 
A Progressive Guide to Running for Office

Every Question A Progressive

Candidate Needs to Answer to

Win an Election

Created by Revolutionary Exchange Productions

Kenneth "Professor Rex" Quinnell

Shawn Logue

Version 1.1

Copyright 2019

# 

# Preface

Hello and welcome to A Progressive Guide to Running for Office! This book is a comprehensive guide to all the things you need to know about running for office in the United States as a progressive. If you live elsewhere or you are a conservative there may be useful content for you, but the text within is progressive and gives advice to progressives and was written with U.S. elections in mind.

The book's focus is not on a specific government level or office; its goal is to be open-ended. Take note that since we're aiming at all levels of government, we'll use the word "district" to refer to any geographical area where you might run for office, so it could be a congressional or senate seat, a statewide office, a legislative district or a citywide mayor. We will use the same word, district, to refer to any or all of them.

We designed this book for newer candidates; if you are a long-time incumbent, you have theoretically already done much of the work here. The questions here are both a guide to how to build a campaign and are a way to determine whether you have what it takes to be a candidate who wins elections. Reading this book will give you a well-rounded picture of the work it takes to win an elected office. If you are not planning to run soon, it can also help you prepare for running later on by making sure you have done the work you need to do before running.

This book is free. If anyone charges you for a copy, they are scamming you. The whole point of the book is to give it for free to potential candidates across the country, so they can prepare to win and prepare to make the government more progressive at all levels and move the country back in a better direction. Electing progressive candidates is the solution to overcoming the problems that led to Donald Trump's political ascendancy and the ones he created after he took office.

This is not the final version of the book. This is version 1.1, shared with people who will come back with suggestions, corrections and additions. We will take those in and add them if they are valid. We will also be adding a resources section in the next version of the book. If experienced progressives think something here is wrong and will go on the record, we will add sections that offer alternate takes to give people better advice and expose them more extensively to parts of the progressive movement and different schools of thought. If adding to the book interests you or if you disagree strongly with something in it, message Kenneth Quinnell on Facebook or at quinnelk@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading and good luck in your upcoming election.

# Great Candidate and a Great Campaign

With thousands and thousands of candidates running for office each cycle, it is amazing that only a few organizations, campaigns or candidates set up a systematic approach to winning elections. It is not surprising that the vast majority of those candidates lose. They have to since there are only so many elected positions available. However, it is surprising how many of those candidates who file never create a plan that gives them a realistic shot at winning. Calling yourself a "grassroots candidate" and going to a few picnics and hoping you will win is not a path to victory.

In order to win, there are six key campaign components that candidates need to focus on. The campaign that does the best job of achieving the highest level of quality in each of these areas almost always wins. Campaigns that are flawed in these areas usually lose. It is possible to overcome a weakness in one or more of these elements by having a lot of money or a clueless or even weaker opponent.

But why leave such things up to chance? Electoral campaigns are not the mythical and incomprehensible enigma that many think they are. Campaigns are knowable beasts. They can be examined and perfected; they are not unique. It is possible to build a better campaign and increase the candidate's chances of winning.

In the early days of any campaign—and even before you decide to run—you should master these six elements so you not only run a high-quality campaign but so that you can get a head start on any opponents you face down the road. The elements that make up a great campaign are: candidate image, campaign resources, knowledge, fundraising, campaign message and networks. A little more detail on each is below, and then there will be a thorough examination of what questions you need to ask to master each of these elements.

## 1. Candidate Image

The candidate's image is a battleground. A competent opponent will try to control your image, and portray you in ways that will make voters less likely to trust you, less likely to like you, and less likely to vote for you. The longer you wait to establish your image, the more successful your opponent will be.

Your opponent's image is just as important. The most successful campaigns control their own candidate's image and have a strong, if not dominant, effect on their opponent's image in the mind of voters.

## 2. Campaign Resources

Even when you have a candidate like Barack Obama, every campaign has finite resources. Your dual goal in this area is to increase those resources and to use what resources you have wisely.

## 3. Knowledge

With other things being equal, the campaign with the better knowledge wins—knowledge of the candidates, knowledge of the district, knowledge of the election, knowledge of how to run campaigns. With superior knowledge, a campaign can overcome an opponent that has more resources.

## 4. Fundraising

It is not necessary to raise the most money (unless you are running for president), but it is necessary for a successful campaign that you raise a competitive amount of money.

## 5. Campaign Message

More than any other aspect of the campaign, you control the message you put out. You can issue a good, powerful message; you can promote a weak, negative message; or you can ignore or fail to adequately address or promote your message. This will confuse voters.

## 6. Networks

Your networks are one of your key resources beyond money. If they are large enough and influential enough, they are often more powerful than money. Networks influence the money you raise and the votes you win.

## Let's Get Started

The rest of this book lists all the questions that anyone who is running for or thinking about running for public office needs to ask. If your campaign has already started, you can still ask these questions, although the earlier in the process you ask them, the better off you are likely to be. As you initiate your plan, it does not matter if the answer is "I do not know" or "I have not thought about or done that yet". The later you go into the election cycle without knowing the answers to these questions, the more likely you are to lose. If you have a quality opponent, they will know the answers to not only their own questions but also yours.

This might seem like a herculean task, but keep in mind that running a modern electoral campaign and winning is a herculean task. These questions are not a sideline to the campaign, they get right at the things you need to know to run the best campaign and have the best shot at a victory.

Do not feel bad if you do not know how to get help on many of these questions. Throughout the book, you will find hints and tips, and there will be a resources section with links for where you can go for help. This book comes from a progressive point of view, so if you do not fall into that group, you will have a harder time getting help from the resources found within.

## But, One Last Note...

It is important that you answer these questions as honestly as possible. While many politicians lie to the public, a politician who lies to themselves not only makes it harder for themselves to win, it becomes harder for them to do the right thing, even if that is their intention. On the other hand, what you put in any document can be stolen or leaked, so be careful about putting these answers in writing if you are not going to be secure with them. A full set of your answers to these questions would be a goldmine for your opponent, even if you had done nothing wrong. Proceed with caution.

# Chapter 1. The Big Questions

The questions in Chapter 1 are those that any candidate must ask at the beginning of a campaign. If you do not ask these questions, you will not connect with voters, have any shot at winning and you could find yourself in personal or professional trouble. If you cannot answer these questions in a satisfactory way, you should not be running in the first place.

1. Why are you running?

This is where it all starts. This is the big question. And the answer matters. If you cannot answer this question well, then you cannot explain it to voters and donors. If you cannot explain why you are running to voters and donors, then you are not going to have any voters or donors. This question also informs the vast majority of the remaining questions on this list.

That has not to say that you should make up a reason. Voters can see through phoniness. It is not an automatic disqualifier, but if you come across as a fake, your opponent(s) better be very weak or you are in a lot of trouble.

If you are inspired enough to run for office, you should take the time to be able to clearly understand and articulate why to anyone, from the least likely voter all the way up to the richest donor. Do you want to make the world a better place? Or at least your district? Are you inspired to change a misguided or harmful policy? Are you a leader that has the ability to inspire others to make change?

Why you are running is the most important question you can ask yourself and the most important question in the minds of many voters.

2. Have you talked to your family?

Your family members have opinions of their own. Be mindful of family members who have different political views than your own. Be aware that, even if they support you, family members have access to a lot of your personal information.

3. Do you have their permission to run?

A political campaign, even for local office, is a major commitment. It will take over your life and have a big impact on your family. Before deciding to run, talk to them about the campaign and explain to them what it entails. When you run for office, your family will be part of your public persona, often scrutinized and talked about in the media. Candidates who do not talk to their family and make sure they are on board often find family relationships strained. Many a marriage has ended because of an electoral campaign.

4. Have you explained your values to your family and explained why you are running?

Honestly, you should have already done this when you were talking to your family about running, but if you have not, it should be one of your earliest actions. If you cannot convince your family that you are running for office for good reasons and that you share their values, who else are you going to be able to convince?

5. Have you discussed the costs of running a campaign with your family?

Campaigns are expensive. And not just in terms of campaign finance. During an election, you can be sure that you will not only spend a lot of money on the campaign, but your personal finances are going to take a big hit. Your car is going to put on tons of miles. Your house will be open to campaign workers and volunteers. Your time will no longer belong to you. Your will strain your relationships with family and friends.

Your family should have a choice in this matter and they cannot make a fair decision without knowing what they are getting themselves into.

6. Have you considered the personal sacrifice required of a campaign?

7. Can you say no to something you care about to focus on the campaign?

Your family supports you. Your friends support you. It is time to think about the things you value in your day-to-day life. Reflect upon the family vacation you go on every year. If you have kids, you will miss out on their achievements while you are running for office. You will miss a tradition or ritual in your life you once thought was unconscionable to miss. Depending on what office you seek, this may be a recurring challenge throughout your public service career.

8. Are you ready to handle the weight of a campaign on your mental health?

You understand that this will take a lot of work, hours and energy. At times, you will disappoint people on a personal level.

Many public officials have mental health disorders. There are also people with mental health disorders who have had tremendous success in their political careers. Consider what steps you need to take and what support you need to be successful. A known medical condition does not disqualify you, but you need to have a plan.

9. Have you examined the race to know if you can actually win the election?

You should make the big choice of deciding to run for office in a vacuum. If you are not a current office-holder or super wealthy and famous, then randomly deciding to run for president is a bad idea. Running for office can be a bad idea on a much smaller scale, too. Is there an incumbent in the seat from your own party that has a massive network and plentiful money? Are you a flaming liberal in a conservative district? Are there other candidates who fit the district better than you do? If you have no chance of winning an election that should factor into your decision whether to run. It should also help you choose which office to run for.

10. Are you running for a position that suits your skills, experience and values?

An elected office is a difficult job. It requires advanced knowledge of a multitude of subjects if you plan to do it well. Are you ready for it? If not, voters are likely to find out. Imagine that you are at a forum about the issues in the race. You know nothing about these issues. How are you going to answer questions from an expert moderator or audience? And if you cannot answer those questions, what is the likelihood that anyone in the room will vote for you?

11. What difference would it make if you were elected over your opponent?

This is a fundamental question that voters will ask. If I vote for candidate X, will my life be better than if I vote for candidate Y? Does it matter? How and why does it matter? You must be able to articulate in clear language how your victory will make things better for constituents. Voters care about this. A lot.

12. What is important to you?

Your messaging should focus on what is important to you. These things do not have to be issues. In fact, a long list of policy preferences bores even dedicated voters and gets them to tune you out. Some candidates go too far in the other direction, though, and offer nothing of substance, showing that nothing is important to them. Avoid both extremes. Be authentic and honest.

This is an easy way to make connections with voters and donors. Things are important to them, too, and if you have a common ground, you are likely to connect. This works across party lines (sometimes) and helps bring in voters who distrust politics and politicians. It also helps you focus your messaging and your policy agenda.

It is important to note, though, that what is important to you should match up with the office you are running for. If classroom sizes in county schools are a high priority, then running for Congress is not your best option. Running for school board or a related local office would be more relevant.

13. What are your values?

Despite what the media, politicians, and armchair analysts tell you, voters do not vote based on issues. Or, at least, only a small percentage (usually pegged somewhere between 10-15%) of voters vote based on issues. Scientific research has shown this since the beginning of political science as a professional field (beginning with 1960's _The American Voter_ by Angus Campbell, Philip Converse, Warren Miller and Donald Stokes. Research has consistently shown this effect ever since.

The easiest way to see this in action is to survey voters on whom they are voting for and why. What you find is that voters, across the spectrum, know little about the positions of the candidates they support. It is common that people will express a value in abstract terms and then vote for candidates whose positions are the opposite. Voters who fall into this category outnumber those who can articulate policy differences between candidates.

If voters are not voting based on issues, what are they voting based on? A variety of things drive these choices, including party identification, ideology, social cues from prominent figures, race, religion, religiosity, gender, class, age and personal experiences unique to the individual voter. But, we can sum all of these influences up under the banner of values.

Through a combination of these influences and others (although when you control for the above, few other things show up as statistically significant), voters approach the ballot with a set of values. These values are rarely consistent and fully thought out, but they are powerful and most voters, most of the time will cast their vote for the candidate they perceive as being the closest to sharing their values. The key word here is "perception," though, as many politicians express values different from their actions. And many a candidate has lost to an opponent who lied about their values.

An egregious example comes from Georgia, where patriot Max Cleland, who gave three of his limbs in service of his country, was defeated by Saxby Chambliss after Chambliss successfully attacked Cleland's patriotism, an attack that was easily refutable and should not have carried any weight. So, while your real values matter, what matters more for elections is your ability to communicate those values to the voters.

To start that process, you must know what your values are and be able to articulate them. That may not be sufficient, Cleland expressed his values with brilliance and passion, but you have little chance of winning without the ability to do this.

14. What have you done to pursue your values?

You do not have to be a long time political staffer or activist to answer this question. In fact, it is often an asset to have a resume outside of mainstream political work to demonstrate your values to prospective voters.

Tim Kaine literally worked his way up from being a city councilman to U.S. Senator and then selected to be vice president on a ticket that won the popular vote. To this day, Kaine talks about his missionary work and his career as a civil rights attorney. Even someone who has held positions in city, state, and federal government talks about how he has pursued his values outside of politics.

This is good news for you if you have not been politically active in the past. Like Kaine, you can build your story off your career if you have had jobs that line up with your values. But let us say your job does not connect with your values. If you have volunteered in the community, serving on a parent-teacher association or even serving your church, you can build an identity around your values. What is most important is that you can ultimately show voters you are like them, that you fight for them, and you are on their side.

If you are still struggling to find an answer, it may be worth volunteering in the community or making a career change first before taking the step to run for office.

15. Have you lived up to the values you say you believe in?

It is not sufficient just to have values and to know what they are. It is also important that you live up to those values. What experiences in your life led you to those values? What have you done to learn more about them? What have you done to express your values to others? What have you done that shows your values in action? What have you sacrificed in pursuit of your values? What successes have you had in this pursuit?

These answers are the stories that help you express your values to the voters. Anyone can say, for instance, that they believe sexual assault survivors. Susan Collins said that. But if your actions show that your words are dishonest, things will be much worse for you. Ask Susan Collins. Within minutes of her announcement of her support for accused rapist Brett Kavanaugh, an organization raised nearly $2 million to spend on behalf of her opponent. An opponent that did not exist yet since she was not up for re-election for two more years. While that money may not be enough to defeat her, she is a longtime incumbent, which usually carries massive advantages. It is never a good thing if your opponent raises $2 million in less than a day, as it helps undercut the benefits of being an incumbent.

Whether or not you are honest about your values, you need to know the stories that show people what your values are. Even better if they happen to be true. Voters like authenticity. Or, what they perceive to be authentic.

16. What mistakes have you made in life?

Take your time with this question. Answer this question as if someone else was answering the question about you. Then, answer it for yourself. Think about mistakes you brushed off, the mistakes you do not care about. Even if you do not think through your past, your opponent almost certainly will.

17. What lessons have you learned from the mistakes you have made?

Everyone makes mistakes. What mistakes have you made? Explaining your own mistakes humanizes you with voters, particularly if you can show that you learned from those mistakes. You may have mistakes you do not want to include in your speeches, but your opponent will know them. Be prepared to explain what happened, admit what you did wrong, show you have made restitution or fixed the mistake, and move on. And, yes, there are mistakes that are too big to recover from. Progressive voters and a growing number of Americans in general are refusing to vote for people who have engaged in sexual assault, racist incidents, physical abuse or other crimes that are at odds with progressive values and human rights. If you have engaged in these types of crimes, your best avenue towards helping others involves you stepping aside and let someone who has not made those mistakes have a chance.

18. Are you willing to risk things to pursue your values?

Everyone has to sacrifice things in life. A voter has led a life of sacrifice and is still giving up a lot to maintain a lifestyle that is under attack from social and economic forces. To win their vote, you must show you deserve to be in a position of power. They need to know you understand the sacrifices they have gone through because you have been through hardships, too. This is one you definitely cannot fake, though, so do not suggest that your minor inconveniences are equal to the real struggles that so many Americans face. If you have not gone through any major hardships, if you come from a position of privilege, what have you done to use that privilege to help others? If you have done nothing, you can start any time. What are you waiting for?

19. What is your vision for the future?

For a significant portion of the population, voters want a candidate with vision. People who cannot or do not want to lead still want to follow those who are forward-thinking, passionate and compassionate. Good leadership requires this vision. You cannot adequately prepare for the future if you have not thought about what that future looks like and studied materials from experts who have the knowledge to best predict what is coming next.

