CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

A congressional candidate's campaign strategy is much less important than his/her fundraising activities

A congressional candidate's campaign strategy is much less important than his/her fundraising activities

Groups desiring more direct policy impact may provide funding for initiative, referendum, and recall campaigns. A group may help to finance signature gathering for initiative or recall campaigns (where state laws permit the use of paid signature-gatherers).

If the proposal qualifies for a public vote, interest-group contributions may help to finance advertisements and other expenses of the referendum or recall campaigns. In some cases, the group may set up an organization with a somewhat misleading name (“Citizens for Insurance Reform” when the group is actually from the insurance industry) if that name maybe politically beneficial.

Groups with large numbers of members, especially highly-motivated ones, may provide volunteer workers to assist with a campaign. Many campaigns suffer from a severe shortage of volunteers, who can perform all sorts of tasks, including campaigning door-to-door, staffing telephone banks, and prepare literature for mailing. Organized labor has traditionally been a significant source of campaign volunteers, but many other groups also provide some campaign helpers.

Some groups also provide in-kind resources for campaigns, although that practice appears to be less common than giving money. A group may provide polling data to help a candidate develop a clearer picture of public sentiments, including the public's views of other candidates and preferences on major issues. A group may provide transportation to assist a candidate's travels around the state or country. Some groups also provide research support: an analysis of one or more policy proposals or the public record of a political rival may be a great help to a candidate.

If a group has reached the maximum amount that it can give to a given candidate or party, both as a group and by its individual members, there are still ways to provide financial assistance. One option is to contribute money to another organization that will then distribute the money. Many state legislative and congressional leaders have formed leadership PACs that raise money, a good bit of it from interest groups, and then pass much of it on to other legislative candidates.

Donation Limit

An interest group that has reached the donation limits may also provide additional help for a campaign by using so-called independent spending. For example, groups that prepare and run a commercial attacking or praising a candidate, party, or referendum proposal. By 2004, independent spending reached nearly $100 million. In addition to enabling groups to bypass donation limits, independent spending can be used to finance attack ads that may damage one candidate's image without making the favored candidate appear to be mudslinging. That insulation may be especially important if the attack ads are false or misleading, as they sometimes are.

In a variety of ways besides giving money, a group may help to publicize a candidate, party, or viewpoint. Some of those efforts are relatively visible to the general public, but others have a much lower profile. One relatively visible method is to sponsor a forum ...