My current strategy, where I play with accurate public polls and no spies:
Phase 1:
I make my theme consist of my best 3 character score. If they're equal list of priorities goes like this: Leadership-experience-issue familiarity-integrity, the reason being that issue familiarity can be improved and is guranteed to become important after the debates.
I start making an ad on leadership or experience, since those 2 are always important in the beginning.
I park my candidate in the biggest battleground state and let him do debate prep or issue familiarity (1 CP) This, for some reason, gives you a good stable momentum in that state and also boosts morale in it. I seldom lose this state.
I send my VP-candidate on a barnstorming tour around the battlegrounds (1 CP)
I research a scandal on my opponent (1 CP)
My remaining CPs I focus on getting endorsements.
Phase 2: Once I get good morale in key states I recruit foot soldiers in them with my spare CPs. If I have 6 or 7 CPs I might also hold a speech or two with my candidate.
Once my VP is finished with his battleground state tour I usually put him in a big battleground and make him fundraise.
Once my scandal is researched I'm done researching (unless I have a lot of CPs and it's only a low power one)
I continue to make ads, I always have one ad in the making. I never use an ad if it's only power 4 or less. Once I get a good one I run it pretty much everywhere.
Phase 3:
When the debates come around I make sure I have 5 CPs not locked up on recruting foot soldiers, etc so that I can spin the debate results.
Once the debates are over we're pretty much in the final week. Now I calculate my war chest carefully and spend a tad more than I really can on ads in battlegrounds, but also in a few locks for my opponent.
I also realease my scandal and spin it for as long as I can.
My candidate can now barnstorm, given that I have the CPs for it. My VP does that as well. I make sure I'm left on the final day with a little money. Then I spend everything I can on running all ads I have in all states where I'm not solidly ahead. This will boost the PV to give me a moral victory and many times swing a state my opponent thought he had secured.
I almost always win.