20. What is your big idea that will help you achieve your vision?

Even if you come up with a comprehensive plan that will solve all the world's problems, you will not be able to explain all the details in a way that everyone will easily understand. Do not get bogged down in minor details; focus on the big picture. Be able to explain the big concept and how it makes you a different candidate from your opponent. Be prepared with more than one idea and have more detailed plans, but these should be part of a more concrete and achievable idea. And it does not have to be one idea. It can be a few. The list has to be short and simple but broad enough to apply to every other issue.

Republicans have mastered this concept. Nearly everyone in America has heard the exact GOP agenda many times: lower taxes, less government, more freedom. That they live up to none of this matters little, since their base does not vote for them based on results, only on rhetoric. Our base does not work that way, but everyone reacts to simple, clear messaging that can explain the big idea so easily that everyone gets it. Everyone knows Republicans believe lower taxes will fix just about everything. If you agree with that myth, you will vote Republican over just about anything else. It is about the match-up of values.

21. Are you willing to work with various people and groups to get your goals accomplished?

Whatever the issues are that interest you, you did not come up with them. A community already exists that invests time, energy, and money toward those goals. If you are not a part of that community, your credibility on the issue will be weak. The good news is that you can join a community, provide service and learn enough to become a valued member of that community, and you can start right now.

Nothing in politics is accomplished alone. If you try to do it all yourself, you will fail. If you try to fake or bully your way into the support you need to succeed, you will fail. Earn it. Every community trying to make the world a better place always wants and needs more help, find out what is important to you and work on that issue locally or online.

22. Are there issues on which you can pursue bipartisan solutions?

In a divided political society, it is often the case that in order to get laws passed and problems addressed, you have to work on bipartisan solutions. Do you have the ability to work with people who are not in the same party as you? Do you have the ability to understand where people come from and why they might think differently than you do?

On the other hand, some politicians elevate bipartisanship above their own values. Bipartisanship is never more important than helping your constituents and you should not betray your values to achieve bipartisanship. But being inflexible and just saying no to everything is neither productive nor consistent with any progressive or liberal morality system.

23. Are you willing to work for all of your constituents, not just those who supported you?

A common problem with elected officials is that they treat politics as a game as opposed to the process through which to govern society. As a game, they believe "to the victors go the spoils." This thought process is undemocratic and destructive. As an elected official, you represent all of your constituents, not just those that voted or those who voted for you. Choosing to represent a subset of your constituents results in declining support because most on the left reject this mindset. Such an approach will undercut your efforts to express your values and get you branded as a hypocrite or as someone who has no values (or at least inconsistent ones).

24. Will voters see you as an extremist?

Despite the conventional wisdom, extremists have always done quite well in American politics. Extremists dominate the House of Representatives, hold governorships and are now in the White House and on the Supreme Court. Many voters are themselves extremists. And it is likely your opponent will call you one anyway. But what are you being called extremist for? And can you defend it? Republicans frequently called pro-choice voters extremists. No one outside of their base buys it and you can morally defend your position easily.

25. What are your party and ideology?

If you want to actually run for office and win, you should run as a Democrat in 99% of available races. There are some states, districts or cities that vote for independents or third party candidates, but they are rare. And in many of the cases where a non-Democrat has won, it may be a thing exclusive to that candidate and another non-Democrat may lose. But do not guess at this one; know about the office that you are running for. Can a non-Democrat win? In some places, the answer is "yes." In most places it is "no." Also, it is important that you do not confuse party and ideology. While the two are highly correlated, there are liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats. They grow rarer each year, particularly at the federal level, but the lower down the ladder you go, the more crossover you see.

Whether or not you promote your personal ideology as part of your candidacy, you need to know what yours is. Despite what most people believe, voters do not really understand ideology and very little voting is based on an accurate evaluation of ideology. Studies show that less than 15% of the population can even correctly describe the differences between liberal and conservative. Beyond that, most people will vote for someone with a different ideology than their own if they connect with the candidate in another way.

26. Why are you a Democrat?

People want to know why you chose the party you did. You should know why. Did you learn it from your parents? Where you inspired by a teacher or a famous speech? Did you come from a union family? Did a personal or professional experience help you choose? You will be asked this story. Know the answer.

27. Are you progressive, liberal, moderate, conservative or something else?

28. Why do you choose to identify yourself that way?

While most amateur pundits believe that the big divide in America is between the parties, the reality is that it is much more about ideology. And, in particular, the real battle is between conservative and liberal.

If you are reading this book, you should never run as a conservative. The things in this book largely will not work for you, as they are at odds with your view of the world, a view that is soundly rejected by science, evidence and logic. And, really, there is no such thing as a "fiscal conservative." A person who believes in conservative economic theories believes in disproven nonsense that means your policy options will fail and you will never deliver on your promises. A fiscal conservative is an ignorant or dishonest label.

"Moderatism" is not a real thing. There are solutions to problems that work and there are those that do not. While there might be multiple solutions to a problem, there are never two diametrically opposed good solutions. Solving problems is based on understanding the causes of those problems and applying realistic remedies. There are not two sides to a fact. Taking a fact and the opposite of a fact and deciding that the midpoint between them is a good place to do is unsustainably morally and logically. This is why there are no moderate philosophers. The reality is that moderate "solutions" are rejections of facts in pursuit of some abstract ideal, such as bipartisanship, that should not be a factor in a fact-based debate. And all policies are, or at least should be, based on facts. Most people who identify as moderates are people who do not regularly follow politics and do not have a sufficient knowledge of the issues and policies, and thus they have concluded that rather than look bad by taking the wrong "side," they will play the safe middle. Voters on both sides see through this type of wishy-washiness and social media is dedicated to ripping apart milquetoast politicians on either side. Your best defense is to get the facts. If you look at the facts and that leads you towards conservative solutions, then you are definitely reading the wrong book.

As far as identifying as "progressive" or "liberal," that is your choice. But definitely explicitly use these terms (or at least one of them). People on the left will demand it of you. If you will not identify as the thing you are, they will not trust you or believe you when you express your values. Some will argue that "progressive" and "liberal" have clear and distinct different meanings, but there is no real basis for this in scholarship and nobody outside a small segment of the population will put any value on your particular definition. More likely than not, being pedantic about these meanings will lose you more votes than it will ever gain you. And if you are wasting your time quibbling about the differences between what 99% of the population consider to be synonyms, you deserve to lose those votes. Elections and public service are not about pointless minutiae, and candidates that focus on such things almost always lose.

29. How will you prove this identity to voters?

Actions speak louder than words. You claim to have these values and this party and ideology, but why should they believe you? Someone that has decided to go into one of the most corrupt and hated professions in the country?

The good news is that showing your values through the things you have done and the life you have lived is both the right way to communicate your values and it helps you establish trust and connection, the very things you need to win over voters. If you claim to be a liberal and you have donated a significant amount of your time to a charity, people will believe you are a liberal (barring other things that counter the message). If you claim to be a Democrat and have not attended a Democratic Party meeting or voted in a Democratic Primary, most Democrats will not believe you. And while some will dismiss the idea that people are loyal to the Democratic Party above an ideology, those people are sorely misinformed. While the majority of people in the Democratic Party identify as liberal or progressive, the percentage is barely above 50%. Nearly half of Democrats identify as moderate or conservative. This does not mean they will not vote for a liberal, in fact, the vast majority of Democrats, regardless of ideology, will vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is. If you can convince them that you are a Democrat.

30. Do you have what it takes, personality-wise?

Running for office takes a very special kind of person. You have to have energy. You have to be able to totally immerse yourself in the world of politics. You have to eat, breathe and live it. You have to travel a lot. You have to do tons of talking: in public, in private, on the phone. You have to ask people to believe in you. You have to ask people to give you money. You have to ask more people to give you money. You have to ask even more people to give you money. You have to be nice to everyone, even when they hate you. You have to constantly listen, both like-minded, brilliant people with the best ideas and hateful, stupid people who spit on everything about you. And everyone in between.

You have to be able to handle people saying horrible things about you on the Internet, on the radio and on television. You could go from an obscure person who can walk through life with total safety and anonymity to being forced to leave your home because of recurring death threats. You have to realize that violence is a legitimate possibility in the current climate.

You have to be prepared to handle all of these things, and many others, and you should probably enjoy at least some of this stuff, as distasteful as much of it is. Because it is coming and you will have to deal with it. Can you handle it? If so, please run, since most of us cannot handle it.

31. Are you willing to say "no" to people who ask for favors, campaign staff, voters who disagree with you, etc., since you cannot be everything to everyone?

You are going to have to say no. A lot. To people who are important. To people you like. To people you love. This is a reality of an electoral campaign. You cannot please everyone and you cannot say yes to every invite and every request for a favor. Your resources are severely limited and you cannot do everything. So you will have to learn to be able to say no, not only comfortably, but so that people will not hate you afterward.

You will also have to say no to constituents often. There will be people that demand you make promises you know you cannot keep. There will be people that will ask you to do the impossible. There will be people that will ask you to do things that are the opposite of what you believe. There will be people that ask you to go fuck yourself.

You will have to tell many people no. And you will mostly have to do it in ways that are not offensive and do not drive away other voters (or that voter, if possible). Honesty is usually the best policy in these situations, but not always. Do not waste your time trying to explain yourself to someone that is abusive to you, your staff or other constituents. That is why every event has security (or at least, should). Keep in mind that saying no does not have to be literal. There are many ways to say no. Investing in a good thesaurus cannot be a bad idea.

32. Do you have the ability to overcome errors and keep working towards a goal?

You are going to make errors. People on your team are going to make errors. Do you have the ability to work through those errors to continue achieving your other goals? Or will you get distracted, dwell on them and punish those who make the errors? While you need to fix errors and while there are times when you need to let people go who make regular errors without improvement or who make major errors that harm your campaign, it is important to keep your eyes on your goals and keep moving forward. Is the person who made the error valuable to your organization? If so, excessive punishment can make them less effective or leave the campaign. Make sure that your reaction to any errors is not only appropriate, but that the reaction still keeps your goals in mind and does not hinder you more than the error did.

33. Can you speak to voters in their language?

While you should always speak in a way that is true to your values, you should not necessarily talk to a group of MIT scientists the same way you would talk to freshmen college students. You should be able to speak your message to various types of voters in ways that they will understand.

This question can be taken literally, too. Are you multilingual? _Really_ multilingual? If you speak another language fluently, and can do so authentically, that can be a powerful way to establish bonds and raise trust with voters. But use this very judiciously. Be super careful about not being appropriationist, condescending or just plain dumb. If you are not fluent in a language, you should probably stay pretty far away from speaking it. If you can read a language and you cannot pronounce it authentically, you should not do it.

You certainly should never publish a campaign document or engage in a speech, or even a quote, from a language that you are not fluent in without having a paid member of your staff who speaks and writes that language fluently being at least your co-writer and editor. If you are attempting to speak in a language that you are not fluent in or publish materials for the press or online and you do not have a fluent speaker of that language on your staff, you should definitely not keep going. Do not give that speech or publish that document.

34. Are you prepared to listen?

35. A lot?

Did you hear the one about the candidate who never listened to anyone, made all decisions and came up with all ideas on their own? No? That is because that candidate does not exist. Or if they do, they lose and are never heard from again. A successful candidate spends much of their time listening. Some of this listening is to learn and help your campaign grow or your policy ideas improve. Some of this listening is to show that you respect constituents and community leaders. Some of this listening is just to get you through the current event or conversation in a way that does not alienate a potential supporter or voter. All these forms of listening are vital to your success.

36. Do you have the ability to stay disciplined and stick to your plans despite things that might try to pull you off course?

Campaigns and elections are very distracting. You will spend time coming up with a plan that is based on science, evidence and knowledge. And from day one, everyone will criticize and pick it apart. While it is important to listen to feedback, it is important that you maintain discipline and only change a plan when actual evidence warrants doing so. And keep in mind that one voter saying something should never sway you from your path. Even a handful of voters should not distract you from a well-designed campaign plan.

Similarly, there will be thousands of distractions that come up during the campaign. The media will ask questions unrelated to your goals. Constituents will demand favors from you or ask you to help them with problems you not only cannot affect before you win, many of them will be outside your control after you win. Well-meaning and nefarious "advisers" will give you all kinds of advice that will harm your goals if you listen to it. Opponents will try to distract you and get you off message, particularly in debates. Do you have the discipline to avoid distractions and focus?

37. Do you have the ability to be flexible and not stick to a failing plan?

On the other hand, if you discover that your plan is failing, do you have the self-control and insight to change course? Sticking to a failed or failing plan is a surefire way to lose. But what does "failing" mean? It is not as simple as you might think. If you set up a plan with the goal of having a comfortable lead in the polls all throughout the race, you have set an unrealistic goal and you will fail at that goal not necessarily because you are a bad candidate or have a bad plan, but you set a goal that is unreasonable for most candidates. Make sure that your plan works towards realistic, measurable goals and then regularly measure your progress. If you are moving in the right direction, do not assume that when you have not arrived at your destination right away that you are failing or have failed. When you panic, you lose.

38. Are you ready to take personally responsibility to earn every vote, raise every dollar yourself and not rely on outside groups or parties to do it for you?

Everything that happens in a campaign is the candidate's responsibility. If anything fails to happen, the buck stops with you. This does not mean you should not delegate, learning how to properly delegate is one of the most important things a candidate can do. But once you delegate, it is your responsibility to know what is happening and how people are doing, both in terms of their job and in terms of their physical and mental capacity to do the job.

Many political observers falsely believe that it is the responsibility of the voter to choose wisely and do the right thing and it is all on them if they do not do so. This ignores the realities of human psychology. You have to earn every single vote you get. It is not the responsibility of the voter to prove to themselves why they should vote for you, which is all on you. Putting up a webpage and filing some paperwork will likely get you few, if any votes. You have to put in the work to earn them. If you assume the Democratic Party is going to get you all the money and people you need, you are misunderstanding how the party operates and what its role is. A party has limited resources and is responsible for a much larger space than just you and your district. Why should they give you money? Why should they build your resources? Just being a Democrat is not enough. There are many Democrats. And they are in the business of winning. If you cannot show them, on your own, that you are a viable candidate without them, history shows them you will not be a viable candidate with them. You have to earn that.

39. What happens if you put all your time and money into the race and you lose?

Historically, most first-time candidates lose. Are you able to handle a loss? Financially? Career-wise? Emotionally? Even if you invest vast sums of time and money, you could still lose. What happens to you, your family, your business, your career, if that likely eventuality comes true?

40. Are you okay with being scrutinized and insulted publicly?

If you run and become considered a serious candidate, everything about you is likely to be scrutinized. Will you survive that? Both in terms of hidden things that could hurt your candidacy and in terms of your mental health? And will you be able to take a stream of insults from online sources? What if your candidacy catches the attention of Sean Hannity or Alex Jones? Do you know what to do if you get a death threat? Will your family be able to handle the scrutiny and personal attacks?

41. Are you willing to meet people you do not know and ask them to help you?

The answer to this question has to be "yes," as this will be one of the primary activities you will engage in as a candidate.

42. Are you willing to trust people to make decisions for you in your name?

The answer to this question also has to be "yes," as even the most local election can be too much for you to handle on your own. If you are running the operations of your campaign, that is time you are not talking to voters.

43. Are you willing to appropriately pay people to staff your campaign?

This is not a question you can put aside until later and expect to run a successful campaign. If you have the thought that this is "just" the city council or "just" the state assembly, you should "just" reconsider whether this a campaign you should invest yourself in. Local elections can occasionally run on part-time staff. However, that staff still must be paid. You should also question your credentials as a progressive if you would consider asking someone to take on the tremendous responsibilities of operating a campaign if you are unwilling or unable to pay the people that support your critical campaign functions. Good campaign professionals are worth every cent, as is sticking to progressive principles of fair pay.

44. Do you have what it takes, commitment-wise?

As you should be realizing by now, running for office is a significant commitment and it takes hard work and dedication. It can be done successfully by just about anyone, but it takes a level of commitment higher than most other tasks.

45. Are you willing to ask for money?

Until significant changes are made in campaign finance law, something unlikely to happen any time soon, the most important task of a candidate is asking people for money. It is a dirty, horribly unfun task, but a necessary one.

46. Can you raise large sums of money quickly?

If you want to be taken as a viable candidate by political operatives, the media and the voters, you will need to raise large sums of money (and you cannot be a viable candidate without all three of these groups thinking you are viable). The earlier in the cycle and the more quickly you raise money, the more effective it will be and the more it will vouch for your viability. Make it sustainable, though, as candidates who raise a bunch of money in their first reporting period and tail off drastically after that almost always lose. Also never lose sight of what you are raising the money for—you can be a prolific fundraiser and lose an election too.

