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What is a Campaign ???

According to the NFRW Campaign Manual, “A political Campaign is a specific, goal-oriented effort to reach voters and blocs of voters and motivate sufficient numbers of them to vote for the campaigner. A well organized campaign determines what it will need to win and how these needs can best be met.”

Winning campaigns have many attributes in common.
Some of them are:

A fully committed campaigner. There is simply no substitute for a campaigner willing to work hard and be involved. A campaigner who is more of a spectator of his own campaign will have a difficult time motivating others to work.
Sufficient funds. It is very difficult to get things down without enough money.
Specific goals. It is important to know what you are trying to accomplish, such as, “Get 70% of the vote in the north side.”
A campaigner who has a following. Be it political, civic, religious, ideological, or other, a campaigner who has a core of committed supporters starts with a large advantage. This may be the single most important advantage in a race at the local level.
A campaigner seen as compatible with the electorate. People would rather vote for someone they feel comfortable with (and they’re always quick to vote against someone they are not comfortable with). A campaigner with socio-economic and/or ethnic characteristics markedly different from those of the majority of the electorate must find ways to compensate.
Willingness to make decisions. (This is one of the hardest-to-find attributes in most campaigners.)
Commitment in advance. The successful campaigner usually starts early, say, a year or more before the election.
Good execution. A good campaign gets things done on time. There is no high strategy involved in most campaign tasks, just effort. A good campaign gets them done. We believe that the Quality of the Campaign, more than any other single factor, is the most important element of victory.

Campaigns lose for a variety of reasons. Among them are:

Fuzziness and lack of purpose. This is the biggest reason incumbents are upset. Neither an incumbent nor a challenger can afford to have a vague image or appeal.
Complacency and overconfidence. This is probably the second reason incumbents are upset, and, in any campaign, the condition frequently escapes notice until a few hours after the polls close.

Early warning signs can include:

Shortage of volunteers

Lack of a functioning organization

A lackadaisical attitude, expressed in comments such as, “We don’t need to do that,” or “It’ll get done—don’t worry about it,” or “We didn’t need him/her/them anyway.”

Lack of accurate data from survey operations, or, disregard of available data because you don’t like the answers you’re getting.

Low turn-out at campaign events.

No, “new blood” in the campaign organizations.

Mistakes. In addition to wasting opportunities, time, money, people, and other resources, mistakes make good newspaper fodder because they are funny to people outside the campaign. People often will not vote for someone they have been laughing at or perceive as not capable of managing people or events. (Remember that part about doing a better job?)
Sloppy execution. Failure to perform the necessary tasks efficiently can prevent your message getting out effectively.
A lazy campaigner. The campaigner belongs on the streets, NOT in the headquarters.
Lack of support going in. In some cases, this problem may be insurmountable. However, a good campaigner with a good organization and plain hard work can often overcome this disadvantage.

Why Run ?

Too many campaigners fail to consider this question adequately prior to announcing, but a campaign involves too much work to be undertaken lightly.

A good campaigner KNOWS why he or she is running.

That campaigner has a philosophy of politics or public service which he can not only communicate to the public but which can also sustain him through the trials ahead.

Seeking public office is a great challenge and responsibility. Win or lose (although winning is greatly preferred), a good campaign can be a satisfying experience. The campaigner owes it to himself, his family, his supporters and contributors, and the voters, to consider carefully his reasons for running before announcing. He should/must also consider carefully his chances of winning before asking others to “risk” their time and money in his behalf. Finally, he should exert every effort to conduct the best possible campaign in his quest for victory. A campaigner who conducts a campaign his supporters (and others) can be proud of has a much better chance of winning.

The Most Important Element . . .

THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT of a Quality (successful) Campaign is Planning. There is absolutely no substitute for a proper Campaign Plan. (Remember? If you haven’t got a plan, you haven’t got a prayer. [Unless your opponent is worse off than you are—and that’s what happens in most campaigns. The least-worst effort doesn’t lose])

The successful campaigner will determine how many votes it will take to win and where to GET those votes.

A Winning Campaign Plan has two parts:

The first is a Strategy Statement.
State in one paragraph, or even one sentence, how you plan to win. For instance, in 1980, a successful Republican campaigner made this statement: “Since Reagan’s going to carry this district handily, I’ll ride his coattails and urge people to vote for the both of us. Also, I’ll demonstrate that I’m far better qualified, through my public service and civic service experience, to serve the people of this district in the state legislature than my opponent, the servant of special interests with no public service experience.” Or “I’ll stay away from the Party leader and his philosophy and stick to my guns on tax increases, while showing that I identify more with the average working person than my opponent the Harvard MBA.” The “statement” should dovetail closely with survey research findings, offering the voters what THEY want from a legislator, rather than telling the voters what they (in your opinion) need.

The second part is a detailed Plan of Action.
This is where you pull all the details of running a successful campaign together in one document. The Plan of Action should/must include major projects to be undertaken and outline responsibilities for each one as:

Organization. Outline the type of organization you plan to put into place, including a steering committee, a finance committee, district/precinct/etc. “captains,” and chairmen for the various levels of activity and the various project efforts. Also, maybe even most important, WHO is going to be in charge of this overall organization and who will be responsible for guiding its destiny.
Finance. Choose a finance chairman and set realistic goals. Then outline how those goals can/will be met. Include the initial finance committee members and outline plans for expanding the membership as the campaign progresses.
Scheduling. Decide your plans for the best use of the campaigner’s time. Who will be in charge of the Campaign Schedule? How will this Schedule be handled and planned? Be creative and aggressive and don’t be satisfied with merely responding to invitations. Plan on getting your campaigner into the areas and before the groups which can play key roles in accumulating the number of votes needed to win. Above all, play to your strength—do NOT take your “good” areas for granted. Make sure you secure your base FIRST before heading out to more uncertain territory.
Issues. Given the basic philosophy that there is only ONE “issue” in any campaign (Which campaigner can do a better job?), try to identify voter concerns and determine which ones should be emphasized. Also plan exactly how you plan to approach your opponent’s record (or lack thereof) as an “issue”.
Communications. Outline in detail your plans for reaching the voters: direct mail, mass media, campaign literature, phone banks, etc., etc. Decide who will be in charge of creating, producing, and disseminating/placing such messages.
Targeting. Identify target groups of voters essential to your Minimum Winning Coalition, and set out the means you will use to reach them with your Campaign Message.
Budgeting. The successful campaign will have three budgets: one for people, one for time, and one for money (most campaigners just think to budget money). Make hard-nosed realistic estimates of how much can be raised and how much should be spent to conduct a minimum-level Quality Campaign.

Next month: How to organize a campaign..

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