Introduction

Every successful political strategist has a few tricks up his or her sleeve, whether it’s knowing the best times to air ads or gaining an edge in fundraising, there are countless ways for strategists to gain an advantage over their opponents, but the most important trick of all might be knowing when not to use them.

When calling for a last-minute negative ad blitz against your opponent, for example, or when bringing in big-name surrogates like celebrities and political figures who can help boost name recognition but don’t really have time to meet constituents face-to-face.

Here are some strategies that have worked for me as chief democratic strategist at multiple campaigns across various states and districts:

Rely On Polls And Focus Groups

They’re important tools for gathering information about what voters think, but don’t let them make decisions for you.

Focus groups defined by Jared Kamrass are a way to get feedback from voters, who will tell you what they like or don’t like about your ideas. Polls provide data on how well the party is doing overall and where its support lies geographically or demographically i.e., race/ethnicity.

You’ll also learn whether people have heard of certain issues before that’s helpful when deciding which ones should be emphasized in ads or speeches during an election cycle.

But remember, the goal of both surveys and focus groups isn’t just finding out what people think; it’s figuring out how best to shape those opinions through rhetoric and messaging strategies so that we can win elections.

Work Closely With Your Candidates.

• Develop a good relationship with them
• Make sure they are comfortable with the strategy
• Make sure that they understand the strategy and their role in it, so that there is no confusion about what needs to be done and how it will be done and by whom.
• The candidate should also agree with this plan if not, then something needs to change before moving forward.

Know Your Media, And Use It Wisely

The first thing that you need to do is know your media per se by Jared Kamrass and you should know what kind of audience you are trying to reach and the type of message you want to reach across. If there is one thing that I have learned as a chief strategist, it’s that there is no such thing as free press.

You also need to learn how best to use your media wisely so that everyone gets their money’s worth out of every story they run about your candidate or campaign and so that those stories help move the needle forward toward victory.

Don’t Ignore Social Media

Social media is a tool, not a strategy. Social media can be used to get your message out there and engage with voters, however, it’s not the best way to communicate with them.

You should still pay attention to traditional media, especially local television news because that’s where most people get their news from.

A good strategy can mean the difference between winning and losing an election while a bad strategy, on the other hand, can lose you an election.

A successful chief Democratic strategist must be able to develop a strong plan for success but he or she also needs to be flexible enough so that they can adjust their plans as needed throughout the course of a campaign.