ABSTRACT
In political telephone campaigns in the 1950s a simple canvass call was usual—for example, "Come out and vote on Election Day for Candidate A." Later, because many candidates were charmed by sophisticated technology, recorded messages had a period of popularity. In 1982, telephones were commonly used in large-scale campaigns to establish which issues concerned undecided voters, and a computer letter on the appropriate issue was then sent to each undecided voter. An organized telephone effort is a feature of most larger-scale political campaigns. Telephone campaigns by paid or volunteer callers are useful if organized under experienced, professional direction and if the message content and method of delivery are supervised intelligently. A telephone campaign must be kept within the context of the overall campaign. Calls should present the same themes as other advertising media used in the campaign, but they should be primarily focused on groups that are minimally affected by the other media.
