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Edited on Fri Dec-30-05 03:56 AM by ddeclue
I worked extensively (as a volunteer) for the Kerry campaign last year as a staffer here in Orlando and I am involved in my local Democratic Party. A friend of mine ran for Congress against Ric Keller here in Florida last year and I know several of the candidates running this year as well so here's my pieces of advice for what it is worth:
1) Join and be active in your local Democratic Party. It's important to make contacts and friends and to build and earn loyalties. This will pay off when you run as these people become your "foot soldiers" in your campaign.
2) Become a precinct chair for your local Democratic Party and canvas your precinct so people get to know who you are.
3) Attend local school board and city and county council meetings, town hall meetings, etc. and ask good questions, make good comments and get yourself noticed.
4) Learn to write and speak and articulate your view point well and without fear or hesitation. Know your material, the hot button issues, your opponents viewpoints, etc. Practice writing and speaking as much as possible and get feedback on your communications skills.
5) Learn and become fluent in Spanish as much as is possible for you. There are 38 million Hispanic voters in this country and they need to be taken seriously by our candidates in all future elections.
6) Participate in local charities and volunteer organizations. Don't do it as "X" the candidate running for such and such office. Again it's about building loyalties and friendships so that people realize that you are a good guy and will want to back you.
7) Run for a smaller office than Congress your first time out. It's a great big leap straight up to Congress unless you have a big stash of cash. If you don't and you aren't a war hero or something, it's gonna be hard to get people to take you seriously if you jump straight to the major leagues. Run for dog catcher, school board, city commissioner, mayor, etc. and work your way up the chain.
8) You need to find a GOOD publicity / media / advertising person who has a good feel for marketing candidates in your local area. There is usually at least one or two such "gurus" in your local area that will know the ins and outs of the Democratic Party, and the competition - the Republican Party.
I'm a fan of the "being for something campaign" the postive ad not the negative ad..that may not be good advice according to the pros but I still feel that way.
9) You need to find a GOOD DATABASE and WEBSITE person. Someone who is good at either writing or purchasing good software for building and generating lists for walking precincts and phone banks. This person needs to either be a guru at demographics as well or at least be able to interface and work creatively with the "guru" I mentioned in item 6.
10) You need to find a GOOD MONEY person. A Congressional seat will require you typically to raise 1 to 2 MILLION dollars depending on who you are and how much name recognition you had before you decided to run.
This person needs to know where and how to raise money from local and nationwide donors. A lot of donors can be found by looking at the official gov't donation records from previous Democratic candidates and previous donors to the local, state, and national Democratic parties. Often times this information is sortable by amount and zip code.
The money person needs to know how to put together a web based donation system for your small and mid size donors and they need to be able to put together "high roller" events for your big money donors. They also need to know the election laws and abide by them. He or she needs to be able to work effectively with your media people to create a coordinated campaign to solicit donations from likely donors via email, and telephone.
11) You need a lawyer to keep your campaign out of trouble - PREEMPTIVELY. Both YOU and all your campaign workers need a crash course in what they can and CANNOT do so they don't get your campaign into trouble with the law.
12) You need a good "image" person who knows how to make you presentable to the public in terms of suits, haircuts, etc. Sometimes blue jeans are appropriate but usually it's lawyer clothes that work best - suit and tie or nice business attire. Avoid cowboy hats and boots, etc. unless you live in the Southwest or Texas.
13) You need a good campaign manager. Don't just pick your best friend. This doesn't usually seem to work. He or she needs to be someone who knows how to coordinate events, manage people, manage money, make intelligent decisions, answer press questions without getting into trouble, and preferably this person would also be one of the "gurus" I mentioned in #6 above.
14) You need to do good opposition research both of your "friendly" opposition in the Democratic Party for the Primaries and also the Republican opponents during the General if you make it that far.
15) You need to do good research and planning on your own beliefs so that you know what your plans are, WHY you are running for office, and what DIFFERENTIATES you from the other candidates and makes you the best choice.
16) You need to not let the campaign manager and media guru over manage and over package you. Be yourself and be honest - don't play games with words and give different messages to different audiences. The public catches on to this and it hurts most candidates.
17) You need to develop a serious business plan for your campaign and put it on paper. Make a power point presentation out of it. What are your objectives, who are your target voters, how will you identify them and convince them to vote for you on election day?
18) Once you have that PowerPoint or some version of it take it to your local Democratic Party and let them know that you are serious about your campaign and let them know who your chiefs are so they know that you are serious and know what you are doing. This will help you gather help, money, and credibility that you need to win.
19) You will in most places have to file with your Supervisor of Elections and either pay a filing fee or collect a specified number of signatures. Signatures are hard to gather but it will pay off in terms of identifying supporters for the rest of the campaign.
20) You will have to make sure your lawyer will cross all the t's and dot all the i's on the filing paperwork and reporting paperwork.
Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL
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