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Campaign Strategy
PS106A - Fall 2007
A. Library Resources
B. Information about Candidates and Incumbents
C. District Maps and Profiles
D. Election Statistics and Campaign Finance
E. News and Current Awareness Sources
F. Public Opinion Polls
A. Library Resources
IGS Library Holdings on Bay Area/California Politics & Policy. The IGS Library collects local public affairs materials, and indexes lead articles from various local publications such as the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the Express. The Library also collects election materials on statewide and local (San Francisco, Oakland & Berkeley) candidates and propositions. Records for these materials, 1983 onward, are in the Melvyl Online Catalog (melvyl.cdlib.org/). Search for them by title keyword, subject and author -- just as you would search for other materials in Melvyl.
IGS Library Website. Online igs.berkeley.edu/library/. Many useful links to websites on California and U.S. politics and public affairs. Good for a sampling of what the Web has to offer. Might give you ideas for further Internet searching.
CDL Melvyl Online Catalog. melvyl.cdlib.org. For books and monographs.
UC Berkeley Library Electronic Resources (UC only). http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/find/types/electronic_resources.html.
Search by subject or type of resource, including:
Political Science Article Databases (UC only). http://sunsite2.berkeley.edu:8088/
Biographical Sources (UCB only). http://sunsite2.berkeley.edu:8088/
B. Information about Candidates and Incumbents
CQ's Politics in America. Print. Material online (UCB only) in CQ's Congress Collection: library.cqpress.com/congress/. Biennial. Profiles of U.S. Senate and House members. (IGSL Ref; Main JK1010.P64, latest in Doe Ref-Govt/Stat)
Almanac of American Politics. Print and online (UCB only) nationaljournal.com/members/almanac/. Biennial. Profiles of U.S. Senate and House members. (IGSL Ref.; Main JK1021.A1 A45, latest in Doe Ref-Govt/Stat)
The Cook Political Report. Online 2005 onward www.cookpolitical.com/. (Members info accessible only from IGS Library). Detailed coverage of Senate, House and gubernatorial elections. Excerpts (2004 onward) are included in the campaign coverage in National Journal Group's Policy Central. (Print version ceased Aug. 2003 - IGSL A9826).
Official profiles of U.S. Senate and House members on the Web.
House: www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html
Senate: www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm
Lexis-Nexis Congressional (UCB only). Online web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp/. Bill tracking, member profiles, voting records, campaign finance data, etc.
Congressional Report Cards (Accessible only from IGS Library). Online www.vis.org/crc/default.aspx. Database of interest group rankings.
2008 Presidential Candidates. A sampling of blogs and other sites with continually updated campaign news:
DC's Political Report. Online: http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/pres08.htm. Table with all current potential 2008 candidates, with links to campaign websites where available. Includes minor parties.
2008 Presidential Election: Dazed and Confused Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election. Online: http://radio.weblogs.com/0101170/categories/2008presidentialelection/. Regularly updated blog by John Orr with links to news articles and other interesting coverage of 2008 presidential candidates and pre-2008 maneuvering.
Race for the White House: a Framework for Understanding and Following the 2008 Presidential Campaign (Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action, George Washington University). Online: http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eaction/2008/P2008.html.
Presidency 2008 (Politics1). Online: http://www.politics1.com/p2008.htm.
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire. Online: http://www.politicalwire.com. Covers significant developments in national political news, with particular focus on major media and their coverage of presidential candidates.
CNN Political Ticker. Online: http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/. Wire and other reports on national political developments, including outlines of presidential candidate schedules and listings of the top political stories of the day.
Hotline On Call. Online: http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/. Weblog with signficant political news and inside news and rumors, including coverage of presidential candidates' campaigns.
Real Clear Politics. Online: http://www.time-blog.com/real_clear_politics. Weblog sponsored by TIME Magazine and CNN that has latest national political news developments and excellent summaries of latest national presidential voter preference polling.
The Caucus. Online: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/. The main national political blog of the New York Times, the nation's "paper of record," includes presidential race handicapping by Times reporters and viewable video coverage of presidential campaigns.
