Hiking the Trail of the Political Campaign Specialist

The Emergence of Political Consulting

Political advisors date back to at least 100 B.C., during the reign of the Roman Empire! As the United States grew as a country, so did the need for political consultants.  It all started with the first  “consultants” who were proponents of the ratification of the constitution.

These supporters in the nation’s first states used their observations to persuade others to join with them in ratifying the constitution.  Once they were successful, they acted as teachers (consultants) to those in subsequent States who were trying to accomplish the same goal.

The role of the political consultant early on in the nation’s history was strictly on a volunteer basis, however. It wasn’t until around the 1840’s that it shifted toward a campaign management task.  The political party of the candidate largely managed this.  Political consultants helped connect a candidate with individual voters.

Progress and innovation created a need for political consultants who were more specialized.  The invention of radio and television called for political media consulting.  These changes took the emphasis off of reliance on political parties for consulting duties. It was now becoming common to use advertising agencies instead. That was the beginning of political consulting in a professional sense.

Opinion polling, which was introduced in the forties, continued to grow and increase in importance.  Its rapid growth along with other changes in political rules after the late sixties now required even more specific consultant skills.  The advertising firms, which had replaced volunteer political party consultants, were also losing popularity in favor of those who made political consulting their only focus.  This, along with three other major turning points, resulted in the career political consultants on the campaign trail today, according to Political Consulting Info on the History of Consulting.

Three Turning Points toward Political Consulting Today

1)      The Election of John F. Kennedy.  President Kennedy ran an excellent campaign and won the election by using his own privately hired advisors and consultants.  This was in contrast to the previously perceived importance of one’s own political party as the main political promoter.

2)      Campaign Finance Reform.  This required more supporters with smaller contributions, creating a need for political fundraising consultants.

3)      Communication Technology. New forms of communication and distribution such as video and Internet related media has resulted in multiple specialties within the political consulting field.

Political Consultants in the Twenty First Century 

Today, no major politician would be caught dead without a campaign manager or some sort of political advisor.  As the areas of campaign strategies have become more specialized, most candidates have entire teams of advisors, not just one political consultant.  There are many different titles and types of political consultants involved in helping a candidate get elected, but some of the more common ones are listed here.

Political Media Consultant- This position, sometimes called a media strategist, can command as much as $500,000 yearly with the top consulting firms.  The media consultant is responsible for the campaign strategy in its presentation to the public.  This can involve press releases, speech writing, and debate preparations.  It may also include bookings of public appearances and publicity stunts, and ad campaigns.  As with most political consulting jobs, the election years are non-stop work; but the rewards, in turn, are high.

Opposition Researcher- As the name suggests, an opposition researcher must file through tons of information, gathering pertinent data on the opponent and putting it into a report.  The report may be hundreds of pages long, so organization and thoroughness are important to this consulting specialty.  The consultant must uncover negative information about the opposing candidate.  They may also advise their own candidate on how to respond to less than positive information leaked about them from the other side.

International Political Consulting- This is a catch-all term for any political consulting done in other countries.  It can be a general political consultant or any of the specialties.  Many political consultants choose this option in between domestic campaigns.

Political Polling Consultant- A consultant involved in polling can expect to work long, hard hours around election time. As a polling consultant you are required to analyze poll numbers and create a plan for the candidate based on those results.  Then you must monitor the ongoing poll numbers, changing strategies as needed.  This type of job does involve quite a bit of statistical analysis and calculations.  A degree is very helpful for this specialty.

Political Fundraising Consultant- The political fundraising consultant is responsible for coming up with a comprehensive plan for raising funds for the campaign and implementing that plan.  The use of multi-media methods, especially with regard to the Internet, has become an invaluable tool for fundraising consultants.  In this respect information technology knowledge is a must.

Your Career as a Political Consultant

Political consulting has changed over the decades from a volunteer, supportive position of a generalized nature, to a full-time career that requires considerable expertise.  To make it today as a successful political consultant, you would be wise to first get educated in the basic principles of political science.  Then spend time studying one of the specialties that interests you.  With plenty of niches to choose from, you can settle into a focused role of getting your candidate into office, one election at a time!