47. Are you willing to work 10+ hour days for a year or more?

If not, you are probably going to lose. Time is the most precious resource of a campaign, because once it is gone, there is no way to get it back. You can raise more money and you can meet more people, but you cannot create more time. If you are not putting in at least 10-hour days, you had better hope that your opponent is not, either, and that they do not have more money than you do. Hard work is required to get elected to office.

48. Are you willing to take a leave of absence from work or the business you run?

A successful campaign is a full-time job. It is not really possible to make a serious run for most offices if you are continuing to work a job or run a business. If you work for someone else, they might not want you on the payroll while you are running for office. Even if they do, it is not always possible for them to keep you on the job if you cannot show up or are irregular. Can you take a leave of absence? Are you willing to lose the job if they do not approve?

If you run your own business, can the business survive without you? Will you have to shut it down? Can you find someone to take over for you? Are there any potential conflicts of interest with you holding this job while running for or holding political office?

49. Are you willing to study nonstop?

A good candidate studies more than a college student. You need to know your district. You need to know your constituents. You need to know the issues. You need to know the news. You need to community leaders, institutions and traditions. And if you are running for a larger office, you need to know all this for multiple communities. And many of these details are constantly changing.

50. Are you prepared to spend several hours a day on the phone?

As a candidate, you should have very little down time during work hours. If you are traveling, you can be on the phone (as long as you are not driving). You need to be contacting donors, local leaders and policy experts and many other things that are easier done over the phone.

51. Are you able to invest 5-10% of your savings or income (or more) in the campaign?

52. Are you willing to take out a loan or a mortgage on your home?

53. What bills can you cut back on?

Campaigns are expensive. Early in the campaign, before you have made a name for yourself, contributions will be hard to come by for most candidates and one option for getting started is to invest your own money, take out a loan or get a mortgage on your house and use that as startup cash. Finding other ways to save money or cut back on other expenses can free up money for your campaign. Of course, it is best if you have done the groundwork before your campaign and have potential donors lined up (while in compliance with all related laws). It is also possible that a cash infusion of your own money could be helpful down the line, particularly as your fundraising efforts hit an inevitable slowdown or you need money for a big expenditure, such as an ad campaign.

54. Are you willing to put thousands of miles on your car?

If you are running for a smaller office, this might not come up. But even a citywide candidate is likely to put a significant wear and tear on your car. Not to mention the costs of gas.

# Chapter 2. Professional Background

## Jobs

55. What jobs have you held?

If you do not already have a full, everything-inclusive resume that includes every job you have ever had, you should make one. In particular, make sure to include any jobs that might be relevant to politics or the position you are seeking. Also, make sure to include to any jobs that you were really good at or where you had any problems, particularly if those problems are public record or a former boss or fellow employee might publicly complain about them if they support the other party. You need to know not only what will help you, but what will hurt you. This document does not have to be public, but it should be comprehensive for your own internal use.

56. For how long?

If you had a high rate of job turnover, people are going to want to know why. If you had gaps in your work career, people will want an explanation.

57. Why did you leave them?

You should be able to explain why you left each job. Whether the reasons are good or bad, they could come up in the campaign as part of formal messaging or as something reported on by the media or an intrepid blogger.

58. What salaries did you have?

How much you made in past jobs is likely to come up at some point in the campaign. People on both the left and the right are likely to paint you as out-of-touch if you were rich or well-paid. You have to be ready to counter such claims.

At the other end of the spectrum, your low wages or lack of career success can be twisted by opponents as a weakness. Again, there are ways to counter such messages, but you need to be ready for them in advance.

59. What roles did you have?

60. What accomplishments did you or the organization have during your time there?

It is one thing to have a job, but what really matters is what you actually did in the job. Even people with the same job title often do greatly different things. What things were you responsible for? What things or people did you supervise or manage? What was accomplished under your direction, supervision or creation? How do these things relate to the office you are running for?

61. What problems did the organization face while you worked there?

62. Did you come up with solutions to those problems?

Every organization has problems. What caused problems when you were there? You will not necessarily need to talk about these things during your campaign, but you need to know what things might come out about you if you played a part in any problems. Did you fix the problems that you created? Did you help fix problems that others created? In these situations what people are most interested in learning about you are how you deal with adversity, what you learned and whether or not you helped make things better or worse.

63. Were there any scandals?

Scandals, on the other hand, are a much bigger potential problem. These are the types of things that show up on the news and turn into negative attack ads. Some scandals are career-ending and not only is it impossible to come back from them, you should not even try. Very few left-wing voters will ever vote for someone who has committed murder, rape, sexual assault, domestic abuse, war profiteering, child abuse and any number of other crimes that are clear rejections of left-wing values.

64. What role did you play in those accomplishments, problems or scandals?

Not all scandals are deadly, though; especially if you only worked at a place that had a scandal and did not really participate in the wrongdoing or cover-up. If you actively fought back or were a whistleblower, even better. If you tried to help the organization fix the problems created by the scandal, you can also show your goodwill and still establish trust.

## Skills and Experience

65. What relevant experience did you obtain in your jobs?

66. What relevant skills did you obtain in your jobs?

In your previous jobs, what experience did you gain that is relevant to the position you are running for? This question informs voters about your biography and why you are an appropriate choice for the job.

What experience did you gain that is relevant to campaigning? Such experience will help you plan and run your campaign. The more skills that you have gained from your previous jobs that are relevant to campaigning or for serving in political office, the better off you will be. If you have not already gained some of this experience, maybe try to obtain it before running for office.

67. What expertise do you have?

Whether the expertise you have comes from your jobs or from other things, such as education and hobbies, it can be relevant to the job or the campaign. You should develop a full list of the things that you have expertise on, even your hobbies and fun activities. You never know which things will connect you to voters. This list should not necessarily be public, but having the list will allow you to determine what expertise you have that is relevant to your campaign and your messaging.

68. What type of specialized training did you receive through work?

Lots of jobs offer advanced or specialized training. Whether this be practical things like speechwriting or social media, or more generalized training like leadership or inclusiveness in the workplace, these other types of training can be super relevant to your message or campaign. What kind of conferences have you been to and what workshops did you attend? Did you take on a unique task at work that was cool or fun? Did any of your specialized training involve public or visible products that you can show to people? Did any of your specialized training make you more prepared for the job than your opponent(s)?

## Leadership

69. Did you take on leadership positions at the jobs you worked?

By definition, elected officials are leaders. Voters want experienced leaders, so showing that you have been a leader in the past will help you show voters that you can be a leader in the future.

70. Did you work in management?

One of the most obvious places that people associate with leadership is management in the workplace. If you held a management position for a significant chunk of time, that is a pretty good proxy for voters that you have at least leadership experience and potential. Do not rule out other similar leadership positions, such as those in your synagogue or church, coaching sports teams (particularly those for youth) and other formal leadership positions.

71. Did you work with budgets or in financial management?

Pretty much every elected position at every level of government has some budget-related responsibility. The more you know about government budgeting, especially when related to the office you are seeking, the more you will be able to successfully pursue the policies you prioritize. Even if you do not know much about government budgeting, if you have had some experience with other types of budgets, it can be invaluable experience for campaigning and for serving in office.

72. Did your job involve improving people's lives or saving people's lives?

If your leadership position was in a field directly related to the issues that are your priorities or that in some way helped people, people will be even more interested in your potential as a leader. If you have already put your money where your mouth is, people will find you more trustworthy.

## Specialized Work

73. Have you held any jobs in politics?

Working for a campaign or political organization can be valuable experience and can help you make significant connections that will help you. In particular, if you have already worked at political jobs, much of the language and process of politics and elections will be familiar with you. Prior knowledge will make your learning curve a lot less steep.

74. Have you served in the military?

Those who have offered to potentially sacrifice themselves in service of their country have a much easier time connecting with voters. Most Americans, even on the left, view serving in the military as an honorable and noble pursuit that serves as a proxy to help establish a variety of personality traits in you as a candidate, from self-discipline to dedication to serving your country.

75. Have you run or worked for a small business?

While running a small business does not have a ton in common with serving in elected office, there are some structures in place in both that could provide you with an easier path forward than someone who has not run a business. Small business owners get significant experience in dealing with government and regulation and have a higher knowledge of how economics works than the general public. Having run a successful small business is also a very good indicator to voters that you know what it takes to get things done.

76. Have you been a teacher?

Teaching is another profession that voters overwhelmingly have a positive view of. If you have been a teacher in the past, you absolutely want that to be part of your story as a candidate. Teachers also have access to larger networks of potential supporters and allies through professional channels and through former students you have stayed in contact with.

77. What grade level did you teach?

Different levels of teaching invoke different responses from voters. A college professor has a great chance at appealing to the more intellectual progressive voter, while a preschool teacher is more likely to appeal to soccer moms and dads.

78. Have you worked or volunteered as a firefighter?

Yet another profession where you serve the public and put your life on the line. Voters know this and respect firefighters more than many other professions. Firefighters also have potentially large networks through their job and related work.

79. Have you worked in law enforcement?

80. What role did you serve?

Law enforcement gets a bit more of a mixed reaction from progressive voters. Overall, most voters respect people who have served honorably in law enforcement. But with so many incidents of officers who violated their oath and harmed the people they are supposed to protect and serve, being in law enforcement can be a negative for a candidate. But if you did well at the job and actually were a good cop who worked with the community you served, it will almost always be a positive.

## Advanced Participation

81. What professional organizations were you a member of?

There are a wide variety of organizations that are available to working people, from unions and trade associations to organizations that serve specific job titles (such as writers) and annual events and conferences. The more of these that you have participated in, the more likely you are to be able to find people to expand your network.

82. Did you take any leadership positions?

83. What accomplishments did you or the organization have?

Professional leadership positions can be super relevant to the office you are running for or relatively irrelevant. The fact that you held a leadership position and what the organization accomplished under your leadership is always relevant.

84. What problems did you or the organization have?

85. Were there any scandals?

It is less likely that problems or scandals from a nonpolitical job will be brought up during a campaign, unless they are particularly juicy or you are strongly involved or at fault. That they are less likely, however, does not mean that opponents will not use them and, anecdotally, the use of non-political work-related problems in attack ads appears to be on the rise.

86. What role did you play in those accomplishments, problems or scandals?

You should describe your role in the successes and failures of the organizations you led as honestly as you can while emphasizing good things and downplaying bad things. With bad things, it is always important to show that you have learned and grown because of them, but even then, some people will always hold them against you.

87. Did you win any awards?

The average voter is at least a little impressed by awards you have won, but the effect is usually pretty small unless the voter has heard of the award before. They are much more likely to be impressed if they have heard of the award and knew that you won it.

88. Did you ever serve as a whistle blower?

This one is a double-edged sword, as it is a thing that will both impress more liberal voters and serve as a negative for more conservative voters, although a subset of conservative voters will have a more positive impression of you because they respect your integrity and honesty. Ignore those voters who offended that you were a whistleblower; they were not going to vote for you anyway.

## Union Participation

89. Were any of your jobs unionized?

If you are running on the left, this will largely be a positive for those voters who are aware of unions and have a positive impression of them. Most voters, even on the left, do not know that much about unions unless they are a union member. This is even true for many Democratic Party members and other left-wing activists. Knowledge of and approval of unions is on the rise, though, and you could be a part of a group of candidates that helps increase that knowledge. Union members are much more likely to vote for other union members, even across party lines. The particular union you were a member of can have varying impacts, depending on local factors and the familiarity that the voters have with that union and unions in general.

90. Were you a member of the union?

91. Why or why not?

If you worked at a union shop and were not a member, that is going to be a pretty big problem with union members unless you have a ridiculously amazing explanation. You probably do not. Your best bet is to always join the union if you going to run on the left. There may be some exceptions, as there are a few conservative unions that are not exactly dedicated to working people in general as much as they are dedicated to their members or their ideology.

92. Did you hold any leadership positions with the union?

This is a super positive thing if you are running on the left, as it combines several of the positives from earlier questions, in particular, it opens up possible networks, it provides a strong and quick way to connect with many voters and it communicates your values in a concise way.

93. Did a union form while you worked at any job?

94. Did you participate in the union drive?

95. Did you vote for it or against it?

96. Why?

If you ever voted against a union or refused to participate in a union drive at your work, you probably should not run on the left. Working people are the underlying base of the left and taking the opposing side in a labor battle is pretty anathema to the left in general, and the Democratic Party more specifically, since so much of its support comes from unions.

## Community and Political Participation

97. What community group(s) have you worked with in the past?

You should be starting to see a pattern here. Any organization that you have participated in can be a potential way to expand networks, raise money, find volunteers or win votes. You should literally catalog every group you ever participated in. Were you involved in a sorority or fraternity? Student government? Intramurals? Other student activities?

What about a synagogue, mosque or church? Fraternal organization, city league sports team, lodge, youth group or MeetUp group? Hobby group, karaoke league or Scouting Troop?

Every group. List them all. You will not necessarily use all of them for your campaign, with some of them it may be inappropriate or illegal to get them involved in a campaign. List them anyway, because you need to know what to stay away from, too.

98. What volunteer activity or community service have you participated in?

While you might develop connections and networks through volunteer or community work, these types of activities are more helpful because they are very indicative of your character and values. Tread gingerly in using these stories, though, as if you exploit your experiences for political gain, that is likely to backfire. Voters expect charitable work to be accompanied with learning and growth, but also with humility.

99. Was yours a paid role or a volunteer role?

A paid role, unless it is a leadership one, is less appealing to voters than volunteer work. People will believe you are passionate about your values if you pursued them for free more than if it was a job. Unless you pursue it so far that you get into a leadership role.

100. Did you hold any offices or leadership positions?

Since you are running for office, people will want to see that you have shown a progression up the leadership ladder. If you have not put in the time to earn more and more responsible positions, why would they be willing to believe you are ready to take on even more leadership? You should be a leader somewhere before you run for office.

101. What did you achieve with the group?

Achievements are another easy way for voters to see your competence and dedication. Even if you were not in a leadership position, what tasks did you perform? Did you lead a committee? Recruit new members? Raise money? Plan events? Write policy papers, newsletters or a blog? All of these accomplishments are also things that prepare you for a campaign, as campaigns do all of these things, too.

102. What problems did you or the group face while you worked with the group?

103. Did you come up with any solutions to those problems?

Elected officials are problem solvers by definition. You have to show that you have a proven track record of solving problems.

104. Were there any scandals?

Scandals come in all shapes and sizes and fewer and fewer of them are ending in serious repercussions. The best way to survive a scandal is to know about it before it breaks, apologize for your part in it, make some kind of restitution and show that you have learned from your mistakes.

105. What role did you play in those problems or scandals?

An even better way to survive a scandal is to not have one in the first place.

## Resume

106. Is your resume up-to-date and accurate?

It should be. Running for office is the same thing as applying for a job. Organizations that endorse and reporters will commonly ask for a copy of your resume. Many voters will, too. Make sure you have double-checked it.

107. Would your credentials withstand public scrutiny?

They will be scrutinized. And nearly every cycle, there is a candidate somewhere who lied on their resume (or on the portion of your website based on your resume) and got busted for it. Most of them lose.

108. Has someone double-checked it for accuracy, clarity and clean copy?

Someone other than you should take a fresh pair of eyes and look over your resume and check it out for mistakes. They should ask questions for everything they do not understand or that looks wrong. Such a document should be as close to perfect as possible.

109. Are you ready to explain any past mistakes you have made?

Reporters will ask you to explain things on your resume that look odd. Gaps in your work/education history. Taking of a less prestigious position. Switching jobs often. The same things a new employer might look at.

110. Are you ready to explain anything missing from your biography?

Missing pieces are the first things that grab the attention of investigative reporters and intrepid bloggers. They start with the very logical assumption that if you left something out, you left it out for a reason. They will not assume that the reason is that it was an accident; they will assume it is a cover-up and, even if it was an accident, many people will assume that you covered something up. That will be bad even if you did not cover anything up or the thing in question is insignificant. The appearance that you tried to cover something up will convict you in some voters' eyes. A good explanation can often help you avoid any problems.

# Chapter 3. Political Background

## Voting

111. Are you registered to vote?

112. If not, why not?

Seriously, why not? The idea that you would run for office if you are not registered will absolutely raise questions. If you are reading this book and you are not registered, put the book down and go register. And you had better be ready to answer the question as to why you have not been registered.

