Discuss the different strategies used during presidential elections. What are the dynamics at the pre-primary, primary, and general election stages? How does the primary election strategy differ from the strategy of the general election campaign?

What will be an ideal response?

Ans: Successful candidates begin the pre-primary stage by raising money and getting positive media coverage, even perhaps becoming the front-runner. Doing well in early primaries and caucuses is key because the candidate gathers momentum—the feeling that he or she is on a roll—and all the media attention, fundraising success, and evaluations by opponents that come with momentum. Getting momentum does not require winning the most delegates, however. Often, if a candidate exceeds expectations, then he or she is considered the winner because of this momentum. Candidates make ideological cues to attract the partisans who tend to participate in primaries and caucuses. Lacking the ability to base their decision on party identification, partisan primary voters often have to base their voting decision on which candidate is more “electable” in the general election campaign. In the general election campaign, candidates avoid the ideological cues that helped them to win their party’s nomination and instead “run to the middle” to attract moderate swing voters. Candidates do not need to raise money at this stage, but they do have to focus their energy and resources on winning key swing states that have considerable Electoral College votes. Professional campaign staffers run the campaign and use polling, media, get-out-the-vote efforts, and negative advertising to their advantage. Because some voters vote based on issues, the goal for each campaign is to highlight the issues that the party owns in order to strengthen the candidate’s own support and to bring attention to the opponent’s wedge issues in order to undermine the opponent’s support.