Description
We’ve reached the point where we can develop the themes and messages we will use in your political communication program.
Using the research outlines that you produced for each candidate (self-research and opposition research) and any polling data you can find on your district(state), produce a 4-6 page memo outlining your recommended narrative for the race, including some examples of themes, messages, and positions your candidate should highlight in the race in order to win.
You do not need to cover every position, message, or theme. This assignment is about laying the framework for what would be a complete narrative.
Be sure to highlight and explain a couple of themes/messages you think your candidate should use to strengthen the base and at least one particular theme/message you recommend being used to get swing voters or a specific group of swing voters to cast their ballots for your candidate. Don’t forget to include any recommended negative attacks on your opponent.
If you are using specific targeting information or polling data, but sure to document your sources.
Here are three examples that students have put together in the past (There is no set format, this is just a draft of something that would be a work in progress in an actual campaign):
Example 1 – Campaign Narrative for Neal Dunn – Republican Candidate for Congress.pdf
Example 2 Campaign Narrative for Lauren Book FL State Senate Democrat.docx
Example 3 – Campaign Narrative for Mark Kelly for US Senate Democrat
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Campaign Narrative, Themes, and Messages for Neal Dunn
Republican for Congress
(FL-2nd District)
For the U.S. House Florida District 2 Congressional Race, Dr. Neal Dunn (R) will face off
against opponent Alfred Lawson (D). Both candidates are incumbents due to a
reconfiguration of Florida’s congressional districts, which now pits the two against each
other.
The importance of this redistricting is that it eliminated two historically Black districts
where African Americans made up enough of the voters to elect their preferred
candidate. Some Black lawmakers in Florida have denounced the redistricting plan, with
one state senator calling it “overtly racist.” It will be essential for Dr. Dunn to adjust his
messaging to take the needs and values of all constituents in the new district into
account.
For his conservative platform, his messaging strategy is to position himself as “one of
us.” By exploiting the “Us vs. Them” mindset, Dr. Dunn appeals to a right-wing
Republican base (the “Us”) and commits to fight Washington (the “Them”) for the
betterment of his constituents by keeping their values and interest at the forefront of his
actions.
Dr. Neal Dunn is a respected surgeon, a businessman, a congressman, and a Veteran.
His roots in service and community followed his father’s footsteps from the U.S. Army to
professional life as a surgeon to public service in politics.
Strength, stability, and character are characteristics to highlight, including his history of
service in the U.S. Army and stable family life, including a more than 30-year marriage
to his wife, Leah, children, and grandchildren, solidifying his primary values of God,
country, and fellow man. Early factors that stand out as a strength is that he and his wife
share a common bond, both coming from career military families, therefore positioning
themselves as patriots for the country and the people.
Strong Christian values were the foundation of young Neal’s family life growing up,
which will appeal to his primary “Bible Belt” base. Messaging can include being born
into a family who served God, country, and fellow man and instilled values that he
proudly passed on as the foundations for life to his children and grandchildren.
The Dunn’s have no controversial personal issues, which is attributed to his
characteristics of strength, stability, and impeccable character. In contrast, his
opponent’s son has been jailed and accused of running over a store clerk with his car
during a fight and booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
I recommend highlighting his career and charities to strengthen Congressman Dunn’s
community service position. One is the Bay Cares program, a charity that provides free
specialty care to the working poor, with an operational overhead of less than 0.5%. This
critical care offers surgery, chemotherapy, and other life-saving treatments to those who
cannot otherwise afford them.
In addition to Bay Cares, Dr. Dunn and his wife have been involved in numerous
charities and groups benefiting the community for many years. Groups include the
American Cancer Society, Prostate Cancer Foundation, the American Heart Association,
Bay Education Foundation, the Florida State University Panama City, Gulf Coast State
College, Bay Health Foundation, Relay for Life, Movember Foundation (men’s health),
AMVETS, Science & Discovery Center, School PTAs, athletic and academic teams. And
for many years, Dr. Dunn has been involved with and supported the Cub Scouts and
Boy Scouts of America, even organizing free physicals for Bay County students and
scouts.
Another angle to capitalize on is Congressman Dunn, a fiscal and social conservative.
As a businessman, he worked with leaders in the community to open a local community
bank, Summit Bank, to provide banking services to small businesses in North Florida. He
proves himself a proponent of small businesses through Summit Bank, explicitly helping
the people of his district.
He is also a member Board of Enterprise Florida and Space Florida, both economic
development organizations that focus on growing jobs and building the Florida
economy. In contrast, his opponent has shown a top contributor of campaign donations
as Amscot Financial, an installment cash advance money service, offering payday loans
with almost a 350% APR, crippling families under the weight of this type of debt.
To address issues of high importance to his constituents, it will be necessary to clearly
define his standing on each and call out where his opponent’s views are in sharp
contrast.