113. Have you voted in all eligible elections?

114. If not, why not?

While whom you voted for is secret, whether or not you voted is public record. It has long been a popular local newspaper story to do a round-up of local candidates and how often they have all voted.

115. Have you voted in all eligible primaries?

116. If not, why not?

If you are going to run to represent a party in the election, people will be turned off if you have not been participating in that party in the past. The least you can do to support a party is participate in its primaries. Not having voted in primaries is a strong sign to those who do participate in those primaries that you lack dedication to the party that represents them.

117. Have you voted in all eligible referenda/initiatives?

118. If not, why not?

You are applying for a job where you vote on issues. If you have not taken the rare opportunities that citizens get to vote directly on issues, voters will want to know why.

## Favorite Politicians

119. Who are your favorite politicians/candidates?

120. Why?

Since you are running for office, many voters will compare you to other politicians as a shortcut to making a judgement about you. Who you look up to, who you idealize, who you pattern yourself after, who you associate with, people will judge you based on what they think of those other politicians.

121. Who are your least favorite politicians/candidates?

122. Why?

Just as much, maybe even more so, people will define you by your enemies. The most obvious "enemies" you face are your opponents, but whom do you speak out against? Whom do you choose to call out? What do your constituents think about that person? People that also think of your enemy as their enemy will flock to you. Even those that might otherwise be opposed to you. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is often a truism in politics.

123. Who are your favorite presidents/world leaders?

124. Why?

125. Who are your least favorite presidents/world leaders?

126. Why?

While only a limited segment of voters will know local politicians and leaders, many, if not most will know the president and other world leaders from the present and past. Many more voters will identify with you or reject you because of who you associate yourself with on a bigger scale.

## The Next Generation

127. Have you taken your children to kids voting or helped them learn the electoral system?

128. If not, why not?

Leaders have to lead not just the present generation, but prepare for the next. Politics should always be a forward-looking endeavor. Helping your children, or other young people, learn about the political system is a civic duty for all, but especially for elected officials.

Additionally, younger people are one of the most untapped groups of political activists by campaigns. Younger people often have more energy and enthusiasm and a campaign that is run well and has a candidate who talks to and listens to young people will not only get more volunteers, but can expand the electorate, which is always a top priority for a progressive campaign. The more the electorate expands, the more possible progressive voters there are. This is largely because the large percentage of the population that rarely or never votes comes overwhelmingly from groups that are significantly more progressive, on average.

129. If yes, what did you teach them about it?

The lessons that you teach to young people about voting and politics are the same lessons that you should promote when talking to voters. It is not that voters are childlike or unsophisticated (many can be, but that is unrelated to this point), it is that basic values of politics do not change much with age. If you are teaching young people good lessons, you share the same lessons on the campaign trail; you just communicate them in more sophisticated ways.

130. Have you worked with kids voting or other programs that helped kids learn about the electoral system?

If you have not, you should. These take place every cycle, and many teachers love to have candidates come talk to students about politics and government. These opportunities are free and usually easy and fun. And they humanize you as a candidate.

131. Have you taught kids about the electoral system in some other capacity?

Maybe even as a teacher?

## Campaign Experience

132. Have you run for office before?

133. For what?

One of the highest correlated factors with winning elected office is having run for office before and lost. Many first-time candidates do not know enough or do not trust the information they have been told by others, so they make mistakes, many of which are avoidable. One of the best ways to understand those mistakes is to have made them in the past and learned from them. If you are seriously considering running once and do not want to run more than once, you probably should not run the first time. Even if you win, getting enough clout to have an impact on change takes time, often more than one term.

134. What was the result?

135. Why?

It does not really matter whether you won or lost your previous campaign(s), it matters how you ran them. If you did a good job that set the table for your future, then an initial loss can lead to many later wins. On the flip side, do not assume that since you previously won, that you do not have to do the work. There are many reasons that elections are won and just because you were able to win does not mean that the choices you made were the right ones. These things have to be analyzed, with data and scientists, in order to fully understand accurately. If you have not done this examination, win or lose, then you could be basing your actions on misguided assumptions.

136. What campaigns have you worked on before?

You really, really, really want to have some kind of campaign experience before you run for office. The long list of questions in this book was developed from having worked on campaigns, from being an unpaid volunteer all the way up to managing a campaign. The more time you spend in a campaign environment, the more you will understand the long list of moving parts that determine the success or failure of a campaign. And there are few places where you are more likely to make connections and build networks that will help you in your own campaign. If you are even considering running for office some day, go spend some time working on a campaign before you file your paperwork.

137. What was your role?

138. What was the result?

139. What effect did you have on the outcome?

Just having a presence on a campaign is not nearly as important as what you did with your time there. What did you contribute to the campaign and the outcome of the election? Do others that were on the campaign agree with your self-assessment? Are they going to publicly say different or cast doubt on your role in the campaign?

140. What campaigns have you volunteered on before?

141. What was your role?

142. What was the result?

143. What effect did you have on the outcome?

Voters are inconsistent, particularly as a group. While in charitable work, volunteering can be seen as representing dedication and passion, in campaigns it can often be seen as a sign of lack of competence or initiative. If you are only volunteering for a campaign, why did not they hire you to do more? Not a campaign killer, but a question you should be prepared to deal with if it comes up. And, as always, anything you ever say about volunteering on a campaign should be about your impact and what you accomplished or contributed to it.

144. What campaigns have you managed before? What was the result?

145. Why?

The super strong benefit of having been a campaign manager in the past is that it greatly increases your knowledge of campaigns and elections and should mean you have networks that already exist. It probably does not have much impact on voters, but it could be helpful with more diehard political operatives, the types that run for elected precinct captains or higher.

146. What positive good have candidates you worked for in the past achieved?

If you worked on a campaign and the candidate won, it is legitimate for you to talk about the things they accomplished after you helped them get into office. An elected official running for re-election often has a big advantage, making most successive campaigns easier than the first (but not always, especially once you move on to a higher level). So the people that help get a candidate into office the first time have a pretty significant role in everything that comes after that.

147. Did you help them achieve it?

But do not claim credit for things you had nothing to do with and do not lie about your participation or how much you did. Reporters who are doing their jobs correctly will look into your claims, especially since so many politicians in the past have lied about what they have done. If you get caught lying about what you have done, it will be a difficult thing to overcome.

148. What problems did the campaigns that you worked on before face?

149. Did you come up with any solutions to those problems?

You need to be a solution-oriented person to run for office and campaigns always face problems. Working on campaigns gives you opportunities to solve problems, particularly those you might face as a candidate or elected official.

150. What scandals were candidates you worked for in the past involved in?

151. Were you associated with the scandal(s) in any way?

If you worked on a campaign in the past that had a scandal, did you stay on the campaign after the scandal broke? Why? Can you convincingly explain it to the voters? If not, your participation in any scandal is likely to get exaggerated by your opponent. They will often downright lie about you. Be ahead of the game by knowing what things might come out and how to defend yourself against negative attacks.

# Chapter 4. Education

152. What school(s) did you go to?

You probably do not have to go back past high school, unless you did something really cool or important earlier than that, but you should list your high school and any education that you have had since then, particularly college coursework. For each school, try to list as many things that might be relevant to your campaign. What were your grades? Did you write any great papers or have any really cool projects that you participated in? Did you write any terrible papers that someone might get ahold of? Did you have strong connections with particular teachers or with fellow students? Did you participate in sports or other extracurricular activities? The more of these things you list, the more potential avenues you have for connections and networks and the more personal stories that are helpful in your messaging might be uncovered or remembered.

153. Why did you choose those school(s)?

People associate pretty heavily with their schools. They will connect more with you if they went to your school and if you went to a rival school, you have the opportunity to connect through that as well, particularly using good-natured and mild humor. The story of why you chose a particular school and what it took to be able to attend are often good anecdotes.

154. Did you go to college?

155. If not, why not?

While it is not a requirement that an elected official have a college degree, it should be. A college education gives you experience and knowledge that are vital for running government. Graduating from college gives you access to the fully-rounded body of knowledge that puts you on a level where you have the basic knowledge of the country, the system of government we have, the socioeconomic factors that influence our politics and the diversity of experience necessary to do the job well. It is not impossible to be a good elected official in modern times without a college education, but it is more difficult and it is not the recommended pathway. If you have years of experience in related fields, you might not suffer any setbacks, but even then, it is best that an elected official have the education necessary to understand the wide variety of subjects they will confront as an elected official. And if you did not go to college, you had better be able to explain how you have the relevant knowledge and experience elsewhere and you had better have the details to back that up.

156. Were the schools you attended accredited?

If not, why not? Anyone who understands how the American school system works will be highly skeptical of a degree from an unaccredited institution. Some conservative voters are okay with it, but liberal voters tend to what you to have gone to schools that actually provide a valid education.

157. Did you graduate from college?

158. If you did not graduate, why not?

If not, you had better have an explanation ready to explain why. If so, people will want to hear the story, particularly if you faced any challenges along the way or learned particularly relevant lessons from your studies. Knowledge related to your position is something that often comes in college, so stressing whatever coursework you had that relates to running for office or particular issues of importance to the office.

159. How long did it take you to graduate?

160. If it took longer than expected to graduate, why?

Getting a college degree is widely accepted as being a four-year process. While that reality is nowhere near as common as most people believe, it is still the standard. If you did not meet that standard, you might get questions about why it took so long.

161. Did you receive any academic awards?

Academic awards can be helpful, particularly on a resume or biography, but it is unlikely they are a significant part of your messaging or campaign.

162. What was your major?

163. What was your minor?

Concentrated studies on topics related to government, politics or the specific work of the office you are seeking are valuable both in the information that you learn from the material, but also for the credibility that completing such coursework provides you

164. Did you major in a field related to the office you are running for?

It is not required, but if you did, it helps establish you as qualified for the job, especially if you did well in your major and participated in activities outside of the classroom.

165. What coursework did you take that might be relevant to the office you are running for?

Even if you did not major in a subject related to the office, it is likely that your school offered relevant classes. If you took those, they should be included on your resume and might be useful in some messaging. Also, if you have not taken any such classes, it is never too late.

166. Did you participate in extracurricular activities?

Create a list all of the extracurricular activities you participated in. This list will be expanded upon in order to help you build your networks.

167. Did you participate in student government?

One of the most relevant extracurricular activities to running for public office is, of course, student government. At many colleges, student government leaders have a voice in actual campus policies and decisions. Some serve on school committees that do even deeper dives into policy. This is one of the more fertile training grounds for future elected officials.

168. Did you hold any offices?

At most schools, obtaining an official student government position is relatively easy to come by. These positions tend to be filled by whoever wants to do the job. At other schools, these positions are highly competitive. Leadership in student government, though, can be a very good way to establish your expertise.

169. Are you responsible for any significant legislation or activities?

While many student government associations deal with only minor issues, quite a few of them have significant impact on budgetary and other concerns. They can have a pretty notable impact on students, in particular, through things like judiciary proceedings. At the most empowering schools, students even have the opportunity to create and pass legislation that is binding (at least up to a certain level). If you were in SGA, did you help create or pass any of this legislation?

170. Did you serve as the student member of any college committees or organizations?

Many colleges reserve at least one seat on college committees and other organizations that create policy or adjudicate disputes on campus. Participation in these organizations prepares those participants for similarly-situated government committees and groups.

171. Did you win any awards?

Student government-related awards are often very prestigious on the relevant campus or in that community. The more people that attended your college, the more will be aware of the existence and honor conferred by such recognition.

172. Did you participate in sororities/fraternities?

173. Did you hold any offices?

This one can obviously be a double-edged sword. College fraternal organizations can be super valuable for building networks and for providing you with organizing experience. On the other hand, many of them, especially all-male fraternities, have major problems with race, gender and sexuality. Many of these organizations have been in legal or academic trouble and quite a few have been banned for activities members participated in. Beyond that, many people on the left have negative associations with fraternities and sororities. Be careful how often and how you talk about your time in a fraternity or sorority.

174. Did you lead any service projects?

175. Did you win any awards?

This is another fertile place for stories that help express your values to voters as well as a potential place for resume items. Service projects can also help you expand your networks beyond the organization you were a member of.

176. Did you participate in any other student organizations?

177. Did you hold any offices?

178. Did you win any awards?

179. Did these groups have any relevance to the office you are running for?

College campuses in the U.S. are loaded with student organizations. And if you cannot find the one that is right for you, it is relatively easy to start one up. You need a list of all the organizations that you participated in, particularly anything where you held leadership positions or those that are relevant to the office you are running for.

180. Did these groups deal with diverse populations?

It is a very rare elected office where you will not be consistently interacting with the broad diversity that is the American electorate. Your ability to interact easily with diverse voters will be key to your success. Your ability to interact easily with diverse voters will be based on your experiences with people from different groups. If you are a straight person who has spent a lot of time around LGBTQ people, for instance, you will be less likely to have problems interacting with LGBTQ people. But beware of the concept of tokenism. Having "a friend" from a particular group does not mean you have diverse friends. You should be familiar with the diversity within groups just as much as you are with the diversity among groups.

181. Did they deal with diverse populations that you were not a member of?

It is sad that this needs to be stated, but you are not embracing diversity if you join an organization that represents a group of people of which you are a member. There are valid benefits to joining such organizations, but they should not be used to show that you have engaged with diverse audiences.

182. Where do you get your news?

A candidate who runs for office needs to be as caught up on the news as possible at all times. Once your campaign is in full swing, you will want someone to produce daily news clips of relevance to your race and the related issues. Where you get your information is just as important as the fact that you get it at all. Which sources you use will attract or repel individual voters, but is not a significant overall factor. Knowing the best, most up-to-date information, on the other hand, is super helpful.

183. What newspapers do you read?

184. Why?

Do you read all of the newspapers that run in the city or district, which you are running in? Do you read other major newspapers from nearby? Do you read major national papers that give you the information that you need that will impact your constituents? How do you obtain these newspapers? Do you read them online? Buy a print copy?

185. What television news do you watch?

186. Why?

Let us just say, if you get your information about policy and its effects on people from TV news, then you probably do not have very well-rounded and accurate knowledge. You should not get your primary factual information from TV news. TV news does not really try to serve that purpose, they focus on other things. What TV news can be good for is twofold. First, it is important to see what types of questions you will be asked by the media. Watching news programs will keep you up to date. More importantly, TV news programs are a great place to gather information on your opponent(s) and how they operate in debate or interview situations.

187. What radio news shows to you listen to?

188. Why?

If TV news is bad for you, radio is much, much worse. The vast majority of political news on the radio is conservative and it is commentary. Most of it is outside the normal spectrum of public opinion, too, although conservatives will lie about that until the end of time. There is not much that is useful in talk radio and appearing on such shows will largely be a waste of time.

Political podcasts, on the other hand (as well as a number of satellite radio shows), are much more likely to provide value. They are free, the hosts are often friendly or a least not hostile, and you can research them in advance to know what type of show they are, since most podcasts leave most episodes available online.

189. What blogs do you read?

190. Why?

Blogs are hit-and-miss when it comes to accuracy and value. Some are superb and cover stories other media miss and do it well. Others completely miss the point of journalism. In most parts of the country, there are state and local blogs covering politics. Some are more credible than others. You should be reaching out to credible left-wing bloggers in your area. Otherwise, you are missing a free and valuable opportunity to reach your constituents and donors. Many bloggers have built extensive networks in politics and have built diehard audiences that will be likely to support a candidate that their favorite blogger endorses.

But bloggers are a proud bunch that pay attention to the details. They will vet your policies and your statements. They will double-check on those things that you casually brush aside. They will follow up on that annoying story that you wish would go away. Unless you reach out to them and work with them to find ways to promote both your candidacy and their blog. Bloggers tend to like candidates that reach out to them quite a bit.

191. What other news sources do you use?

192. Why?

There are many, many other places to get information relevant to your election. Most of them hold little to no value. Once you get outside the above media, the chances of professional and non-partisan sources diminishes greatly. You might find some value in consuming some of these less professional sources, but probably not. Best for you to personally avoid them.

## Preparation

193. Have you read the briefings prepared for your election?

What, you do not have a briefing about the election and the district prepared? This should be one of the first things you do. It is sometimes possible to get such briefings from state or local Democratic Party organizations or other progressive groups. It is even more likely that campaigns have them. But, in many cases, they either will not share them with you or will charge you for them. Your best bet is to do the research yourself, if you have the skills and knowledge, or to hire someone to do such a briefing. And then, of course, you have to read the thing.

