Silly Season has begun

It's almost Labor Day, when campaign season officially begins, but any serious candidate has been working all summer, getting their team into place, raising money, testing messages on friendly audiences, hiring consultants and staff, or just lining up volunteers, endorsements and donors for the fall push.

There are no "big" races on this off-year ballot. But in this business, all races are big, no matter the scope of the office. For instance, in a local sewer board race, as reported in the last Campaign Slut blog post, the louts are out already, denouncing the very real possibility that a female majority may be elected this year.

Yes, this is nearly 100 years since women got the right to vote. But it is 41 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress, and that (equal rights for women, oh scary!) has never been ratified by the States. If we don't start electing more women, and yes, some female majorities in some jurisdictions, will we ever attain full equality? The answer to that, I fear, is obvious.

What we get, instead, is more and more male legislators behaving badly, Republican and Democrat alike. The jury is still out on whether Eliot Spitzer, can make a political comeback after the infamous "Client No. 9" scandal, while others like serial "sexter" Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner do not even have the good grace to look chagrined. (Yes, Filner resigned under pressure, but managed to get the City to pay his legal fees, which I'm sure he thought was the least they could do for him, poor baby).

It's no wonder they call it "Silly Season."  And it's no wonder, fewer women than men run. Even though it has been proven time and again that when women do run for office, they win in the same proportions as the men. And, very few of them, if any, have their political careers derailed by scandal. 

Go ahead and Google it; I found none, nada, zilch, at least that were worth reporting. When enough women run, female majorities will no longer be the exception. We are more than 50% of the population. And who know, with more women in office, maybe dignity and respect will return to the job?

So is it any wonder the men are afraid to see female majorities? It may mean playtime is about to be over.

Backlash against women in office?

I was at a training last night hosted by the Marin Women's Political Action Committee. We're an organization helping women run and win elective offices. We endorse, give money and train our candidates. Men are welcome at our trainings and may be recommended if they meet our criteria (pro-choice, will help with women's issues, will help mentor women running for office and so forth), but only if no qualified women are running. Qualified means meets the above stated criteria.

                                              Is this the "Cabal" or maybe it's a Coven some men are so afraid of?
A woman who is running for a local board told this story:

"I met with a man yesterday from one of the local agencies and asked for his support. Smiling all the while, he said, sorry, I cannot support you because if you win there will be a female majority board."

Taken aback, she said, "Why is that a problem for you?"

Still smiling the man said, "Because then you would be able to put in your agenda."

"Our agenda?" she asked. "Did you feel this way about the male majority board? Is there a male agenda?"

He just kept on smiling. One of the two women presently serving on that board said, "I bet he was just picturing us gathering in the woods, stirring our brew and singing "Double double, toil and trouble, let's reduce the men to rubble." Then she cackled and we all had another glass of wine.

This is the most overt example of male bias against women in office (women in power) that I've encountered in this supposedly liberal bastion I call home.  But really, don't we see it all the time?  Why do they call women "sluts" for doing what they (men) think is perfectly normal for them - having sex, having power.

Power is what it's all about, and women seizing political power may be just one step too far for many men.

Make History - Vote! Two Historic Legislative decisions won on a single vote

Today marks the date in 1920 that Tennessee became the 36th State to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. One vote in the Legislature made the difference, a young man everyone thought was on the other side, a young man with a telegram from his mother in his pocket, Representative Harry Burn, switched sides with a vote that broke a deadlock and changed history.

How much difference can YOUR one vote make? A lot. For another historic one-vote decision that made history, a young legislator from Peabody Massachusetts changed his vote and broke a tie vote that would have reinstated the death penalty in Massachusetts in 1997. Visiting the home of my youth, I was in the gallery that day to watch the brave John P. Slattery from working class Peabody reverse course and vote not to reinstate. To this day, attempts to bring back the death penalty to Massachusetts have failed. (So far. Mitt Romney as governor tried to change the rules and a bill this year following the Marathon bombings was shelved after much bickering in the Legislature.)

Who's to say what would have happened if these courageous men hadn't bucked the tide that was sweeping through their respective States at the time?

As a campaign consultant, I have seen several close votes. I have seen elections where the vote change by few votes between election night and the time the final votes were counted from every last late vote-by-mail ballot, sometimes a full two weeks after Election Day. Your one vote could be one of these. Make it count.

Labor Day marks the beginning of campaign season. Even in these "off" years, there are elections for school boards, city councils and special districts (sewer, water, community service, etc.) Don't wait until the last minute. Save those flyers, read those editorials and attend those public forums. Your one vote just might make a historic difference in your town.

Make Good Use of Your Signs - Burma Shave!

You know the adage - Sign don't vote. It's true, so true, but one year, when I was the candidate and my good friend and co-conspirator in all things campaign (and so much more), Ginny decided Burma Shave signs would be fun and informative at the same time.  They would be sure to attract attention.

Burma Shave for those of you not in the know was a brand of brushless shaving cream started in the 20's, which came up with a clever ploy for advertising their product, roadside signs in rhyme, ending with Buy Burma Shave! The ads ran until the 60's.

