The first panel of Tisch College’s “Election 2024” event series, titled “What Makes a Presidential Campaign Work and How to Get on the Campaign Bus,” was held in Barnum Hall last Tuesday.
Panelists included experienced political strategists hailing from both the Republican and Democratic parties, including former White House legislative director Louisa Terrell, who is currently serving as a Visiting Fellow at the Tisch College of Civic Life. A Tufts alumna, Terrell works as a senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
Other speakers included Betsy Ankney, campaign manager for Nikki Haley; Roger Lau, former campaign manager for Elizabeth Warren and Matt Mowers, former diplomat and senior advisor in former president Donald Trump’s State Department.
According to the panelists, one of the most vital elements of a successful presidential campaign is an efficient budget.
“This is the engine that you need to drive everything else,” Terrell said.
The speakers also emphasized the importance of funding to a campaign’s survival, with Terrell adding that the Harris campaign will likely spend about $340 million on advertising between now and Election Day.
“I think people want to focus on some of the sort of sexier aspects of campaigns, but the reality is, you can’t do any of that unless you raise enough money and you spend it efficiently,” Ankney said. “You are essentially starting a small business from scratch, running it efficiently and bankrupting it at the exact same rate.”
Lau pointed out that raising enough money for a successful campaign takes time; as a result, campaigns must decide how to balance their fundraising efforts with the need to maximize the limited time they have at their disposal.
“What if we decide to take the most valuable resource we have, which is time, and optimize in a different way, and… [instead of using] the money that you do raise to raise more money, use that time and money to talk to voters and talk to people about ideas,” Lau said.
The speakers noted that another crucial strategy is a campaign’s ability to capitalize on moments in the media when candidates can gain the most donations.
“When you wonder, ‘why are candidates going on and doing a bunch of earned cable TV hits?’ Yes, it’s to get their message to voters, but most importantly, it’s because they’re trying to get donors,” Mowers said.
Terrell stressed that presidential campaign marketing must be “hyper-targeted,” given that specific demographics of voters are drawn to different media platforms including Spotify, WhatsApp and streaming television. She explained that the goal of a campaign’s communications strategy is not just to push a campaign’s message forward, but to grab the attention of voters and to “break through” the constant flow of information online.
“I can’t overstate how in a presidential campaign, you are literally on the hunt for a viral moment every day,” Terrell said.
The panelists also shared the factors that determine a candidate’s popularity once the candidate establishes the infrastructure and resources necessary to run a successful campaign.
“At the end of the day, a winning message is a message of change,” Terrell said. “Then ultimately, what voters want, irrespective of party, is to throw the bums out and [a challenger]. We are in a world in which we want someone new. So how people message, how they are an agent of change … that’s sort of now become the winning message.”
Ankney stressed that a candidate's personality plays a large role in voters’ willingness to listen to their campaign message, with bigger personalities generally drawing the most media attention.
“You are rewarded for wild behavior. You are rewarded for bad behavior. If you are watching a congressional hearing, the member who is asking pointed and sober questions to get to the bottom of an issue, they don’t get any credit,” Ankey said. “The member who stands up and is grandstanding and yelling and waving their arms, they get attention.”
