Introduction
It would be impossible to run a campaign without a candidate who is capable of attracting the attention of voters and promote the ideas. More often than not, political figures tend to be white and wealthy middle-aged men who support mostly conservative ideas. Another interesting factor is that the majority of them also are businessmen, which gives them a financial advantage. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing tendency for diversity in every aspect of human life, including politics. For this reason, there is a growing number of candidates who are part of minority groups, such as people of color or women.
As the movement for bringing more women into politics becomes more popular, it would be an interesting choice to promote a female candidate. For this reason, our candidate will be Jennifer Smith, a white and educated entrepreneur who has enough money to afford running an expensive campaign. She is well-known around the community for not only her business practices but for charity as well. Before Mrs. Smith decided to run in the 2022 general election, she gathered public attention by starting or donating to charities that help with community problems. For example, cleaning up the environment and providing financial help for those who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. She also is a non-conservative liberal Democrat, which can help since historically, a candidate needed to be Democrat, although being a Republican nowadays does not prevent other candidates from winning. Another important factor about her is that she supports minorities; therefore, since the number of minority voices rises, she is capable of gathering more votes for her.
Campaign Message
As for the message, instead of choosing one particular message, it would be beneficial to implement a variety of themes so that the campaign can appeal to multiple people. However, those messages should not contradict each other. As Mrs. Smith was already famous for her charity activities, she can put more focus on building an image of someone who can help others and save the day. Although this approach may seem like a strategy of the outsider, it may actually help to gather votes from those who are more opposed to the current government.
Another type of strategy that may seem fitting for the candidate is the progressive one, which means that she would have to promise better wages. Moreover, it would also be helpful to assure that as a political figure, she will do everything in her power to end discrimination against all races, religions, and sexual orientations. Therefore, for Mrs. Smith, it would be most fitting to identify herself as a progressive savior who understands the issues surrounding minority groups and is willing to solve them. She can focus mostly on promising equal rights since nowadays, this topic needs attention not only from the activists of the civil rights movement but from politicians as well.
Campaign Strategy
While liberal views may seem unpopular in Texas, it is still possible to implement an effective strategy. After all, the success of O’Rourke suggests that Democrats can use progressive initiatives that “energize an emerging electorate of new, young, and diverse voters” (Miller, 2019, p. 117). For this reason, a candidate who represents liberal ideas a younger generation is more likely to get votes. As the candidate’s message will be mostly focused around issues regarding inequality in the community, her campaign is more likely to attract voters of minority groups, for example, African Americans and Native Americans. In addition, there is a chance that more women might vote for Mrs. Smith since they may feel represented by her.
As for economic groups, there is a low chance that wealthy people will vote for her since their views tend to be more conservative. However, poor people, as well as the population of the middle class, are more likely to vote for the candidate. The reason for this is the fact that before running a campaign, Mrs. Smith gathered public interest in her activities, which helped disadvantaged people in the community.
Campaign Resources
It is evident that those people who support liberal Democratic opinions are more likely to donate their time and money to the campaign. Therefore, it would be possible to hire more young people as volunteers, for example, students who are enthusiastic about bringing equality to the state. Another helpful strategy will be to create advertisements for television; however, the focus should also be on promoting the campaign on the Internet. This stems from the fact that in recent years there has been a substantial shift to online advertising since a large number of voters use social media. Aside from implementing financial strategies and hiring volunteers, the candidate also will show her determination to not only win but to improve the situation in the state as well. There is no doubt that aside from an enormous amount of money, several years of hard work would have to be committed to the campaign. The reason for this is the growing influence of the Republican Party, which creates a tough competition. Nevertheless, with the right strategies, it can still be possible to win.
References
Miller, J. (2019). The rise of the Texas left. Dissent, 66(4), 117-126.