The campaign conducted nationally is now carried out mainly on television. It is designed to:
- Reinforce the views of those who are already committed to the party.
- Recruit the genuinely undecided.
- Convert the waverers in other parties.
The local campaign is still important in marginal constituencies where a small number of votes can change party control. Speech making and organising postal voting is important.
Appealing to a mass audience
Television has changed the way in which modern election campaigns are conducted. It is the most obvious way that parties can try to influence the voters. With TV, a candidate can address millions of voters in one appearance. Elections have been increasingly dominated by TV since coverage began in 1859. Since then it has come to dictate the form and style of electioneering, as well as having a large influence over the agenda for discussion. TV producers now have the power to focus on issues, which they believe are interesting or controversial. Sometimes politicians come to resent this, in the first week 1997 election campaign; Conservative speakers were frustrated at their inability to get their positive message across. As the TV journalists would insist that the Major Government was sleaze-ridden. TV provides politicians with excellent opportunities to put forward their case. Their movements are covered in daily bulletins and current affairs programmes. The new techniques of election campaigning in the TV age have made campaigns more professional than ever before. No main party would consider entering an election contest without the support of a good marketing team.
Photo opportunities
Photo opportunities have been widely used in recent years. These are carefully stage-managed events in which the leading figure is set against a particular background. For example "minders" of Margaret Thatcher were aware of her need to humanise a lady better known for her tough leadership rather than her compassion, thus the pictures of her nursing a new-born calf in East Anglia.
Sound bites
Advisers know how to make sure that the media report stories in the way that they desire. One way of doing so is to include sound bites in speeches. These are short, snappy phrases that can yield a good headline. Tony Blair is well know for his compact catch phrase on crime when he was opposition leader: "Tough in crime, tough on the causes of crime", a sound bite that summarised his position on law and order.
Spin and spin-doctors
Spin-doctors are able to use several techniques to put the government's spin or angle on the news, so that the story receives a favourable response. This is nothing new, for those in power have always wanted to put gloss on events to present them in the best possible light, but this has now become one of the political arts.