Polling Postmortem – Tuesday, November 15th (Blog #10)

How did the polls perform in the 2022 midterm elections? Were they accurate in predicting winners in the major races, or did they miss the mark? How important was the issue you’re assessing for the QU Poll Trends Project in the 2022 midterms and was it reflected in the polls? Finally, what are some of the challenges/issues with polling that were highlighted by this latest election cycle? To support your response, you need to use one of the readings posted on Blackboard, one article you find on your own, and a third article that is either one of the Blackboard readings or from an outside source.  

Election Recap – Thursday, November 10th (Blog #9)

Our Thursday class meeting will be a debrief on the 2022 campaign, so I want you to offer your take on the following topics. First, what forms of campaign communication do you think were most effective for your candidate and which strategies did not work/were not effective? Second, how would you assess the media coverage of the midterm election results, both from Election Night and the following days? Finally, how would you assess voters' reactions to the results of this year’s midterm races (both the one you tracked and others) based on what people are posting on social media? Refer to at least one previous class reading and two outside sources to support your response.

Fundraising, Endorsements & Surrogates – Tuesday, October 25th (Blog #8)

How important are fundraising, endorsements, and surrogates in modern campaigns? What strategies has your Election Eve Project candidate used to raise money and how effective have they been? Finally, what role have endorsements and surrogates played in your candidate’s campaign? To support your response, you can use either of the Daily Schedule readings for this week (Semiatin Ch. 2 or Ch. 8) along with one of the articles posted on Blackboard and a third article you find on your own.

Advertising – Tuesday, October 18th (Blog #7)

What types of ads are your candidates running? Are they more positive or negative in tone, and how do they compare to ads in previous campaigns? Based on the categories outlined in the Tedesco & Dunn article “Political Advertising in the 2020 Presidential Campaign” (posted on Blackboard), offer examples of at least three different types of ads from your Election Eve Project candidate and compare them to three similar historical ads that can be found on the website "The Living Room Candidate". Your candidate ads will count as your outside sources for this week.

Debates – Tuesday, October 11th (Blog #6)

Imagine you are the debate coach hired by your candidate’s campaign. What debate strategies would you recommend your candidate follow? Which previous presidential candidates should they look to as examples of best debate practices that they should emulate? Which previous candidates made mistakes which they should learn from and avoid? Finally, what does your candidate need to do for their debate performance to help, and not hurt, their campaign? You must use the Trent et al and “Presidential Debates Have Always Been Political Theater” readings posted on Blackboard plus a third article you find on your own related to your candidate.   

GOTV & Stump Campaigning – Tuesday, October 4th (Blog #5)

In this post, reflect on the role of stump campaigning as a GOTV (get out the vote) tactic by discussing your candidate's voter engagement and mobilization strategies. Where have they been campaigning and how would you describe their events (ex: large rallies, small meetings with key voting blocs, mix of both, etc.)? What are their top talking points in their stump speeches? How important of a topic is voting access/integrity? Finally, have they involved any surrogates/key endorsements (ex: Biden or Trump) in their strategy? Along with referring to one of the textbook readings and one of the articles posted on Blackboard for this week to support your response, you must offer examples of media coverage from at least two different media outlets. These will count as your additional articles for this week (so there’s a minimum of four sources required this week). 

Social Media – Tuesday, September 27th (Blog #4)

How are the campaigns using websites and social media to target voters and how does it differ from previous campaigns? Do you think their messaging strategies have been effective thus far and what, if any, changes would you recommend? Finally, how important is online campaign communication in the 2022 campaign? Along with referring to the class readings, use examples from your candidate’s website and one social media account (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.) to support your response. Each Election Eve team member should analyze a different platform, so be sure to coordinate with each other for this particular assignment.