On the Campaign Trail - A Day in the Life, Part II

A day in the life of a campaign consultant isn't all about the usual things, getting the mail ready, vetting your client's message and his photographs (no white shirts; don't stare right into the camera), buying cable ad time.

It's dealing with lots of small crises ("My opponent copied my message!" Well, it must be the right message then. "Someone is stealing my signs!" Then they must consider you a threat. Besides yard signs don't vote. And so on).

It's also getting calls and emails from friends who are running and just want a word of advice. Like the water board candidate in another County who wants me to take a quick peek at her email message asking for volunteers and endorsers. I do, and then advise her she must be much more direct, and calling is better than email; at least follow up with a phone call when you don't hear back.

Like the committee head who is running a tax measure in a nearby town, and wants my opinion of their handout (not so good). I suggest robo calls. Yeah, everyone hates them, but if you don't have money, they work, with the right message (really short) and the right messenger (a local celebrity or the fire chief for a public safety measure or a parent for a school bond). Oh, can I help with the script?

Sure. I'm only partially in it for the money. Hey, consultants have to eat too you know. But happy to help out a fledgling campaign Who knows, if they win, they might just hire me for their next run. And it wouldn't be campaign season if I wasn't just a little frazzled.

How to lose money on your campaign and then lose your race

                     So, you think you can't afford a campaign consultant. 

You think you can't even afford a consultation with one to find out what you need to know to at least have a fighting chance.

You think you need to save every penny in your meager bank account to print a flyer you and your army of eager volunteers will walk to every door in the district.

Let me let you in on a dirty little secret:

                      That is how to lose money and to lose your race too.

Why?

Because just like they tell you in business school, you have to spend money to make money, or in the campaign context you have to spend money to make the money you need to get the votes.

If this sounds like I'm turning campaigning into a crass commercial venture, I'm not. I'm just dealing
 in reality-based reality. Why do you think they also say "Money is the mother's milk of politics"?

Because you need money for a number of things essential to your campaign. even without the cost of a consultant or any paid staff. For starters,  you have to pay a printer to print your flyers. Yes, you can do it on your computer, but it will  look like crap, even if your cousin's buddy donates his time designing it.

It will look like crap and it likely will be seen as crap by the people who get it.

                     It will cost more and be more hassle than doing it right.

Why?

Ink costs money. Paper costs money. Shoe leather costs money. Your volunteers are likely to flake out (Sorry, they just do, even those most eager and in love with your issues). You will go to homes where no one votes, or no one votes in your election.

Your message will not be read because it will be too long; believe me nothing turns off voters than too much information. It's counteractive, I know, but oh so true.

                    Campaigning by the stars.

 

 
Yes, it is possible to win your way, if a number of factors line up on your side. It's kind of like doing your horoscope. Were you born under the right sign? Are the stars lining up on your side?  Like, is there no opponent? That would be a big plus and yes, one way to win. Don't count on it. Is your District 1000 homes or less? If so, I agree, get out there and door knock. You can meet every single voter, maybe twice. Most Districts are larger than this.

Are you a rock star; is your name a household word (and not a bad one)? If so, you probably don't need to do anything. But if so, you can probably afford to enhance your name recognition by hiring a consultant, a campaign manager, and the best printers in your area to craft your message and make sure the voters see it with your beautiful mug plastered on the front page.

                  Why not do it right and maximize your chances to win?

What is the right way you say? At the least, you need to target your mail and/or handouts to those voters who vote frequently in your race. You need a message that can be broken down into bullet points and that will resonate with those voters. You need a good picture or two of yourself, preferably interacting with others. You need a design with punch that won't be lost in the morass of mail voters pull out of their boxes every day during election season.

You need a print shop experienced with campaign mail (there are different rules and timeline than for regular bulk mail) and a mailhouse who can safely and quickly print and mail your material with the proper indicia in a timely manner to get delivered before election day.

You will need a list of frequent voters, not the list of all voters you can buy from your Registrar of Voters office. Unless one of your ace volunteers is a computer whiz and can sort the information into frequent voters and create the proper forms and keep the data base you need to keep track of everything. 

You will need a kitchen cabinet, to advise you on the issues of importance in your race. Will these people also pound the pavement for you, hit the phones? Maybe some will. But you need to plan a carefully calculated field campaign so you are making the best of what volunteers you have. 

                       Take a workshop.

At the least, spend a few hundred dollars on a worskshop with a seasoned consultant who will point out these things to you and your campaign team, show you the places to go for maximum impact, train you in field and help you develop your message.

Better yet, take a workshop with a campaign fundraiser, who can show you how to raise the money you need to do it right and win your race.

Hint: If you hire a campaign consultant who helps plan your strategy and develop your message, target your voters and point you to the right printer, you are likely to save money by simply not mailing or walking/phoning to the wrong households.

Mail is expensive. We recently consulted with a local candidate who had already spent at least a third more than he needed to for sending out a flyer (with way too much information in it) to every voter in his district.  Besides being too early to register with the voters, with what he would have saved by targeting his mail, he could have paid for our time to help him deliver the right message and get it to the right voters at the right time.

Don't let this happen to you. Call for a consultation with an experienced consultant before you start your run. You won't regret it in the long run. Even if you lose, you'll know you did everything right and have positioned yourself for another run in the future.

Tip of the Day: Campaign Manager? Campaign Consultant? What the heck is the difference?

