The Election of Senator Edward W. Brooke

Many people think of political research as concentrating almost entirely on predicting election outcomes. Actually, public opinion research can be very useful to a political candidate in shaping campaign strategy and tactics, through the light it sheds on the role of such factors as the visibility and popularity of the candidates, their “images” among the voters, and the stands they take on specific issues. This paper discusses such uses of political research, through reference to a series of studies conducted by Opinion Research Corporation during 1965 and 1966, as part of Edward W. Brooke's campaign for United States Senator.