How to Self-Assess Your Campaign | Politics with Paul #103

The biggest issue that loses campaigns is the inability to properly self-assess. Today's episode of Politics with Paul teaches how to address that problem. When campaigning, you have to be fully honest not just about what your candidate does well or what can go right, but your candidate's weak points and what can cripple their campaign. These are done through SWOT analyses - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Yet many campaigns do not effectively address their blind spots. Today, we cover why campaigns falter in self-assessment and SWOT analyses, how to fill out a SWOT, and practical applications.

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(0:00) Intro to Campaign Self-Assessments, SWOT Analyses (2:55) Why So Many Campaigns Fail to Self-Evaluate Properly (6:54) Listing Your Campaign's Strengths and Weaknesses (8:26) Examples of Campaign Strengths (11:03) Examples of Campaign Weaknesses (14:10) How Can Strengths Also Be Weaknesses? (17:01) Listing Opportunities and Threats for Your Campaign (19:26) Examples of Opportunities for Your Campaign (23:07) Examples of Threats to Your Campaign (25:35) How Can Opportunities Also Be Threats? (29:51) Practically Applying SWOT Analyses, Studying Campaigns with Them (34:23) Case Study: Graham Platner's US Senate Campaign (38:15) How Do You Get Out in Front of Threats to Your Campaign? (42:35) Closing Thoughts and Links to My Work