Campaign – to campaign – campaigner

What is the second hottest topic in the US at the moment, apart from the Wall Street crisis? Presidential elections, of course. Initial television debates between the candidates and their vice-presidents are over and two opposing parties are preparing for the next round. The presidential campaigns are gathering momentum. So, here we are – the magical word we shall discuss in this lesson has been mentioned. And politics is probably the first thing that crosses your mind when we mention the word campaign, although the word originates in military vocabulary. Every politician worth his salt running for election knows how important it is to recruit savvy associates for their campaign teams. The key person in the team is a campaign manager, usually a veteran campaigner, with a lot of experience in campaigning. People taking part in a campaign are called campaigners, for example Obama campaigners. Since political campaigns are privately funded, candidates need to raise campaign funds or campaign financing, and that process is never completely free of controversy.

Different organisations and governmental bodies launch campaigns to promote worthy causes and achieve progressive social aims. You probably remember the campaign conducted by the Croatian Ministry of Home Affairs with the aim of reducing the number of car accidents on Croatian roads. Another campaign you may be familiar with has to do with smoking; you have undoubtedly seen cigarette packs with large, bold-lettered anti-smoking messages, like those sold in neighbouring Slovenia. This is just one of many examples of the intensive anti-smoking campaign taking place all around the world for the past decade. Many good initiatives would pass unnoticed if it wasn’t for campaigns, like the one which the Croatian Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship launched several years ago to encourage entrepreneurship among young people. On the other hand, there are many other causes which are, perhaps unfairly, not considered to be of vital importance and therefore not made into governmental campaigns. Some of these include domestic violence, child and woman abuse, corruption at universities, ageism in the workplace, and many others. These are usually tackled by various NGOs.

It is beneficial for any cause, whether political, social or commercial, to be endorsed by someone famous. Many film stars have campaigned for UNICEF, e.g. Brigitte Bardot is a campaigner for the protection of animals and Leonardo DiCaprio is a campaigner on environmental issues.

The word campaign also exists as a verb, meaning to take part in or lead a campaign: She has campaigned for equal job opportunities for men and women since her student years. or Pravo na grad campaigned to save Cvetni trg from urban planning.

Negative campaigning – a common campaigning tactic, where one competitor tries to gain an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent rather than emphasising his own positive attributes. A common colloquial term is mudslinging. Negative political campaigning may keep people away from the polls.