How to get free publicity for your campaign without committing a scandal

There are a number of ways to get free publicity for your campaign. Make a public blunder, have some "private" embarrassing moments go public, but if you want good publicity, it's not so easy. The press isn't going to take notice of your campaign beyond the usual short blurb they give every candidate. They might cover a debate or two if the issues are juicy, but short of punching your opponent in the nose, it's hard to get reporters to cover you.

So you need to do it yourself. There are a few ways of do it yourself press. One is the oped. If there is a newsworthy issue in your campaign, and the press hasn't picked up on it, write an oped piece that focuses on the issue and real solutions. This needs to be something other than a puff piece bout your own campaign.  Another person might write about the issue and why you'd be the right person to solve it. They would likely invite your opponent to have someone send in an article on his/her behalf as well.

Another way is to start your own blog, but that's a lot of work, and online publication just don't reach voters that well, despite the proliferation of social media sites dedicated to politics. In fact, that's one of the problems, there are so many, people tend to ignore them in favor of cute cat videos.

The simplest is to have people send in short letters to the editor. These can be written by one person and signed by others. Issues can be split up, so that one person writes about how you are the best candidate to fill potholes, while another writes about your talent at bringing people together. Still others can discuss the differences between you and your opponent and what makes you the most ft for the job.

 

Letters are a good way to convey your message to a number of people (at least the newspaper reading people, and remember, many read the paper online, so you are reaching them as well), and it is one section of the paper people do read. Your letter may well get some responses from your opponent's camp or people who may be passionate about whatever issues are on the line.

These can come in at various intervals, so that they don't bunch up on an editor's desk. Here are a few guidelines for a successful Letters to the Editor campaign.

1. Keep them short. 200 words are so is the optimal length. Much longer and you risk editing and possibly losing your main point to a pair of scissors.

2. Proofread carefully. Spelling is important, good grammar and punctuation also count. If you are speaking on a candidate's behalf, you want to come across as articulate and well informed.

3. Make sure they are truthful. do not make things up, or exaggerate your abilities. Don't make your opponent sound like an ogre unless he/she truly is one, and still, pick your words wisely.

4. Be prepared to write follow up or response letters if you get attacked by others, or if others write letters that cast you in a negative light.

Follow those easy rules and you'll get your name in the paper and maybe find some new volunteers to help with the campaign too, when they see how many enthusiastic supporters you already have.

Here is some "Brain food" to snack on while composing your letters:

KAMUT UDON NOODLES WITH KALE & AVOCADO

(Avocado is said to help with blood flow to the brain for clarity of thought.)
Time: less than 20 minutes
Servings: 2
8-oz package kamut udon noodles
2 tablespoons avocado oil (or grape seed oil)
1 tomato, chopped
3/4 bunch of lacinato kale, cut into long thin strips
3 carrots – peeled and sliced/grated
a handful of mushrooms, white or brown – finely sliced
generous drizzle of organic soy sauce/tamari, to taste
a few sprinkles of crushed red pepper flakes
dash of salt
squirt of honey
1 avocado, peeled and sliced – garnish
squeeze of fresh lime juice
In a pot of boiling water, cook kamut udon noodles as per package instructions until al dente, usually 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Pour noodles back into pot with heat on low to medium. Then add kale, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, tamari, honey, red pepper flakes and avocado oil. Heat gently, stir until steaming and kale has softened, 2-3 minutes.
Garnish with thick slices of avocado and squeeze of lime juice. Dig in!

Captain Underpants Chapter II

So what do you think? In all the broo ha ha about Hillary's emails and Scott Walker's continuing gutting of worker's rights; Rand Paul's continued goofiness, we learn that Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carillo, otherwise known as Captain Underpants, for an incident last year when he trotted over to a neighbor's house in nothing but the aforementioned skivvies, hoping the lady in question might find that an enticing sight that would cause her to open wide her bedroom door.

Or her window, as that is where he tried to gain access, causing her to call police. He blamed it all on demon rum and vowed never to touch the stuff again. "Satan punked me!" he complained, as off to rehab he went, following the surprising acquittal on a charge of "peeping."

Now back on the Board of Supervisors, and having reactivated his Facebook account (no pictures below the waist), his neighbor is suing his ass (I can't resist), for causing her humiliation and emotional distress over the incident. 

