Campaign Division Framework

A breakdown of how political campaigns traditionally divide responsibilities between internal operations and Super PACs, and how Trump's campaign is changing this model.

Traditional Campaign Division Model

• Campaigns and party committees handle labor-intensive ground work

  • Door-to-door canvassing
  • Face-to-face voter interactions
  • Volunteer coordination
  • Tasks that don't scale easily

• Super PACs focus on scalable messaging

  • TV advertising
  • Digital advertising
  • Message amplification
  • Tasks that scale with minimal additional effort

Why This Division Exists

• Different sets of rules for each entity
• Can't coordinate directly with each other
• Labor-intensive work doesn't scale efficiently
  • Doubling door knockers requires twice the work/capital
  • Doubling TV ads requires minimal additional effort

Trump Campaign's New Approach

• Outsourcing ground operations to America First PAC (Elon Musk funded)
• Breaking traditional model by having Super PAC handle door-to-door efforts
• Strategy focuses on mobilizing young men, especially young men of color
• Using bounty system
  • Paying people to get friends to sign petitions
  • $47 bounty for petition signatures

Campaign Information Sharing

• During campaigns:

  • Very selective information sharing
  • Details carefully curated for fundraising
  • Avoid giving away strategy to competition

• Post-election:

  • More open sharing as campaign dissolves
  • Staff moves to new jobs/consulting firms
  • More willing to discuss tactics and tools used