194. Have you asked questions about the briefings?

When you are learning the lay of the land for your district and your election, it is important that you understand the big picture, as presented by the briefing. If you do not understand any part of it, surely there will be voters who have the same problem. Ask questions until you understand the key points in your first briefing or your last.

195. Has your manager read the briefings?

Your manager needs to know as much of what you know as possible. They need to be able to answer for you when you are not around, with you being secure in the knowledge that they speak for you, not instead of you. They need to read all the briefings and understand the district and the election as well, or better, than the candidates in the races.

196. Has your "body man" or the person staffing you read the briefings?

Your "body man" or personal staffer often times has to serve as a backup brain for you, remembering things that are important and you have to say often, but that you might not remember in the moment. All but the most flawless candidates

197. Have you read the candidate packet for your race?

198. Have you asked questions about the candidate packet?

199. Has your manager read the candidate packet?

You should have done this before you decided to run. If you do not know what the rules are for filing, what the deadlines are and other important information that the government gives to candidates, it is unlikely that you will be able to run a proper campaign. If you get disqualified on a technicality, you will feel awfully dumb. And people will remember it. If they remember you at all.

200. Have you read the campaign finance rules?

201. Have you asked questions about the rules?

Here is another area where it is easy to mess up. Campaign finance rules are complicated and they change often. And if you make significant errors, they can not only harm your campaign, but they can be illegal. You and your campaign manager need to have a good general grasp of campaign finance law and access to a lawyer with expertise in campaign finance.

202. Has your treasurer read the campaign finance rules?

Your treasurer, on the other hand, should be an existing expert on campaign finance laws when you hire them. If you are not at the level where you can pay a full-time treasurer, you still have to find someone who can handle these reports and do them well. This really needs to be an experienced person and it should not be the candidate. Filling out campaign finance reports is something that is hugely important and it needs multiple sets of eyes looking things over.

# Chapter 5. Personal Background

## Role Models

203. Who are your role models?

204. Who are your heroes?

You may have already answered these questions earlier, but it is important to make sure all your bases are covered. When you tell people, directly or indirectly, who your role models and heroes are, you are giving them a lot of information if they know who those people are. If your role model has accomplished positive things and you say you are following in their footsteps, then fans of that person will likely become your fans. Many of them will not let you just automatically get that boost, but many will. Be careful, though, to make sure that the people you talk about are actually going to connect with the voters that you are pursuing.

205. Who have you tried to model yourself after personally or professionally?

Dig deep on this one. Discover whom you copied to get where you are. And before you bristle at the word "copy," we all copy the actions and ideas of others, whether we know it or not. Take some time to figure out who you copied and why.

206. Who has mentored you?

Go beyond just whom you looked up to and patterned yourself after. Who actually went the extra steps to help mentor you? Who helped you get to where you are today and how did they help? These are key stories that can be used in your messaging to express both your values and your experience.

207. What is your current relationship with them?

Talking about your mentor is significantly less valuable, however, if your relationship with that mentor ended badly or is on the rocks. If you publicly give credit to someone for mentoring you and they deny it or tell a different story, that is likely to hurt you much more than it is to hurt them.

208. What scandals have they been involved in?

If your mentor has been involved in any kind of scandal, your opponent is sure to capitalize on that. You have to consider what scandals they might have been involved in and determine whether or not you want to be associated with those scandals, even if you did not play a part. Your association with the person involved in the scandal will serve as fodder for your opponents.

209. What successes have they had?

210. What role did you play in those scandals or successes?

Conversely, while you cannot claim credit for successes they had that you were not a part of; it is likely that you will get some goodwill from your association with someone who has achieved something positive. Do not lie about your role, but make sure that you include the important true parts of the story in your messaging.

211. Who have you mentored?

212. What is your current relationship with them?

213. What scandals have they been involved in?

214. What successes have they had?

215. What role did you play in those scandals or successes?

As an elected official, you are a leader. Voters want to know that you have what it takes to be a leader. One of the easiest ways for them to see this is by looking at what people who you have mentored have done. If you have not mentored anyone, that is a bad indication of your dedication to helping others. If you have mentored people before, how did they turn out? Did they go on to do good or bad after learning from you?

## Adversity

216. What have you overcome to reach your current point in life?

If you have not faced any adversity in your life, liberal voters are going to be bothered. They likely will not believe you, but if they do, it will likely harm your standing with those voters. They have all gone through challenges to get to where they are now and most of them want elected officials who have proven their toughness and resilience.

217. Were you born in poverty?

It has become a staple of Republican attack ads in recent years to go after Democratic candidates for their financial history. If you were poor, through your fault or not, it is considered to be a weakness by many conservative voters. The reality is that people who have been poor have a more accurate take on the real ills in society and are likely to make better legislators and more honest and solutions-oriented. A progressive candidate should be open and honest about such a background, even when it involves person failing. Showing people that you have learned how to improve your situation and rise above adversity is a powerful way to earn their support. You show that you have determination and can solve problems.

218. Did you grow up without one or both parents?

Millions of Americans grow up in situations where they have lost one or both parents. They share your story. Those of us who grow up in such situations learn resilience and alternative ways to accomplish things. Resourcefulness is a key skill for success in politics.

219. Are you an immigrant or the child of immigrants?

This is one of those questions that really divides left and right. On the left, immigrants are seen very positively. A person who uproots from their home to move to a place far away where the language and culture are different to find a better life is admirable to progressive voters. Even more so if that person left home fleeing danger. Republicans generally dislike immigrants unless those immigrants vote for Republicans, but to the rest of the population, seeking a better life and choosing to make your life harder so you can earn that better life is a good thing.

220. Are you or your family members undocumented immigrants?

A lot smaller percentage of the population approves of undocumented immigrants. Be prepared, though, if you have any undocumented immigrants in your family, for Republicans to attack you for their actions.

221. Did you grow up on a farm, in the impoverished neighborhood in a big city or other challenging environment?

If you grew up in difficult circumstances and became successful, that communicates a lot to voters. Many of them are currently in difficult circumstances and you can serve as an inspiration to them. They will also be more likely to identify with you. Most voters want to see someone like themselves in office. They want to be able to relate. If you went through the same tough circumstances they did, they can relate to that.

222. Do you have a disability?

223. What type of disability?

America has pretty problematic attitude and relationship to Americans with disabilities. Progressives do better, but are far from free from ableism. As with other aspects of life, the campaign trail is more challenging when you have a disability. It can definitely be done, but you have to have a broad understanding of your disability and how it will affect you on the campaign trail. And you will have to know how to talk to the public about your disability in ways that are empowering and show that you are not held back by your disability. These attitudes are far from fair, but they are widespread.

224. How does it affect your daily life?

The campaign trail is a difficult place. It is physically and mentally demanding and few people have sympathy for the difficulties that campaigning can have on candidates, even if those candidates have a disability. Campaigning also involves lots of traveling and quite a bit of interaction with voters in places that are not accessible or even friendly to people with disabilities. You need to know if you can handle the wear and tear and what you'll do in the very likely chance that you have to campaign in places that are harder to get to because they are not accessible.

225. Do you have any mental health concerns?

If America is bad about physical disabilities, it is much worse when it comes to mental health. While a significant portion of Americans live with mental health issues, most of them are still widely misunderstood, rarely diagnosed, often diagnosed wrongly and the wrong solutions often applied to them. And that's just from the professionals, amateurs are even worse, with many people believing they have the knowledge to both diagnose mental illness and determine whether or not someone actually has a condition or not.

Regardless of what is right or wrong, a lot of voters' choices will be influenced by discussions around mental illness. When you have a condition and a voter has the same thing or has a prominent person in their life with the condition, the effects can be positive, such as building connections. But many people will be turned off by any hint of mental illness and will refuse to vote for you. Your best bet is to be judicious but honest in talking about your mental health. If you do not bring it up and others do not know about it, it is unlikely to be an issue. If you bring it up first, you have the benefit of getting ahead of the narrative. If you couple it with clear efforts to get better and to help others, it can be a positive.

226. Have you been prescribed medication?

If you have prescriptions, there is some chance that the media or voters will find out and the issue can be brought up. Physical records make such stories more likely.

227. Do you take medication?

On the other hand, if you are supposed to take a medication that voters approve of, and you are not taking that medication, the reaction can be quite negative.

228. Have you been institutionalized?

229. Have you been ruled incompetent by a judge?

There was a time when this type of thing was a big enough scandal to be an automatic career-ending scandal. We have progressed since then, but this will still be an impassable barrier for some voters. Most progressive voters, though, will not have much problem with it if it was far enough in the pass and/or you have proven to be competent since then.

230. Do you feel comfortable discussing your adversity with voters?

It is not required and some opponent(s) will attack you for it, but if you are comfortable talking about the obstacles you overcame to run for office, the voters who have faced those obstacles, or similar problems, will be more likely to identify with you.

## Personal Experience

231. Do you have experience working with or talking to youth?

A lot of people in politics complain about or underestimate young people. This is short-sighted for many reasons. One of the key ones is that when candidates to reach out to young people and address issues important to young people, they do participate. And despite much media hand-wringing about younger generations, the data shows that they are more socially active and participate in social activity more than older generations. They are not always aware of how politics is a pathway toward that social activity, though, so communicating to them in ways that speak to them in their language authentically is a powerful way to activate passionate, energetic volunteers and to boost turnout among groups that typically vote in lower numbers.

232. Do you have experience working with or talking to African Americans?

In order to answer "yes" to this question, you should not answer it yourself unless you are an African American. Find out what the answer is by reaching out to African American friends and colleagues and asking them what they think about your history with and ability to communicate with African Americans. If their answer is negative, then one of your first hires, if you still plan on running, should be an African American. And this person should be given a position of actual authority. They should not be put in charge of African American outreach or issues and then that is your highest-ranking African American or person of color. The position should be one with real authority and responsibility.

233. Do you have experience working with or talking to women?

In order to answer "yes" to this question, you should not answer it yourself unless you are a woman. Find out what the answer is by reaching out to female friends and colleagues and asking them what they think about your history with and ability to communicate with women. If their answer is negative, then one of your first hires, if you still plan on running, should be a woman. And this person should be given a position of actual authority. They should not be put in charge of women's outreach or issues and then that is your highest-ranking woman. The position should be one with real authority and responsibility.

234. Do you have experience working with or talking to seniors?

Someone on your campaign should have this experience, particularly if you are running in a district with a high senior population. But pretty much any district will have a notable number of seniors, so this should never be overlooked. Talking to seniors is not separate from talking to the other groups listed here, though, since seniors also all fit into other categories, but seniors do have separate concerns and issues and, importantly, they vote at the highest rate of any demographic age group.

235. Do you have experience working with or talking to churches, synagogues and mosques?

Chances are that at least 90% of the people in your district self-identify as religious. The three largest religions in the U.S. are Christianity, Judaism and Islam. And each of those faiths has multiple denominations with varying beliefs and traditions, so being able to converse with them all in ways that speak to them will be challenging without the necessary background. One person does not have to have all of this experience, but all of this experience should be held by someone on the campaign, preferably someone of that faith.

236. Do you have experience working with or talking to the LGBTQ community?

In order to answer "yes" to this question, you should not answer it yourself unless you are LGBTQ. Find out what the answer is by reaching out to LGBTQ friends and colleagues and asking them what they think about your history with and ability to communicate with the LGBTQ community. If their answer is negative, then one of your first hires, if you still plan on running, should be a person who is LGBTQ. And this person should be given a position of actual authority. They should not be put in charge of LGBTQ outreach or issues and then that is the highest-ranking LGBTQ person on your campaign. The position should be one with real authority and responsibility.

237. Do you have experience working with or talking to Hispanic and Latinx Americans?

In order to answer "yes" to this question, you should not answer it yourself unless you are Hispanic or Latinx. Find out what the answer is by reaching out to Hispanic/Latinx friends and colleagues and asking them what they think about your history with and ability to communicate with Hispanics/Latinx Americans If their answer is negative, then one of your first hires, if you still plan on running, should be a person who is Hispanic or Latinx. And this person should be given a position of actual authority. They should not be put in charge of Hispanic/Latinx outreach or issues and then that is the highest-ranking Hispanic or Latinx person on your campaign. The position should be one with real authority and responsibility. You get some leeway on this one if you live in a district with very few Hispanics or Latinx Americans, but you are running for office in the U.S. ignoring Hispanics and Latinx Americans is a sure way to lose if you are running on the left.

238. Do you have experience working with or talking to Asian-Americans?

In order to answer "yes" to this question, you should not answer it yourself unless you are Asian-American. Find out what the answer is by reaching out to Asian-American friends and colleagues and asking them what they think about your history with and ability to communicate with Asian-Americans. If their answer is negative, then one of your first hires, if you still plan on running, should be a person who is Asian-American. And this person should be given a position of actual authority. They should not be put in charge of Asian-American outreach or issues and then that is the highest-ranking Asian-American person on your campaign. The position should be one with real authority and responsibility. You get some leeway on this one if you live in a district with very few Asian-Americans, but you are running for office in the U.S. ignoring Asian-Americans is a sure way to lose if you are running on the left.

239. If you do not have experience talking to diverse people, do you have surrogates who do?

Even if you do have sufficient experience talking to diverse people, you cannot be everywhere and you do not have unlimited time. You will need to find trusted surrogates who are both knowledgeable and experienced enough to do it on your behalf if you are otherwise occupied. If you do not have the experience, you will need these surrogates even more. And every staff member you can add from a diverse community not already represented by your staff, the more well-rounded and professional your staff will be.

## Scandals

240. What scandals have you personally been involved in?

You should not only do a deep dive to catalog all of your own scandals, if you are seriously running for office you should pay to have a private investigator use their professional resources to find out what information is out there about you. Nothing from your past should surprise you on the campaign trail.

241. Did you do anything illegal?

242. Did you serve time in jail or prison?

While having done something illegal will not automatically disqualify you for office, it is a major red flag for many voters. The type of crime, when it happened and what your role in it are all important, but any evidence of you having committed a crime is going to be used against you.

243. Were you forced to pay fines or restitution?

244. Did you complete your sentence and fully pay what you were required to?

245. Did you make amends beyond what was legally required?

One thing that can seriously undercut how these things are used against you is what happened after you got caught for the crime? Did you hinder the investigation? Did you cooperate with authorities? Were you convicted? Were you forced to pay fines or restitution or serve time? Did you complete those things in a timely manner? Did you go beyond the legal minimum in trying to make up for your mistake?

246. Was the scandal public?

If it was not, then it is less likely to be used against you, but just because it is not currently public does not mean that it will stay that way.

247. Did you issue a public apology?

This is not always necessary. Most importantly, did you apologize privately to whoever was wronged by your actions? Depending on what happened, it may be necessary to do a public apology. If this is appropriate and you do not do it, people will be offended. Can you keep that offended population small enough to make it not matter? Probably not.

Apologizing has to be done right to matter. If your apology is dishonest and people can tell, that will invalidate the apology. Make sure you are not issuing a non-apology apology or one that blames the victims. Your apology should never ever be "I'm sorry if anyone was offended." This is not an apology, it blames the victims and it implies that you not only did not do anything wrong, it communicates that it is more wrong to accuse you of something than it is for you to actually do something that harms people. It is not. Apologize and make sure that you take responsibility when you do.

248. Did it involve misuse of government resources?

If so, why are you running for a government office? If you do not already have a big name that is well-known and have not already done enough to erase this from people's minds, it will be a drag on your chances. A big one.

249. Did it involve abuse of power or position?

Pretty much the same thing here, except that this one is a bit harder to nail down with evidence.

250. What scandals have your family members been involved in?

It is not 100% certain that these scandals will affect you, but the closer the family member; the more likely you are to get caught up in the story. If the family member lives in your house, or is one of your children, then the story gets even bigger for you.

251. Did you play a role in those scandals?

252. Did you make amends or complete legal sanctions related to your role?

This is the part that matters the most. Did you play a part in the scandal that your family member was engaged in? Can you plausibly convince people of this or are you going to get blamed no matter what? Did you and/or your family member correct the mistake and/or make up for it in some way? If not, what was your response to that family member?

253. What scandals have your friends been involved in?

254. Did you play a role in those scandals?

255. Did you make amends or complete legal sanctions related to your role?

It is much less likely that the actions of your friends will negatively impact your campaign, but you cannot rule it out. The factors that make it much likely are how big the scandal was, how many people were harmed by it, what your role was in the scandal and how well you know and/or work with the friend who committed the scandal.

