Abstract:
A system and method for distribution of campaign resources generates proposed allocations of resources, predicts electoral results based on such proposals, and selects strategies based on predetermined metrics. Both the activities of a protagonist (e.g., candidate) and of one or more opponents are considered. A campaign model considers polling impacts from the proposed allocations as well as electoral projections based on polling. Results are presented to a user via maps and timelines, as well as by alphanumeric data.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60,941,956, filed Jun. 5, 2007. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of Art 
         [0003]    The present invention generally relates to the management of resources in campaigns, and more specifically, to the management of both cash available for advertising expenditures and personal appearances in political campaigns where the outcome is determined by some method other than a simple counting of the popular vote. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Political campaigns currently allocate resources using informal techniques. These techniques include the identification of so-called “battleground” states in which both competing candidates are felt to be competitive, and the subsequent assignment of campaign resources to these states. 
         [0006]    Campaign resources include both money and the possibility of appearances by candidates, their spouses or other family members, and other closely associated individuals. 
         [0007]    The resources are generally assigned to battleground states in a relatively ad hoc fashion, with the candidates attempting to compete effectively in all states in which they are competitive. As the campaign continues and some states appear to be decided, resources are withdrawn from these states. If other states become competitive, resources are added. 
         [0008]    Quantitative information is gradually becoming available regarding the impact that these resources and their expenditure actually have on the electorate. In general, it is assumed that the electoral impact of campaign advertising or candidate appearances can be evaluated by first measuring the impact on weekly or other short-term polling data, and then by separately measuring the correlation between such polling data and the actions of the electorate on election day. These models have gradually become more sophisticated as the quality of the underlying quantitative information has improved. 
         [0009]    In spite of the public availability of these quantitative models of election behavior, there has been no attempt to incorporate these models into campaign activities. No quantitative methods exist to ensure that campaigns expend their limited resources in ways that maximize their chances of electoral success. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0010]    As disclosed herein, an optimization system is used to automatically determine optimal assignments of campaign resources to states or other regions. In one embodiment, it is assumed that the political opponent will act in accordance with historical trends, identifying battleground regions and allocating resources to them. In other embodiments, the political opponent can be assumed to distribute resources uniformly among voters, or to be optimizing as well. 
         [0011]    In one embodiment, political action committees (PACs) are assumed not to play a significant role in the election in question. In other embodiments, PACs are assumed to play a significant role and their actions are modeled according to historical norms, by using optimization, or in other ways. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment, the political resources being allocated include television advertisement budgets and candidate appearances. In other embodiments, these resources include other forms of paid exposure, such as direct mail, telephone, personal contact, or get-out-the-vote drives. In still other embodiments, these resources also include appearances by candidates&#39; spouses, family members, or supporters. 
         [0013]    The features and advantages described in the specification are not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    The disclosed embodiments have other advantages and features which will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart indicating the high-level steps performed to produce the polling model, according to one embodiment. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart indicating the high-level steps performed to produce the electoral model, according to one embodiment. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart indicating the high-level steps performed to produce the campaign model, according to one embodiment. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating the overall high-level steps performed, according to one embodiment. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  illustrates input screens used to collect data needed by the polling, electoral and campaign models in one embodiment. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  illustrates an output screen used to display optimal resource allocation in one embodiment. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is a high-level block diagram illustrating a computer system for implementing a preferred embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    The figures and the following description relate to preferred embodiments by way of illustration only. It should be noted that from the following discussion, alternative embodiments of the structures and methods disclosed herein will be readily recognized as viable alternatives that may be employed without departing from the principles of the claimed invention. 
       System Architecture 
       [0023]      FIG. 7  is a high-level block diagram illustrating a computer system  300  for computing resource allocations as described herein. In a preferred embodiment, a conventional computer programmed for operation as described herein is used to implement computer system  300 . Processor  302  is conventionally coupled to memory  306  and bus  304 . For applications in which higher performance is required, multiple processors  302  are employed. Also coupled to the bus  304  are memory  306 , storage device  308 , keyboard  310 , graphics adapter  312 , pointing device  314 , and network adapter  316 . Display  318  is coupled to the graphics adapter  312 . 
         [0024]    In a typical embodiment, processor  302  is any general or specific purpose processor such as an INTEL  386  compatible central processing unit (CPU). Storage device  308  is any device capable of holding large amounts of data, like a hard drive, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other removable storage device. Memory  306  holds instructions and data used by the processor  302 . The pointing device  314 , such as a mouse, track ball, light pen, touch-sensitive display, is used in combination with the keyboard  310  to input data into the computer system  300 . The graphics adapter  312  displays images and other information on the display  318 . The network adapter  316  couples the computer system  300  to the user&#39;s network environment, such as a local or wide area network (not shown). 
         [0025]    A program for computing and displaying optimal resource allocations according to one embodiment of the present invention is preferably stored on the storage device  308 , loaded from memory  306 , and executed on the processor  302 . Alternatively, hardware or software modules are stored elsewhere within the computer system  300  for performing actions as described herein. 
         [0026]    The results of the computation are output to the display  318 , and, as desired, to additional output devices and output formats (not shown), including, for example, printers, fax devices, and image or printer files. Additionally, if desired they are passed as input to other software processes, such as those for handling other aspects of campaign management. 
       Exemplary Results 
       [0027]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , a map graphic  600  produced in accordance with one embodiment is illustrated, in which shading is used to indicate the amount of money spent on campaign advertising in any particular state. By clicking on a state, detailed information can be obtained giving specific resource allocations over time. 
