Manage a presidential campaign

OVERVIEW & RESEARCH

With a 2012 presidential election upon us, why not select a candidate and create a campaign to get him/her elected. Although any person or team can choose this project, it will certainly require those who are somewhat well-rounded in politics, social studies, world history, education and economics. A well-run presidential campaign is  led by a person/group who knows the issues as well as the candidate.

IMPORTANT: you can choose an existing candidate or you can create your own, fictional candidate.

When researching your project, consider the following questions, which should help you plan the year-long development of your campaign:

  • What are the parts of a presidential campaign?Like the social media example above, what else has made past campaigns successful?
    • Will your campaign include something unique?
      • In the last election season, President Obama revolutionized campaigning by making unprecedented use of social media. This, obviously, helped him win the presidency.
  • What has cost others to lose?
    How have successful candidates raised enough money to run their campaigns?
    • For example, what contributed to Hillary Clinton's narrow loss to eventual Democratic nominee,Barack Obama?
      • Note, Clinton visited Brush High School; could this have hurt her?
  • To create your campaign, what support do you need and who will provide it?What other issues/questions can you come up with along the way?
    • Is one person in charge of advertising?
    • Do you have a security chief?

PLANNING

Consider that you have roughly 24 weeks to complete your project. We will have three checkpoints (grading periods). You should work backwards from the end of the school year, when your organization is complete to the end of each quarter. What will be completed by the end of each 9-week grading period, heading into June?

Break down each quarter into smaller checkpoints.

  • For example, your research and written proposal should be finished by November 30.
  • A successful run for the presidency takes many millions of dollars (for travel expenses, advertising and paying employees); how will you raise money for your candidate? What plans need to be made for fundraising?
  • Your campaign calendar is a major piece of your project. Where will your candidate appear (understanding the Electoral College and which states are most important to win is critical to scheduling appearances)?If you need support from teachers (your social studies teacher could be very helpful) or peers, how will you get it.
    • NOTE: you should plan your calendar backwards from election day.
      • Don't forget scheduled debates.
  • When will your financial plan be complete?
  • Other checkpoints?

MATERIALS & PROCEDURES

To complete your project, you will need to use a variety of tools and skills. Please use as many of the following as possible to demonstrate mastery of the applications and expertise in these areas of language arts:

  • Numerous sources for research -- books, web sites, encyclopedias; Noodle Tools will be used to complete the research
  • Your Barnesclass.com web site, including the message board and a special web page that leads me to all parts of your project
  • A Diigo group, containing at least 10 web sites that demonstrate ongoing research and production
  • A variety of web tools that contribute in some way to your project and demonstrate expertise in the use of these applications -- see the web tools page for help
  • Writing throughout the project that supports it:
    • advertising
    • instructions
    • brochures
    • posters
    • proposals
    • e-mails
    • requests for assistance
    • speeches
  • What else? your own materials and procedures, which you clear with me