Campaigns Course is Underway!

Absolutely delighted that my Campaigns in the US: Best Practices workshop is underway!

Campaigns in the US: Best Practices is a short course about political campaigns and how to win elections in the U.S. The objective of the course is to provide students with a foundational knowledge of U.S. election campaign techniques with an eye towards those that could be put to use in Moldova. Lectures and assignments will cover topics such as the motivation and the decision to run for office, developing a campaign strategy, setting up a campaign organization, the role of political parties in modern campaigns, field and grassroots organizing, fundraising and campaign finance, campaign budgeting, polling, research, and message development, media (paid, earned, the internet), and the role of campaigns in American (and Moldovan) democracy.

There are about 30 students and 2 journalists enrolled in the course. The student pictured with me in the pink sweater is our translator.

2 students raised their hand indicating that they had worked on a campaign in Moldova; 3 students raised their hand indicating that they were interested in getting involved in the upcoming parliamentary elections (Sunday, November 28th). I will let you know if additional students are interested in working on a campaign when the course is over.

On Monday our topic was "Developing a Campaign Strategy and Setting Up a Campaign Organization." Today we tackle "Field and Grassroots Organizing," and on Friday we will discuss "Message and Media." On Monday we will synthesize the material we covered and will discuss "Campaigns in American and Moldovan Democracy" as well as the application of these "best practices" in the upcoming Moldovan parliamentary elections.

Moldovan experts will participate in the course as guest speakers. For example, on Friday a journalist (an ULIM alum who now is a political reporter for Info-Prim News Agency)will reflect and react to my presentation about earned media on campaigns, and on Monday, when we pull everything together and talk about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova, we will be joined by the Honorable Ana Gutu, Vice Rector of ULIM and a Member of Parliament.