Public Opinion in Elections

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the use of polling data about public opinion to formulate a strategy is the single most essential element in a successful campaign and how, by properly employing public opinion in a campaign, the candidate increases his or her chance for election. It demonstrates how, in general, today, the campaign revolves around the necessity to interpret the poll information and respond accordingly to the public's desires.

From the Paper:

"In the last decade the modern election has moved in the direction of more important campaign consultants. Politicians need to delegate the jobs in an election to multiple people who have a set goal of being voted to office. As stated in Sabato's American Government, "Many critics claim that consultants strip campaigns of substance and reduce them to a clever bag of tricks for sale, even blaming the degeneration of American Politics in the latter half of this century on the rise of the political consultant" (p. 517). Running a successful campaign has turned into a game of sorts. No longer does the candidate with the best plan to represent his people come into office. They political consultant takes everything that the politician already has, and tries to mold all the information into an image that the public will buy. Campaigns raise money for a variety of tasks that need to be managed."

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