Opposition Research

Courtesy of Abacus Associates

Opposition research is a dirty job that needs to be done. If you say, “I plan to run a positive campaign so I do not need opposition research,” you are doing yourself a serious disservice. If you are a front-runner with good name recognition and are well ahead of an opponent with little name recognition, then you won't need to run negative. However, you will still need an opposition researcher, for your opponent will likely go negative. An opposition researcher finds out more than just negative information about your opponent. Your opposition researcher will also do research on you. An opposition researcher will also find issue positions and voting records that are needed for a comparative—not just negative—race.

If your opponent's stance contradicts past votes or statements, you will want to be able to point that out. If you have a negative that your opponent can use as part of his or her message, you need to be aware of it and to know how damaging it can be. Furthermore, if your opponent turns negative, you need to be ready to respond—which may call for your going negative.

You need a professional opposition researcher, for they know how to discreetly find all of the relevant information you need. Someone from your campaign will not be as discreet and will not know what to find out or how to find it.

You should hire your opposition researcher after you hire your pollster. Your pollster needs to be able to work with this person. Then, the opposition research must be completed before the poll so that you can test the persuasiveness of the arguments uncovered by the research in the poll. As a result, opposition research will be one of your first consulting expenses.

The cost of opposition research can range from about $15,000 plus room and board for
research on you and one opponent to about $30,000 for research on you and two or three opponents who have legislative records. The cost will vary depending on the scope and complexity of the research.

You should get recommendations for an opposition researcher from your other consultants. Since opposition researchers are almost never in the position of bringing other consultants into a campaign, the quid pro quo conflict of interest is not really an issue here. Furthermore, your consultants need the best opposition research to do their jobs, so they will push for the best opposition researchers they know.