|
News Article
|
The business side of politics
By Sito Negron
To paraphrase a famous saying, it seems the business of politics is business.
Sort of like tax preparers in March and April, people in the politics business are busy these days.
From printing mailers to developing voter lists to setting up signs, keeping a calendar and sending press releases, a well-run political campaign resembles nothing more than a business of sorts. And like many businesses, it starts with money.
“The first step in a campaign is coming up with a budget,” said Rick Armendariz, a political consultant and lobbyist.
Millions of dollars are being spent by dozens of candidates on message massagers, pollsters, list makers, sign wavers, graphic designers and video producers.
Campaigns spend money on food, gas, office space, Web sites and advertising. Candidates have to consider their media – from television, radio, print and billboards to mailers, cards, bumper stickers and even buttons and t-shirts – and how to get it out.
Someone has to buy lumber for large signs, someone has to know where to put the signs, and someone has to get them there.
Someone has to figure out which printer to use and for what – mailers? push cards? business cards? brochures? bumper stickers? – and someone has to design the materials.
It gets complicated. Morris Pittle, principal of Two Ton Creativity, said when he works in New Mexico, “The candidates we do are very insistent we use a union vendor, especially for printing.”
There are people who charge thousands of dollars to come up with big strategies and handle minor details – don’t forget a disclaimer on your political ads! – and there are people who take a few dollars for a day of sign holding at the polls.
Help from friends
There are list makers who help a campaign avoid dead phone numbers or knocking on the doors of non-voters or partisans of a different candidate or party.
Like any small business, many campaigns cannot afford professionals to handle the myriad strategic options, and friends or relatives will step in to make calls, develop Web sites and put up signs.
Candidates are faced with the type of choices any small business has – how to use a limited budget and a network of friends and supporters to create a campaign that reaches the right market of consumers – er, voters.
State Rep. Joe Moody says there are lots of choices and lots of decision to make. But it all comes done to one thing: It’s the budget, stupid.
“You sit down and go over options. This is what our A-plus budget would look like, this is what our B-plus budget would look like, this is what our C-plus budget would look like,” Moody said. “You want to get to the A-plus, but you set up a path on day one and the path ends on Election Day."
Moody is unopposed in the Democratic primary, and will face one of three Republicans in the general election – Dee Margo, Jay Kleberg or L. Rene Diaz.
“There absolutely is a business model you put in place in a campaign,” Moody said. “You have this much time and this many houses and this many voters. All the information is there, as far as who is out there and the support you need to earn. If you don’t put together a plan to reach voters, I don’t know how you can be successful.”
Budgets can run from a few hundred dollars for a down-ballot race like a school board seat, to thousands or tens of thousands for City Council or County Commissioners Court, to hundreds of thousands for state representative.
Margo and Kleberg are spending hundreds of thousands just in the primary; U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes has raised millions of dollars over the years, and a tightly contested congressional race would likely see that level of spending.
TV time
Bob Nitzburg is political director for Entravision’s El Paso operation, which includes Channel 26 KINT and radio stations KHRO 1150 AM, KOFX 92.3 FM, and KINT 93.9 FM.
Combined, the stations stand to make half a million dollars in advertising related to this campaign season, according to political advertising records that broadcasters must keep.
“Years ago, general manager David Candelaria decided we needed to put someone in charge of this,” Nitzburg said. “Most stations wait for the phone to ring. I aggressively seek out this business.”
It gets technical and complicated, Nitzburg said, rattling off facts about rate sheets, deadlines and reporting requirements.
Even though political ads can take up much of a local station’s airtime, that doesn’t result in a financial bonanza for the broadcaster, since they are required to charge their lowest available rate. And a busy political season also tends to push out reliable and longtime local clients.
In this cycle, not quite half the advertising in the El Paso area is coming from Democratic gubernatorial candidates Farouk Shami and Bill White.
Presidential campaigns generate huge national numbers – the research firm PQ Media estimated in 2008 that political candidates would spend $4.5 billion, with the presidential candidates accounting for about half.
From media placement on air, to people who specialize in the ground game, political season involves hundreds, possibly thousands of people. Armendariz said there even are people who make spare change at the neighborhood level.
“You have people who are hawkers who can stand at the polls, so when people go to the location they see Mr. So-and-So and what t-shirt he’s wearing and they say that’s who we'll vote for,” Armendariz said.
He said he offers full-service campaign planning, the walk list, map, speechwriting, opposition research, platform development, policy briefs. About the only thing he doesn’t do is polling.
At one time, certain campaign handlers might have been associated with certain political factions. But now what candidates are paying for is results.
“Obviously, you’re not going to put up signs for competing candidates. But I do see more where the same guy puts up signs for competing political factions just because he does a good job,” Armendariz said.
Armendariz, who prefers not to speak to the press because he wants the focus to be on the candidates, has worked on campaigns for state Reps. Norma Chavez and Marisa Marquez. Who is he working with this cycle?
“Check the campaign reports,” he said.
|
| READER RESPONSE |
|
|
|
| CK - posted: 2/23/2010 5:35:56 PM
The one aspect of a Campaign that is mentioned but not highlighted is "Time". Campaigns require money but winning requires hard work. Candidates and their volunteers contribute a tremendous amount of time and effort to a campaign. It is difficult to quantify the amount of time contributed but I do believe that it plays a significant role in defining each and every candidate. I firmly believe that constintuents reward candididates for their hard work, honesty and determination by voting for them. These attributes represent the candidates' true committment to their community. If a candidate works hard for your vote you know they will work hard as your representative. | | Tio Kleberg - posted: 2/22/2010 12:33:37 PM
If work transfers to results, Jay will be the clear winner. He has conveyed his message personally, by walking to over 3,000 homes, meeting voters, staying on message, not attacking his opponents or going negative. | |
|
|