Shea and Burton present a lively, comprehensive exploration of cutting-edge political campaign management. They cover all aspects of present-day political campaigns, from understanding the context of a particular campaign, to fundraising tips, to strategic thinking and scores of winning voter contact techniques. With careful attention and hard work, even average citizens can oversee sophisticated, state-of-the-art political campaigns. Those who try will find no aid more valuable than this book. Bringing to bear both academic and professional experience, Shea and Burton present a lively, comprehensive exploration of cutting-edge political campaign management. They cover every aspect of present-day political campaigning, from understanding the context of a particular campaign (national trends, the media market, demographic research, etc.) to strategic thinking and specific voter contact techniques that work. These techniques include tactical use of fundraising, paid media, free media--including the Internet--and get-out-the-vote drives. Throughout the text, the authors present up-to-date analysis, peppered with examples from national, state, and local campaigns. Campaign Craft is a comprehensive guide to modern electioneering--a must read for candidates and political activists, scholars, researchers, and all those interested in knowing how to run modern, high-tech campaigns.

The go-to source on campaign management for nearly two decades is now updated to cover the latest in contemporary campaign expertise from general strategy to voter contact to the future of political campaigns. Political campaigning reinvents itself at a furious pace. This highly respected text recounts the evolution of modern campaign management and shares strategies and tactics common to American elections. Informed by the practical political experience of three scholarly authors, the book weaves important academic perspectives with insights garnered from close observation of electoral practice. The fifth edition lays out the foundations of modern campaign management, going on to explore critical steps in running a "new style" campaign. Using fresh stories and recent research, the book follows American electioneering from the planning stages through Election Day and concludes with a view to the future of political campaigning. Critical updates examine the Tea Party movement, new political technologies, advances (and challenges) in opinion polling and field experimentation, and increasing polarization within the American electorate. New material includes an exploration of the Super PACs and non-candidate campaigns that are changing the strategic context of American elections.

A comprehensive guide to and analysis of modern political campaign communication.

Modern Political Campaigns brings together academic, practical, and interviews to help understand how professionalism, technology, and speed have revolutionized elections, creating more voter-centric races for public office. Dr. Michael D. Cohen, a 20+ year veteran of working on, teaching, and writing about political campaigns take readers through how campaigns are organized, state-of-the-art tools of the trade, and how some of the most interesting people in politics got their big breaks. The book takes readers through clear-eyed chapters on parties and elections, campaign planning and management, fundraising, independent groups, vulnerability and opposition research, data and analytics, focus groups and polling, earned, paid and social media, and field operations. Finally, the book revisits the Permanent Campaign in terms of modern approaches to winning elections raising questions about today’s uniform preference for turnout over persuasion and what that means for our American democracy. Modern Political Campaigns will appeal to students and political activists interested in working in political campaigns. It is also a great read for anyone who wants to better understand the nuts and bolts of campaigns in practical terms from professionals, and the opportunities they provide all of us to be more engaged citizens and hold our leaders more accountable each Election Day.

The go-to source on campaign management for nearly two decades is now updated to cover the latest in contemporary campaign expertise from general strategy to voter contact to the future of political campaigns. Political campaigning reinvents itself at a furious pace. This highly respected text recounts the evolution of modern campaign management and shares strategies and tactics common to American elections. Informed by the practical political experience of three scholarly authors, the book weaves important academic perspectives with insights garnered from close observation of electoral practice. The fifth edition lays out the foundations of modern campaign management, going on to explore critical steps in running a "new style" campaign. Using fresh stories and recent research, the book follows American electioneering from the planning stages through Election Day and concludes with a view to the future of political campaigning. Critical updates examine the Tea Party movement, new political technologies, advances (and challenges) in opinion polling and field experimentation, and increasing polarization within the American electorate. New material includes an exploration of the Super PACs and non-candidate campaigns that are changing the strategic context of American elections.

