A great deal will happen between now and Election Day and with a little forethought and planning, you can be prepared for all the twists and turns and, in many cases, control the situation. The important factor in any campaign - the difference between winning and losing - is what goes on inside the campaign. There are three types of political campaigns that have nearly no chance to achieve victory on Election Day due to their own internal failures. The first is the campaign that does not have a persuasive message to deliver to voters and does not have a clear idea of which voters it wants to persuade. This type of campaign lacks direction from the beginning and the situation will only get worse. Second is the campaign that has a concise, persuasive message and a clear idea of which voters it can persuade but lacks a reasonable plan of what to do between now and Election Day to persuade these voters. This type of campaign wastes time, money and people as it wanders aimlessly toward Election Day. It is often distracted by the day’s events, by things the opponent's campaign does or by things the press says, spending more time reacting to outside factors than promoting its own agenda.

The actual planning process is much more difficult than simple rules. There is much more that goes into the process. Following are steps which are taken care when political campaign strategies are made:

1. Doing the research necessary to prepare for the campaign

2. Setting a strategic campaign goal of how many votes are needed to win

3. Analyzing and targeting voters

4. Developing a campaign message

5. Developing a voter contact plan

6. Implementing that plan

The first step in developing a winning strategy must begin with a realistic assessment of the political landscape in which you will be running. There are a number of factors that should be understood as completely as possible as you prepare to write a campaign plan:

• What is the type of election and what are the rules?

• What are the characteristics of the district?

• What are the characteristics of the voters?

• What has happened in past elections?

• What are the main factors affecting this election?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your candidate?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of all the viable opponents?

It is important to first determine the type of election in which you will be running and what will be the rules of the election. Much of the basic strategy depends on this information.

• Is this a legislative office you are seeking or an executive office?

• Do you need a majority of the votes to win or a plurality?

• Will there be a runoff election?

You should definitely research the laws and, if they are complicated, you may want to ask your political party or a lawyer to draft a memo outlining the most important points. Missing a deadline or violating some part of the law could end your campaign before it has even begun.

Once you have determined the basic election rules, you should start to gather as much information on the district and the voters as possible. Some points can be summed up as following:-

• How large is the district in which you will be running?

• What type of terrain will you have to cover as you campaign?

• What type of transportation will you and the voters need to use?

• How has the population of the district changed recently?

• You need to understand the political landscape in which you will be operating.

• Who are the important political players in the area?

• How strong are the various political parties in the area?

• Who are the civic and business leaders that can influence the campaign?

Winning the support of a particularly influential leader in the community can often make the campaign much easier. You also must understand how voters get their information.

• What are the local media outlets?

• Who are the reporters and what are their deadlines?

• How will the election be covered and how does the press view the various candidates?

To develop a comprehensive press strategy, it is important to have as much information on the media as possible.

You will need to break the voters in your district into manageable groups. This is the basis you will later use to develop a strategy for targeting particular voters. The following are some of the questions you may want to consider.

• Is there a voter file or accurate list of all possible voters available to the campaign?

• What support is there for various political parties?

• What is the demographic composition of the voters? For example, what are the income levels, education levels, professions, ethnic backgrounds, religious backgrounds, age, gender, etc.?

• Where do people work, shop and play?

• What is the geographic break down of the voters?

• What percentage or how many people live in the city, in the rural areas or in small villages?

• Do the voters live in single-family homes or apartments?

• How would you describe your supporters and those voters you hope to persuade?

Voters with similar characteristics may have similar interests and may tend to vote the same way. Seniors will be less interested in schools and more interested in pensions while young mothers will be more interested in schools and less interested in pensions. By determining how many senior citizens there are and how many young mothers there are, you will be better able to target your message to groups that matter to your success.

Often you can gain valuable information about this election by looking at information from past elections.

• Who ran for this position in your district in past elections and what were the results?

• How many voters turned out for similar elections in the past?

• How many votes were needed to win?

You may be able to use this type of information to predict the turnout and baseline levels of support in this election.

• How did candidates with similar backgrounds and messages fair in past elections?

You will want this type of information later when you determine what worked for them and what you will have to do differently to do better than they did.

Next you should look at the factors that will affect this election, namely the various issues that concern voters and other political campaigns, which are being waged in the area.

• What local, regional or national issues are important to voters?

• What will motivate voters to go to the polls?

• How would you describe the voter mood?

• What other races will be on the same ballot?

• Will candidates in other races help or hurt your campaign?

• Is there the opportunity to work with other campaigns in a coordinated manner?

• What effect will other campaigns have on the election?

Your relationship with your party and other candidates on the same ticket will affect your strategy. Your campaign's message should complement, or at least not contradict, the other messages.

The most important factor in your election will be the candidate. During your strategic planning session, you should honestly and candidly judge the strengths and weaknesses of your candidate. As you do this exercise, you should also look at your candidate from the point of view of your opponent. What you may view as a fresh new face with new ideas, your opponent may view as a lack of experience. You may want to organize your assessment into various sections, such as the candidate's childhood, education, work history, immediate family, and past political positions. It is important to look for both strengths and weaknesses in all of these areas. By finding weaknesses early, the campaign will be better prepared to deal with them and respond to charges that may come up later in the campaign. Too many candidates have lost because they refused to deal with past mistakes and were caught off guard when their opponents painted the picture of their mistakes in a very unflattering light.

Once you have determined your own candidate's strengths and weaknesses, the next logical step is to repeat the process for your opponents'. If you are facing several opponents, you should determine the strongest competitor for the loyalty of voters you hope to attract. Again, you can organize your assessment into various sections and look for both strengths and weaknesses. Your opponents will not be forthcoming with information about themselves. You will probably need to do some digging to find reasons for voters to vote against them and for your candidate. Too often candidates and campaigns view opposition research as looking for the one scandal that will finish off their opponent's campaign. This may happen, but more often what you find is patterns of behavior that you can use to persuade voters to either vote against your opponent or for you. You will use this to create a contrast between your candidate and campaign and your opponents' campaign when you develop your message, but this process is the basis for finding that contrast. You must be extremely well organized: list the sources of your documentation, and have a system in place that will allow you to quickly access the information. It will do no good to know something and not be able to provide backup of the information. All of this research should be gathered together in a binder for easy referral and referenced for easy tracking. Being meticulous and organized now will save a lot of time and energy later.

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