Back on the Trail

You'd think we hadn't been doing much (because I haven't been writing much) but we have been busy on some campaigns. This season is a hot one, with campaigns all over the North Bay map. Sonoma, Marin, Solano, Napa, Yolo, Lake Counties.

So now it's juggling candidates and their various nees.

Most candidates need a few basics:

• A remit envelope to get checks, endorsements and offer to volunteer
• A website to list their isues, bios and endorsers
• A walk piece or handout to leave with the people they meet on the campaign trail
• Some social media
• A letter to potential supporters to solicit funds and ask for help
• A data base to keep track of endorsers, donors and volunteers
• A telephone - to call potential donors for campaign contributions
• A good campaign message
• A good campaign message delivery system - mailers, tv and radio, speeches and more

And a few good people:

• A campaign consultant to make sure these things are in the works and on schedule
• A campaign manager to make sure the candidate is on time, knows where to be, handles the press and other issues and act as chief cheerleader and nag
• A treasurer to handle the finances and file reports on time
• A field coodinator to handle the volunteers and oversee precinct walking and phone banking to voters
• Volunteers to do all of the above and more

You could always use a fundraiser, a data base manager and some gofers to help it all run smoothly, but know this - You, the candidate, must be the one to sell yourself, make the phone calls for contributions, meet the voters, go to debates and answer the questionnaires. Your staff, volunteers and friends and family can all help, but ultimately, You are the salesforce.

Oh, yeah, take a few moments to breathe each day and maybe once a week or so, kiss your family.  It will all be over soon and you'll be in office or back at your day job. either way, you'll have had a real adventure with lots of stories to tell.