## Anecdotes

256. What are your personal/family stories that might connect you to voters?

To win elected office, you need to connect with voters. Nothing will help you connect to voters more easily and strongly than your personal stories of how you became who you are and what led you to your present situation. If those are not sufficient, stories from your family are pretty powerful, too, Particularly if they are from an older generation of your family that influenced you.

257. What are your professional/political stories that might connect you to voters?

Other stories can be helpful as well. Stories from work or politics are not as potent as personal or family stories, but they can still be valuable in helping communicate your values and experience. You really should compile a document with all the personal stories that might be relevant. They will be very helpful in messaging for speeches and for your website.

## Cultural Tastes

258. What are your favorite movies?

259. What is your favorite music?

260. Who are your favorite authors and books?

261. What are your favorite television shows?

Popular culture can be both a super helpful and a super dangerous area to dig into. People are passionate about the culture they love and when you express your admiration for the culture they love, it can forge connections. At the same time, people who hate that part of our culture might be negatively influenced if you express your admiration. Classic, popular and highly-respected books, movies, music, TV shows, etc., are a safe bet to connect with a lot of voters and cooler or edgier works, as long as they do not get TOO edgy, can show that you are an outside-the-box thinker and can particularly appeal to voters who are more independent in their thinking. Professing admiration for works that are bad or offensive, though, can create public relations nightmares, however, so think about which works you are going to promote, if any. Some voter or reporter is likely to ask you questions about your tastes, though, so you should always be prepared to give a good answer to this question.

262. Who are your favorite sports teams?

Sports is a little different from other popular culture in that the inherent goal of competitive activities requires people to take sides. Frequently, people that takes sides in sports manifest a strong dislike, even hatred, for other people's preferences for sports teams, even though the vast majority of sports loyalties are an accident of birth or are related to the college one went to based on non-sports reasons. That being said, people are passionate about their teams and there are fewer easier ways to connect with individual voters than through sports connections.

Do not spend too much time figuring this one out, as it is not really that divisive beyond a small percentage of the population. The biggest exception comes from rooting against the home team without a valid reason. While you can root for the visiting team if you have a valid connection to them that you are willing to talk about, it is unwise to do a lot of rooting against the home team in public. Friendly rivalry is about as far as you should take it and you should never insult fans of any team, much less the home team. And by "home" team here, we are not just talking about the team in your district (and there could be more than one), we're also talking about any teams from nearby communities, especially college teams, since it is likely that many in your district will follow those teams.

On the other hand, if you are a fan of the home team, you will get a lot more free reign. You can incorporate your support for the team in a lot of your campaign, especially in speeches and on social media. As a progressive, however, it can be dangerous to express support for controversial teams. In particular, you should handle certain teams or types of teams with special attention, most notably: teams with offensive mascots or names or teams with a player, coach or owner who has done something wrong without making appropriate amends. Certain things are unforgivable to progressives, though, and you should avoid teams that retain personnel that have engaged in the abuse of women, children or animals. It does not hurt to stay away from teams with prominent conservative owners or players, either, as some voters will react negatively to that support.

263. Are any of your favorites controversial?

264. Have you discussed these controversial tastes publicly or posted them online?

Overall, expressing support for controversial pop culture or its creators is dangerous and should be avoided, if possible. As a candidate for public office, you are likely to be asked your opinion on such issues, so you should be prepared (a short briefing paper on such controversies that might relate to your district or campaign is a really good idea). And, if you have publicly spoken about your support for a controversial player or team in the past, you need to know that someone could find that and use it against you. Be aware of what others can find.

265. Would any of these tastes be an asset to your campaign persona?

On the other hand, the more popular culture you can bring into your campaign, the more ways you will have to connect with voters. But if you choose poorly, you will lose opportunities. You have to be careful and not be inauthentic in your support of fandom (real fans will test you and will know if you fail). Also, you should be careful not to overuse cultural references or try to shoehorn them into speeches or conversations where they do not belong.

## Skills and Talents

266. Did you play sports?

Historically, being a successful athlete has been a pretty big boost to someone's political career. Many former athletes have parlayed their sports career into political office. Some of the reasons for this are obvious. Sports are associated with America more heavily than just about anything else. Particularly the more traditionally popular American sports like football, baseball and basketball. Representing the country in international sports competition like the Olympics is also a boost to a candidate's chances. Athletes are considered to be patriotic, hard-working and disciplined. Especially if they had success or played in a marquee position. Professional athletics is also an almost automatic boost to your base voter support.

267. Have you performed publicly as a musician or actor?

268. Have you appeared in movies or in television shows as an actor?

Was it amateur or professional? Small crowd or big? Were any celebrities on the same bill? Did you get any reviews? Are they still publicly available? Were there any recordings made of the performance? Are they publicly available?

269. Do you have an uncommon talent or skill?

Anything that might have been newsworthy or had gotten you press coverage? Anything that might have involved your participation on any teams, associations or other kind of organizations or networks. Anything that had conventions or conferences?

Do you have any uncommon talents, skills or hobbies that might be useful for the campaign? Even if they are not practically useful (like if you previously wrote a political blog), they can be valuable as part of your message or story. How did you learn the skill? Who helped you hone your talent or inspired your pursuit? Fun or interesting or quirky skills or talents or hobbies can be very good stories to tell on the campaign trail, as long as they are not too weird or outlandish. You want to be fun, not corny.

# Chapter 6. Public Persona

## Traditional Public Presence

270. Have you ever served in a public relations position in any capacity?

If you have served in a public relations capacity, paid or otherwise, there will be a public paper trail. Whether that be in newspapers or online or wherever, you need to know what places your name pops up when people go looking for it. When professionals go looking for it, not just amateur Google sleuths, although you need to be ready for them, too. Use a private investigator to research your past, it is what your opponent will do, and you need to know what they will find. Nothing you have said for the public record should surprise you later on. Find it before others do.

271. Were press releases put out in your name?

272. Are they available online?

273. Were any of them controversial?

If your name is not on them, they are not available and are not controversial, you are good. If your name is on them and they are available, someone will find them, so know what is out there in advance so you are ready for it. On the flip side (and this goes for the items below, too), if these documents are positive and present you in a good light, they may be valuable for your campaign or messaging.

274. Have you been interviewed for television, radio or online shows?

275. Are those shows available in any form?

276. Were any of them controversial?

Unless these shows were a long time ago, they will be available online. You should know what the appearances were and what you talked about. And you should know whether or not you said anything controversial. Do not guess, know.

277. Have you regularly appeared on any television, radio or online shows?

278. Are those shows available in any form?

279. Were any of them controversial?

Same story here, except that if you regularly appeared on a show or on multiple shows, people are much more likely to know about it and much more likely to find it.

280. Have you been interviewed for newspaper or online articles?

281. Are those articles available in any form?

282. Were any of them controversial?

The importance of this one depends on how old it is and how popular the publication was. Smaller publications or older articles are less likely to be online, although there is still some legitimate possibility that those articles will appear in a database like Lexis-Nexis. And you never know what kind of hoarder in the district has kept a clipping of everything you have ever said or done.

283. Have you written for a newspaper, magazine or online publication?

283. Are those articles available in any form?

285. Were any of them controversial?

Same thing as being interviewed for one, except that it is much more likely that you will have things that are publicly available outside of databases. Once something is published through one of these avenues, they are often copied and republished on other websites, blogs and on social media. If you have written controversial things for any kind of notable publication, people will find them. Again, if they are positive, you should consider using things that are appropriate in your campaign messaging.

286. Have you been interviewed by or written for any student or alternative newspapers?

287. Are those articles available in any form?

288. Were any of them controversial?

Student and alternative publications are less likely to appear online or in databases and the quality of the publication (including its interviewers) is likely to be less than a more traditional source. That does not mean they cannot be valuable for you or your opponent and it does not mean they cannot be found.

## New Media

289. Do you have new media savvy?

You would better. Various aspects of the media approach interacting in with candidates and politics in different ways. If you do not understand what they are going for, you could fall into some basic traps that amateur candidates get caught up in. You can learn most of what you need from following along in the various media related to politics. Actual experience working with that media is even better. Journalism or political science classes can also lead you to the experience you might need.

290. Have you written a blog?

291. Was it in your own name or could someone easily figure out that you wrote it?

292. Was it controversial?

Stories happen every few months where a prominent figure is taken to task for things they wrote in a blog a long time ago. The thing with blogs (and social media) is that they do not really go away any more. Once you post it, several different websites will archive your writings, even if you later delete them. If you wrote under your name or under a pseudonym that is easy for people to find out about, then it is likely they will find your blog. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

293. Would it offend potential supporters of any group?

It is definitely a bad thing if offends the people you want supporting you. Or if it offends people that traditionally vote liberal or progressive, then it is possible it will come back to haunt you, although how long ago it was and what you have done since then can lessen the impact.

294. Did you comment at other blogs?

295. Did you comment under your own name or a pseudonym?

It is harder to find comments on blogs or social media. They largely do not show up in search engines and if the comments are not on your own blog or social media, then people are not likely to know that you even left comments. But that does not mean someone will not stumble across them and connect the pieces.

296. Is the blog still online?

297. Is it available in the Wayback Machine, Google Cache or some other archive?

If it is, then people can find it pretty easily. If it is not, they might still be able to find it. While none of them is anywhere near complete, there are numerous archives that gather anything that has been on the World Wide Web and keep copies of it. Many things slip through the cracks, but a lot of things you think have been deleted are still out there hanging around. It is safest to assume somebody is going to find it.

298. Do you have a profile on Facebook?

299. Do you have controversial posts, comments, photos or friends on Facebook?

Facebook is probably the most popular social media network for the voting age population and you will need to have a presence on the site. To not do so is to close off channels to potential supporters. That being said, Facebook does not forget anything, so if you post things that are offensive, people will be able to find them pretty easily. "Liking" or supporting (by being friends with them) bad people on Facebook is also likely to be something you will get called out for.

300. Do you have a Twitter account?

301. Are you following or being followed by any controversial people on the account?

Twitter is likely the most popular social media network for political insiders, media, pundits and activists. It is not as important that you are on Twitter, as most who are on Twitter are on Facebook, too, but it is expected of you, so you probably should do it unless you have a valid reason not to. People will ask you for that reason.

302. Have you tweeted any controversial comments?

Tweets do not go away. Even if you delete them, if anyone knows who you are and you are an actual viable candidate, people will likely screenshot or save anything that you say that is problematic.

303. Do you have a profile on Instagram?

Instagram is the leading social network for younger people. It is more photo-oriented, but celebrities have found the site very useful for connecting with their potential audience. Ignoring this avenue is a bad idea, as it can help you expand the electorate and secure more volunteers and supporters.

304. Do you have a profile on YouTube?

If you do not have one, you should create one for the campaign. On it, you will want to host any speeches, ads and other videos that the campaign releases. This should not be ignored. Many people learn better through audiovisual avenues than they do through reading articles online. Do not close off avenues towards reaching and connecting with voters unless you absolutely have to.

305. Do you have a profile on LinkedIn?

There is no harm in it, and it could be helpful. Just make sure that it is up-to-date and accurate and mentions your candidacy.

306. Do you have a profile on Flickr or other similar photo websites?

It is not necessary, but having your campaign-related photos on a website where supporters can see them and download them to help drive your campaign forward on their own time is a very good idea. A regularly-updated photostream also gives media and other organizations that need photographs for various reasons an easy and free way to get them that does not take up a lot of staff time and does not violate campaign finance law, because the photos are publicly available.

307. Do you have a profile on HBCU or other demographic social networks?

There are a wide variety of specialized social networks that appeal to very specific demographics. For instance, many Historically Black Colleges and Universities have private social networks for students and alumni. While you should never falsely use these networks, if you have legitimate access to them, they can provide avenues for you to reach voters that others do not have access to.

308. Do you have a profile on any other social networks?

There are many, many other social media sites out there. Do you have profiles on them? Are they easily accessible to others? Are you going to use them for the campaign? Are you going to shut them down or keep using them?

309. Do you have profiles on dating sites?

310. Is there anything controversial in those profiles?

Not a problem if you do (unless you are not single), unless you have a horrible profile with problems in it or you engage in problematic behavior in interacting with people on these sites.

311. Do you have controversial posts, comments, photos, links, favorites or friends on these networks?

Do not guess, know. The best way to know this is to have someone outside the campaign do a professional search and provide you with a report. This way you are not the judge of what is problematic and is not, professionals are.

312. Will you post to social networks as the candidate or as staff or a combination?

313. Who will respond to comments and messages on social networking sites?

314. Are you regularly creating content for publication on social media networks and on blogs?

You obviously will need to have a social media presence and a steady stream of new content. Who is going to handle that? You should not do most of it yourself, and, in particular, you should largely stay away from comment threads. But on your own social media, you should definitely have a staffer answering comments and direct messages on a daily basis and monitoring your comment threads for offensive material, bullying and other negative tactics.

315. Are you giving Netroots activists a chance to interact with the campaign and candidate and are you giving them a chance to invest in the campaign?

If you do not, you are wasting a valuable and inexpensive way to expand your campaign. Netroots activists in your district or state will absolutely be looking into your campaign to see if you are worth supporting. Or worth attacking. Your best bet is to engage in outreach with them proactively and ask them to tell you their thoughts and ideas about the campaign and the election. They definitely have them and they will definitely be writing about you and your campaign. You can choose a hostile relationship with them or a productive one.

## Preparation

316. Even before you run for office, are you giving interviews, doing town hall meetings, attending debates and public forums?

If you are going to be a representative of the people, you need to build yourself as a public speaker and interested community participant. Write letters to the editor, speak at town hall meetings, talk to reporters. The more you participate in the community in a public way, the less a surprise it will be to the community when you run for office and the more it will be considered the next logical step in your career.

317. Are you writing op-eds and letters to the editor?

This is a pretty easy one to do. It does not cost anything and you do not have to be well-known in advance to write a letter to the editor or an op-ed. It is a little harder to get them published, especially an op-ed (unless your local paper has a regular "community columnist" type of feature), but if you pay close attention to the guidelines for your paper and seek out the editor in charge of making such decisions and ask them questions and learn from them, you can increase your chances of getting published. It is even easier to get published in an online publication, since space considerations are less of a concern.

318. Are you calling in to radio and TV shows?

There are not as many of these type of call-in shows as there used to be and what exists is overwhelmingly right-wing. If you have a local show that is progressive or moderate, you should call in to it regularly. Calling right-wing radio rarely, if ever, will benefit you in any way that is valuable for your campaign.

319. Are you commenting/posting on blogs and social media?

This one is super easy to do and does not cost anything. There also are not many gatekeepers that can prevent you from posting. That ease of posting, though, makes it also the easiest area to make a mistake. Start commenting on local and state issues (and those related to the office you are running for) before you start running. Establish a presence and some level of authority and stay away from things that will get you in trouble with voters.

320. Have you looked for opportunities to speak on behalf of the party or of relevant interest groups?

This is one of the most powerful ones you can be doing before you run. Not only are party members and interest group supporters more knowledgeable than the general public about politics, they are also much more likely to volunteer and donate. It is not always super easy to speak to them or on behalf of them, though, unless you have put in the work to earn that speaking gig.

# Chapter 7. Campaign Resources

## Voter and E-mail Lists

321. Do you have a press list?

If not, this should be one of the first things you get done. A campaign is a news-generating organization, but few reporters or newspapers have the resources to cover every story, so it is incumbent that you do outreach to them to make sure they know about your campaign and are reporting on it. While you cannot force reporters to cover you, you increase your chances if you reach out to them.

To reach out, you have to have a good press list. You might be able to obtain an existing press list. Many organizations, from parties to campaigns to nonprofits to bloggers might have press lists. If you have established trust or a connection to one of these organizations, they may share the list with you. If not, you can gather one by visiting the websites of newspapers, TV and radio stations, blogs and other organizations that cover politics. Do not do this haphazardly, though, you should reach out to outlets early in your campaign and make sure that the person you have contacted is the proper person to reach out to. If not, maybe they can point you in the right direction. Personal connections are the best way to get reporters and bloggers to cover your story.

322. Do you have access to the VAN or other voter lists?

If you do not have access to NGP VAN or other voter contact databases, you have a problem. In many places, access is given to candidates by the state party for free. In other places, they offer a discount to candidates. In some places, you might have to buy access. But you want access. There is no greater source of information on voters than the VAN and similar databases. Not using them is unacceptable for a serious candidate.

