Modern Political Campaigns

Dr. Michael D. Cohen, a 20+ year veteran of working on, teaching, and writing about political campaigns shows readers how campaigns are organized, explains state-of-the-art tools of the trade, and reveals how some of the most interesting people in politics got their big breaks. He combines academic insights and practical advice that will be of interest to practitioners and students considering careers in politics. The second edition, updated to include a new chapter on how artificial intelligence impacts campaigns, has been completely revised throughout to provide readers with an up-to-date understanding of how campaigns succeed.

MICHAEL D. COHEN, Ph.D. is CEO of Cohen Research Group, a political, public affairs, and corporate research firm. He publishes the award-winning Congress in Your Pocket suite of mobile apps and teaches college courses on political campaigns, research methods, digital strategy, and public policy in Washington, DC.

Contents Preface Introduction 1. Parties and Elections From Bosses to Consultants Voter Affiliation Parties As Campaign-Adjunct Organizations Democratizing the Vote Elections Rules Assignment Sources and Further Reading 2. Planning and Management Start with Why Can You Win? Do Campaigns Matter? Plan Design Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 3. Fundraising Who Donates to Campaigns? Basic Rules High-Dollar Fundraising Low-Dollar Fundraising Online Platforms Assignment Sources and Further Reading 4. Independent Groups Loss of Control Change in Money Flow Types of Independent Groups Expansion of PACs Independent Expenditure Donations to Candidates Dark Money Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 5. Vulnerability and Opposition Research Negative Information The Toughest Questions Opponent Framing Research Director Research Strategy Desktop Research Field Research Organization and Analysis Deployment Limits Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 6. Data and Analytics The Voter File Identifying Winnable Voters Calculating Vote Totals Modeling Vote Totals Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 7. Focus Groups and Polling Focus Groups Polling Tools Digital Research Assignment Sources and Further Reading 8. Earned Media Tools Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 9. Paid Media Definition Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 10. Social Media Definition Tools Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 11. Field Operations Definition Tools Get Out the Vote Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 12. Artificial Intelligence Definition Tools Ethical Considerations Consultant Story Assignment Sources and Further Reading 13. The New Permanent Campaign Campaign Strategy Gets Personal Voter Polarization Increases Tactics Go Digital The Parties Invest Campaigns Between Elections The Future of Modern Political Campaigns Sources and Further Reading Afterword Acknowledgements Appendix Index About the Author