ChAPTER EighT • CAmPAigns AnD ElECTions 175
Focus Group
A small group of
individuals who are
led in discussion by a
professional consultant to
gather opinions on, and
responses to, candidates
and issues.and the firms they represent are not politically neutral. Most will work only for candidates
from one party.The strategy of winning. In the United States, unlike some European countries, there
are no rewards for a candidate who comes in second. The winner takes all. Candidates
seek to capture all the votes of their party’s supporters, to convince a majority of indepen-
dent voters to vote for them, and to gain some votes from supporters of the other party.
To accomplish these goals, candidates must consider their visibility, their message, and
their campaign strategy.
One of the more important concerns is how well known the candidate is. If she or he
is a highly visible incumbent, there may be little need for campaigning except to remind
voters of the officeholder’s good deeds. If, however, the candidate is an unknown chal-
lenger or a largely unfamiliar character who is opposing a well-known public figure, the
campaign requires a strategy to get the candidate before the public.opinion Polls and Focus groups. One of the major sources of information for both
the media and the candidates is opinion polls. Poll taking is widespread during the pri-
maries. Presidential hopefuls have private polls taken to make sure that there is at least
some chance they could be nominated and, if nominated, elected. During the presiden-
tial campaign itself, polling is even more frequent. Polls are taken not only by the reg-
ular pollsters—Gallup, Mason-Dixon, Opinion Research, and others—but also privately
by each candidate’s campaign organization. These private polls are for the exclusive and
confidential use of the candidate and his or her campaign organization. As the election
approaches, many candidates use tracking polls, which are polls taken almost every day, to
find out how well they are competing for votes. Tracking polls enable consultants to fine-
tune advertising and the candidate’s speeches in the last days of the campaign.
Another tactic used by campaign organizations to gain insights into public percep-
tions of the candidate is the focus group. The ten to fifteen ordinary citizens who com-
prise the group discuss the candidate or certain political issues. Professional consultants
who conduct the discussion select focus group members from specific target groups in
the population—for example, working women, blue-collar men, senior citizens, or young
voters. Recent campaigns have tried to reach groups such as “soccer moms,” “Walmart
shoppers,” or “NASCAR dads.”^3 The group may discuss personality traits of the candidate,
political advertising, and other candidate-related issues. Focus groups can reveal more
emotional responses to candidates or the deeper anxieties of voters—feelings that consul-
tants believe often are not tapped by more impersonal telephone surveys. The campaign
then can shape its messages to respond to those feelings and perceptions.FinAnCing ThE CAmPAign
The connection between money and elections is a sensitive issue in American politics. The
belief is widespread that large campaign contributions by special interests corrupt the politi-
cal system. Indeed, spending reached unprecedented heights during the 2011–2012 elec-
tion cycle. Total spending for the presidential candidates alone exceeded $2.6 million. These
funds had to be provided by the candidates and their families, borrowed, or raised by
contributions from individuals, organizations, or political action committees (PACs), which
are set up under federal or state law for the express purpose of making political donations.- NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
LO2: Describe the current
system of campaign finance.Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.