Campaigning for Public Office - Research Proposal Example

Campaigning For Public Office Millions of dollars are spent by campaigns, so that they may be more competitive than their opponent when it comes to reaching the grand prize. Voters of every ethnicity, political persuasion, gender, etc., are courted by candidates in the hopes that their efforts will pay off in the end. From a standpoint of a close race, no race thus far during the 21st century would come anywhere near the 2000 Presidential election between incumbent Vice President Al Gore and then Texas Governor George W. Bush. In instances such as these, a key voting group to gather into the fold would be the undecided voters. In other words, those voters who have claimed, either truthfully or not, that they have yet to place their allegiance to a specific candidate or political party. Such closeness that highlights the need for considerable effort being put into the format of public campaigns, so that each candidate at the end of the race will be able to say that they worked as hard as they could for every single vote, including those that were at anytime considered to be undecided. In the quest for public office, the candidate with the strongest campaign is faced with the real possibility of winning at the end of the day. To win, it becomes imperative to have the necessary money/people involved with the campaign, garner as much of the undecided vote as possible and to understand the relevant domestic/international issues of the present election cycle. To form a campaign, “New candidates for public office often lack the organizational support base that incumbents often have already at their disposal. This means they have to build a grassroots activist base from scratch. Smart campaigns focus on the integration of direct contact tools – phones, Internet, mail, door-to-door – to create a support network of activist volunteers. Such an organizational program has as its goal the building of a large, functioning grassroots organization for your campaign – be it for a candidate or an issue. Despite the help your campaign may receive from party committees, elected officials and a variety of political committees and interest groups, smart campaigns also build organizations of their own, grassroots structures that are primarily loyal to your candidate or cause. Building such an organization takes time, money and attention. And to do it most efficiently and effectively, it requires extensive use of careful polling, targeting, Internet transactions, telephone calling, direct mail and informal person-to-person contact,” (Faucheux, p.1). Without a commitment to the cause and dedication to seeing the candidate win their race, the strength of the campaign itself can be put into considerable question. With the amount of money available to candidates as of late, candidates are left with grasping those votes available that fall under the category of yet to be decided. To the general public, it can be hard to understand how anyone could be undecided in the era of mass media playing hours upon hours of videotape showing each individual candidate and outlining their respective views of any given subject. In regards to this voting group, “Undecided voters fall, by definition, into the larger category of swing voters - meaning that they could end up voting for either party. We do know a few things about swing voters generally. Jeffrey Jones of the Gallup Organization, for instance, reported after the 2004 election that they tend to be less educated, more rural, and somewhat older than most voters. Swing voters can be measured in various ways, but there are no solid numbers on undecided voters - in part because the numbers change with every election and, within every election, with every successive month and event and even poll. Right now, if you look at the three main tracking polls - Gallup, Hotline, and Rasmussen - they show that between 5 percent and 12 percent of the electorate is undecided,” (Klein, 10/16/08). With the varied rate at which voters fall under decided, as compared to being previously undecided, the importance of placing as many of these voters into the campaign fold, becomes even more essential. The voters after all, are the people that aid a campaign towards a successful conclusion and the more undecided voters there are, the more work needs to be done to win these individuals over. In a current unstable economic environment, as well as fighting two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively, the 2008 Presidential election would be dominated by economic woes and fears of greater levels of American casualties, along with other concerns. A sampling of such concerns would be as follows; Health Care Reform: This popular topic appeared to be a significant voting issue with the people that took the survey. Eighty-two percent of the people that took the survey stated that they would be taking a candidates stance on health care reform into consideration when voting in the 2008 Presidential Election. Seven percent said that they would not, and eleven percent were undecided. Tax Breaks: The closest margin in the survey came under the question of taking a candidates proposed tax breaks into consideration when voting. Forty-seven percent stated that this was a voting issue that they would be taking into account when voting in the Presidential Election. Forty-eight percent stated that this would not be a voting issue for them, while five percent were undecided at this time. The War on Terror: Seventy-four percent of the people surveyed will be taking into account a candidates stance on the War on Terror. Twenty-two percent believe that it is not important to their vote. Four percent were not sure yet at this point. Foreign Policy: Foreign policy was considered to be an important voting issue to ninety-two percent of the people that took this survey. Six percent did not see it as an issue that would affect their vote in the 2008 Presidential Election. Two percent had not made a decision yet about this voting issue. War in Iraq: A staggering ninety-seven percent of the people that took this survey stated that the War in Iraq was going to post a major influence on their vote in 2008. Three percent did not believe that this was an important voting issue for them. Surprisingly, no one was undecided on this issue. (“Most Important Voting”, pgs.1-3) The most important issues of the 2008 election campaign would be the war on terror and the fall of the American economy into recession. Both equally making voters uncertain how each will end. A level of uncertainty as to how many lives will be lost by those serving in the military overseas and a lack of clarity as to how the American economy will rebound, if not when it will do so, from the current lackluster state that it is presently in and has been so for awhile. For voters that made their decisions in 2008, these two issues in particular would weight heavily upon the minds of the electorate whose vote is essential for those seeking high public office. The campaigns during 2008, whether congressional or Presidential, were faced with these issues, when they went before the general populous and asked for their vote. After the votes were tallied on November 7th, the organizational plan of President-Elect Barak Obamas campaign was widely credited as being a factor in his heading to the White House. Organization that earned the candidate a clear and decisive victory through getting out the vote of the younger voting Americans, among others. “Get Out The Vote” efforts that were enacted through ways such as phone banks, leaflets and the all important television advertising. Options at hand for campaigns that seek to win when the race comes to a conclusion. By the last month or so before election day, most have aligned themselves behind a candidate for public office. Further considering the notion that some undecided voters are not in fact in that category, “In their paper "Swing Voters? Hah!," political scientists Adam Clymer and Ken Winneg amassed substantial data suggesting that very few undecided voters are truly indecisive. Examining the 2004 election, Clymer and Winneg found that even the most hard-core of undecided voters were fairly predictable. They asked the 4 percent of their sample that claimed to be undecided to rate the two candidates in early October. When they went back to those people after the election, over 80 percent in fact had voted for whichever candidate theyd rated most highly a month earlier,” (Klein, 10/16/08). Campaigns waged for the votes of real people, with real thoughts and concerns. Relevance placed on getting every voter, whether undecided, or not. Contests waged in order to see who will be the best possible fit for the highest job in the land. Campaigns that, when won, pave the way towards the ability to truly govern. Works Cited Faucheux, Ron. “Winning Campaigns Articles: Building a Strong Grassroots Base”. Retrieved from: http://www.winningcampaigns.org/Articles/Build-a-Strong.html Klein, Ezra. “The power of the Undecided Voter”. Published: 16 October 2008. Boston Globe. Retrieved from: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/ 2008/10/16/the_power_of_the_undecided_voter/ “Most Important Voting Issues for 2008 Election: Survey Results”. Pages used: 1-3. Retrieved from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/312372/most_important_voting_issues_ for_2008.html?page=3&cat=75 Read More