VOTES

A simulation of organizing and running a political campaign

Charles L. Kennedy

STUDENT GUIDE

 

One of the most vital contributions citizens in a democracy can make to their form of government is participation in conducting political campaigns. Yet, the vast majority of Americans never really get involved, preferring instead to let others run the campaigns. Because the author believes most Americans would involve themselves if they understood the campaign process and knew how fascinating politics can be, he wrote this simulation. For the next three weeks you are actually going to organize, coordinate, and conduct a political campaign or to be part of a select group of Citizen Representatives who evaluate the campaigns.

 

CAMPAIGN WORKERS AND ACTIVITIES Campaign workers will fulfill the following roles: Campaign Manager, Issues Director, Image Director, Organizational Director, or Candidate. The Campaign Manager, responsible for the overall conduct of the campaign, assigns other party members to various duties and makes final decisions regarding allocating party resources. The Issues Director does research on the issues contested during VOTES and provides important data to other members. The Image Director is in charge of creating a favorable "image" of the party's candidate through use of TV and radio commercials. The Organizational Director has 2 key responsibilities: organizing and conducting the political rally (including coordinating the creation of all the appropriate paraphernalia). Finally, the Candidates give political speeches before the Citizen Representatives, appear on a "Meet the Press" program, and participate in a "Great Debate" just prior to the final election.

 

CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVES Instead of being party workers, you will be Citizen Representatives. As CRS each of you will represent a different group or faction. Your key responsibility is to evaluate the campaigns. To help prepare you for this task of evaluating a candidate and his/her party, you will do some research on the section or faction you represent and that section's or faction's likely position on all of the simulation's issues. Your teacher will evaluate how well you accomplish your task.

 

POLITICAL PARTIES All but the Citizen Representatives will be divided into 2 political parties (the Republicans and the Democrats). All parties will conduct campaigns consisting of essentially the same basic elements and will attempt to win the same votes. When VOTES begins, each party is allocated an amount of campaign resources in the form of money. Each party then works to create campaign efforts of sufficient quality to convince the Citizen Representatives to give it more points than its rival. Each party, in addition, must carefully analyze the Citizen Representatives' positions on the various issues, for part of each party's vote total depends upon how well it divides its resources in support of the party's various efforts to reach voters whom the CRS represent.

 

POLITICAL ISSUES VOTES is organized into several phases. Each party develops positions on the issues, and each party member organizes his/her particular activity-TV and radio commercials, rally song, position paper, speech, etc.-to promote the candidate's view and to help create a favorable "image" of the candidate. Each phase ends with a "vote."

 

CONCLUSION Although VOTES only simulates an election, you must remember that someday you may actually participate in a real political campaign. Hopefully, what you learn in VOTES will not only motivate you to want to participate but will also prepare you to make a significant contribution in a future election. For before we hang back and refuse to participate in democratic elections, we should remember this old adage: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!"

 

CANDIDATE'S INSTRUCTIONS - As your party's candidate, you will have the most visible and exacting role. You must be completely familiar with all of the issues and must acquaint yourself with all research that your campaign staff produces. To help you be a successful candidate, you should arrange constant briefing sessions with your staff in order to keep abreast of all campaign developments. You must develop a persuasive speaking technique for your formal speeches so that you can appear in public and attract voters to your cause. You also must be able to think on your feet and answer difficult questions while a guest on "Meet the Press" news conferences. Always remember that an untimely or unguarded remark could cost you the victory. If you and your staff are thoroughly prepared, you will minimize your chance of making a damaging statement.

 

SPEECH CONTEST Each candidate must deliver one major speech. The speech will be presented before the CRS (Citizen Representatives) and should not exceed 3 minutes. Work closely with the Issues Director on this mater as he has the primary responsibility for researching, preparing and developing the party's position on the different issues.

 

PERSUASIVE SPEECH GUIDELINES Use this guideline to help you prepare your speech.

 

Organization (This is one of the simplest and most effective methods of organizing your speech.)

 

1. State the problem or the condition.

2. Identify its causes.

3. Define the action needed.

4. Propose your solution.

5. Show how your proposal will eliminate the causes and effects and solve the problem satisfactorily.

6. Show that your proposal is the only practical solution.

7. Tell the audience what they should do to put your idea to work.

 

Practice

 

After you have prepared your speech, consider practicing it before your staff. Other ways to practice: with an audio tape recorder, with a video tape recorder, or before a mirror. The following questionnaire should help you develop your public speaking technique:

 

1. Did I talk too loudly or too softly?

2. Was my voice pitched too high or too low?

3. Did I speak too fast or too slow?

4. Did I enunciate clearly?

5. Was anything wrong with my pauses?

6. Did I mispronounce any words?

7. Were my gestures forced or unnatural?

8. Were my facial expressions appropriate?

Delivery

 

1. Always greet your listeners by stating, "Ladies and Gentlemen," or some equivalent such as, "My fellow citizens."

2. Begin your actual speech with an interest catcher that immediately focuses attention on the major point of your ideas or philosophy.

