Presidential campaigns in the US absolutely differ from campaigns for other offices.  There are many types of differences.  Here are three major differences.

• Presidential campaigns are much longer.  It is now about one year and eight months until the next presidential election.  It is almost one year until the primaries start.  Even so, we already have a pretty good idea as to who will run for the Republican nomination and people have been preparing their bids for at least a year now.
• Presidential campaigns cost much more.  Because presidential campaigns are longer and must be national, the amount of money that they spend is many times more than that spent for even the most expensive of other races.
• Presidential campaigns are much more scrutinized by the media.  The presidential campaign is big news everywhere.  Presidential candidates' every move and every word is raked over by everyone in the news media and the blogosphere.  By contrast, a senatorial race may attract some amount of coverage in the local papers and a House race may not even get that much attention.

These are three of the major differences between presidential campaigns and others.