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Other political party campaign activities

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Other political party campaign activities

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Political parties have a variety of additional campaign techniques that are used in most elections.These include:Letterboxing. Parties will print and distribute advertising leaflets during an election campaign.These will usually feature a photo and information about the local candidate, as well asinformation about the party’s policies. Local party members then volunteer to walk around theelectorate delivering the leaflets to letterboxes.Polling. As well as opinion polling companies carrying out surveys of voters’ opinions, politicalparties carry out their own opinion polls, particularly during an election campaign. They want upto-date feedback on how well their campaign is being received by the voters, whether theirpolicies are popular or not, and how well the leaders are performing. The political parties carryout polling almost every day during an election campaign to achieve this.Doorknocking. A traditional method of campaigning has been for a candidate to walk around theelectorate, knocking on doors to talk to voters. This is less likely to occur during the officialcampaign, but some candidates may have spent many hours doing this between elections,particularly if they are challenging a well-known member of parliament.Letters to editor and talkback calls. During an election campaign, there is always a strongemphasis on political issues in the letters pages of the newspapers as well as on talkback radioprograms. Members and supporters of political parties regularly send letters to the newspapers,and phone up talkback radio programs during this time. They usually pretend to be ordinarymembers of the public, and do not reveal their party membership.Handing out how-to-vote cards. On election day, political parties rely on volunteers and ordinaryparty members to stand outside polling places and hand out how-to-vote cards.

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Interest groups
Each party has support among a number of interest groups throughout the community. The Liberal
Party has support from a number of business groups, and many of these will donate money to help
cover the cost of that party’s advertising. In the same way, the Greens often get support from
environmental groups, who will provide time and resources to help that party’s campaign. Labor
has strong links with the trade union movement, so the union movement donates large amounts to
that party’s campaign. Unions will also often campaign directly against the Liberal Party. In the
2007 election, for example, the unions campaigned strongly against the Liberal government’s
WorkChoices laws on the grounds that the laws harmed ordinary workers, who were often union
members.

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In today’s world it seems that millions of people are almost constantly connected. Your ability to access websites, email and social media from almost anywhere through your smartphone means that you can express an opinion on any issue, to almost anyone, anytime, anywhere. Political
parties and their leaders are very aware of the significance of social media, and have been adopting social media to appeal to the public, particularly younger voters. In recent years they have expanded their efforts on social media in a variety of ways:
All of the major parties have Facebook pages to keep their supporters updated, and most individual members of parliament have their own Facebook pages. As well as providing information about party policies, individual members use their Facebook pages to provide updates on their activities within their electorates. Almost every member of parliament in Australia today has a Twitter account. One of the first to
do so was the former prime minister, Kevin Rudd. At its peak his Twitter account had over 1.3 million followers. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has over 640 000 Twitter followers. As an example of the power of social media in politics, we only have to look at the American experience. When Barack Obama was running for president of the United States in 2008, his
campaign team created election advertising to be shown on YouTube. The material was watched for 14.5 million hours, all free, which is the equivalent of $47 million worth of paid television
advertising. President Obama launched his re-election campaign for 2012 on Facebook in April 2011. Voters in the United States can post comments, suggestions and ideas for the future on the president’s Facebook page. Members of parliament, supporters of particular political parties and opponents of the same political parties, as well as people campaigning for changes in the law, can all use social media to get their
message across. Members of parliament and candidates for election can publicise their activities and gain immediate feedback from followers through the use of different social media platforms.

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All political parties put together an advertising program as part of their election campaign. Television advertising is the most common form used, but parties will also advertise on the radio and in the newspapers. Most advertising has to be short, with a message that is easy to understand. Political parties make use of slogans they hope will be easy to remember. They also try to create a negative impression of their opponents. The party leaders feature heavily in these advertisements because they want voters to identify with that leader as the next prime minister. Some samples of advertisements used in the 2016 election campaign can be found by following the Election campaign advertising weblink in your Resources section, which also has some
commentary on the advertising campaign.

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Opinion polls are surveys taken of people from all over Australia and from all walks of life. They are conducted by different polling companies. Most of these conduct their surveys by telephoning people and asking them a series of questions. While conducting their surveys, they often also ask the person being surveyed their age and level of income. This is done to help ensure that they survey a broad range of different people. A small but important part of their business is to conduct surveys on people’s attitudes to government policies and actions. To achieve this, they will survey people to find out whether they
support or oppose a particular policy or political promise. When an election is close, they will also conduct surveys to find out who people intend to vote for. It is this polling that can provide the political leaders with feedback on how well they are performing. Opinion polls also alert the leaders to issues that voters are concerned about, and in this way can influence the policies and promises the leaders to make during an election campaign.

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Traditional Media, Television News, Newspapers, And Radio

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Traditional Media, Television News, Newspapers, And Radio

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Traditional Media: As well as appearing on current affairs programs to answer questions and debate issues, political parties and their leaders will attempt to use the full range of the media to get their message across. This includes the traditional media outlets of television news, newspapers and radio.
Television News: During an election campaign the two leaders travel around the country, accompanied by journalists
and camera crew from all the television stations. Each day they attempt to make a significant announcement or promise that they hope will be broadcast on that evening’s television news. This is a recognised strategy that all parties use to ensure they receive daily media coverage.
Newspapers: Just as they make use of television, political parties and their leaders also try to have their message put before voters in daily newspapers. Political parties provide detailed documentation to journalists on every policy and promise. Whether in print or online, newspapers provide an opportunity for these policies to be published in greater detail. Newspapers often use their online editions to provide the means by which their readers can comment on stories and issues of the
day. Daily online opinion polls are also a feature of newspapers and allow them to gain speedy feedback from readers on a variety of issues.
Radio: Radio provides another opportunity for political leaders and other party representatives to present
their policies to the public. Current affairs programs on ABC Radio such as AM and PM carry out regular interviews with leaders, government ministers, and Opposition spokespeople. During an election campaign, large portions of these programs are given over to discussing political issues. Talkback radio programs also give political leaders a chance to engage with the public. In addition to being interviewed by the host of the radio program, politicians will often have the opportunity to respond to listeners who phone in and ask them questions.

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Public Debates: During an election campaign, representatives of the parties will often seek opportunities to debate issues with representatives of different parties. Such debates can take a number of formats.
Leader Debates: It has become a regular part of election campaigns for the leaders of the two major parties to take
part in televised debates. This means that the leader of the Liberal Party and the leader of the Labor Party will meet face-to-face for an hour in a previously agreed format. Usually, each leader has the opportunity to make an opening statement for a set period of time. This is followed by
questions directed to both leaders by a panel of journalists who specialise in writing about political issues. Each leader then has an opportunity to make a final statement to conclude the debate.
Other Debates: In addition to the party leaders, other representatives will often appear on TV and radio during an
election campaign. Current affairs programs will invite party spokespeople to debate issues that are within their area of responsibility. For example, the minister for health may appear to represent the government while the shadow minister for health will represent the Opposition. Both will be
asked questions and given the opportunity to explain their respective party’s policies for improving health services. Each representative will be trying to convince the voters that they will be better off by voting for the representative’s party.