I Campaign Strategies Making It The Electoral College A B II C D E 1 Campaigns are made up of personal contacts fund raising speechmaking advertising and symbolic appeals 2 Goal win over plurality of those who cast ballots Asking the Right Questions 1 Constituency shapes the campaign strategy 2 Populous states must appeal to diverse economic and social groups 3 Growing states candidates need to introduce themselves to new voters 4 Small states Need to be must more person with constituents 5 Well known candidates like visibility and less known like their name repeated Choosing the Message 1 Candidates use media outlets to frame the campaign strategy set agenda and talk about favorable issues or speak about other candidates 2 Incumbents can be at a disadvantage compared to new candidates if they have a bad track record bills scandal Campaign Resources 1 Biggest resource money and organization 2 Spending on election have went up because of population growth and new technology electronic media polling and consultants 3 Elected member spend more time fundraising than doing actual work Campaign Finance Regulations 1 Buckley v Valeo 1976 campaign contributions are free speech 1st 2 Congressional candidates can raise money from four sources individual contributors political action committees PACs party committees and the candidates and family 3 Multicandidate PACs registered for more than six months fifty or more contributors and make contributions to five or more candidates 4 Super PACs non connected political action committees said by FEC 5 Citizens United v FEC allowed corporations to give money 6 Finance laws have failed to limit monetary influence in elections Incumbents versus Challengers 1 Incumbents need less money but receive much more than challengers because they are seen as better investments 2 Challengers first struggle is raising enough money to get known 3 Endangered incumbents spend more than safe incumbents because of uncertainty and risk Allocating Resources 1 Campaigns are driven by the need for cost effective ways to reach voters and get them to vote 2 Statewide races are mass media contests radio tv 3 Incumbents use telephone internet e mail door to door appeals 4 Less known candidates broad scale tv radio newsletter billboards with the propose of getting their name out repeatedly 5 EMILY s List Early Money Is Like Yeast 1985 collects donation for Democratic women candidates that support abortion rights 6 WISH Women in the and House Republican counterpart III Campaign Techniques F The Air War Media and Other Mass Appeals 1 Self promotion seen as creditable than independent sources 2 50 of votes rely on the TV for political information 3 Positive ads shoe candidates in warm human terms 4 Contrast ads distinguish candidate from others 5 Attack ads strike at the record or personal character 6 Challengers are most vulnerable to attacks and negative attention 7 Push poll bias phone calls with questions aimed at changing voters opinions by divulging negative and misleading information about a candidate 8 Negative ads inform voters even if the information is missing leading can have a power effect on voters with little political information 9 How to combat negative ads response ads accuse the offender of mud sliding or a formal complaint G The Ground War Pressing the Flesh and Other Forms of Close Contact 1 Personal messages delivered face to face or over the phone are best 2 Small communities expect face to face campaigning and the appearance of politicians at parades festivals and fairs 3 GOTV Get Out the Vote makes sure constituents are registered and voting Who Votes 1 50 of voting age participate in House elections 2 Midterm races lack intense publicity and presidential contests Reasons for Not Voting 1 Four main reasons for not voting demographic legal barriers disaffection and exaggerate non voting frequencies I Biases of Voting 1 Voting is the most accessible form of political involvement 2 Who votes Older more affluent better educated and more politically aware How Voters Decide 1 Tactics votes use to cast decisions 2 Low information or gut reasoning Party Loyalties 1 Party identification is the most important factor in voters choices 2 The increase in split voting was because of gradual partisan realignment 3 In presidential election years the party winning president generally increases their numbers in Congress 4 Three theories as to why 3 happens Surge and decline midterms are based on presidential popularity and performance and voters like balance III H IV J M The Appeal of Candidacy N 1 Incumbents have many methods of support through exposure 2 The more contact with voters the more positively they are viewed 3 Senate challengers are more conspicuous than House challengers 4 Senators cannot have as much contact with votes as representatives do 5 Size of constituency is very critical in Senate elections 6 Challengers in smaller Senate races have an easier time getting seen and campaign and put more pressure on the incumbent Incumbents win reelections because there is often no viable alternatives 7 Issue Voting 1 Women tend to vote for Democrats more supportive of social welfare programs health benefits job training child care assistance for families 2 Men tend to vote for Republicans more supportive of military expenditures tough anticrime laws and restrictions on welfare 3 Republicans attract upper income conservative voters married white churchgoers gun owners small business owners and older 4 Democrats lower income liberals single younger African American and minorities 5 Public policy has a powerful indirect effect on election outcomes V Election Outcomes O Party Balance 1 House and Senate won by foot to ground battles but with against the backdrop of national events issues and partisan alignments 1 New Deal shifted the balance of power to the Democrats 2 GOP Then was popular in the populous states of the Northeast and Midwest 3 Democrats Then South 4 GOP Now South Great Plains and Mountain West dominate rural small towns and exurban areas 5 Democrats Now Northeast Mid Atlantic West Coast strength in cities inner suburbs majority minority districts 6 Most voters identify as moderates or reject ideological terms 7 Parties have realigned and came into a completive balance since the 1960 1990s P Turnover and Representation 1 Natural process of membership change is continuous retire run for different office 2 For Congress to be a responsive institution