Following one of the most contentious and surprising elections in US history, the new edition of this classic text demonstrates unequivocally: Campaigns matter. With new and revised chapters throughout, Campaigns and Elections American Style provides a real education in contemporary campaign politics. In the fifth edition, academics and campaign professionals explain how Trump won the presidency, comparing his sometimes novel tactics with tried and true strategies including how campaign themes and strategies are developed and communicated, the changes in campaign tactics as a result of changing technology, new techniques to target and mobilize voters, the evolving landscape of campaign finance and election laws, and the increasing diversity of the role of media in elections. Offering a unique and careful mix of Democrat and Republican, academic and practitioner, and male and female campaign perspectives, this volume scrutinizes national and local-level campaigns with a special focus on the 2016 presidential and congressional elections and what those elections might tell us about 2018 and 2020. Students, citizens, candidates, and campaign managers will learn not only how to win elections but also why it is imperative to do so in an ethical way. Perfect for a variety of courses in American government, this book is essential reading for political junkies of any stripe and serious students of campaigns and elections. Highlights of the Fifth Edition Covers the 2016 elections with an eye to 2018 and 2020. Explains how Trump won the presidency, the changes in campaign tactics as a result of changing technology, new techniques to target and mobilize voters, the evolving landscape of campaign finance and election laws, and the increasing diversity of the role of media. Includes a new part structure and the addition of part introductions to help students contextualize the major issues and trends in campaigns and elections.

Now in its seventh edition, Political Campaign Communication provides a realistic understanding of the strategic and tactical communication practices utilized in contemporary political campaigns. It draws on a wealth of examples from local to national political campaigns and communication theory to illustrate principles and practices of campaigns such as functions, stages, communicative styles, public speaking, debates, interpersonal communication, political advertising, and the use of the internet and new media. Trent, Friedenberg, and Denton's classic text has been updated to reflect recent election campaigns, including the 2010 congressional elections and the initial stages of the 2012 presidential election. Many sections now focus on the most recent presidential elections, and the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain. In addition, the authors have examined the expanding role of the internet in political campaigns. Political Campaign Communication continues to be a classroom favorite-a thoroughly researched, insightful, and reader-friendly text.

Campaign Communication and Political Marketing is a comprehensive, internationalist study of the modern political campaign. It indexes and explains their integral components, strategies, and tactics. Offers comparative analyses of campaigns from country to country Covers topics such as advertising strategy, demography, the effect of campaign finance regulation on funding, and more Draws on a variety of international case studies including the campaigns of Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy Analyses the impact of digital media and 24/7 news cycle on campaign conduct

Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practice, Ninth Edition uses a speech-communication perspective to examine how elective politics contributes to our knowledge and understanding of the electoral process. Through historical and contemporary examples, this book offers readers a realistic understanding of the strategic and tactical communication choices candidates and their managers make as they wage the campaign. Updates to The Ninth Edition Include: Two completely new chapters – Chapter 6 and Chapter 13 – discuss ethical considerations of political campaign communication and the practice of contemporary journalism in today’s campaigns. Political campaign communication from the ground-breaking 2016 presidential election. Expanded material on use and tactics of social media, new platforms and communication technologies. One of the most comprehensive and consistently updated volumes available on the subject, the ninth edition of Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practice traces political communication from its roots in public speeches and campaign whistle-stops to the current explosion of information in the viral hothouse of social media, making it essential reading for students in communication and political science courses.

Used in campaigns and classrooms throughout the United States, The Political Campaign Desk Reference is synonymous with planning and winning. Whether you are a candidate for office or just helping a campaign, the Political Campaign Desk Reference will make your team stronger. From planning the early stages of the campaign and asking the basic questions to mapping out the campaigns winning message and building a budget and time line, the Political Campaign Desk Reference covers it all. An entire chapter dedicated to fundraising will help every organization become better at raising money. If you have The Political Campaign Desk Reference, be glad. If your opponent has The Political Campaign Desk Reference, then get a copy for yourself.