Campaign '96: Third-Party Time? is a web-based case study for PAL 201, the John F. Kennedy School of Government's course on Elective and Advocacy Politics. The Case Program at the Kennedy School developed the Third-Party Time case study. The case study asks you to become the chief political strategist for a prospective third party or independent presidential candidate and contains a wide range of information on a variety of themes for you to use. Using the information, it's your job to lay out a basic strategy that details how your candidate will succeed.
So here's the situation ... You've just come on board the campaign at the end of March 1996. Bob Dole's seven-week sprint to win his party's nomination has recently succeeded with primary victories in California, Nevada and Washington. Rumblings of potential third party candidates - right, left and center - are growing louder, as polls show many voters are dissatisfied with a choice between Clinton and Dole. Click on the Third Party Time link at the top of this page for the full details on the assignment.
A. You must follow all directions in the case study. After you've completed the process you'll have enough expertise to complete your final task - The Memo. The Memo is a summary of your candidate's campaign, which clearly explains what your candidate and party consider to be success and addresses the three major components of campaign strategy: candidate positioning (your message), voter segmentation (your market) and the means you employ to implement your campaign (the mechanics). The case study is linked at the top of this page and explains everything you need to know, including the full details of The Memo.
B. YOUR MEMO SHOULD ADDRESS ALL OF THE FOLLOWING IF ONLY BRIEFLY.
a. Briefly profile the candidate or party for whom you are working.
b. Describe the goals of your campaign.
a. Describe your candidate's positions on the important issues you identified.
b. How do your candidate's choice of & positions on the issues relate to those of other candidates?
c. What led you to believe that the "issue space" you have created for your candidate isn't already taken?
3. Market
a. Identify the segments of the population most likely to respond to the issues of importance to your candidate.
b. Determine the states likely to have an effect on the outcome of your candidate's campaign.
c. Pinpoint those states that will form the core of your campaign.
4. Mechanics
a. Describe your strategy for getting your candidate and/or party on the ballot in those states.
b. Describe your methods of making your candidate known in the targeted states.
c. Identify potential allies (e.g., officeholders, groups, celebrities, etc) you will recruit to support your campaign.
d. Describe how you intend to raise funds for your campaign.
e. Estimate the impact of your campaign ... how much of the popular vote & how many electoral votes can you win?
Be careful to address all of the topics you are asked to cover in the memo ... be thorough and specific. Make specific and detailed connections to course content.
Since you are giving advice to someone who may know little about the mechanics of politics, you need to be careful to use a direct and easily understandable style with a minimum of jargon and buzz words.
Since you are giving advice to someone who may be the next president, you need to be careful to include an introduction, correct spelling and grammar and a conclusion that summarizes the most important points you want the candidate to remember. Your memo should be written to the candidate -- not to me -- and your writing should reflect an awareness of your audience.
C. By the deadline shown in the Course Schedule on the main page of the syllabus:
Send your memo addressing the four areas given above in the body of a new email to dramyglenn@earthlink.net.
Put only your name and Activity #4 at the beginning of your email.
Be careful to use the correct subject line.
Late memos will lose one point per day late, including weekends and holidays.
D. Just for fun, try the links below.
READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS FROM THE MARGIN NOTES.
