Political Consultant

Digital advocacy seems to be the term of the moment, but achieving real online advocacy results can be tough in both execution and budget. If you are at a nonprofit where money is tight, (when is it not?), spending money on hiring a digital advocacy consultant to manage your digital and online presence can seem like an easy line item to cut.

Whether you are working on a political or advocacy campaign, a digital campaign will likely be a major part of your communications budget. If executed well, digital—from organic social media posts to programmatic advertising—gives you the ability to communicate with voters that you never could otherwise reach, and to hyper-target ads to specific lists or segments of voters.

Many experienced campaign managers or operatives can recall a bad experience with a political consultant. Perhaps the consultant didn’t deliver what they promised, they were unresponsive, or they didn’t hit deadlines. Depending on how far out you are from Election Day, this can lead to some tough decisions.

Self-care is a must after a grueling election cycle. Getting through Election Day is a huge accomplishment, but it takes a toll. Late nights, too much pizza, a prolonged, laser-like focus on work—it can leave you feeling drained, foggy and exhausted. Moral of the story, you deserve to kick back with a good book (or a great crossword, if you’re a nerd like me) and an even better drink in hand. Cocktail, mocktail or wine, the choice is yours, but the sentiment is the same: treat yourself.

You’ve worked hard to run a strong campaign—now you can carve out some space for some post-election self-care ideas!

If you work in the campaign world, I’m willing to bet you’re deeply acquainted with post-election burnout. While that fatigue may be more acute after presidential and mid-term elections, never discount the exhausting pace of state and local races. No matter the election year, type, or outcome, it’s crucial to take care of yourself after you take care of your campaign.

Hal Malchow has over thirty-five years of experience in politics, having worked for four Democratic presidential nominees and a long list of Senate, congressional, and gubernatorial candidates. Hal Malchow’s pivotal role in introducing data science to American political campaigns and measuring the impact of voter communication tactics changed the way campaigns are run. In his latest novel, No Popes in Heaven, Hal Malchow draws upon his experience to highlight the absurdities of our political system and the negative consequences of well-meaning reforms for our democracy. We sat down with him to hear all about his new book.

Do you hate or love your political consultant? As the world of political consulting has grown, so have issues that organizations and candidates face with their political consultants.

Originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, Donna Victoria holds an undergraduate and master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Florida. She serves on the Board of Advisors for UF’s graduate degree program in Political Campaigning and Lectures on Political Polling and Survey Research to a variety of audiences.

This week’s Political Consultant is Michael Bocian. He is a founding partner at GBA Strategies, serves as pollster and strategist for gubernatorial, senate, congressional, state legislative, mayoral, and ballot initiative campaigns. With 15 years of experience, he has worked for the DGA, DCCC, DSCC, issue advocacy groups and membership associations.