How to Encourage Voters when Running for Office
Identify the base., Craft a compelling narrative., Keep them excited., Stay in touch., Offer incentives., Empower them to act.
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Identify the base.
If you’re running in a general election, this is easy enough—your base is your party.
But in a primary election, it’s tougher to tell, but your base is always going to represent some component of your party’s coalition.
Which part largely depends on you; how people perceive you, and the preexisting relationships you have with opinion leaders.For example, groups in the Republican coalition are business conservatives, social conservatives, and Tea Partiers, who borrow from both groups, but emphasize the relationship between the state and the individual.
If you have social conservative leanings and relationships with Tea Party leaders, then your base is Tea Party social conservatives. -
Step 2: Craft a compelling narrative.
A campaign’s narrative is the overarching theme of the campaign.
It logically connects the ethos of the candidate to the specific messages the candidate relays.For example, Obama was famously good at creating a compelling narrative in
2008.
He was the candidate of hope and change; a transformational figure who would reshape our nation into a better version of itself.
Contrast this with Clinton in ’92.
While Clinton was also had a narrative that emphasized the future, it was not as a transformational figure, it was as a figure who already represented the transformation of the Post-Cold War society. , There are basically two ways to keep your base excited.
You can develop appealing messages and you can hold events to unite and inspire them.
Having a message that appeals to your base (as opposed to persuadable voters) should be second nature.
Creating opportunities to unite and inspire your base is more difficult.For instance, if you are positioning yourself as the Tea Party candidate, you should already understand that the Tea Party thinks of themselves as the heirs to the American Revolution.
They fear what they perceive as the tyranny of the modern age.
So your messages to them should emphasize your place in a historical tradition and your willingness to take drastic action to protect liberty.
For big campaigns, rallies are one of the best base-energizing events there are.
For small campaigns, barbecues and parties work well.
What works even better though, is staging noteworthy civil-disobedience types of events with you and your team.
They are high profile and cheap.
For example, the House Democrats held a sit in for gun control in the summer of
2016.
It took less than a day and cost virtually nothing, but it signaled to gun control supporters that the Democratic party agreed with them and valued them. , With the advent of text messaging, Twitter, and Facebook, there’s no excuse for allowing contact between the campaign and its base to lapse.
Keep up a steady stream of communication between you and your followers.For example, you should continually comment on noteworthy news items.
In present day politics, Donald Trump is the absolute master of this.
His never ending, splashy, rapid-fire tweets create the feeling of a conversation between him and his most loyal supporters. , Especially in local elections, incentives can be powerful and manageable tools to sustain enthusiasm throughout a campaign season.
The incentives don’t have to be monetary; they can be nothing more than time with the candidate.For example, a campaign could set a goal for voter registration—750 registrations in a month—and the prize for a volunteer reaching the goal could be going to a football game with the candidate. , Your base will stay excited and committed if you empower them to act on behalf of the campaign.
Allow them to conduct independent canvasses and create memes and other material for publication on social media.Bernie Sanders is the modern-day master of this.
The Sanders campaign actually had a dedicated smartphone app that could be used to canvass voters in a given neighborhood, and the ability of the Berniebros to create memes is legendary.
Sanders did so well at energizing his base that months after the final votes were cast, his supporters are still discussed as a cohesive political group.
Out of a field of more than two dozen other candidates, Sanders is the only one who can make such a claim. -
Step 3: Keep them excited.
-
Step 4: Stay in touch.
-
Step 5: Offer incentives.
-
Step 6: Empower them to act.
Detailed Guide
If you’re running in a general election, this is easy enough—your base is your party.
But in a primary election, it’s tougher to tell, but your base is always going to represent some component of your party’s coalition.
Which part largely depends on you; how people perceive you, and the preexisting relationships you have with opinion leaders.For example, groups in the Republican coalition are business conservatives, social conservatives, and Tea Partiers, who borrow from both groups, but emphasize the relationship between the state and the individual.
If you have social conservative leanings and relationships with Tea Party leaders, then your base is Tea Party social conservatives.
A campaign’s narrative is the overarching theme of the campaign.
It logically connects the ethos of the candidate to the specific messages the candidate relays.For example, Obama was famously good at creating a compelling narrative in
2008.
He was the candidate of hope and change; a transformational figure who would reshape our nation into a better version of itself.
Contrast this with Clinton in ’92.
While Clinton was also had a narrative that emphasized the future, it was not as a transformational figure, it was as a figure who already represented the transformation of the Post-Cold War society. , There are basically two ways to keep your base excited.
You can develop appealing messages and you can hold events to unite and inspire them.
Having a message that appeals to your base (as opposed to persuadable voters) should be second nature.
Creating opportunities to unite and inspire your base is more difficult.For instance, if you are positioning yourself as the Tea Party candidate, you should already understand that the Tea Party thinks of themselves as the heirs to the American Revolution.
They fear what they perceive as the tyranny of the modern age.
So your messages to them should emphasize your place in a historical tradition and your willingness to take drastic action to protect liberty.
For big campaigns, rallies are one of the best base-energizing events there are.
For small campaigns, barbecues and parties work well.
What works even better though, is staging noteworthy civil-disobedience types of events with you and your team.
They are high profile and cheap.
For example, the House Democrats held a sit in for gun control in the summer of
2016.
It took less than a day and cost virtually nothing, but it signaled to gun control supporters that the Democratic party agreed with them and valued them. , With the advent of text messaging, Twitter, and Facebook, there’s no excuse for allowing contact between the campaign and its base to lapse.
Keep up a steady stream of communication between you and your followers.For example, you should continually comment on noteworthy news items.
In present day politics, Donald Trump is the absolute master of this.
His never ending, splashy, rapid-fire tweets create the feeling of a conversation between him and his most loyal supporters. , Especially in local elections, incentives can be powerful and manageable tools to sustain enthusiasm throughout a campaign season.
The incentives don’t have to be monetary; they can be nothing more than time with the candidate.For example, a campaign could set a goal for voter registration—750 registrations in a month—and the prize for a volunteer reaching the goal could be going to a football game with the candidate. , Your base will stay excited and committed if you empower them to act on behalf of the campaign.
Allow them to conduct independent canvasses and create memes and other material for publication on social media.Bernie Sanders is the modern-day master of this.
The Sanders campaign actually had a dedicated smartphone app that could be used to canvass voters in a given neighborhood, and the ability of the Berniebros to create memes is legendary.
Sanders did so well at energizing his base that months after the final votes were cast, his supporters are still discussed as a cohesive political group.
Out of a field of more than two dozen other candidates, Sanders is the only one who can make such a claim.
About the Author
Judy Vasquez
Specializes in breaking down complex home improvement topics into simple steps.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: