What makes up an effective communication strategy for political campaigns?

A political campaign is more than just the face and opinions of a candidate; it is a well-oiled machine. Sometimes that “oil” is how big their campaign budget is. While monetary funding is more often than not a necessity for a successful political campaign, the term “oil” also refers to the people behind the scenes of the political candidate; their communication consultants, pollsters, vetting consultants, campaign managers and so on…Here, is a list of Donald Trump's campaign team.

            Donald Trump : Wine (as) Trump’s Campaign : Gallo Family Vineyards

            The above analogy illustrates that any political candidate is the “product” that their campaign is trying to “sell”. So, how do campaign managers and consultants get the public to seek interest in and buy their product? Grocery and other retail stores often advertise their products in a way that compares them to other stores’ products and services. They advertise them in a positive light that makes their products and services appear to be the correct choice. Political consultants use this same technique in an effort to showcase how vital it is that the candidate they’re working for is not only the correct choice for them, but for the entire nation. Political consultants aid their respective candidates by maintaining the consistency of their campaigns. They also play a huge role in campaign fundraising.

Donald Trump selects Chuck Laudner to be his Political Consultant.

           Political consultants are labeled as such because they typically have the largest amount of expertise within the campaigning staff of their political candidate. The job outlook for these types of positions will always be in demand; so long as our nation does not turn into a dictatorship and continues to hold elections as a democracy. However, these positions are at best “seasonal” and typically are not needed once, or if, their candidates are elected into office. These consultants also hold the responsibility of acquiring support from individuals not currently involved with their respective candidate’s campaign. e.g.: volunteers.

            How can a political candidate have an effective campaign without first having a profound and favorable message? Content and delivery methods play a vital role when it comes to how and when these candidates express their messages to the voting public. Campaign advisors will often strategize with both their respective candidate and their communication consultant as to how they should spread his or her message. Although it’s not as prevalent as it once was, door-to-door campaigning can be an incredibly effective means of spreading candidate awareness to the masses on a personal level.

“Wow. They took the time to knock on my door, introduce themselves and speak to me about my political interests. I’ll take them into serious consideration when casting my vote for President.”

            These campaign team members also hold the responsibility of, if the candidate choses to do so, organizing a mailing campaign. This is another method that candidates can reach out to voters on a somewhat personal level. The ever eluded “phone call at the dinner table from someone running for office” appears to be a dwindling tactic used by campaign team members.

            Continuing with how candidates’ messages are brought forth to the public, let’s discuss debating and vetting. It is often noted that anyone running for political office needs to have a huge ego and not be afraid to voice their opinions. Candidates often hire people to write their speeches for them in an effort to have their message phrased in the best light to voters. When it comes to debate, candidates often spend hours, sometimes days, preparing for them. Presidential candidate Donald Trump is known for telling the media that he doesn’t prepare for political debates of any kind. Were Mr. Trump’s media consultants using an effective means of political communication by making it known to the public that he likes to think on his feet in these types of environments? Campaign media consultants also hold the responsibility of establishing and maintaining their candidate’s websites and drafting and/or responding to their emails.

     Now, what exactly is vetting? Relating back to the grocery store example, candidates want to

prove to voters that they are the best choice. By going through a vetting process, the backgrounds of candidates, and those who oppose them, opposition research, are viciously analyzed in hopes of uncovering anything that could be labeled as controversial. In the event that a vetting process yields a negative result towards a candidate, it is the responsibility of the campaign manager, communication consultant and other advisers to either end the campaign or seek out a reasonable explanation for the controversial words or events that have been uncovered. Speaking of controversial words and delivering campaign messages to voters, Donald Trump's Twitter feed has been ridiculed by many for its sometimes outlandish and inappropriate comments towards others. 

    Political surrogates are another vital member of any campaign. These are the individuals who speak for their respective candidate when an issue is brought up that their candidate would not/ could not properly or effectively comment towards. Comedians Key & Peele provide an excellent example of a political surrogate in this example. 

Although when it comes to Donald Trump, he has been known to ignore the phrase, "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all."

            As Forrest Gump would say, politics and the media, “…are like peas and carrots.” One thing that the media and campaign advisors like to do is create polls. There are few other more effective means of identifying where and how voters relate to candidates that by means of analyzing poll results. Campaign pollsters use polls to test out their candidate’s campaign to see what the public likes and dislikes about them and find out where and what they can improve on.

A poll is "any political sample survey, of the electorate conducted by the media, politicians, or political interest groups in aims for a relatively quick and somewhat cursory tally of the public's political opinio and preferences" (Traugott & Lavrakas, 2008, p. 191).

             Let’s divide political polls into three categories; benchmark, trial and exit polls. Benchmark polls are often used to get candidates’ names and political platforms out into the public eye. Trial polls typically involve comparing one candidate against another in hopes of finding out where to proceed next in a candidate’s campaign. Exit polls involve gathering data from voters immediately after they have casted their vote.

             There is a lot more than simply money that needs to go into a political campaign in order for it to be a success. Without the support of friends, family, and hired professionals, a political candidate would almost be sure to fall behind.