ISSUES:
• Healthcare Reform – Leverage his surgical experience to promote the need for a
free-market healthcare system, providing consumers with more choices and
improving accessibility between patients and doctors.
• Job Creation and a Strengthened Economy – Leverage his experience as a
small business owner and call out other SBOs as the backbone of our economy.
By encouraging them to create more jobs, they can help to stimulate a more
robust economy. Provide an understanding of what it’s like to be a small business
owner and the difficulties of dealing with excessive government regulations.
Advocating for lower tax rates and reducing government regulations, those in
positions to create jobs will help keep our country competitive in the global
market.
•
•
•
•
•
Protect the Second Amendment – Highlight the ‘Right to Bear Arms’ as a
fundamental and essential right of the people and must be protected. Emphasize
his NRA lifetime membership and veteran status in the fight to uphold rights
afforded by the 2nd Amendment. In contrast, his opponent advocates limiting or
eliminating gun rights and voted no on the Veterans Second Amendment
Protection Act.
Abortion – As a surgeon, Dr. Dunn could highlight his 100% pro-life stance and
fight for the rights of the unborn, stopping taxpayer funding of Planned
Parenthood. In contrast, his opponent wants to expand access to abortion
services.
Support the military and Stand Up for Veterans’ Rights – Advocate military
support and veterans’ rights as a solid voice, speaking as a veteran himself.
Promote assistance with housing, healthcare, and mental help support policies.
Position the service members and their families as heroes who must be
prioritized for assistance.
Cut Spending and Balance the Budget Now – As someone promoting family
values, emphasize the trillions in debt that we leave to our children and
grandchildren. Utilize Congressman Dunn’s quote, “Spending more is not an
effective way to combat inflation…” and “Americans need help paying their bills,
not more failed policies that drive up costs.” Advocate for small business owners,
and seniors, struggling with high gas prices and grocery bills. Eliminate wasteful
spending as a way to combat inflation.
Protect Our Values – Call out traditional family values as being attacked by
liberals and the Biden administration. Invoke Christian values as the norm with a
call to fight for the heart and soul of America not being swept away by
secularists.
LAUREN BOOK FOR STATE SENATE
Democrat – Florida 35th Senate District
Overall Strategy:
Election Day is less than 33 days away and the Book campaign continues to make
great strides in connecting with voters, showing leadership in South Florida during the
times of natural disaster and offering transparency to Broward County voters.
Through Lauren Book’s past experience, she has proven to voters she will fight for
them. Our campaign team is developing diverse communications efforts that will reach
different audience groups and tap into key focus areas for voters.
Theme
Book will run a campaign through an empathetic voice. She will not use any fear tactics
and instead assure voters what she can do for them. She’ll also touch on what she’s
done previously on the theme and how that momentum can be channeled for continued
change.
Lauren Book fights for reproductive rights, affordable healthcare, fair wages, the
criminal justice system, education, the elderly, climate change, equality, Black lives
matter, safety, gun violence, sexual abuse, and elected officials fighting for their people.
Message:
The Way Forward – Lauren Book 2022
Abortion
Abortion remains as one of the most politically controversial topics in America. Book has
made it very clear she is against the abortion ban that took place earlier in the year. In a
Huffington Post article, she was quoted saying “If we’re not being represented in the
legislative body, I don’t think that older white men should be deciding what and how
reproductive health care is looked at and [making] decisions that are life-altering.” Book
is supported by Planned Parenthood directly, which gains large support from democratic
voters. However, this is a topic where she can win over moderate republicans. For
example, in an instance of rape or incest, many republicans believe abortion should be
allowed. Book can capitalize on this opportunity to win over swing voters who would be
moved by the most controversial topics. According to a Sun Sentinel article, “Florida
poll: 67% want abortion legal in most or all cases, just 12% want complete ban.” Given
Broward County is the 17th most populous county in Florida, Book can drive this topic
with moderate voters to win support. To maintain support from pro-choice voters,
Lauren Book should seek out donations from planned parenthood clinics.
Sexual Abuse
Most notably, Lauren Book is known for the “Lauren Book Protection Act,” which
requires court to prohibit certain offenders from having direct or indirect contact with
victim of offenses; authorizes court to reconsider orders prohibiting contact in certain
circumstances; provides for consecutive sentence to previous sentences imposed for
convictions of certain offenses; designates offense of aggravated stalking in violation of
court order on offense severity ranking chart of Criminal Punishment Code, etc. Amends
FS.
As a victim herself, Lauren wants to prevent sexual abuse and help survivors heal. She
runs an organization called “Lauren’s Kids” that is based in South Florida and “educates
adults and children about sexual abuse prevention through in-school curricula,
awareness campaigns, and speaking engagements around the country and the world.”
