By Julie S. Copeland
Should a campaign do research? Yes – both self and opp. But, campaign funds are best spent on the studious political researcher, not on a Kathy Bates in Primary Colors, touting a gun in her purse and trying to track down every rumor heard at a recent cocktail party.
Disappointing? Not sexy or fun? Maybe. But a good researcher looks at real information, considers how it can be used in the real world campaign, and makes appropriate recommendations based on publicly available information.
Potential clients always ask about the best silver bullets I’ve found and how they turned the enemy to dust. I tell them that finding the text messages from a Congressman to a teenage boy or a videotape of a US Senator using a racial slur, the now famous “macaca”, is the rare silver bullet that takes a candidate down..
I believe instead in the “golden nugget.” That is usually only found by sifting through tons of useless information -- the careful observation of years of public records accumulated about the individuals who seek public office.
Often, these so-called nuggets are clear only when put into context with other information. Real opp research covers the publicly available history of a candidate’s votes, quotes, internet postings, public appearances, fundraising and on-record musings.
A good researcher who understands politics, policy and how to find the information will connect dots not previously connected. In the case of self-research, it is common for candidates to leave out pertinent information that could be beneficial to the campaign.
In one memorable case, a candidate who was running on his military record failed to tell his team that he was in the basement of The Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. Now, maybe he felt that was self-aggrandizement and he didn’t think it important, but it was information that needed to be part of the internal conversation, and was potentially important to his future constituents.
In another campaign, a long-term incumbent had never told his direct mail consultant that his father was a decorated veteran of the Tuskegee Airmen. When I brought the information to the team’s attention, they were shocked and disappointed they never had the chance to use the information. I had not been hired until after most of the mail was designed and in the pipeline.
In a recent case of opp research, the opponent had voted to approve a $25 fee imposed upon parents using the state to collect back child support payments. By itself, the vote was not necessarily useful. But, then the candidate sent mail into the district touting his accomplishments on collecting child support from deadbeat dads. Then, the campaign used the vote as the “single-parent tax” and made a direct attack upon the opponent’s real dedication to struggling single parents.
Here are 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Opp Research candidates and campaigns must look at:
- DO start early. You must have research done before polling.
- DO hire someone who knows politics. Anyone can do a courthouse or search. Only someone with good political sense will see the golden nuggets in with the sludge.
- DON’T receive a written report that includes all public records, with copies of courthouse documents, and information summarized with political vulnerabilities and accomplishments listed.
- DON’T have preconceived notions. Just like a poll, you’re gut might tell you one thing, but the truth may be another. One campaign was sure that a pro-gun control candidate had a handful of bad gun votes. The reality was – those votes just didn’t exist.
- DON’T expect miracles. All you can ask is that the record be looked at. Just because you do opp research does not mean the researcher will find that silver bullet OR golden nugget. Oh – and you still have to pay the bill if no great nugget is found.
- DO keep a file on yourself and your potential opponent. It’s usually not possible to find that door hanger or fundraising letter you remember from four years ago if you or a trusted volunteer didn’t tuck away in a file somewhere.
- DO have one firm do all the work. I believe that one person must have looked at every piece of information in order to see all the dots and how they might connect. If one staffer does the campaign finance and another reads the clips, then who will see the contradiction between the quote on protecting local rivers and the acceptance of a campaign contribution from a company fined for polluting ground water in the district.
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DO keep the researcher involved after the research is turned in. Again, that researcher is probably the only one in the campaign who has read everything. A late mailing by the opponent may trigger an issue from the clips that the staff hasn’t focused on.
- DON’T hold back information from the researcher. A researcher should consider all information told by a candidate to be confidential. A research report should be closely held and distributed if necessary. Often, I find a campaign likes to “test” a researcher and see if they find that damning piece of evidence. If you’re worried about it being found, talk to a limited group of people about it, see if it can be found, and deal with it from there.
- DO expect your researcher to think like your opponent – to look at your campaign in the worst possible light when necessary. It helps your campaign study all the angles. In addition, it is helpful to look at your opponent like they look at themselves – work out all some of the spin ahead of time.
Julie Copeland owns the political opp research company,
Copeland Research, and has traveled the country
successfully mining nuggets for candidates for
more than ten years. She can be
reached at Click here to contact this Author.
