Road to the White House, A Businessperson’s Perspective on Presidential Politics

In this course we will explore, analyze, and debate the strategic and operating decisions made in a US presidential election. We will focus on the 2020 election and draw upon lessons learned from other presidential campaigns with the assistance of practitioners and strategists that have been involved at the highest levels of presidential politics. We will do so from a businessperson’s perspective, drawing upon principles of corporate strategy, marketing, organization and finance as well as entrepreneurial frameworks such as minimum viable product, product ~ market fit, structured experimentation and staged financings. In many ways a campaign functions like a business and in many fascinating ways it does not – due to the context, incentives, and rules-of-the-game.

We will review the evolution of the US presidential election process and the implications for the current presidential election. Each major aspect of the campaign will be covered – strategy, messaging, advertising, organization and finance. We will also cover debates - a feature unique to political campaigns. We will dive deeply into the debate prep process and strategic options, with a class sessions scheduled for the day before and the day after the critically important first presidential debate between President Trump and Vice President Biden.

Students will be required to decide the best course of action by each campaign and how to react and respond to real time developments as events unfold during the semester. The course will focus on critical thinking, strategy and execution rather than ideology or partisan political philosophy in this hyper- polarized climate.

The course is intended for any student who wants to understand the presidential election process and designed to engage students with any level of political experience. Students from all countries are encouraged to participate.

Each session will include a guest(s) that has been in the political arena, including: past presidential candidates, campaign strategists and operatives, political ad makers, journalists that have been embedded in presidential campaigns and covering the White House, and Political Action Committee experts. Both sides of the political aisle will be represented. Through the collective experience of the participants throughout the semester, we will get a full understand of how the political world works and how it differs from the business world.

Students will be expected to make strategic and operating decisions facing the campaigns and defend their positions. Assignments will include some cases, assigned readings and lots of attention to campaign developments and world events. Grading will be based on 25% class participation, 25% weekly short written submissions and 50% final paper.