The mission of the group is to “prevent child sexual abuse through education and
awareness and to help survivors heal with guidance and support.” Given Book’s
personal relation to this topic, Lauren can become a voice for those who need it most
and win voter support for the great strides she’s made surrounding this topic. This
establishes herself credibility for her work ethic.
Climate
The Sierra Club is a national club that has a “Sierra Club Florida” chapter. The chapter
consists of over 32,000 members, volunteer leaders and civic activists, who are on a
mission “enjoy, explore, and protect the natural places in Florida, to teach others to
understand and respect the fragile environment in which we live, and to practice and
promote the responsible use of Florida’s ecosystems and resources.” The club chapter
recently endorsed Book for her work on environmental issues. The club specifically
credits her for her work on democracy issues such as SB90 in 2021 and redistricting
this year. “Senator Book has been an exceptional leader. If Florida wants to stand a
chance at resolving the environmental issues in front of us, we need to elect more
leaders like her,” said Luigi Guadarrama, Political Director of Sierra Club Florida.
Common Messages
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Creating Environmental Change for a Better Future
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Giving Women a Voice
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Setting a Precedent to End Sexual Abuse
Strategies
•
Book will utilize press releases to make a variety of statements. The
communications team will properly pitch the material to media gatekeepers,
which the team will create two-way relationships with news outlets in order to
have the pitch accepted and seen by the intended audience.
•
Book will participate in a variety of news interviews to create a voice for herself
on the main themes. This will generate share of voice, boost public opinion and
generate sentiment online among voters. Key media figures can help boost
overall engagement and help create a relationship with the public.
•
Television ads will run on these themes as an effective way to reach a large
range of ages and voters. The campaign team will work with a media agency
directly to secure a buy, write a script to align with the overall messaging of the
campaign, and direct any additional deliverables needed.
•
Book will use direct mail to include a wealth of information and expand on ideas
beyond a quick digital ad. The communications team will provide the “why” of
Book’s beliefs to provide more context on her stance for these different topics.
Direct mail allows voters to have more information permanently that can remain
with the viewer the longest. This can lead to further engagement down the road.
Negative Attack on Opponent
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•
•
The ethical issues surrounding Barbara Sharief stem from her lawsuit in systemic
overcharges to Medicaid. Yes, Barbara Sharief broke the law by overbilling
Medicaid a news article ran a story stating, “financial disclosures filed by Barbara
Sharief and reports that she pleaded guilty and admitted she “broke the law and
will pay a fine.”
Barbara Sharief accepted a $1000 donation from a company that appears to not
exist.
As a former Republican, she has donated money to the GOP which may cost her
and put into questions the issues she stands on.
Citations
About Lauren. Lauren’s Kids. (2022, January 15). Retrieved October 8, 2022, from
Barbara Sharief. Ballotpedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2022, from
https://ballotpedia.org/Barbara_Sharief
Man, A. (2022, May 28). Florida poll: 67% want abortion legal in most or all cases, just
12% want complete ban. Sun Sentinel. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-fau-florida-poll-abortion-ukrainecovid-immigration-may-2022-20220528-6q3s7p3jnffzrcwi3stlngkdl4-story.html
Schorsch, P. (2022, August 3). Barbara Sharief’s nonsense lawsuit is desperate, devoid
of facts. Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.
Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://floridapolitics.com/archives/543600barbara-shariefs-nonsense-lawsuit-is-desperate-devoid-of-facts/
Sierra Club Florida endorses Senate minority leader Lauren Book. Sierra Club. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 8, 2022, from
https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2022/06/sierra-club-florida-endorsessenate-minority-leader-lauren-book
BRIEFING MEMO: MARK KELLY 2022 CAMPAIGN
Campaign themes, narrative and message
Arizona polling data
The Marist Poll conducted a survey of 1,406 Arizona adults from September 19th
through September 22nd, 2022. The following is a summary of those findings.
Most important issues
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Thirty-seven percent of Arizona adults say inflation is top of mind when
thinking about voting in the midterm elections, while 25% say preserving
democracy followed by abortion (15%) and immigration (13%) are important in
this election
Half of Republicans (50%) consider inflation to be the most important voting
issue followed by immigration (24%)
Fourty-four percent of Democrats mention preserving democracy as most
important, while 26% mention the issue of abortion
For independents, 36% consider inflation to be the the top issue, while 23% cite
preserving democracy
Recommendation: Inflation was the only issue that reached double-digits across all
polling groups as the ‘most urgent issue’ facing the nation per an August 2022
Quinnipiac poll. Further, in a purple state where Republicans still have a firm grip on
the state legislature, Senator Kelly has to think about where he can make headway
with independents and moderate Republicans. It’s telling that the only other
double-digit concern nationally for Republicans is immigration at 16%. Kelly should
also be aware of the 18-34 demographic, who are more concerned in greater
numbers nationally with climate change (13%) and health care (12%) than all other
age groups, and this group also places abortion as an urgent issue (11%). This
demographic will continue to be important — as Tufts reports, nationwide there are
8.3 million newly eligible young voters for the 2022 midterm elections, and in 2020,
this young demographic in Arizona favored Joe Biden by a 31-point margin (Biden
won Arizona by less than half a percentage point).