The Fix. Online: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/. The main national political blog of the Washington Post, the Beltway's "paper of record," includes presidential race handicapping by Post reporter Chris Cillizza.
Hot Off the Trail. Online: http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/election2008. The political blog of the McClatchy Washington Bureau, a mainstream news organization with a take on politics that's a little more independent than the usual Beltway/Wall Street suspects.
CQ MoneyLine. Online: http://moneyline.cq.com/pml/home.do. A concise and frequently updated blog on all of the declared major-party candidates' ever-evolving financial pictures, with quick reference links to candidate profiles, FEC filings, contribution limits information, and more.
The Brody File. Online: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/blogs/brodyfile. A blog that covers the 2008 presidential race for the Christian Broadcasting Network -- and offers a perspective on a demographic -- and the issues and candidates that they're interested in -- that is often marginalized or misunderstood by the mainstream media.
California Target Book. Print. Detailed political analysis of state legislative and congressional candidates and districts. Supplemented with faxed and mailed updates. Key insider publication! (IGSL Reference Desk)
Official profiles of state legislators on the Web.
Assembly: www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm
State Senate: www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp
California Political Almanac. Print. Biennial. Profiles of state legislators. 2005-06 ed. online: http://library.cqpress.com/. Earlier volumes: 1989/90(1)-1999/2000 (IGSL Ref.; Main JK8768.C343, latest in Doe Ref-Govt/Stat).
The Green Papers. Online: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/. An excellent reference site with heavy coverage of upcoming primaries in all states.
C. District Maps and Profiles
Congressional Districts in the 2000s. Print. Narrative profiles with some statistical information. (IGSL Ref.; Doe Ref JK1341.C65 2003 Govt/Stat)
Congressional District Maps, National Atlas of the United States. Online: http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/congress.html. The National Atlas has prepared simple maps of each District of the 109th Congress (January 2005-January 2007). Designed for easy reference, they show the Congressional District overlaid on top of State and county boundaries along with interstate and US highways, selected streams and water bodies, and major cities.
California Assembly, Senate and Congressional Dictricts. Via the State Legislature. Includes both maps and demographic profiles of the districts.
Assembly: www.assembly.ca.gov/committee/c7/asmfinal/newtextdocument.html
State Senate: www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/SEN/senplan/senate.htp
U.S. House:
1) www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/sen/cngplan/newtextdocument.htp;
2) www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/cd108n/FF_cd108n_maps.htm#st06_cd108_3
D. Election Statistics and Campaign Finance
CQ Voting and Elections Collection (UCB only). Online library2.cqpress.com/elections/. Extensive database of election data for presidential, congressional and gubernatorial elections.
opensecrets.org. Online www.opensecrets.org/. Center for Responsive Politics. Extensive database on campaign finance at the federal and state levels. Search by candidate and donor names and by geographic area, including zipcode. Highly recommended!
PoliticalMoneyLine. Online www.tray.com/. Major site for federal campaign finance data. Includes databases searchable by candidate name and donor.
Campaign Finance Reports and Data. Online www.fec.gov/1996/sdrindex.htm. Federal Election Commission data in HTML format. Also includes an image database of the actual financial reports filed by campaigns and committees for presidential and House races.
Cal-Access - California Automated Lobbying and Campaign Contribution & Expenditure Search System. Online cal-access.ss.ca.gov/. 2000 primary election onward. Detailed campaign finance information from the California Secretary of State. Names of individual donors and the amounts contributed. Candidates or committees raising or spending $50,000 or more are required to file. (The filing threshold was $100,000 for the 2000 primary--the first time the system was used.)
Total contributions and expenditures for specific races are available from the Cal-Access Advanced Reports page; select the Summary Reports for ballot measures, candidates or political parties.
Follow the Money Online www.followthemoney.org/. Institute on Money in State Politics. Database for tracking interest group campaign contributions in state elections. California coverage begins with 1998.
Campaign Finance Information Center. Online: http://www.campaignfinance.org/states/index.html. Campaign finance information available in each state. Click on each state on the map to get to a page that lists the official online location for campaign finance data in each state (usually the secretary of state's office) and what information specifically each state provides.
