much effort will be required, and in what areas, so that people are convinced and change their views.

Campaign survey

During a campaign an online survey is an effective way to market a candidate’s position. Tradition methods of leafleting rely on the recipient reading and taking onboard the message. Leaflets are a one way marketing effort and more often than not dismissed and discarded along with other ‘junk mail’.

Consider on the other hand an online survey that can phrase questions such as:-

Do you support candidate Jones’s pledge to cut the budget deficit in half to $250 billion over four years; and to reintroduce budget rules capping spending?

To answer this question the respondent has to engage mentally with the survey by reading and then considering the statement before forming an opinion. Because the respondent is able to express their view they are also more likely going to consider the argument. An online survey is not only able to deliver an important policy statement but will also allow the campaign team to monitor the level of support that the candidate has on specific issues.

With the new breed of online survey web sites generators such as http://www.surveygalaxy.com/ multiple online surveys can be created and published in minutes making it feasible to target specific groups on specific issues. There is no longer a need to devise a ‘one size fits all’ survey. Surveys that promote policies that are aimed at retired voters can be sent to retired voters, while younger people can be sent surveys that promote the candidates policy on issues that are only important to them.

Using the pre-campaign survey data the ‘undecided voter’ can be targeted and engaged, with perhaps the opposition’s policy being used to highlight the benefit of voting for a candidate.

Do you support the opposition’s plans that will reduce the tax burden for high earners and result in middle income families paying more tax?

A well written campaign survey will promote the candidate, measure opinion and monitor how effective the campaign is. Online surveys allow this to be done with considerable ease, they are extremely cost effectively and allow the results to be analysed on the fly.

Comparison

Compare the benefits of online surveys over other forms of campaigning such as door to door and telephone canvassing, leafleting, advertising and personal appearances.

If not already, the Internet is fast becoming the primary method of communication for both business and personal use and provides direct access to a broad cross section of any voting population.

Through the use of email, websites and search engine advertising online surveys are able to target a large proportion of a population at a fraction of the price compared to traditional marketing methods. With the online surveys ability to provide market research, marketing and education there is no other single form of marketing that is as cost effective and versatile.

With the speed of deployment being measured in hours and minutes, not weeks and day, online surveys are able to deliver a flexible and dynamic campaign message keeping pace with the political mood that can change on the basis of a single comment or headline.

With each survey’s demographic data a campaign is able to accurately and instantly measure the scale of success in terms of the number of ‘messages’ delivered, the target group and, based on the results, the effectiveness of the online survey marketing campaign.

Keyla Pope

Paz asked:


I’ve always wondered what happens to campaign contributions once a candidate drops out of a political race, particularly the presidential races, where quite literally hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised across all campaigns. Do the candidates just keep it? do they return it to candidates? is it handed over to their respective national parties?

Nathanial Finch

ThomasJefferson2007 asked:


I am currently working on a political campaign. In the past, we were able to pay our election day workers to go door-to-door for our Get-Out-The-Vote effort. That is not the case this year.

Normally we were able to recruit High School and/or College Students to help us out. But since we’re not paying this year, I doubt we’ll be able to entice them to work for us.

What are some suggestions as to how/where we can recruit able bodies to walk for 4 hours going door-to-door for the campaign?

Marianna Wells

Borrachita asked:


Am I the only one tired of “questions” that are just a way of making a one-sided statement and then adding a question mark at the end?

So here is a question that is not for or against any particular candidate.

In terms for management – handling of budgets, the press and organizing and managing people – what does it say about a candidate? If someone runs a great campaign does it automatically mean they will be a good public servant? If a campaign is poorly run, is it a sign of things to come if that person is elected?

Marissa Crawford

mm@oakland asked:


Mitt Romney announced that he would “suspend” his presidential campaign. Does this mean he could be back campaigning in the near future or is it just a euphemism for dropping out of the race?

Kendra Hammond

jane asked:


I am implementing a smoking awareness campaign on my campus, so that teens and adults between the ages of 16 to about 35, but I’m mostly concerned with getting the attention of the young adults. Any name suggestions?