3. Attempt to establish a degree of commonality or a common bond with the audience by referring to specific things that are important in your listeners' lives.

4. Show your sincerity and honesty by looking directly at the audience.

5. Be sure to emphasize important points by voice and by gesture.

6. You may use note cards, but you should avoid reading your speech verbatim (word-for-word) so that you will not lull your audience to sleep.

 

"Meet the Press" News Conference

 

1. Each candidate appears separately before a panel of reporters.

2. The format will be determined by the Campaign Managers and Candidates.

3. The session will last approximately 20 minutes.

 

"The Great Debate"

1. All candidates appear together.

2. The format will be determined by the Campaign Managers and Candidates.

3. A sample format:

 

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THE ABOVE SPECIALS Candidates should follow these general guidelines when appearing publicly to answer questions or to challenge opponents.

 

1. To make sure you are well prepared, have a cram session with your staff before appearing publicly. Encourage them to anticipate any question that might be asked-particularly, difficult or possibly embarrassing questions. Then they should drill you on these questions and evaluate your answers.

2. Always be friendly and courteous.

3. Repeat the question before answering it.

4. Keep your answers brief.

5. Never lose your composure and poise, even while answering difficult questions.

6. Do not attack your opponent personally; attack his/her ideas and programs.

7. Look for weaknesses in your opponents' statements and attack them. CAMPAIGN

 

MANAGER'S INSTRUCTIONS

 

Vince Lombardi, the late coach of the Green Bay Packers, once stated, "There is no such thing as luck. What we commonly call luck is merely what occurs when preparation meets opportunity."

 

Your vital role in this campaign is insuring that everybody on your staff is prepared to capitalize on any opportunity and face any challenge that develops during the campaign. With the exception of the candidate, you will probably become the key woman or man. You will have to be tough, realistic and objective. You must be prepared to put in long hours and make crucial decisions in moments of fatigue. You will discover that there is never enough time, staff or money to do everything that should be done. You must learn to pay great attention to detail, because the slightest mistake could cost you the whole election. Your main responsibilities will be to coordinate all aspects of the campaign and determine the allocation of campaign resources.

 

CAMPAIGN STRATEGY SHEET

Your first responsibility will be to submit the CRS (Citizen Representatives) at the start of the campaign a copy of your CAMPAIGN STRATEGY SHEET. The CRS will use this to evaluate the consistency of your campaign. Thus, you should have the basic plans of your campaign developed well before the voting begins. (Bonus points will be awarded.)

 

COORDINATION

Next you must coordinate the efforts of the Issues Director, Organizational Director, Image Director and the Candidate. It would be extremely embarrassing, plus it could cost you the necessary votes needed to win the election, if your staff took completely different positions on certain issues. Since you will be graded on the average effectiveness of your staff's production, you must take great care to insure an output of highly effective material from your staff.

 

Coordinating Activities

The following guidelines should help you coordinate the different activities of the campaign:

1. Arrange frequent staff meetings.

2. Encourage free discussion of all ideas.

3. Make sure that either you or the candidate approve all material before it is presented to the CRS.

4. Establish a records system and designate somebody to be responsible for filing.

5. Be sure that all party members understand and carry out their responsibilities.

6. Establish a clear chain of command.

7. If any weakness develops in any category, do not be afraid to assign assistants or switch people around.

8. Notify everybody immediately if any change in strategy or tactics develops.

 

Holding Staff Meetings

The following guidelines should help you conduct efficient and effective staff meetings:

1. Prepare an agenda and stick closely to it. (Remember timing will be extremely important!)

2. Create a cooperative and democratic atmosphere.

3. As much as possible, try to remain impartial.

4. Keep the discussions moving. Do not permit the meeting to become bogged down on trivial matters.

5. Make sure you are well informed.

6. Stimulate critical thinking and new ideas.

7. Lead the discussion to a satisfactory conclusion.

 

ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES

The most important contribution that you can make to the campaign will be wise decisions on how best to allocate your party's campaign resources. At the campaign's beginning you will be given a specified amount of money. You must then allocate these units to the appropriate activity.

 

After you have examined all material closely, you must determine areas in which you want to concentrate your campaign. At the same time, you must try to outguess your opponents.