So what do you think? Should he run for re-election? Will anyone run against him? Does anyone care about this sort of stuff anymore?

It's the beginning of election season folks. These things matter. Your opinions count. Let's dish!

Today's recipe (really!)

Underpant toast

Surely this Impresses girls

We all know that girls love pants and all the paraphernalia that goes with them so Underpant toast has to be a winner, for the sophisticated man around town.

Recipe

	Begin with a conventional slice of toast, the type often made by a toaster or grill.
	Using a knife make a pocket by running it between the two sides.
	Next cover one side with Mayonaise, the type you normally use for stuff.
	Now cut the edge off.
	Then cut off the other corners and make an attractive Y shape in the mayonaise.

Serving Suggestions

	Sensible Pants
	Skimpy pants

 

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.

Election Scandal in San Jose? We're Shocked, Shocked, I tell you!

Politics and scandal. Now don't they go together like what? Beans and bacon? Bean and gas, maybe?

So, according to this morning S.F. Chronicle, in San Jose, this already disgraced former Santa Clara Supervisor (he was previously arrested on charges of stealing public money as well as campaign contributions) allegedly tried to throw a City Council election by mailing a flyer linking a candidate to the communist government in North Vietnam. He did this in a most ingenious way. He pretended the piece was FROM the Council candidate.

Not surprisingly, in her largely (anti-Communist) Vietnamese District, she lost the election, narrowly.

But the intrepid law was on the case and discovered this guy's DNA on a postage stamp on the flyer! (Who licks postage stamps anymore? Who even puts stamps on a mailer? This guy is not only a sleazebucket, assuming the allegations are true - as a lawyer I know I have to use the disclaimer, he a dumb sleazebucket.)

If the City Council candidate can prove (hard to do) that this is what cost her the election, well, Katie bar the door! It is 4 years later, so it's doubtful a new election will be held, but if I were she, I'd be rounding up a team of attorneys and I'd be putting myself on the 2014 ballot now.

Train Democratic Women - Get Bumped by IRS

So the IRS just investigated the Tea Party, who - come on, we all know it - are dedicated to the overthrow and takedown of all things Democratic or not right of Atilla the Hun, and they actually deny non-profit status to a group of Democratic women in Maine, of all places, for training Democratic women.

Where's that story?

Right here, right now: (From Salon.com)

Meet the group the IRS actually denied: Democrats!

Although Tea Party applicants got unfair IRS scrutiny, only one known group had status revoked. They’re Democrats

By Joan Walsh

Topics: IRS, Scandal, Democrats, Republicans, Editor's Picks, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Progressives, Business News, News, Politics News

Emerge America (Credit: Flickr)

Everyone agrees that the IRS shouldn’t have targeted groups with “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names for special scrutiny in awarding tax-exempt status. NBC News reports two agents have been disciplined for doing so, and the Justice Department announced a criminal probe. But so far no one has identified a single conservative group that was denied status in the controversial review, though some faced bureaucratic hurdles and had their tax-exempt status delayed.

In fact, the only known 501(c)(4) applicant to have its status denied happens to be a progressive group: the Maine chapter of Emerge America, which trains Democratic women to run for office. Although the group did no electoral work, and didn’t participate in independent expenditure campaign activity either, its partisan status apparently disqualified it from being categorized as working for the “common good.”

Ironically, the national organization and its earlier chapters had gotten tax-exempt status by the IRS during the Bush administration in 2006. But it appears as though the Maine group’s rejection triggered a review of the entire organization, and Emerge America and all of its chapters had their tax-exempt status revoked. Emerge reincorporated with 527 status, which requires it to report its donors. 

Here’s what director Karen Middleton has to say:

Emerge America and its initial state programs were granted 501(c)(4) status by the IRS several years ago. Later, when a new state program applied for the same status, it was denied because Emerge works only with women who are in the Democratic Party, so the IRS determined this did not meet the definition of “social welfare” for the common good. We believed this denial triggered a review of the Emerge programs that had already been granted c4 status, and consequently those statuses were revoked. Becoming 527 organizations has not hurt our fundraising or organizational expansion – we report our donors and continue our work fully transparently.

Again, the focus on Tea Party groups is wrong, but two-thirds of the groups reviewed had no Tea Party ties — and only a Democratic group had its status denied. This story is more politically complicated than the right lets on.