Yvette Patrick

Mike J asked:


So much has been made recently about 800,000 the Obama campaign has given to ACORN. How much has the campaign donated to other organizations in total? Also the McCain campaign?

Dakota Cortez

Greg Allison asked:


campaigns can be tense and stressful. There is so much to do and often not enough time to do it. If you are a candidate or campaign manager, you should not be without a button maker machine. These machines will help you with some of the most critical areas of your campaign – getting the word out, addressing issues, and rallying support. Not only will buttons help acknowledge the issues and rally support, they will do it inexpensively and that is a word that any campaign manager likes to hear.

Mass mailings and phone campaigns take time and money. Postal rates continue to go up as well as the cost of paper, printing, and labels. You need paid staff or volunteers to organize the mailing list and put the mailers together for shipping. A great percentage of these mailers will never be read or even opened. The recipient who has other more important things on his or her mind will classify these mailers as “junk mail” and toss it in the trash. However, if you and your staff are wearing buttons, you are inviting the viewer to ask you questions. This gives you one on one face time with the public to answer directly and discuss the issues important to you candidate and party.

Your volunteers are some of the most important people you will deal with in a political campaign. They give their time and efforts in order to see their candidate win the election. Buttons for your volunteers are great for inexpensive nametags. Making buttons for your volunteers with the candidate’s name, party affiliation and the date of the election will help them be identified in public. This is especially helpful if your volunteers are doing door to door campaigning or are out at a public event. Buttons are a great conversation starter and will give your volunteers an opportunity to tell people about your candidate and the issues he or she cares about.

Rallies are another great opportunity to pass out buttons. Political rallies are high excitement and these buttons with your candidate’s name and what he or she is running for can be sold at rallies and fundraising events. Speeches and debates are other events that these buttons can be worn or sold at. These buttons will help accelerate the campaign and give your candidate name recognition.

Educating the voters on the issues is a major part of any election or race. Making buttons that read “Vote No on Amendment Two” will let people know just where you stand. Getting the word out about how your candidate or party wishes to vote is important. Buttons with the date of the election and an encouragement to get out and vote is equally important. A button that reads “Vote on November 2nd” will remind everyone who sees it to vote and this will enhance the odds of your candidate’s success.

Fundraising events are a part of every campaign. Contributors to your campaign can receive buttons that say “I support John Doe”. The campaign slogan should be made into a button and either sold to raise money or given away at party meetings and fundraisers. These also make a great keepsake for the candidate and the voters.

If there are particular activist groups that support your candidate, then make buttons with their organization name stating that the organization supports your candidate. This goes along way in showing that your candidate cares about that group and its agenda. For example, a button that says “John Doe Supports Local Commerce” given out to the local businesses will encourage others with that same feeling to vote for your candidate. You can never thank your supporters enough, and having custom buttons with their group name and the election year on it will be a keepsake at the close of the election.

Urging people to vote is critical in this day and age. Elections have become closer and every vote counts. Making “I Voted” buttons to give away after voting has taken place can encourage other people to step up and be heard as well. Make sure that you have some buttons made up with the date the voting takes place and encourage your staff and volunteers to wear them. If no one votes then no one gets elected and no issues are resolved. Buttons are a great way to remind people to perform this great civic duty.

You have probably already seen buttons in the political arena. Some of the major reasons those political parties and campaigners use buttons is that they are handy to pass out, inexpensive to make, and people will wear them. Buttons get your message out, identify your support staff, and encourage the public. Be it for the presidency or the local town mayor, every candidate and political movement should have a button-making machine.

Melvin Tyson

PeguinBackPacker asked:


Instead of focusing on what the candidates say or past performance, I want to base my vote on who gave what and how much to the presidents. Say if a candidate accepted money from a foreign goverment for fund raising, then I would not want to vote for such a person. If the candidate says they are for environment, and it turns out the biggest campaign donor was an oil company, I will not vote for that candidate. Things like that. So question is how do I find out and figure out the integrity of said donors?

Guy Harris