         [0028]    In the embodiment displayed, shading indicates the amount of money spent on advertising in any particular state. In other embodiments, shading is used to indicate the number of candidate appearances targeted for the state in question; the allocation of other campaign resources is displayed using other graphical elements. In still other embodiments, information regarding resource allocation is displayed via a table, via a database, via an Excel spreadsheet, or by other means. 
       Method of Operation 
       [0029]      FIG. 4  illustrates, in flowchart form, one example of steps taken in order to produce a graph, e.g., map graphic  600 , according to a preferred embodiment. 
         [0030]    In the first step, an option generator  110  generates possible resource allocation strategies  111  for our candidate and resource allocation strategies  112  for the opposing candidate or candidates. In a preferred embodiment, the option generator  110  accepts guidance from the user regarding likely activities of political action committees on both sides, likely behavior of our opponent(s), the projected results of other possible resource allocations and will generate new allocations that seem able or likely to improve on the performance of the allocations that have been examined thus far. In a preferred embodiment, this is done by generating a set of new allocations that is similar to but significantly different than one of the best resource allocations that has already been considered. As an example, the new resource allocations could be all resource allocations that differ from the best allocation produced thus far by at least 1% in at least one state or other political district but by no more than 5% in any state or political district. In other embodiments, the option generator uses simulated annealing to ensure that a wide range of options is considered, uses a complete analysis of the search space coupled with game-tree mechanisms such as alpha-beta pruning, or applies other known techniques for proposing possible allocations. 
         [0031]    The resource allocation options produced by the option generator  110  are identified as strategies for our campaign  111  or for our opponent&#39;s or opponents&#39;  112 . These options are then passed as inputs to the campaign model  109  and are evaluated to obtain likely electoral results  107 . In one embodiment, these results are used to restrict or otherwise inform the further activity of the option generator  110 ; when the procedure is complete the strategy selector  113  chooses the strategy that is deemed best according to some predefined metric. In a preferred embodiment, the process terminates when the option generator fails to generate a new option for consideration and the strategy selected is that strategy with the highest probability of winning. In other embodiments, the termination condition is related to a timeout or to user input. In an embodiment to address one particular situation, the selected strategy is the one that optimally combines probability of winning with a desire to allocate resources in states that are felt to be important in intangible ways, such as the presence of large campaign donors or having aligned candidates for local office. 
         [0032]    Finally, the selected strategy is presented to the user. In a preferred embodiment, the presentation uses visual map data to indicate where resources should be allocated, with the user able to obtain quantitative textual information by clicking on any particular state. Again in a preferred embodiment, this textual information includes not just the total amount to be spent, but the proposed timeline by which the resources are allocated. 
         [0033]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the campaign model  109  operates by analyzing campaign activities  103 ,  111  or  112  using first a polling model  106  that identifies the impact of these campaign activities on likely polling results, and then an electoral model  108  that projects electoral results from polling information. 
         [0034]      FIG. 1  shows the operation of the polling model  106  in one embodiment. The polling model expects historical data as input, consisting of polling data  104 , and campaign activity data  103  in terms of expenditure information  101  and candidate appearance information  102 . A multivariate analysis  105  is performed to identify the dependency of the polling results  104  on the campaign activities  103 , and the results of this multivariate analysis are the polling model  106 . In a preferred embodiment, the multivariate analysis engine  105  analyzes its inputs using linear regression to construct a general model. In other embodiments, this analysis is performed using genetic algorithms, time-series modeling, and other known techniques as may be desirable in any particular situation. 
         [0035]      FIG. 2  shows the construction of the electoral model  108  in one embodiment. The electoral model expects historical data as input, consisting of polling data  104  and electoral results  107 . A multivariate analysis  105  is performed to identify the dependency of the electoral results  107  on the polling data  104 , and the results of this multivariate analysis are the electoral model  108 . In a preferred embodiment, the multivariate analysis engine analyzes its inputs using linear regression to construct a general model. In other embodiments, this analysis is performed using genetic algorithms, time-series modeling, and other known techniques as may be desirable in any particular situation. 
         [0036]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , there is shown an exemplary data input user interface  500  including an historical data portion  501  and an opponent modeling portion  502 . In one embodiment, the historical data  501  is seen to include polling data  104 , campaign spending data  101 , and electoral results  107 . Other embodiments can be seen to include other factors such as campaign intangibles and fundraising information. These other factors are included in other embodiments of the polling model  106  or electoral model  108 . In one embodiment, the opponent modeling portion  502  indicates resource allocation strategies for both our candidate and our opponent(s), and PACs supporting and opposing our candidate. Those strategies include, in various embodiments, optimization, allocation proportional to the number of voters reached, a “cut loss” strategy where states that are no longer competitive are ignored, a reactive strategy that attempts to match the activities of the other candidate(s) in the race, a historical strategy based on resource allocations in previous elections, and different strategies identified by the user for any particular situation. 
         [0037]    One of skill in the art will realize that the invention is not limited to providing proposed allocations of campaign funding and candidate appearances, but could equally well be applied to any other resource that a political campaign is attempting to allocate. The invention is similarly not limited to providing output to a display such as a monitor, but can display a graph by any action that results, directly or proximately, in a visual image, such as outputting to a printer, to a fax, to an image file, or to a file containing printer description language data. 
         [0038]    As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
         [0039]    As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present). 
         [0040]    In addition, the words “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the invention. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise. 
         [0041]    Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciate still additional alternative structural and functional designs for a system and a process for allocating campaign resources through the disclosed principles herein. Thus, while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein and that various modifications, changes and variations which will be apparent to those skilled in the art may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the method and apparatus of the present invention disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.