Just because your political campaign is over, doesn't mean it's the end.
Whether you won or lost your political campaign, the 2018 Election Cycle is over. Like us, you're probably pretty exhausted. These past months you've likely been getting your hands dirty and working tirelessly on your campaign cause, and we want to help you clean up both your literal and figurative mess.
*Originally written by Joe Fuld and updated by Elena Veatch 4/3/18
When you get into politics, it’s hard to resist the all too common tunnel vision of focusing only on politics. But be careful – binge watching Veep or The West Wing is not going to help you run a better campaign or organization; nor will reading solely political books.
The fact is, you are running a business. And while we like to think of politics and business as totally separate realms, it’s tough to run any political operation without a Business 101 crash course. So, take a break from the latest Clinton campaign staffer or Obama aide memoir you are probably reading, and check out some of our non-political book recommendations. Below are ten non-political books that will be helpful to any politico running a campaign, a non-profit, or really any operation.
Is persuasion still possible? Political scientist Joshua Kalla answers our questions
Joshua Kalla is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley whose research focuses on American political behavior and opinion. Along with Stanford’s David Broockman, Joshua Kalla co-authored a study on voter persuasion that made a splash in the media and in progressive circles in September 2017. In this study, Kalla and Broockman argue that voter persuasion through traditional campaign communication methods (such as direct mail, canvassing, and digital advertising) have essentially no persuasive effect on voters during general elections. We asked Kalla about his recent work and its implications for campaigns.
Member public affairs strategies can be an amazing way to move your issue forward. Membership organizations should have a head start when it comes to public affairs strategies, but that head start is often complicated. Membership organizations tend to have bureaucratic structures that make it difficult to work nimbly, especially when it comes to public affairs. Because of this, some member organizations have avoided using member-based public affairs strategies and they are missing out.
Here are some ways to use your membership to enhance public affairs strategies by turning them into member public affairs strategies.
By the title, this could be the shortest post in the history of our blog. The typical answer to this question, and the way I teach candidates about political campaigns, is that a political candidate has two jobs: to raise money and meet voters. But these tasks are easier said than done.
A political candidate’s perspective is that message, fundraising, and strategy come from her or him, so not involving the political candidate in those decisions could be disastrous. Anyone who has been involved in a political campaign knows there are many levels of involvement. So let's dig into it. I’ll chat about the candidates role in each element of a campaign and some of the pressure points in between.
The Campaign E-Book Candidates Running for Office Needs To Read!
Running for office or working on a campaign? Six months ago, we released our fifth e-book “Ready, Set, Go! Jumpstart Your Political Campaign.” As candidates all across the country are beginning their campaigns, we wanted to reintroduce you to some of the e-book highlights.
Much has been said about political email, especially as it grows in popularity. Email is certainly not going anywhere and political email has proven to be an effective tool in both recruiting supporters and raising money for your campaign. It’s important to pay attention to all aspects of your email, but how much attention should be paid to the sender?
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