Do you think there is anything the local candidate and his/her campaign could have done better/differently? Why?

Campaign Activities, Strategy and Success Questions

The first questions on this list are primarily descriptive questions but may require some inference. Later questions provide you with an opportunity to make some [speculative] evaluations. Respond to each of the following questions as short-answers ranging from 100 words to no more than 700 words.

1. What did the candidate communicate to voters or contributors to gain their support? How would you describe the main theme of the candidate’s messaging? Did the candidate focus on a particular message? Were these messages any different than the party leader’s messaging? Did the messaging change over the course of the campaign? Could you tell if this message was adapted for different audiences, venues or channels? If so, how was it adapted?
2. Why did s/he choose these messaging strategies? Did s/he choose these messages based on party (or leadership) instructions, personal strengths, previous campaign experiences or on advice from professional strategists? Did the messaging respond to voter feedback, his/her opponents’ messaging strategy, or something else?
3. Did the campaign specifically target any particular group of voters – in general or when you were actively engaged in the campaign? Why was this target chosen? Was this target special to your candidate’s ward, area of town, or were similar voters targeted all across or elsewhere in the GTA?
4. How did people in the target group respond to the message/campaign? Consider your own experiences with the campaign, but also consider the election returns to gauge whether the messaging strategy succeeded.
5. Did the candidate win? Was s/he expected to win by others? By campaign staff? Did s/he do better or worse than expected? Did s/he do better or worse than the candidate from the same party in the last provincial/federal elections? Did s/he do better or worse than candidates from the same party in neighboring ridings?
6. Why do you think s/he did better/worse than expected? Why did s/he do better/worse than other recent candidates with similar backgrounds, political experience or partisan affiliation?
7. Do you think there is anything the local candidate and his/her campaign could have done better/differently? Why? Do you think the candidate or his/her staff might have opposed your idea?