Selling the Candidate

THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!

You are members of a professional group of advisors for one of the candidates for upcoming Republican and Democrat primary elections. You will research and present your candidate’s background and positions on key issues. You will also develop a campaign strategy for your candidate, taking into consideration the demographic groups likely to support your candidate.

Democrats / Republicans
Hilary Clinton / Donald Trump
Bernie Sanders / Ben Carson
Martin O’Malley / Ted Cruz
Carly Fiorina
Marco Rubio
Rand Paul
Jeb Bush

Each member of your advisor team takes on a specific role and is ultimately responsible for that area of the campaign both in the production of materials and presentation.

These roles include:

Campaign Manager – Concerned with the overall running of the candidates campaign. Your job is to coordinate the team’s efforts and pull together the campaign ad. You also know the candidate the best so you will also compile detailed biographical information See Part A

Political Consultant – responsible for researching the candidate’s positions on key issues. See Part B

Political Strategist – responsible for creating the campaign strategy including maps and demographic focus of the campaign. See Part C

PART I: Research (Will be turned in and you need to cite your sources)

Part A – Create a profile sheet containing the background info of your candidate (birthplace, education, family, occupation, prior political experience, religion…).

Part B – Identify the political ideology of your candidate and outline his stance on key political issues such as

·  Environment – renewable energy, climate change, pollution

·  Transportation – infrastructure improvements etc.

·  Healthcare – Obamacare? alternatives

·  National Security – ISIS, North Korea, China, etc.

·  Social Issues – abortion, death penalty, gun control

·  Economic Issues – tax cuts, government spending

·  Education – student loan debt, common core, etc.

The Political Consultant can enlist the help of the Campaign Manager.

Part C – Outline the campaign strategy by addressing the following questions

1)  How likely is it your candidate will win in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina?

2)  What key demographic groups will likely support your candidate?

3)  What states will you spend your campaign money? Are there states your campaign will ignore?

4)  Will you run a positive or negative campaign? Who will you attack?

Part II: Presentation – Your campaign advisor group will create the following materials to share your candidate Research with Stone Bridge students, teachers, families, AND THE WORLD!!!

A.  Video Commercial – Each group will create a 30-45 second spot for your candidate. Commercials must be POSITIVE in nature.

B.  Prepare your candidate for debate. Your group will need to choose one person to represent the candidate in the debate. You will each advise the candidate on the information you have become the expert on. (Part A, B, or C)

*** This is a major grade.