Approval of President Biden
The Marist Poll found that the president’s approval rating stands at 39% among
Arizonans, with 54% disapproving. Arizona residents are more than twice as likely to
strongly disapprove (46%) than to strongly approve (18%) of his job performance.
Recommandation: Kelly should be aware of the lack of enthusiasm among adults
overall for both Donald Trump and Joe Biden as presidential candidates in 2024. Kelly
has often placed state and country ahead of party in campaigning. He should
continue to focus on the priorities of the state and what he’s doing to put pressure
on President Biden to address them. Additionally, independents or moderate
Republicans will appreciate a focus that is on them and their state, rather than on an
endorsement from a largely unpopular former president (as Kelly’s opponent Blake
Masters has).
Race for U.S. Senate
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Kelly (51%) leads Masters (41%) by 10 points among registered voters statewide,
including those who are undecided.
Kelly also receives support from independents and leads Masters by double
digits (51% to 34%).
Supporters of Kelly are more likely than Masters’ supporters to express a
strong level of support for their candidate (77% to 64%)
Forty-seven percent of Arizona residents have a favorable impression of Kelly,
while 39% have an unfavorable one, whereas Masters’ rating is “upside down”
— 32% favorable to 48% unfavorable
One in five residents has either never heard of Masters or isn’t sure how to rate
him
Recommendation: Kelly’s opponent has adamantly supported a total ban on
abortion even in cases of rape or incest, and Arizona is currently in the midst of a
lawsuit with the American Medical Association over clarity on how to interpret the
law. There’s a 15-week abortion ban that was signed into law earlier in 2022 and went
into effect after Roe was overturned, but the state’s Attorney General enacted a 1901
territorial ban that criminalizes legal, physician provided abortion care. Among
registered voters nationally, 80% of voters 18-34 believe abortion should be legal in all
or some cases, 65% for the 35-49 group, 63% for 50-64, and 54% for those in the 65+
group. This marks a clear concern for the issue of reproductive rights and the
outdated territorial ban among the electorate for all age groups. Kelly should
continue to focus on the problematic statements of his opponent and the
Republican party at large on this vital healthcare issue for women of all ages in
Arizona. The poll also found that 85% of adults across all political affiliations believe
abortion should be legal in cases of rape or incest.
Message
“Serving Arizona is the mission.”
Narrative
“It’s a tough time for Arizonans. The economy has given us all a reason to feel
uncertain about the future. That’s why it’s far too risky to vote for fringe candidates
with radical ideas, like Blake Masters. Arizonans want someone who will fight for
Arizona first — Mark Kelly understands the mission. He understands how to bring
commonsense ideas about border security to Washington and the Biden
administration. He understands how to work on bipartisan legislation that will lower
meaningful costs for things that matter to Arizona families, like prescription
medication and fuel for our daily commute. Mark Kelly understands that teamwork
in our communities is what gets the job done. He did it for NASA while Blake Masters
was working for out-of-touch billionaires who can’t understand everyday issues for
the rest of us.”
Contrasting keywords to support the narrative
Using this table will assist with drawing a stark contrast between Senator Kelly and
his opponent in the eyes of the voters. Any of our messaging should seek to reiterate
and maximize the strengths of Kelly using keywords to contrast and capitalize on the
weaknesses of Masters to inflame voters, demoralize his base, and undermine his
ability to move persuadables (Pelto, 2022).
KELLY
MASTERS
Stability
Uncertainty
Mainstream, common sense
Fringe, extreme
Patriotic
Nationalist
Educated, intellectual
Elitist
Realist
Naive, new
Against corporate greed, corruption
Corporate sell-out, private capital
Putting Arizona first
Radical GOP ideas, out of touch with AZ
Trusted team member
Trump-endorsed
Real world, real government experience
Inexperienced, untested
Message box sample: Immigration
What we say about ourselves and our plan: “We’ve delivered smart technology and
increased staffing to strengthen Arizona border security. Physical border gaps near
the Morelos Dam outside Yuma will be secured, and we’ll ensure that Arizona has the
tools needed for a secure, orderly, and fair process at the border.”
What we say about our opponent and their plan: “Masters doesn’t understand how
to effectively manage the border crisis, as Arizona senators have been fighting for in
Washington for two years.”
What our opponent says about us and our plan: “Joe Biden and Mark Kelly caused a
crisis by inviting illegals to come here, and giving them housing and cash.”
What our opponent says about themselves and their plan: “We’re going to finish the
wall and oppose amnesty for all illegals under all circumstances.”
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