323. Do you have access to voter e-mail lists?

Be careful in interpreting this one. Just because you have access to a list of e-mails does not necessarily mean you should use it. How did you obtain the list? If you did it illegally or without permission, you could get in more trouble for using it than not using it. If you personally gathered all the e-mail addresses on the list and/or people opted in to receiving e-mails from you, then you are totally safe using that list for campaign purposes. If someone offers to sell you a list, you should probably say no. The list may not have been legally obtained and the chances of many people from a list obtained through such a method will donate or sign up for the campaign is tiny. If you get reported as a spammer, you may not even be able to contact people whose e-mail addresses were legally obtained. Your best bet with existing e-mail lists that you did not gather is to ask the owner of the list to allow you to send a message to the list or ask them to send one to the list on your behalf. This type of favor is common, if the list is appropriate, and if you have any success at building your list, you will likely be asked to return the favor.

324. Do you have access to e-mail lists of friendly organizations in the district?

For these types of lists, if you are not an active and well-known member, you should always ask the leadership to send an e-mail on your behalf or one that introduces you to the list. If you are a well-known member of the organization, you may be able to directly send a message to the list, but you should be extra careful to check the rules and culture of the organization. Sending a political message to many lists is considered a serious breach of rules or etiquette and can be more damaging than helpful if done wrong.

324. Do you have access to any other voter contact lists?

Winning elections is all about voter contact. Have you used all your options for obtaining voter contact information that can benefit your campaign? Are you aware of all the laws pertaining to the sharing of such voter contact information? Can such lists be used legally and to your benefit without scaring off people or harming your reputation?

## Campaign E-mail

325. What is the campaign e-mail address?

326. Who answers the campaign e-mail?

Before you launch your campaign, you should have an official campaign e-mail address ready to go. You should also have someone on staff designated to read and respond to these e-mails. As the campaign grows in size, you probably will not answer most e-mails yourself, but depending on the message, it may be better for it to be personally from you, even if you are running for higher office. It is also not likely that the person who reads the e-mails will be responsible for all of the actions that may be required by e-mails. The person who reads them will act more like a dispatcher and send the action items to the proper campaign staffer.

It is not just enough to have a campaign e-mail address; you have to get it out to people. It should be on your website, on any printed materials and should be readily available at any events you attend and at your campaign office. Find every avenue possible to get this e-mail address before your constituents and make sure that once you do, responses are reasonable, adequate and timely.

327. Do you have a program for campaign staff e-mail addresses?

Once your staff gets bigger than one, you will definitely want all of your staff to have an official campaign e-mail address through which to conduct official business. There are many options for this, but you will want to go with an option that is reliable and has a reputation for quality and security.

## Technology

328. Do you have a camera?

329. Do you have a video camera?

330. Do you have a digital audio recorder?

Considering that your phone should have all these things before you even think about running for office, the answers here should be "yes." More importantly, do you know how to use them? Cameras and recorders on even the average phone today are more powerful than the best machine that ever recorded, say, JFK. In fact, many of the latest generation standard phones are more powerful that the equipment that _Star Wars_ was shot on. The quality of your equipment is not a barrier to creating quality content. Learn how to use it and have your staff know even better than you do. Entire theatrical films are recorded on iPhones these days; you can do just about anything with your phone.

## Media

331. Do you have an existing web presence/social networking presence?

It would be a whole lot cooler if you did.

332. Are you sharing your website content on social media sites?

Very few people are going to your website without finding out about it via your social media first, so you should be using your social media to be driving people to your website so they can learn about you and so you can capture their information in order to make them active participants in your campaign.

333. Are you using that content to capture voter information and/or drive voters to your website?

While it is important to share messaging and persuasion in your social media content, these channels can be used for more advanced things, such as driving traffic to your website, capturing voter information and raising funds. There is growing professional scholarship on these topics. Find it and use it. Or find someone else that knows it.

334. Do you have access to Lexis-Nexis or newspaper databases?

If you want to be truly informed about current events and the history of your district and elections to represent that district, you will need access to a database that carries many or all of the newspapers in your district. Lexis-Nexis is probably the best-known, but it is not the only one. These databases are not cheap, but can often be accessed in public libraries, particularly those associated with institutions of higher learning.

335. Do you have access to academic journals?

If you really want to understand the science behind policy and elections, you need to be reading academic journals. They are not easy to find and are very expensive, though, so you really need to be accessing them through online databases. These are found most easily and cheaply in similar databases that you would find newspapers.

336. Do you have access to TVEyes?

If you have not heard of TVEyes, it is an online database and search engine that catalogues worldwide television and radio programming. If something was broadcast, you can probably find it in TVEyes.

## Office Space

337. Do you have an office or office space?

Whether it is in your house or elsewhere, you need to have office space. It is probably better if it is elsewhere, unless you have an office in your home. But if you are running a serious campaign, you will likely need more space than you have in a home office.

338. Do you have a place for volunteers to work?

Do you want all of your paid staff and volunteers working out of your house if you are running for a local school board race? What about if you are running for mayor? What about if you are running for Congress? If not, pay for the space.

339. What is the campaign address?

This should be plastered on all your materials, from online to offline. In fact, on many of these things it is required that you include the campaign address. If you are a serious candidate, this should be an actual office and not your home. Professional candidates running for public office should have professional office space.

340. Do you have the resources to hire field organizers and/or open field offices?

Without some kind of serious field operation, you are going to lose. And the higher the office, the bigger this operation needs to be and the more space you will need. If you are running for a multi-city district or statewide, you will almost certainly want to have field offices in major cities and in less-populated areas further away from the main campaign office.

341. Can you use people's homes for neighborhood headquarters sites?

While you should not do this for your primary campaign office, it may be very helpful to have strong supporters host neighborhood or small town offices for you, if they are willing. These offices should have specific office hours, and at times, you should work out of these offices, making them a real part of the campaign.

342. Who opens and replies to campaign mail?

This has to be a dedicated job. Official documents, checks, sometimes actual money, invitations, candidate questionnaires and other important things come through the mail. Many important things that are time-sensitive and can help you win (or lose) will come in the mail on a daily basis. Responses have to be official, prompt and accurate.

343. Do you have a telephone?

Do you have a personal telephone that you can use to contact voters, donors, the media, etc.? And can donors, the media and community leaders use it to contact you? Do you have a campaign phone, of which the number is shared publicly and widely?

344. Do you have multiple phones, including phones for phone-banking?

You are going to need them. Volunteers and staff may be able to use their own phones, but they may not. Find out in advance of phone-banking and make sure you have the phones for people to use so that their time (and yours) is not wasted.

345. What is the campaign phone number?

You, and anyone who is consistently talking to the public, should probably memorize the campaign phone number. You should be giving it out regularly.

346. Who answers the campaign phone?

This has to be an official job of at least one person (and at least one backup for when that person cannot be in the office) and it has to be taken seriously. Whoever answers the phone will be a direct contact to the public and the media and that task should never be taken (or assigned) lightly.

347. Do you have a computer?

If not, go get one. You will need it.

348. Do you have multiple computers for staff and volunteers?

This is also necessary. While it might not be necessary to buy computers for a ton of staff members, they will need computers. Higher-level staff, if you are running for statewide office or higher, almost certainly should have campaign-owned computers and it is probably best if they conduct business through official campaign channels (such as e-mail addresses) as much as is possible.

349. Do you have Internet access?

This is a basic utility. The answer has to be yes.

## Office Supplies

350. Do you have office supplies on hand?

351. Who makes sure you have these supplies?

It is hard to run an office without supplies. Where are you getting your supplies? What does your staff need to do their jobs? Who is in charge of making sure that everything necessary to maintain a proper campaign office is on hand when it is needed?

352. Do you have supplies on hand for phone banking?

353. Who makes sure you have these supplies?

Phone-banking requires additional office supplies compared to what you might need on a day-to-day basis. Where do you get these? Are there specialized phone-banking supplies offered by various vendors that might be useful?

354. Do you have supplies on hand for canvassing?

355. Who makes sure you have these supplies?

Canvassing crews need even more supplies. Do you have enough clipboards, pens, fliers, donation envelopes, snacks, bottled waters, etc.? Make sure well in advance of any canvass that you have the various things you need to make sure your volunteers are prepared and happy.

## Campaign Materials

356. Do you have kits on hand for various aspects of the campaign such as GOTV, phonebanking, petition-gathering, voter registration, etc.?

357. Who is in charge of making sure these items are on hand?

Your staff in the field is selling you. In order to do this, they need materials. They need door hangers, palm cards and policy papers. They need the opportunity to sell you whether the door they knock on is answered or not. They need the ability to go deeper than the surface questions if they get asked. You need to make sure they not only have these materials, but they have enough to meet all of the needs that come up. Someone should be explicitly be tasked with making sure you have enough of these supplies.

358. Do you have a list of things the candidate always needs on hand in terms of supplies and the like?

359. Who is in charge of making sure these items are available?

As a candidate, you should not be handling the mundane day-to-day tasks that you will need on the campaign trail. This is why you have a staff. You should work with your staff to make sure they have a list of all the things that you will need on the campaign trail, from campaign materials down to water, snacks, pens and pads. Someone needs to be explicitly in charge of making sure these items are on hand and makes sure that you have these items when you need them.

360. Do you have supplies on hand for events?

361. Who makes sure you have these supplies?

Events will require more supplies and more specialized supplies. Someone regularly needs to be in charge of making sure that you have these supplies and that makes sure that you are ordering all the supplies you need and who does not waste money on supplies you do not need.

##  Chum

362. Do you have fliers, palm cards, business cars and mailers?

If you do not have this stuff on hand once you start a campaign, what did you think you would be doing once you started? At this point, you really only have three things to do: talk to voters, raise money and find volunteers. You need chum in order to do all of these things.

363. Were they printed by a unionized company?

364. Do they have the union bug on them?

First thing a die-hard union member is going to do when they get your piece of literature is look for the union bug. Many of them will look for this before they look at anything else, your name, your party, your platform. If you do not want to start your campaign at an automatic deficit, find a union printer. There are a good number of them and it definitely matters.

365. Do they specify that you are a Democrat?

If not, then why are you running as a Democrat? As weird as it may seem, most Democrats want to explicitly know that you are a Democrat. Most of them are proud to be Democrats and want you to be proud as well. Voters of all stripes want candidates with honesty. People will cross over to support a candidate that they believe is honest and who will fight for them, even when they do not agree on everything. But it has to start with honesty. Honesty involves telling them up front which party you belong to.

366. Are you ordering yard signs?

367. Why?

Seriously, why? The only valid reason that has ever existed to buy yard signs is to please old-time voters that demand that you have yard signs. The secret is, those old-time voters are going to vote for you or they are not, the yard sign will not make the difference. Some will argue that yard signs raise name recognition and this is true. A significantly well-executed yard sign program can increase your name recognition 2-3%. But name recognition does not translate to positive support and the amount of money and resources it takes to execute a yard sign program to even get that minimum boost, even if it is all positive, which it will not be, the boost will not outweigh the costs. There is no value to yard signs. Do not buy them.

368. Do you have enough signs at the beginning of the campaign to show strength?

If you are going to order any, and you should not, you had better order enough to give them to all the people who will demand them. A certain percentage of the population regularly wants signs; you might want to prepare for them. Better yet, though, show them how you are using their money for better things than yard signs.

369. Do you have enough signs for election day activities?

370. Are they made by a unionized company?

371. Do they have the union bug on them?

372. Do they specify that you are a Democrat?

It cannot hurt to have yard signs to legally place near polling areas. But do not break the law and do not waste time with them unless you have surplus of money and volunteers, which is very, very unlikely. If you do get them, make sure they are union-made.

373. Do you have campaign hats and shirts?

374. Are they made by a unionized company?

At a minimum, you should get this kind of campaign swag for staff, volunteers and high-level supporters. It is better to invest in shirts for a broader audience than it is to invest in signs, because at least the shirt-wearers are mobile and can explain why they are wearing the shirt. It is possible that a good t-shirt campaign with creative designs or slogans might have some impact, but insufficient testing has been done to be sure. It certainly cannot hurt both as a way to attract younger people both as creative staff and as supporters. Have you caught on that your stuff should be union-made yet?

375. Are they made in America?

If you buy campaign materials that are not made in America, you will be following in the illustrious footsteps of Donald Trump. You will not lose just the union crowd; you will open yourself up to all kinds of various moments of hypocrisy.

376. Did you only order the amount of chum you have the ability to get out to voters?

However much of this stuff you order, do not order more than you can use through election day. If you lose in the primary or the general, you will have no use for leftover campaign signs. Having too many left over materials will send a sign that you did not manage your campaign well. Leftover materials tell donors that you wasted their money. You may want to run again in the future and you do not want to look bad while losing. Everyone loses. Losing badly is much worse than losing.

## Vendors

377. Have you decided on a direct mail vendor?

Do not mess around this one. Go professional. Find out from local unions and progressive candidates who have won campaigns who they used. Find out whom they used that was good and who was bad. Get second opinions. And go with the people that are consistent with your values and have successfully helped people like you in the past. Seek out young and diverse creative people and let them have real input on both the work and the issues behind it. It is much easier to communicate something you believe in.

378. Have you decided on a printer?

379. Is it union?

Contact your state's AFL-CIO federation or the nearest Central Labor Council to find a list of quality union printers that service your area. Going union not only helps politically, it supports hard-working voters, both in creating their jobs, but in also showing them that politicians can live up to their values.

380. Have you decided on an e-mail consultant?

381. Do you have a consultant for your text program?

This is another area where you really want to only go with a professional. If for no other reason than that these fields are rapidly advancing. Text, in particularly, is quickly growing in effectiveness. And despite many predicting the death of e-mail, it still maintains one of the highest success rates of any pathways to activating the public.

## Speech and Appearance

382. Do you have a stump speech?

You need not just one, but several. You need speeches of varying lengths, from as little as three minutes up to 40 minutes. The real length is mostly much closer to the three minutes than the 40, but you never know what you might be asked. Just about any length could come up, so you should know not just the longest stump speech, but how to cut it to fit varying lengths, even down to an elevator pitch. But also know how to cut it so that you are maximize your message to fit the crowd and so that you are always getting the best part of your message to the most people that need to hear it.

383. Do you need to hire a speech coach?

Even if you think you are top-notch, you should have at least a consultation with a professional who understands mass media and progressive politics. The advice is invaluable if you are going to appear before crowds or on television. If you can afford periodic evaluations from a professional, they will benefit you a lot.

384. Are you paying speechwriter(s)?

Depending on the size and level of your campaign, and the complexity of the issues involved, the more people you will need on your speechwriting team. You should always have final say over what you say and it should reflect your values and priorities, but you should let professionals write the words and do the research. If you are running a small local campaign, you may not need a team and you might not be able to pay someone full-time. In that case, hire people who are good speechwriters for other key positions or recruit a close friend to help you part-time.

385. Do you have an appropriate wardrobe for a candidate?

For the most part, it is best to go conservative with your wardrobe, but always go with what is appropriate for the venue. Being overdressed can be as bad as being under-dressed. Depending on your district and its culture (and your relationship to that culture), more diverse wardrobe is welcome when appropriate, but as a candidate you should probably always stick with the wardrobe of your own culture (or cultures, depending on that background). Even if members of another culture welcome you to wear clothing traditional to their culture, it can still be appropriationist or offensive to others and is best avoided unless it would be an insult not to participate. It is a very thin line and it is one you should fully research for the specific event you are attending every time and make really, really no mistakes in this area. They are very difficult to recover from.

386. Have you chosen a song or songs to introduce the candidate?

This is something that can be used to very good effect, but make sure you use it appropriately. If you walk into a boardroom with eight people playing "Eye of the Tiger" on a portable boombox, you are not gaining any votes. But in larger venues, it is almost required that you have a song to come on stage to.

Choose wisely, though. If you choose an artist or song that is sexist or racist, you are obviously going to get in trouble. And if you use a song from an artist that does not approve, you will likely get a desist order of some sort and a negative news hit that makes you look square.

The best route to go is to pick a song that you might think would do really well at karaoke. Check the words and the meanings of the song and check out the artist and make sure they do not have any negative associations. Pick something cool, but not too cool. Something the kids like. Something that charts. Something that does not chart, but all the cool kids know. But, make sure the lyrics are the type of thing you want people hearing as you come on stage. Songs about death or drugs are probably not the best intro. Patriotic, but fun, a near impossible category to find, is the best, but go with what you know and actually love. And if you can actually sing it at karaoke, in a non-appropriationist or offensive way, even better.

## Vehicle

387. Do you have an appropriate vehicle for a candidate of your party and in your country?

388. Is it made in America?

Your vehicle is officially part of your campaign. Reporters and opponents will ask questions if you claim certain values and do not embody them with your vehicle.