Ginny said, "I know what let's do let's get some of my rancher friends to let us use their fences to put signs on." So we did. Ginny was active in saving West Marin County (California) ranchland, so knew all the old timers, who were happy to oblige such an engaging proposition.

The signs said "Someone to Listen" "Someone to Hear" "A new Supervisor" "Is needed this year" "Vote for Dotty!"

 This was not only great fun, but it got attention. Did it get votes? Not sure, as I did not win the election (although I did reasonably well).  But I got the bug from those signs and that campaign, and voila, my campaign consulting firm was launched.

So far, I have not made use of the Burma Shave idea in any of the campaigns I've run. But who knows, I might do it again. You can too.

Signs with a message. And some humor.  That's better. Than any rumor. Vote!

What's on the back of YOUR Campaign Mailer?

 Don't waste your back page

You work like a beaver, whittling down your message to three or four short, cogent bullet points for the inside of your mailer.  You hone the front cover with precision to make it clever, graphically interesting, arresting, mysterious even, to make sure the voter opens to see the message inside.  Then you turn to the back cover. Well, you have to stick the label on her somewhere, the right size and shape the Post Office dictates. You have all this left over space you need to fill up somehow. I know, let's put the long list of endorsers here, in small type just in case anyone really wants to see if their friends and relations are supporting you.  Or maybe a throwaway line we couldn't fit on the inside.

A picture of the candidate and her family on that camping trip last summer? Maybe even a couple of endorser organization logos or a testimonial or two.

Take a tip from junk mail

But wait! Are we forgetting something?  Look at your mail, I mean the every day mail that arrives in your mailbox. Unless you have a mail slot and the mail lands in a pile all willy nilly, it's probably in there label side up, right? The mailman has to sort the mail by address. So he's going to be carrying it with the label up.  On most first class mail, that's the front.  On most second class (junk) mail and political mail, that's the back.

Look at your junk mail. Hmm. Big sale at Macy's! announced on the back of their catalog.  Save 20% on front end alignment!, in bold on the back of the Big O Tires postcard.  Retailers have learned the art of the back page.

Many candidates and their mail consultants have not. How many mailers have you received from candidates with columns of names or boring pictures, with not even the campaign logo or an intriguing quip to whet your interest in what's inside? Yes, I know if you are reading this you won't let a little thing like the way the mail lands in the box keep you from a juicy campaign mailer. But most voters are not like you.  Many will go ho hum, here's another piece of junk mail, and toss it without even turning it over. Some will turn it over to see the front, and hopefully, they are hooked enough to at least register the name.  Others will open it and read. But that's a three step process. Why count on the voters to do all that work, when you could save them at least one step by using the back page to graphically pitch at least part of your message?  An intriguing photo, a pithy quote, a question? 

Jazz it up! 

For your next campaign, don't think, "Oh, it's just the back page;" instead think "Hmm, this may be my first chance to engage the voter."  Then do it with pizzazz!

What all Voters Want to Know

The number one question all candidates must be able to answer is: "What will you do for me?"

This not likely to be the question the candidate is asked. And not the one most consultants tell you to be prepared for. You will hear "why are you running?" And you will be told not to say "Because it's a good time for me" or "because I want to move on to a new level of participation" or even (and most common), "because I want to give back to the community."

No, anyone who asks why you are running wants to know what your election is going to mean for him, that particular voter, how will voting for you make her life better, her taxes lower, her job prospects improved, her safety enhanced. 

And that's what you should be able to answer in thirty second or less.  

Some call it an "elevator speech" - how you can explain your campaign in the time you would spend riding in an elevator with a complete stranger.

So, why are you running?  And how will your election improve the lives of your constituents? Get ready with those elevator speeches early, practice them often, and make them sound, and be, sincere. The voters can spot a phony, and these days, they are ever more vigilant.

More Wendy Davis less Google Glass

Wendy Davis put on her running shoes and took to the floor of the Texas legislature to stop the Senate from passing tough new restrictions on abortion. This gutsy woman stood on her feet for 11 hours until it was too late to vote. The vote failed that night, but sneaky snarky Rick Perry called a special session just to get his way, thwart women's rights and (quite possibly) launch his Presidential bid as an uber conservative.

Wendy is making the circuit, a national heroine to women throughout the country.  Naturally her YouTube portrayal went viral and fundraising picked up for women's rights groups. That's the right kind of social media.

Immersing yourself in the inter-webs and hoping for the best is not. Why would anyone watch your screed on YouTube if they can see tangoing dogs and Anthony Weiner's weiner ? (you didn't seriously think I was going to show it here did you?

Publicity has to come to you because you stand for something and do something about it.  Wendy Davis for Governor of Texas, then who knows. Texas hasn't had a Democratic Governor in umpty years, and if memory serves, the last one was a feisty broad named Ann Richards, whose daughter Cecile is now the national head of Planned Parenthood, another target for mean Republicans everywhere.