 

ISSUES DIRECTOR'S INSTRUCTIONS

As the Issues Director, you are generally the forgotten person of the campaign. In many respects, however, you are the most important cog in the campaign machinery. You must do the preliminary research work before the campaign can be fully developed. Although most people are not issue-oriented, a serious candidate should release a series of position papers to reveal how he/she stands. In developing your candidate's positions, you must present a positive image of your candidate while downgrading your opponents' images. Consequently, you must thoroughly analyze your opponents' records. Watch each opponent's performance. You never know when an opponent might slip, because of a mental error or fatigue, and give your candidate the edge that is needed for victory. If you have thoroughly researched the issues and know your opponents' stands on the issues, you will be prepared to act when the inevitable slips occur.

 

Research

1. Take an inventory of your present knowledge on the issue to determine the areas in which you are weak.

2. Talk to a wide range of people with firsthand information-if you can find them.

3. Research relevant information in the library.

4. Catalogue your research material through systematic note-taking.

5. Also keep notes that classify your opponents' positions on the issue.

Preparation

1. Organize and assemble your material.

2. State the problem.

3. Explain why it is important.

4. Present your solution to the problem.

5. Explain why your solution is the best and most practical.

6. Tell the audience how they can bring about your solution.

Writing

1. Get right into your subject.

2. Use short words wherever possible.

3. Keep your sentence structure short and clear.

4. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly.

5. Try to avoid qualifying statements.

6. Use vernacular and slang only when absolutely necessary.

7. Use figures of speech only if they help you develop your ideas.

 

ORGANIZATIONAL DIRECTOR'S INSTRUCTIONS

As the Organizational Director, you have the primary responsibility for developing special projects, coordinating certain phases of the campaign, arranging for the preparation and distribution of the candidate's campaign literature and developing the rally. Your primary responsibilities will be to organize a rally.

 

POLITICAL RALLIES

The purpose of political rallies in a campaign is not only to develop a high degree of excitement and entertainment but also to demonstrate that the candidate has well-established, broadly-based grass-roots support. You will be allocated 10 minutes to present your rally before the CRS (Citizen Representatives). Paint a motto or slogan on a banner. Have a campaign song. Prepare arm bands, bumper stickers, pins or anything else that might contribute to proclaiming your candidate's name to the public. Also consider bringing refreshments and "name" entertainment to your rally. The following guidelines will help you prepare your material for the rally:

1. Use your imagination and be creative.

2. Research and examine campaign materials used in actual campaigns.

3. Keep your message short and direct.

4. Choose a catchy musical tune and then write rhyming lyrics that proclaim your candidate's image. Have your vocalists rehearse it (maybe even dance to it?).

5. Use catchy rhymes in development of your mottos. (The expression "I Like Ike" undoubtedly helped Eisenhower in the 1952 campaign, but "I'm just madly about Adlai" probably did nothing for Stevenson's image.)

6. Develop good color contrasts for your tags and signs. Especially emphasize red, white, and blue.

7. Make sure everything presented at the rallies relates to other aspects of the campaign.

 

IMAGE DIRECTOR'S INSTRUCTIONS

As Image Director, you will have one of the more complex and difficult assignments during this simulation: the responsibility for developing your candidate's image and then "selling" this image to the public. During the simulation, you must prepare the following and present them.

The commercials must pertain to an issue or relevant development in the campaign; the pamphlet or ad may project your candidate's image, explain his/her views or attack an opponent.

 

Format

You must actually film and record the TV and radio commercials. The following general guidelines will assist you in developing the commercials and the pamphlets.

 

TV COMMERCIALS

Background

1. Select the positive image and issues that you want to develop.

2. Remember this is not a speech; therefore, emphasize action.

3. Plot the timing for each sequence.

4. Determine what, if any, background noise or music should be included.

5. Plan the locale, characterizations, special effects, and action you want to use.

6. Be as realistic as possible.

7. Plan and develop the written script. Include your candidate (his/her presence or voice) in some of your commercials.

Preparation

1. Make certain that the special effects are pertinent to the subject being discussed.

2. The material should be completely accurate.

3. Avoid distracting elements or non-essential details.

4. Be sure that background features are clear and offer sufficient contrast.

5. Be sure the background features are coordinated with the spoken words.

Development

1. Arouse attention.

2. Stimulate interest.

3. Employ clear organization.

4. Use concrete, specific information.

5. Dramatize the main points.

6. Use items of interest.

7. Use effective background material.

8. Present a summary of the main points.

9. Arouse interest in further investigation of your ideas.

RADIO COMMERCIALS

Since this is a radio commercial, you will not be able to directly create a visual image as on TV. Nevertheless, you must try to create visual images in your listeners' minds through effective use of sound only.

 

Relate your message to:

1. something interesting.

2. something that is physically real to your audience.

3. something that is familiar and vital to the audience.