Many people, including many candidates, don't understand the difference between a campaign consultant and a campaign manager. So let's talk about each a bit.

There are a variety of campaign consultants, some specializing in different aspects of a campaign, such as fundraising, direct mail, media or polling.  What we are talking about here is a general consultant, or GC, who acts as a chief strategist and helps define the campaign's direction, message and budget.  The GC often hires the other consultants necessary or as in my firm, GreenDog Campaigns, performs some, if not all, the functions in-house. The GC does not need to be in the same geographic location as the candidate, but should be able to have a good understanding of the office sought and the needs of the District, as well as the practices of past campaigns, in terms of money spent, important endorsements and the like.

A campaign manager, on the other hand, is someone who works with the campaign on a day to day basis, making sure that local staff are hired, volunteers are in place, the candidate knows where he or she is to be at any given time, often accompanying the candidate to endorsement and other meetings.

The campaign manager is he chief cheerleader and campaign nag, all rolled into one. The GC will rely on the campaign manager for insights into the campaign's doings. If the GC is out of the area, there will often be frequent phone conference between the candidate, the campaign manager and the GC or a member of his/her staff.

Smaller campaigns often do without a GC. Conversely, some GC's also act as campaign managers for their candidates in smaller races, often supplemented by a volunteer coordinator and other volunteer or part time staff.

         Some casual advice from a seasoned campaign consultant at a fundraiser can be very helpful!

One thing I know for sure.  As the old saying goes, "a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client," so too, a candidate who tries to do his own campaign, if not a fool, is surely in for a very tough ride.  Even if your campaign manager is a trusted volunteer and you have no GC, it pays to have campaign professionals design your mail, target your audience and vet your messaging along the way. It could well be the difference between victory or defeat on Election Day.

Mistakes Campaign Consultants Make

Are you in the biz?  Or are you looking for a campaign consultant for that new campaign (The season is fast upon us.) Either way. here are some timely tips you should know  - as a manager/consultant or someone looking to hire one.

I’m always harping on mistakes candidates make, not raising money or hiring consultants, campaigning by committee, ignoring advice they paid for. I could go on and on.

But there are lots of mistake campaign consultants and managers make also.  Here are just a few of the top ones I’ve observed in others and, if I’m being honest, in myself from time to time:

1.      Don’t push your client to raise money.  No candidate likes to make fundraising calls. They’ll do anything to get out of it – wash the dog, babysit their neighbor’s cat, anything. You need to push them to sit down and pick up the phone. Write them a script. Make call lists or have a volunteer or staffer do it.  In a large campaign, a  professional fundraiser is a must.  And don’t forget that the candidate’s family and friends should be first on the list, right after the candidate herself.

2.      Don’t ensure they have minimal staff and/or competent passionate volunteers to do the crucial work on managing the elements of the campaign. Even the small down ticket race needs a few good people at a minimum to see that the following tasks get done:.

a.      Data base and volunteer coordination.

b.      Field management. Getting the volunteer out in the “hood” walking and on the phone talking.

c.       Holding the candidate’s hand through the fundraising process and dealing with the day to day stressers of campaign life

d.      Keeping track of the bank account and filing the appropriate campaign finance reports accurately and on time.

3.      Don’t research your own client.  If you don’t know the skeletons in the closet, you will not be prepared to deal with them when they are inevitably surfaced by the opposition or the press. This was recently graphically illustrated in a Congressional race in which a newcomer to the district, with a history of failed businesses she touted as giving her “experience creating middle class jobs,” turned out to have a suspect relationship with a “pay-to-pray Guru.” Besides that she had at best a spotty voting history. Once these facts were outed by the opposition, the campaign was doomed despite her strong lead in fundraising.

4.      Similarly, don’t research the opponents. If you don’t look, you may not find.  In the above case, some deep digging and use of the internet’s “wayback machine” brought up several “removed” blog posts which showed an individual whose new age platitudes were exposed, as well as her disdain for knowledge of the sort that is crucial to the day to day world of a Congressperson.   The failed businesses which also turned out to be outsourcing to China, belied her self-proclaimed business acumen and claims of creating hundreds if not thousands of middle class jobs.  Despite nearly a million dollars in the bank, and an assured campaign patter, these became her undoing and she finished a dismal fourth.   

5.      Don’t Plan and Get Buy in on the Plan by the Candidate. If you don’t plan how the campaign is t run, the strategy, the tactics, fundraising, messaging, when and how to release the message, and get buy-in from the candidate, you could be in for a rocky ride.  Money will run short, tempers will flare, no one will be available to approve last minute mailers or ads. 

6.      Don’t prep your candidate for debates, endorsement meetings and other face to face encounters with voters. Some candidates are naturally outgoing and personable, others not so much. Know which one you have and how to help them maximize their strong points to good advantage while minimizing some negatives.  While it’s great to be outgoing and friendly, you need to make sure the candidate isn’t hogging all the time in public meetings, or staying too long at one door while precinct walking.  He needs to know with whom he is speaking and tailor his presentation accordingly without going off message.  A shy candidate will need practice promoting herself. Makes sure someone on the campaign team helps them with their presentation and gets friendly faces in the crowd to bolster their confidence.

Of course there are many more tips, but this list should get us all thinking and working toward providing the best service we can. After all, the candidate has paid you good money and needs to rely on your good advice. Makes sure you can give it with confidence.

This article was published in Down Ticket Dems  a great site with lots of tips for the local campaign