The Money Race. Online: http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/finances/index.html. A new graphic interface on the New York Times website that provides 2007 financial data for all of the declared major-party candidates with details on how much each candidate raised and from what zip codes he or she raised the most cash.
E. News and Current Awareness Sources
Lexis-Nexis Academic (UCB only). Online http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/. The Lexis-Nexis full-text online news service for academic users. Includes hundreds of newspaper, legal, and business information sources.
To search leading newspapers across the U.S. (e.g., New York Times, Washington Post), select Sources, in the Find a Source search box enter “major us newspapers” in quotes. Select source in check box and click on OK to continue.
To search newspapers in California select Sources, in the Find a Source search box enter “ california news sources” in quotes. Select source in check box and click on OK to continue.
Set the Specify Date dropdown; the default is "All previous dates."
Use the People tab to find profiles of incumbents and candidates.
Access World News (U.S. Newspapers) (UCB only). Online info.newsbank.com. Full-text access to 300 U.S. newspapers, over 25 from California, including the Sacramento Bee from 1984 onward. Lexis-Nexis includes the Sacramento Bee only from Jan. 2002 onward.
ProQuest Newspapers (UCB only). Online http://proquest.umi.com/. Includes full-text access to the Los Angeles Times from 1985 onward.
The Hotline (UCB only). Online nationaljournal.com/pubs/hotline/. Daily. Key insider newsletter on national politics.
Politics1.com. Online www.politics1.com/. One of many sites tracking national politics and elections.
Rough & Tumble. Online www.rtumble.com/. "A daily digest on California politics."
F. Public Opinion Polls
Poll Track (UCB only). (National Journal Group's Policy Central). Online nationaljournal.com/members/polltrack/. Excellent site for polls on presidential, Senate, House and gubernatorial races.
Gallup Brain. Print. (UCB only). Online institution.gallup.com/. The latest Gallup polls, plus a 60-year database of Gallup polling data.
PollingReport.com: pollingreport.com/. Up-to-date national polling. (Subscriber data including state polls accessible only from IGS Library). Also appears as a print newsletter, The Polling Report. About twice per month. (IGSL A7853)
Polling the Nations (UCB only). Online poll.orspub.com. International database of polling data; includes the Field Poll and LA Times Poll. Indexes to the question level.
Zogby International. Online www.zogby.com. Some free polling data provided. See, e.g., the Special Feature section.
Dave Leip's Atlas of US Presidential Elections. Online:http://www.uselectionatlas.org/. Maps of US presidential elections; also has polling data links for gubernatorial and Senate races.
Electoral Vote Predictor 2006. Online:http://electoral-vote.com/. Covers Presidential elections but also has excellent interactive features for House and Senate races, including a downloadable Excel spreadsheet with polling data that is updated daily.
CNN America Votes 2006. Online: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/. Has great midterm race analysis section with clickable map of key races.
Pollster.com. Online: http://www.pollster.com/blogs/. Excellent, in-depth, frequently updated poll blog about polls and poll mechanics.
Field Poll. Print. Online from Jan. 1993 field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/. Leading statewide California poll. IGS Library indexes the polls in the MELVYL catalog. (IGSL fA0468). Question-level data available online via the Social Sciences Data Collection at UC San Diego: gort.ucsd.edu/calpol/
Los Angeles Times Poll. Online at the LA Times www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/, or via NewsBank or Lexis-Nexis Academic.
PPIC Statewide Surveys (Public Policy Institute of California). Print and online http://www.ppic.org/main/series.asp?i=12. Public opinion survey series on various topics. (IGSL A9849)
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Remote Access to Proprietary Databases
The online resources in this guide marked "(UC only)" and "(UCB only)" are proprietary databases licensed for faculty, staff and student use only. If you are working from home and using an Internet service provider such as AOL, you will be blocked from these databases unless you access them via The Library's proxy server. For instructions on how to use the proxy server, go to:
proxy.lib.berkeley.edu/.
The online resources in this guide marked "(accessible only from IGS Library)" are proprietary databases licensed to the IGS Library only. To use these resources ask for assistance at the front desk of the IGS Library.