Candidates' Cabinet
If you're not spending your campaign time raising money or talking to real voters you're wasting it. Real voters are undecided "likely voters." They are best contacted via door knocks and phone calls. -- Stephen Puetz


Feb
21th
Making the Most of Your Time and Dollars


By Stephen Puetz

Running for office will be an exciting but daunting endeavor. This article provides some basic principles that will help make you a smarter, more effective candidate and increase your chances of winning.


Feb
13th
10 Pointers for Raising Money Online


By Becki Donatelli and Megg Whelan

Write a Plan and Stick to It!
Successful online fundraising takes careful thought and a realistic strategy. Those who raise the most money online have an aggressive plan that is carefully followed.


Feb
6th
Conducting a Precinct Vote Goal and Targeting Analysis


By BJ Martino

Are your campaign's messages hitting the right audiences? Are you delivering more of your persuasive messages to undecided voters and those who split their ticket? Are you delivering the right motivating message to your solid supporters, to get them to the polls? Are you not throwing away precious resources on voters who wouldn't vote for your candidate if he or she were the last politician on Earth?


Jan
11th
Three Tips for Political Communication


By Clark S. Judge

When it comes to making your case to the voters, here are three tips for every candidate to keep in mind.


Jan
5th
Reading a Poll for a Winning Campaign Message


By BJ Martino

While not comprehensive, the following guide should help point you in the right direction for reading and making sense of poll results in your campaign.


Dec
19th
Tips for Conducting an Interview


By Allison Kaminsky Putala

Today's 24 hour ubiquitous media coverage brings unprecedented focus on politicians, celebrities and business leaders, who are all the focus of the media. Media relations is not just restricted to crisis management, but rather an element of strategy, which is why knowing how to effectively conduct an interview is imperative.


Dec
5th
Starting Your Online Campaign
Six Things That You Can't Live Without

By Christian Curto

It's impossible to have a campaign without an online component, and I'll show which online parts you just can't live without. The internet is a trusted source for political information, communication, and activation and to win, you'll have remain competitive there. Your winning campaign starts with creating a plan, having an up-to-date website, a donation system, search advertising, social media, and an email delivery system.


Nov
21th
Thirteen Methodological Checkpoints for Good Survey Research


By BJ Martino

Whether planning to poll yourself, or questioning a media poll or opponent's poll that has been made public, ask these questions about the field procedures, sample design, and questionnaire design. Make your poll is the best it can be, and keep your opponent honest.


Nov
15th
Starting On The Ground, Not from the Sky


By Jeff Corless

Have you ever seen a building built starting from the sky? Probably not because the idea flies in the face of reality and physics – its impossible, unrealistic.

Building something sound starts from the ground up. A solid campaign must start by galvanizing support from real people on the ground in communities across the state or district in which a candidate is running for office.




Nov
7th
Planning Your Winning Campaign
How To Put Together a Campaign Plan

By Brian Noyes

Tactics can, and should, change as situations arise that affect a campaign. The evolution of a campaign will take shape based on the positive and negative responses you get along the way, and your success is tied directly to your ability to read those responses and make mid-course adjustments. Take the time to plan ahead and assure you have the resources available to make those modifications when you need to.


Oct
24th
Campaign Debt
It's not inevitable

By Tricia Pearson Korcheck

More and more, it seems like campaigns of every size are accepting debt as part of the elective process. It does not have to be that way. As fiscally conservative candidates, we should be able to practice what we preach and keep our campaign expenditures in check. If we spend more than we raise, we are no better than the Federal Government!


Oct
13th
Timeless Basics of GOTV for State and Local Candidates


By Patrick Davis, Patrick Davis Consulting

President Abraham Lincoln is remembered for many things but an often overlooked accomplishment was his political organizing skills. He clearly described timeless and basic get-out-the-vote activities in this quote from the Illinois State Register on February 21, 1840, "Organize the whole state so that every Whig can be brought to the poll… Divide the country into small districts and appoint a sub-committee, make a perfect list of all the voters and ascertain with certainty for whom, they will vote, keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters and… have them talked to by those in whom they have the most confidence, and on Election Day see that every Whig is brought to the polls."





GOPAC is dedicated to assisting in the development of a new generation of Republican leaders. That's why we've developed the Candidates' Cabinet!

Every month, we will be updating this section with useful tips and advice from campaign operatives and consultants across the country on how to run a winning campaign. From dealing with campaign debt to putting together a political plan, this is your one stop shop for everything campaign related!







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Not Authorized by Any Candidate or Candidate Committee