“Campaigns require a combination of a deft touch and brute force,” says Kareem Allam of Fairview Strategies.
“Campaigns require a combination of a deft touch and brute force,” says Kareem Allam of Fairview Strategy. “They’re an art, definitely not a science” — words of wisdom from a seasoned campaign strategist who has guided a host of candidates from newbie, neophyte politicos with a desire to contribute to their communities, to elected representatives.
“Every candidate, every campaign, every jurisdiction is different,” says Allam. “There is no one-size-fits-all.” In fact, campaigns are complex and fluid spaces in time where the dynamics and the polls can turn in favour or to a disaster for a candidate based on one bad quote or smear.
“I tell candidates (that) there are no guarantees with any one strategy,” says Allam. Door-knocking, pamphlets, burma shaves, walking the streets of the community, town halls, debates, radio, newspaper, TV advertising, and, yes, social media are all elements that Allam prescribes. “And then there is the candidate and their appeal,” Allam continues. “Charisma — or a lack of it — is an intangible, like it or not.”
We invited veteran campaign manager Kareem Allam to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the ebb, flow, knowns and unknowns of running successful election campaigns.