is done three to five days before the election. In this case, a postcard is sent to all voters
that were identified as being in swing areas or favorable areas. The postcard reinforces
the importance of the election and of voting. The night before the election, the voters
may be called on the telephone to remind them to vote the following day (Guzzetta, 2000:
246; Shea and Burton, 2001:193; Bike, 2001:104).
Research shows that GOTV moves work. In one study, they found that voter
turnout was higher when reminder calls were made. In fact, the effect for volunteer
phone calls was estimated to be 1.6 percentage points. That means that for every one
thousand phone calls attempted, sixteen votes were created (Nickerson, 2005: 19).
The North Canton candidate focused her GOTV by contacting voters right before
the election. Her postcard mailing to most households in the community was designed to
arrive a day or two before the election. She also used computer-generated telephone calls
in the day before the election. These calls went to all households in the community with
at least one Republican or independent voter. The Akron candidate did not use pre-
election GOTV.
Election Day Activities
For many candidates, election day is not a day to sit back and relax (Bike, 2001:
87). Campaign posters need to be put along major routes to the polling places (Bike,
2001:87). Campaign staff, volunteers, and even the candidate should go around the
district and get voters to the polls by reminding them to go, and even by driving them
there if necessary (Bike, 2001:87). Other volunteers can distribute campaign literature to
people on their way to vote, standing as close to the polling place as legally allowable
(Bike, 2001:87).
The Akron candidate focused his volunteer resources on Election Day.
Approximately 100 volunteers were assigned to targeted precincts (those with the highest
number of likely voters). The volunteers held signs and passed out literature to voters as
they went to vote. Precinct analysis of the final vote totals indicates that this was a
successful strategy. For the North Canton candidate the day was much different. The
campaign manager moved signs to election places in the morning, but the candidate spent
the day relaxing with her family. The evening was spent collecting yard signs and signs
at the polls.
Conclusion
Political campaigning has become more professional. National and statewide
campaigns are developed and run by a whole series of professionals including pollsters,
communication consultants, press advisers, opposition researchers and more. Even the
local level campaigns use many of the techniques developed by consultants if they cannot
afford the consultants themselves. As Ehrenhalt has said, “The more campaigning
becomes a science unto itself, the more public offices and rewards flow to people who
have mastered its details. This is not only true of state legislatures; it is true of city
councils and of the presidential nominating process.” (1991:206).
In this paper we have examined and discussed eight aspects of political campaigns
where both practitioner and scholarly research have suggested "scientific" methods for
achieving success. We also have seen how two very different but successful campaigns
have taken this advice. The similarities and contrasts of these campaigns has been
summarized in Table 3. In looking at these campaigns, are there some more general
conclusions that can be reached about running a successful political campaign? We
would like to suggest three.
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Convention