Political Campaigns

Political candidates can be trashed by false allegations and are not afforded the assumption of innocence. They may lose votes from those who believe these false allegations.

When candidates square off in a political race, the “campaign staff” gathers opposition research to find out if their candidate’s challengers have potential scandals in their background.

They look for criminal background, personal and family arrest records, police reports, traffic violations, law suits, financial difficulties, marital difficulties, bankruptcy, credit score and repossession of goods,

They also look at employment background, the character of close associates, business associates, political associates, campaign contributors, net worth and industry connections.

All of this information is used to create a picture of opposing candidates based on their difficulties and associates. The campaign staff then identifies promising material and develops scenarios to “define” their opponents. It’s like writing a book where none of it has to be true. The best scenarios are used in campaign ads aimed at attacking the opponent.

Campaign Staffs avoid “Issues Campaigns”, where the issues are discussed and positions on issues are revealed. The risk there is that some voters may not like their candidate’s positions on issues. That is their biggest failing

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader