Committees, What Are They Good For?

No, I won't say, like the song  - "Absolutely nothing!" because they are good for a lot. They can help keep you focused. Help you find elements of your message, inform you of ongoing or new developments you might have missed and of course, volunteering for all those pesky little campaign tasks no one should have to do alone.

But they also can be distracting, discouraging and, sometimes, downright dangerous.

Often, when candidates tell me they don't need my services, or they "are going in a different direction," that's code for "I have a campaign committee. why should I spend money on a paid consultant?" 

Let's go over some of the dos and don't of the Campaign Committee.

Campaign committees are good for: 

1. Providing local on-the-ground insight. Members of your committee, if chosen wisely, can keep you apprised of what's going on in various parts of your district, or with various constituencies. They can keep you up to date on issues, breaking and otherwise, that are on people's minds. All this helps you craft a message for the voters. (We also call these folks your Kitchen Cabinet. They are the cream of the crop and you keep them close.)

2. Cheering you up when times get tough. They'll stand by you through thick and thin. They'll give you good news from farflung parts of the district. If they're true friends and advisors, they'll bring you the bad news too, like when the local grocery clerks are extolling the virtues of your opponent.

3. Grunt work. These are your volunteer leaders. They can be the backbone of your field campaign. Willing to walk precincts in the rain; to encourage others to join in; they'll sit with cell phones glued to their ears for hours making those calls to undecided voters. They'll hold house parties for you and get their friends and neighbors to attend, to donate and even to hold their own events.

They will lick stamps and stuff envelopes, when a quick fundraising letter needs to go out. They'll forward emails and get all their friends to "like" your Facebook page.

3. The cream of the crop will become field coordinators, phone bank operators, finance committee chairs. Every member of the committee should donate whatever they can to the campaign war chest.

Now for what they are not good for, in fact, may be toxic for:

1. Writing the campaign plan. Yes, everyone has good ideas, and no one's ideas should be completely ignored out of hand, but this is not where your plan is created or your strategy worked out. This is a leaderless group who needs to take direction, not try to give it.

2. Crafting the campaign message, or worse, the actual campaign materials you will leave at voters' doors and mail to their homes. Your committee is likely to have English majors, maybe even ad execs. You'll have artists and everyone will have a cousin, sister, uncle or good friend, who's a brilliant designer. While all that may be true, and sometimes good ideas arise from brainstorming sessions around the coffee table, those are the jobs of your consultant and the professionals they hire who understand campaigns and the special way messages must be crafted and targeted to get the most bang for your precious campaign buck.

3. Second guessing. Don't let the committee second guess your consultant. Pick one or two trusted sets of eyes to review the pieces for spelling errors or factual inaccuracies. But if you let 12 people have a say in everything, you'll  have twelve opinions. Let them know you value their input, but make sure the lines of authority are clear. And remember, you are the boss. You can fire volunteers, even though you don't pay them and they have the best intentions. Some people are natural downers and must be gently sent on their way or channeled into a more productive role.

I've see all of these and more pitfalls on campaigns. If candidates whom I interview go "in a different direction," I wish them well. Occasionally, they win their race in spite of it all. More often though, I hear from them months or years later (often when they've decided to take another crack at running) "Well, you were right. My committee really didn't know what they were doing. Are you available to help me this time around?"

I never gloat.

 (Reprinted from 2018 Blog post. Good advice is timeless)

Dianne Feinstein, Is It About Her Age?

We all know Senator Dianne Feinstein (or Di Fi as we in the know call her) is in her late eighties. Speculation swirls about a cognitive decline. Calls for her to resign are loud and come from many in her own, our own Democratic Party. Should she quit, when she just has a year to go? That's the question.

In her case, I don't think it's all about the age, but it may be factors like cognitive decline if that's true. However, many older people, including Senators, have lived well into their 90's serving and being productive and creative members of whatever group they belonged to. My friends Howard, Eugenia, Edith all died in their mid 90's, still feeling well, creating art and publishing poetry, with some physical issues, but sharp as they ever were, ready for fun, work or whatever was called for. I still have lunches with wine with my beautiful 96 year old poet friend Treva.

But in this case, missing her work on the Judicial Committee for so long means delaying appointments of judges while we still can. No one knows what the next election will bring. Also, crucially, delaying key subpoenas in the Trump investigation, which will not happen if the Reps get their hands on the Senate or the Presidency.

So in her case, I don't think it's all about the age. Ageism is a thing affecting all of us, every single one. As we age, we enter the time of being discriminated against, even if we are not in any of the other protected groups. It's why women dye their hair, not vanity. Time to celebrate age and hire for age, not in spite of it, as long as the person is sharp, hard working and willing. Studies show our brains grow the more we use them.

Some people, alas, have problems. Is Di Fi one? I'm not sure. But if she resigns, it's prime time for Newsom to appoint a Black woman to that spot. It should be Barbara Lee. Will he do it? Stay tuned.

Money: It's STILL the Mother's Milk of Politics

Jesse Unruh, at one time called the Big Daddy'' of the California Legislature, once said "Money is the mother's milk of politics." That adage is still true today, more than half a century after the politically powerful Speaker of the California State Assembly uttered it. Why? Because much as candidates don't want to think they need it, much as they hate raising money, they need it and they must raise it in order to get their message out to the voters. If you don't have any money, you can't hope to reach the people that need to know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should vote for you and not the other guy.

To reach those voters, even the most modest campaign need to have something to put into voters' hands, and to do that, they need to have a printer to print their message and before that, someone with graphic design skills to create the piece they want to get out and before that a list of the voters they need to reach and before that a message that differentiates them from the field and states their particular message clearly and succinctly.

Let's break that down. 

The List

You need a good list, not just the list of all registered voters, but the list of frequent voters, that is people who are likely to vote in this election. These lists can be purchased from the list vendor, such as Political Data Intelligence.  This vendor can find just the right list for your needs. It's worth the cost, by m ailing to only your voters, you save money in the end. 

The Message

To craft a short bulled message, it helps to have a message consultant, someone to help you hone your issues into bite sized pieces. You can't write essays for the voters (although plenty of candidates want to). You have to give them something they can digest in a short period of time, maybe even as quickly as they head from the mailbox to the recycling bin. Your message consultant can help you take your issues and break them down into sound bites, or bulleted points that the voter can digest and understand easily.

Graphics

You have to make it look nice, so, someone with graphic design skills, preferably with experience doing campaigns, which are very different than advertising say, who knows how to take that message and make it pop on the page, along with your picture and a good logo and color scheme. his person will also work with your message consultant to create a webpage for you. in fact, the webpage usually comes first with a logo, branding, the right color scheme and a short "tagline" you can use throughout the campaign.

A Printer

You need a printer, not your home printer, to print a high quality piece that you and volunteers can carry around to homes, and to print the mail and get it to the mailhouse to go out to voters. You need to find a local union print shop, one that you can rely on for all your needs and will be responsive when you call, who understands the needs of campaigns. Why a union print shop? Because as you go forward assuming you are a Democratic candidate, you will be seeking endorsements from unions and from the Democratic Party. even in a non-partisan election, these things matter and the people who make the endorsements care that you support union labor.

There is so much more that you need to win your campaign and all these things cost money. even if you have an army of volunteer to go door to door, you need a quality professionally produced piece for them to hand out. People power is great. But a grassroots campaign doesn't mean a sloppy or an underfunded campaign. You're not rich? You don't hobnob with the powerful and influential? That's ok. We will give you some tips for successful fundraising as we go forward.

Three Things Not to Do if You want to Win Your Next Campaign

Don't do this:

In a recent campaign I ran, early in the final month before election day, a very earnest young woman, a campaign volunteer, said to me on evening as we had an energetic phone bank going at the local Party headquarters, "Dotty, you can't have our candidate calling people during the dinner hour. Do you know how many people have said to me, 'I won't vote for anyone who calls me during dinner.'?"  "How do we know what time everyone eats dinner," I responded. I didn't say, "And do you know how many of those people wouldn't vote for our candidate anyway? Or how many of them just don't vote at all?" But I didn't.

Don't call me during dinner!

Or this: 

In another hard fought race for supervisor, an eager volunteer came up to me, all in a lather, saying "Dotty, Dotty. We have to get the candidate down to the freeway entrance right now! His opponent is there with his wife and kids, waving signs and people are honking for him!"

At that moment, the candidate was busy on the phone, dialing for dollars, calling his friends and family, to get those last minute funds to ensure he got over the finish line with room to spare. It was tight, and time was short. "No," I said, as kindly as I could to this well-intentioned volunteer. "He's busy now, raising money. We don't need to distract him. "But," she went on, undeterred,'the opponent has a very photogenic family and lots of sign wavers there too. He'll be noticed and our guy won't." Sign waving does not win campaigns. 

And especially don't do this: 

At the very beginning of what would prove to be a nail-biter of an election, volunteer number three came running up to me as I was busily checking the data provided by the research team, to target our early walking. "Dotty, Dotty" he said. "We have to buy a bunch of signs. Right now. Let's not waste out money on walking and mailing, when we can get our candidate's name in front of voters if we get to the freeway intersections and overpasses first. He'll have the most big signs and everyone will want to vote for him on election day!"

Never mind that we hadn't even settled on a logo or a slogan or finalized the first handout for the printer. And that the candidate, who had gotten off to a late start, was still madly calling his friends and relations for that all important early money.

When I reminded Eager Volunteer no. 3 of that, he had a ready answer, "But don't you see? If he just buys a bunch of banners and gets them up all over town right away, he won't need so much money. He'll have name recognition and win easily." No, he won't. He'll have annoyed drivers and business people calling to complain and writing letters to the editor about sign pollution, not to mention banners tend to fly off overpasses and can do all kinds of damage. We waited on signs, got the candidate out walking, did some targeted mailing and won with a pretty good margin.

So many signs!

                                                            

What DO you do then? 

Follow the time-honored techniques of savvy campaigners: Walk, phone (even at dinner time; phoning at dinner time never lost a candidate a vote and now with cell phones and caller ID, most calls got to voice mail anyway. Have a good short voice mail message ready to deliver), mail, meet voters at events and house parties, use smart social media, and do it all again. Yes, you need to do all of the above (except for banners, don't do banners!), but don't do them instead of campaigning like crazy, right up until the last minute. Oh, and tip no. 1. Raise money, raise money, raise money. More on that later. 

 

And more signs!

Tiny Aliens or What's in Those UFO's Anyway?

After they shot down the Chinese spy balloon, three more smaller objects drifted into our airspace from the same general direction. Are they spy balloons too? No one is saying, because no one knows for sure, or that is what they DO say. They have not been able to recover the debris. These were shot out of the sky over Alaska, over Canada, over Lake Huron. All coming down in unreachable terrain.

So they say. Meanwhile they are very quick to tell us they are not aliens, no, no aliens in that Volkswagon sized thing, or the cylindrical one or that other one either. They'd have to be tiny aliens I think, to fit in there, with whatever propulsion system was needed, whatever other stuff, gear, food, seats, steering wheels? So now everyone is talking aliens and no one is wondering why they can't recover these things any faster. Hmmm.

I think it's college students, maybe high school kids, playing very expensive pranks. What with fighter jets needing to be deployed and missiles launched and all. But they may never say. We just hope it doesn't start a war with the Chinese, or the Russians or the aliens. 

 

Exciting Training for Activists

The Green Dog group is planning some exciting trainings for progressive activists this summer and fall.  If you are involved in protecting wetlands or open space, fighting for rent control in your town, or just trying to get a stop sign at a dangerous corner, this is for you. Learn the techniques for lobbying your elected officials, building a coalition of neighbors and other concerned citizens in your town. And consider running for office yourself. 

Remember, this is an off year in California, but it's the right time to plan your run in 2024.  We can help with all of that, including fundraising tips, the one thing all candidates hate to do, but the one that is most crucial to any successful campaign.

If your grassroots organizing campaign involves meeting with State legislators, holding large rallies, or even making signs to wave at the meetings, you can benefit from these tips too. We've created petition drives, lobbying expeditions to Sacramento in caravans of buses, and sent out informative mailers for our clients and our own passion projects. And we've helped progressive candidates get elected to office all over California.

Learn the techniques that gain the right kind of attention and that work. Topics to include:

Building your coalition and naming your group

Fundraising for change

Honing your message

Lobbying techniques for State and local officials

Running a petition drive

Recalls and referendums

More fundraising

Running for office (yikes!)

And more! (Stay tuned for further information)

Start by Getting Involved

Some more advice for getting started on your political campaign. If you care about your community, but aren't sure which office you might want to run for, (and there are no elections this year, with California's new even year only elections) you should start by getting involved in an issue that you care about. Is it climate change, housing, creating more parks and open space, better education for kids? Figure out what excites you and see what you can do to get involved. 

If it's education, and you have kids in school, you probably know the issues well. Are there some committees with openings you can join, like site council or curriculum? Start going to school board meetings, join the PTA, see what seats might be up in the next cycle or two. In the case of most school boards, races are by district, so know what district you are in first. Then see if you approve of the job the incumbent is doing. It may be all is well, and there will no place for you this time. 

Even so, stay involved and be ready for a new opening or you might find you are excited about some other position on a non-profit, in local Party organization, or other club, ad hoc committee or maybe volunteer on another candidate's committee.  Who knows, you may get a rewarding job offer as staff when your candidate gets elected.