Opposition Research Activity: Research Yourself

Opposition research is one of the most important tools for running an informed, effective campaign. But it isn’t just about researching your opponent – if you’re a candidate, you need to research yourself, too. Because whatever you’re researching about your opponent, their team will research about you. You need to know what’s out there, from an objective standpoint, so you can figure out how to best respond and get ahead of counter-narratives and bad headlines.

In this opposition research activity, learners will take their first steps into self-research – researching themselves the same way their opponent would. This document contains guidance for self-research, including tips for web searching, investigating old social media activity, and finding other public records you might not even know exist.

Included are:

• Guidance for running a self-research web search using your name, current and past locations, political donation history, and your own voting record

• Steps for auditing your social media history and tightening your privacy settings

• Instructions on tracking down old media coverage and other public records, like property, business, or court documentation