4. something unusual or suspenseful.

5. the human element. While developing your radio commercials, follow the "Development" guidelines above under TV COMMERCIALS.

PAMPHLETS OR NEWSPAPER ADS

1. Develop an attention-catching gimmick.

2. Use effective eye-catching color contrasts.

3. Make sure the design is symmetrical (or neat) and well organized.

4. Employ visual aids (e.g., a picture, graph or cartoon).

5. Avoid the temptation to try to tell everything. Your purpose is to arouse interest, not answer all questions. Remember the saying that many artists and writers try to follow: "Less is more!"

 

CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE'S INSTRUCTIONS

For the next few weeks you will be a Citizen Representative (CR); your awesome responsibility will be to represent the American electorate. You must forget your personal opinions and prejudices and endeavor to honestly evaluate and judge each campaign activity solely on its merits. You will represent a particular faction or section of the country, state, county or city, depending upon the nature of the election. You will have to prepare research papers on this section or faction to help you better understand this group's goals. You will evaluate the merits of the respective parties' campaigns as you believe they would appeal to your section or faction. Remember: you are not representing yourself, but an important segment of the American public. You will be, therefore, the living embodiment of the often-made statement that the ultimate strength of a democracy lies in the enlightened citizenry. The following guidelines will help you perform your responsibilities in this simulation.

 

SECTION OR FACTION'S HISTORY After you have been assigned to represent a section or faction, prepare a 400-500 word research paper dealing with this group's main interests and concerns. (Submit to your instructor before each phase.) As CR for this group, you will evaluate all campaign efforts according to how they affect your group's interests and concerns. Follow these research and writing suggestions while preparing your research paper.

Research

1. Try to talk to a wide range of people with firsthand information.

2. Research relevant information in the library.

3. Catalogue your research material through systematic note-taking.

4. Prepare an outline of the major concerns and interests of your section or faction.

Writing

1. Organize and assemble your material.

2. Use short words and short sentences whenever possible.

3. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly.

4. Try to avoid qualifying statements.

5. Use vernacular and slang only when absolutely necessary.

 

RATING THE PARTIES' CAMPAIGNS You should carefully examine the CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE'S Grading Guide. Complete a copy of this form for each party and submit it to the instructor at the end of each phase of the campaign. You must also write a paragraph of approximately 150-300 words justifying your evaluation. You, in turn, will be evaluated by your teacher on the quality of your effort.

GENERAL EVALUATION Since your primary responsibility in this simulation will be to listen, observe and evaluate, the following aids will be quite useful to you:

1. Be mentally prepared to listen. Critical listening takes intense concentration.

2. Start listening at the outset.

3. Develop a positive attitude toward the speaker and his/her message.

4. Be objective and try not to let your prejudices interfere.

5. Do not yield to distractions.

6. Follow the speaker's purpose.

7. Be critical, not a "sponge."

8. Ask questions and try to clarify obscure points.

 

CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE'S GRADING GUIDE (RECOMMENDED STRONGLY)

Refer to these guidelines while evaluating the merits of the different parties' presentations. You should also refer to these guidelines while preparing your voting justification paper at the end of each phase.

 

GENERAL

How convincingly does the presenter show:

How effectively does the presenter employ:

  • evidence of fact?
  • forms of reasoning?
  • items of attention and interest?
  • organizational clarity?
  • control of the language?
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    • SPEECHES, "MEET THE PRESS" AND "THE GREAT DEBATE"

    How appropriate was the speaker's voice according to the following:

     

    How effective were the visual aspects of the speaker's delivery in the following categories:

     

    How effective was the content of the speech in the following categories:

     

    RADIO AND TV COMMERCIALS

     

    How effective was the commercial in the following respects:

     

    How effective was the content of the commercial in the following respects:

     

    RALLY MATERIAL

    (Songs, Mottoes, Tags, Signs, et al)

     

    Were these special effects:

     

    Was the content of the message:

     

    CAMPAIGN STRATEGY SHEET (filled out by Campaign Manager)

    Party Candidate Campaign Manager

     

     

    CANDIDATE (Geography, Image, Religion, Ideology, Education, Experience)

    Demonstrate how your candidate's background will appeal to a wide range of voting blocs in nation, state, county or city.

     

     

     

     

    CAMPAIGN THEME Describe the key point on which your campaign will focus.

     

     

     

    Candidate

     

     

    MAJOR PLATFORM PLANKS List 3-5 platform planks or ideals that will guide your accomplishing your CAMPAIGN THEME.

     

     

     

     

    SOURCES OF SUPPORT List major voting blocs to which you will appeal in order to win a majority of votes.

     

     

     

    Submitted by Campaign Manager of the Party