Task 1: Interest Groups and EndorsementsELECTION 2014

Interest Groups – Who are you and what do you do?

You need to help educate other interested parties in this campaign about your role, and how they might best work with (or around) your interest group. To do so, prepare a 2-3 minute presentation on your specific interest group.

  • Begin by looking at your interest group as it exists in reality—find it online. Look at their website. See what is said about them in the news.
  • Your presentation should answer the following questions:

-Describe your interest group and its primary issue(s). What does your interest group work for?

-What types of political action does your interest group take? To see typical ways interest groups can impact politics, see pages 141-145 in your textbook.

-How do you go about trying to attract new members? How do you activate current members? What resources do you have to mobilize the public and your members? (Example: Do you have a social media presence?)

-What should parties, candidates and the media know about how best to work with you?

-What can you give candidates, parties and the media in return?

Remember – you are the expert on your group! Help everyone else to really understand your purpose and functions.

Endorsement Questionnaire for Candidates

Each interest group team will create an endorsement questionnaire with which to help determine which candidate to back.

The questions created should provide you with enough information to gauge who your group will plan to support. There is no limit to the number of questions you can ask of the candidate about your issue.

Turn in:

  • Your questions
  • A summary/analysis of responses

Background Information: In campaigns and elections, your value is measured in terms of money and endorsements. This is a critical piece of getting elected because without both, your candidate will be left out on Election Day.

The Money:

Although Congress has legislated restrictions on how much money outside groups can spend on a political campaign (McCain-Feingold), the court has not agreed (Buckley vsValeo; Citizens United vs. FEC, McCutcheon v. FEC). For the purpose of this assignment we are assuming that the McCain standard is in effect for direct contributions, but that the Citizens ruling governs how much you can spend on your own advertising. Because of this, campaigns need to be directly attempting to convince you to spend a lot of money running ads for them and in return you should extract promises about what they will do for you once they in office or making your issue a part of their message. While many people may see this as dishonest, really what you’re doing is making sure (to the best of your ability) that the investment that your members made is rewarded by the votes of candidates that you support. If you can’t assure that, why would your members continue to give you financial support?

Endorsements (Value of endorsement in voter contact)

  • The National Rifle Association (approx. 4.3 million members. Most are single-issue voters and your endorsement means that they turn out.) $4.3 million dollars
  • SEIU (1.8 million workers. Particularly concentrated in urban areas and good political activists. These members are not only voters, but grassroots workers who will make phone calls, put up yard signs and make Get Out the Vote campaigns most effective) $1.8 million dollars
  • American Conservative Union (Difficult to know, you have several organizations under your umbrella but estimates are in the 1-2 million range. Your members are very active and dedicated to the causes you suggest) $1.2 million dollars
  • NARAL/Pro Choice America (1 million, particularly upper middle class women. Your members will not only donate to your PAC, but they will also write individual checks to candidates who are endorsed so your assistance is not only in your own funding, but also can result in millions of dollars to the campaign itself) $1 million dollars

What you can do with your endorsement:

By federal law you are limited in the amount you can give to a campaign, but you can run issue ads that mention candidates almost limitlessly. You can also encourage your members to donate individually to campaigns increasing their ability to self-fund. Note that the money you have above is for the entire election, so use it wisely! Don’t waste money in the primary that will be useful in the general election.

What you can purchase:

Promotions

You are allowed to create the following based on the following costs:

Billboard $100,000 for an unlimited amount

Print Ad $250,000 each (Full size sheet of paper)

“Radio” Ad $350,000 each

Campaign buttons $50,000 for an unlimited amount

TV Ad $550,000to $750,000 each

You have choices about the intensity of your support and your endorsement does not automatically guarantee a big check. You have a lot of races you want to support so the candidates need to earn their support by showing that they are 100% committed to your issues and they will not back down for anything.

The Range:

Lowest Level of Support: A letter of endorsement to the campaign and permission to advertise your endorsement to their voters.

Middle Level Support: A letter of endorsement sent out to your members, a public endorsement event, a full contribution, and paper promotions (flyers, posters, buttons)

High Level Support: Same as Middle Level with one TV/Radio added in.

Highest Level of Support: Same as High Level, but with multiple ads both positive for your candidate and negative against their opponent.