Lessons Learned

Lessons learned so far . .

Now that we have had a chance to run for office on the platform of this web site, there have been lessons learned (at least applicable in California) which we want to share to assist others in their campaigns.

Start Now. In California, I had from 24 April to 24 July (13 weeks) to collect 7,000 signatures from voters in my district in order to appear on the ballot in November. Since the signature collection period started during the primary election season, it was difficult to determine in advance when would be the best time to start the campaign. I waited until the primary was over so as not to confuse the voters. In retrospect, that was an error. The most important thing appears to be get people involved before you need them to participate. Too soon and they may lose interest, but too late and they appear to have less energy available for politics. The best compromise would appear to be: make your website clear about your intent and have a working registration page to collect contact information from voters who want to participate in your campaign. Have your site ready before the primary season begins. If you do this at or slightly before the start of the primary season, people will be paying attention and you are more likely to build a following of people you can update as to your progress and needs.

Give talks. If you can give talks to community groups just before starting the campaign, it is an opportunity to speak before non-profit groups that you may not get once the campaign starts. In my area, non-profits are concerned about participating in political activity, so it would have been better to approach them before the campaign. There are a number of apolitical talks that I give, so I have tried to push for those once the campaign was underway.

Contact family, friends, and colleagues. I sent one blast email to everyone early, and that is all that I think you should send to people who haven't opted in to your messages. You need people you know to know about what you are doing. Some of them will be excited and want to pass your message on. Some may even choose to participate in the campaign. Most will not want to be bothered and you need to keep that in mind too. I checked the opinions of my family prior to pursuing a campaign. Best they were aware of this possibility from me before hearing it from someone else. The order of notifying others may not be as crucial if you notify everyone within a few days.

Campaign when there is no incumbent. When the incumbent representative runs in an election, it is rare that they lose unless there has been a recent scandal. Otherwise, it appears that the People pay less attention to the campaigns. Your message may be more likely to be heard when voters are trying to decide a new representative. If you are running a second or third time, you may choose to run against an incumbent to keep your message alive from one election cycle to the next.

Get information about the election laws before you do anything. My county clerk's office was very helpful in providing all the information that I needed to fill out the paperwork and contact the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Having submitted forms to indicate intent to run, money collected and distributed, and created a campaign finance committee, I can tell you that there is a significant amount of paperwork to submit. Be aware of the regulatory requirements in your community.

Carry voter registration cards. As I campaigned I found a large number of people who simply never registered and some who had become frustrated by the system and just stopped voting (making them unregistered). After starting to bring cards with me, I was able to get about half of those non-registered individuals to complete a voter registration card. Many people are frustrated because our political system is not working as well as it could or should, some have simply withdrawn. We must try to restore their faith in the political process and bring them back by working toward making everyone's voice matter. That is a key tenet of this movement.

Collect email addresses. If you can collect an email address from interested people as you collect their signatures, that can help your campaign keep them informed. If you can afford to have a tablet (or smaller) PC with wireless internet access with you, ask people to sign up on your web site directly. Communication with the voters is key in this type of campaign. Consider all the ways you can put your information directly before them. The less work that they have to do to keep up with your campaign, the more likely they will find the time to do something in support. Just don't overdo the number of messages you send, not more than once a day.

Develop a clear message. I was fortunate to have a friend who is expert in marketing help me. If you have marketing skills, great. If not, see who among your family, friends and colleagues will help you with marketing. Some people believe that marketing is evil. Marketing is simply how you get your message out to the community. The evil in marketing occurs when it is done to deceive rather than inform. Marketing is the method, your message determines whether you are speaking for good or evil. You want to define a message which is clear, represents your intentions and character, and is consistent throughout your campaign. Once we started running newspaper ads, we tried to keep some of the same phrases (e.g. "Be part of the campaign"), even when we made changes to the format of the ads. To keep within my tiny budget, I advertised only in the two largest population centers.

Get your message out. For me, the most cost effective method was newspaper. For you, it may be something else. You must communicate with the voters to bring them to your web site. This generally requires some form of advertising. Word of mouth is best, but requires some work on the part of the voters. Email is effective when you have permission, but it becomes obtrusive and negative when you do not have permission. Do not send unsolicited email more than once or twice, it will backfire. Color 11x14 signs are a convenient size for office / retail windows. Larger signs are needed if you want to post them on busy corners - find out what your local sign ordinances restrict for political campaigns before posting any signs and verify with the property owner that posting the sign is OK with them.

Participate in community events. I wish I had checked the community calendar in January to see when different annual events would occur. Having a presence at these events is an opportunity to meet with your local voters. Have a table and chairs with posters just outside an event, or inside the event if participation is free or low cost. Be a sponsor of the event if it is within your budget. Ask campaign volunteers to walk the event, collect signatures, and talk about the campaign.

More to come . . .

Your ideas?

If you have participated in a campaign or just have some ideas, send them to us and we will consider posting them.