389. Is it fuel-efficient?

If you are looking to win the left-wing vote, you have to be an environmentalist as well. They are part of the same coalition and the same values that lead to progressivism in other areas lead to being pro-environment. You cannot separate the two without hypocrisy. And people will call you on it.

# Chapter 8. Website

## Basic Website

390. Who is going to design your website?

No matter what you think of the web or using websites to find information, the vast majority of voters use Google to find their information about candidates. And, if you are running a professional campaign and pay attention, your website will come up first on any Google search. If it does not, you are not running a professional campaign.

The good news is that professionals can design a website for you that is SEO optimal. And if you do not know what SEO is, you need to hire someone who does. And if you are a candidate who does know what SEO is, you still need to hire someone else to do it. SEO, while vitally important, is not the duty of the candidate.

391. Who is going to maintain and update your website?

This could be the same person who built it, but it often is not. The skills needed to maintain a website that is already built are not nearly as thorough as those needed to create one. You will need someone that can be reached at any time for emergency updates, which is likely to happen. You will also need to make sure that more than one person has the ability to access the site and add or edit content. Make sure that multiple staff have the proper permissions to run the website and that you are not required to go through an outside party to update your website.

392. Where will your website be hosted?

Web hosting is pretty cheap these days. Have a staffer do the basic research on web hosting and provide your team with options to choose from. Make sure that they research all the possible features you might need for the campaign, so you choose the right host.

393. Have you obtained the URL you want for your website?

394. Have you purchased all the variations on your URL that others might want to use against you?

A URL or domain name is relatively cheap and you need to buy the URLs you want. You want to make sure to get the various variations of the name you chose (.org, .com, .us., etc.) and you will want to make sure to obtain the domain names that relate to your name and to the potential insults that someone might use to insult your name. So, if I were running for office, I would not just buy kennethquinnell.com, I would also get kennethquinnell.org, kennethquinnellsucks.org, etc. These are cheap, so there is little reason not to get them. Many politicians and outside influencers are willing to buy these domain names to attack you or to sell them to you for a profit. Beat them to the punch.

## Website Content

395. Is your website refreshed in real time?

If you release a press statement or speech or video and you want it to be covered by the press, why would not you post that statement, speech or video online immediately? The correct answer is, if you are really running a professional campaign, generally, anything you want the public to know about should be represented on your website within 24 hours. And if you do not want the public to know about it, you probably should not be saying it or doing it.

396. Does your website reflect your vision, ideas and values?

397. Does it tell voters what your values are and give voters more than just lip service towards those values?

If not, why do you have a website? And it cannot just be a superficial waste of time that provides voters with nothing of value. When people view your website, they should come away with a feeling that they know you better and trust you more.

398. Is it welcoming to your visitors?

In order to provide a positive experience for site visitors, your website should not only be welcoming, it should be easy to use. It should be visually-oriented, diverse and thorough, as really-well edited and proofread.

399. Does it encourage visitors to volunteer, contribute and network?

If not, you are missing out on the some of the most important things a candidate has a website for. These things should be priorities for your website.

## Online Contributions

400. Does your site have a way for people to contribute online?

If not, you should stop running for office and find a good job running a Blockbuster video. In other words, you are way behind the time at a time and in a field where being behind the times will kill you. You have to have online contribution avenues for supporters. No matter what office you are running for.

401. Does it accept credit cards/debit cards?

Get with the times; you absolutely have to accept credit/debit cards online. And also have options for people to pay through other legal contribution avenues, such as PayPal, ActBlue, etc.

402. Does it tell people how to contribute offline?

But do not forget that many people do not use online contribution options or do not trust them. Have real world options for those people to contribute through the mail (or in person) as well.

## Gathering Voter Information

403. Does it have a splash page to collect voter information?

They may be annoying, but splash pages work. You should use a splash page to gather the key information that will help you contact voters again. Name, address, e-mail and how they want to participate in the campaign are the key things you must include. Make sure you give people who sign up a way to opt out of the splash page if they come back to your site more than once.

404. Does it have a way for people to sign up and get involved in the campaign?

Your website has to have an option for people to sign up for the campaign. These sign-up forms are best when they contain enough detail for you to contact the volunteer (particularly phone and e-mail) and a section asking volunteers what type of work they would like to do on the campaign. You should use this section as much as possible when working with your volunteers in order to maintain the highest level of retention.

## Helping Volunteers

405. Does it provide voters and volunteers with tools to help the campaign?

Again, if it does not, why do you have a web page? This is one of the key reasons to have a web page. You have to have this and you have to make it as easy as you possibly can for people who visit your website.

406. Does it include an electronic version of your fundraising kit?

It should. Supporters should not need to physically visit your office to raise funds on your behalf. They should be able to obtain all the necessary information and documents online with relative ease. The easier you make it for them, the more likely they are to do it.

407. Does it include an electronic version of other documents that can help supporters?

Anything that you have that can help your supporters, that can be legally (and strategically) shared publicly, and is possible to put online, should be there. Do not create artificial barriers for people to help you out. Make it super easy.

408. Does it have a "how to vote" section?

This is vital. A modern campaign will always have this. People need to know when, where and how to vote. This section should cover anything that might prevent a voter from voting correctly and legally and provide information on how to get around those barriers (again, legally).

409. Does it have a "how to sign a petition" section, if relevant?

If you are getting on the ballot by petition, you should have both a copy of the petition (that people can download, sign and mail to you) and all the relevant details for how to sign a petition and help you get on the ballot.

##  Calendar

410. Does it have a calendar?

411. Are there events on that calendar?

You want your supporters to know what you are doing, when and where you are doing it. You want them to be able to find this information easily when they visit your website and there is no easier way for that to happen than for them to visit your detailed calendar. If you do have a calendar on your website, it has to have some events on it, or people will think you are an inactive candidate who does not care about the community, so do not post one until you have started getting enough events ready to post.

412. Are they constantly updated?

Someone should explicitly be in charge of making sure that the calendar is updated in real-time. Calendar entries should include information on the event, what you are doing at it and how voters can participate in the event. If the event is not open to the public, it probably should not be on your website calendar. It can go on your private internal campaign calendar, but you should not regularly put events on your public calendar that people cannot come to.

413. Is there a way for people to RSVP for events?

Make sure you have one. In modern times, this is easy and valuable, particularly for gathering voter contact information. If you do not have an option for this on your website, it should be on social media sites like Facebook or Meetup.

## Information

414. Does your website provide sufficient information on you and the election?

People visit websites for the same reason they used to turn to journalists—they go to the web to find out who, what, when, where, why and how. If your website does not answer these questions, you will lose voters. If you cannot answer these questions, why are you running for office?

415. Does it have an issues section?

Full stop. If you do not have an issues section on a campaign website, you are literally ignoring the primary reason that people will visit your website. They want to know that you either agree with them on the issues, or that you are relatively close. They can only see this if you tell them. And while it is true that some people might be turned off by your issues stances, even more people are turned off by candidates who refuse to tell the public where they stand.

416. Does it have a bio and pictures so that voters can connect with the campaign?

Voters want a candidate that they connect with. Most people need, in order to connect, to be able to see your face, even look you in the eye. They cannot really directly do that on your website, but pictures of your face are as good a substitute you can get (other than video, and you should have that, too). Even more importantly, people are going to want to know what you did before you decided to run for office. Tell them with a well-written bio.

417. Does it have your resume?

There are better ways to convey your background and experience to voters than a resume, but if you are running for a more local office, a nonpartisan race or a seat where publicly revealing your position stances is problematic or illegal (such as a judge), then placing your resume on your website is a good idea. Do not make it an attachment that people have to open with an outside application unless you have to. You do not have to.

418. Does it have an endorsements section?

If you have a good number of endorsements, you should probably have an endorsement section that lists your endorsements and links to articles about the endorsements. If you only have a handful of endorsements, you probably do not want to emphasize that. Either way, as new endorsements come in, you will want to share them on your blog or news section (and share elsewhere, with the media and on social media).

419. Does it have sections that provide data about the district and the office you are running for?

Not a vitally important feature, but some candidates include these on their website as a way to provide more information for site visitors as an incentive to come back to the site.

420. Does it have maps?

This is another option that some candidates include, particularly maps of the district or polling locations and other important places that are important to the election or district.

421. Does it have speeches and interviews?

It definitely should. You should have a news section and it should regularly link to news articles about your race that are consistent with your messaging. It should also include your speeches, preferably video, but transcripts are valid, too. If you are spending all this time creating quality speeches, they should not be limited to only the crowd that was physically present at the event. You can also share clips of speeches on your social media.

422. Does it include audio and video?

Not too many candidates include audio clips on their website unless it is a specific clip relating to something of importance, like a radio show appearance or the audio of a speech that was not videotaped.

423. Does your website have a summary of your campaign plan?

Whether you explicitly say the words "campaign plan" or not, something on your website should give some general information about how you are actually going to win this race. You should be inspiring confidence in your supporters with concrete plans on how to win the election. However, do not go into too much detail that you give away strategic information to your opponent.

424. Does it have links to your social networking sites?

These are expected and professional campaigns always have them.

425. Does it have an index/site map?

While these are not as in fashion as they used to be, a small index that helps readers visit the key areas of your website can be helpful. In the early days, site maps were on a separate page, but it is more common now to have an index in a sidebar or the footer.

## News and Updates

426. Does your website have a blog?

This is the type of thing you have to commit to or completely not have at all. If you can have a blog that is frequently updated and actually provides readers with the things they want from a blog, things that require a paid blogger, then go for it. They serve a valuable function, particularly if written well and they provide valuable information. If you cannot do a good blog on your site, it is better to not have one at all.

427. Does it have a news section that promotes and reinforces your message?

Sharing news and reinforcing your message are among the main reasons why you would have a website. If your website does not do this, you are doing it wrong.

428. Do you post to these sections regularly?

If you have a blog on your website, it has to be regularly updated. If you have a news section on your blog, it has to be regularly updated. At a minimum, your news section should be updated daily during the week and your blog should be updated at least 3 times a week with substantial information.

429. Do these sections include posts about the district, your opponents and yourself?

These should be the main topics for anything you post on your site. If you are talking about you, your opponent or the district, what else would you be talking about on your campaign website? And, yes, you could be talking about the issues, but the issues you talk about should be reflective of you, your opponent or the district always.

430. Do these sections capture your activities, call others to service and reflect your values?

Your website has to explicitly reflect your values. You are a candidate and this is one of the ways voters connect to you. You can show your values in action and communicate many other things by frequently sharing posts, videos and pictures about your activities on the campaign trail (and select things that are not campaign-related, often about family, faith, community events, etc.). You also should regularly make asks of your readers. Ask them to donate, volunteer, knock doors, come to an event, share things on social media, join you at an event and other things that connect them to your campaign.

## Interactivity

431. Does your website feature interactivity?

If there are not ways for visitors to interact with your website, then they will not have any real reason to come back to it. You have to find ways for people to have options on your website that lead them into either opportunities to learn information from you or provide it to you. Otherwise, they do not have the incentive to come back. And the more they come back, the more information they have to be advocates for your campaign.

432. Does it have opportunities for people to send in questions/comments?

This is the most useful form of interactivity that you can implement on your website. But make sure that someone is explicitly tasked with reading these questions/comments, finding the answer from other parts of the campaign and providing those answers to the site visitors. Almost all of whom that take the time to contact you are voters.

433. Does it have polls?

This does not refer to "polls" in terms of who is winning or losing, but instead the types of polls that ask readers to help make a decision (decide on where my next campaign stop is!) or that give people a chance to share their opinions (particularly on things related to the campaign, election or office). Be careful to note that such polls are never scientific and should not be used independently of other information. They are a supplement at best.

434. Does it give people the chance to send you video clips?

435. Does it offer people the chance to provide voter testimonials?

This one is more rare, but it is powerful if it is done right. No one should be able to directly post videos to your site, but offering them an opportunity to send a video of support or a question the candidate could answer is potentially very valuable. The more regularly people can be seen as having avenues to communicate with you, the more people will trust that you are representing them. Any videos should be screened before posting on your website or social media and it is important that you have your legal representative go over the related law in this area to prevent any violations of law or campaign finance rules. You also should not just randomly ask people to submit things, you should give them guided instructions that not only tell them format and technical details, but also give them a theme or a question to make the video about. Getting voter testimonials in written format is good, too, but video is better.

# Chapter 9. Campaign Plan

## Campaign Plan

436. Do you have a written campaign plan?

If you do not have a written campaign plan, you do not have a campaign plan. A plan has to be written down. And it should be written pretty much right after you finish answering the questions in this book.

437. Does the campaign plan answer who, what, when, where, why and how you are going to put forward the best message and deliver that message as many times as possible to as many of your targeted supporters as possible?

This is how you start making a campaign plan. Figure out what you are doing it, when it needs to be done, where it needs to be done, who will help you do it and how you are going to do it. All of these should be informed by the "why" portion of these questions.

438. Are you willing and ready to adjust the plan as the real world intervenes?

It is going to intervene and you had better be ready to adjust. A plan should never be more than an informed prediction of what is to come. The real world will always throw you some curveballs, so you need to be anticipating those and reacting to them if they change the situation in any way.

439. Does it include a campaign calendar?

Dates are all-important in elections. You need a super-well thought-out calendar of all the important dates for the campaign. This is not the same as your schedule or your public calendar, this includes all deadlines, dates for primaries and elections, forums and debates and key community events. You cannot get into the details of what you are going to do and plan them out if you have not nailed down the first version of your campaign timeline.

## Communications Plan

440. Do you have a written communications plan?

If you do not have a written communications plan, you do not have a communications plan.

441. What is your plan for writing and disseminating press releases?

This plan should be inclusive. Who drafts the text of releases? Who proofreads them? Who double-checks them for factual, legal and linguistic accuracy? Who makes sure details about people and places in the district are accurate? Who receives the press releases? Who maintains your press list? Are different types of releases sent to different press lists? This is where you start.

442. Does it include audio press releases?

These are relatively easy and free enough that it is a good idea to consider them. There are three possible benefits. First, audio press releases will make your site more accessible and open it up more to visually impaired voters. Second, more tech-savvy voters will find your attempts at moving into multimedia forward-looking and will be more inclined to like you. Finally, the media is always looking for stories about new things that candidates are doing, particularly if no one else in the local area is doing those things and particularly if those things are related to technology or might appeal to young people.

443. When will you start your communications program?

A program is not a program without a strategically-thought out calendar that not only has start and end dates, but includes key times throughout the election that communication will be important. It is not just filing deadlines and voting dates that need to be included, but important community events, holidays and celebrations and other things that will distract voters. As much as you can, try to avoid competing directly against things that you will lose to. If it is college game day, do not send your canvassers in to an area filled with fans of that team. They will not only not be receptive to the visit; they are likely to be hostile. Same thing goes for many other types of cultural events and celebrations. Contacting observant religious people during sacred holidays is a good way to boost animosity towards your campaign, as well. If you have a diligently-planned communications program, you will avoid these types of errors.

444. Do you have a process in place for receiving and responding to good and bad news?

You are going to need a process set in place for deciding who makes sure that your team gathers all the relevant good and bad news for your election, district and state (and relevant national and international news). You will also need a process in place on how to make sure that your team has all this news and that it is delivered in a manner that does not limit enthusiasm or lead to overconfidence.

445. Do you have a set of policies for communicating via the press and Internet for all staff and volunteers?

If you are running a serious campaign, you should have a set of policies in place for how your staff and volunteer pool communicates to the public. You should have a training for all new staff and volunteers to teach them this process.

446. Do you have a policy for surrogates talking to the media?

While you do not really have the ability to force surrogates to adhere to your policies for talking to the media, you should at least have a conversation with surrogates to make sure that they are presenting themselves on your behalf only in the best light. You should let them know about the policies that you have for staff and volunteers. Surrogates who will not stay within your messaging while talking on your behalf are not really good surrogates. You have to choose people that you can trust.

447. Have you talked to your team about talking to the media?

You should definitely have a policy in place and talk to your staff about how and when they should talk to the media. The vast majority of your team should not be talking directly to the press; they should be sending press inquiries to the communications director or other designated person. Again, with surrogates, you cannot force them to follow your policies for talking to the media, but if they are really on your team, you should be able to have a conversation with them about it and they should be willing to comply, barring special circumstances. Volunteers probably should not be talking to the press in an official capacity.

448. Do you have a media message training/policy guide for yourself and staff?

You should. Campaigns are about choices. When you craft your message, you are making choices that not only affect what your staff will do; they will affect who will do it. Once you make those choices and hire people, if you want those choices to be carried out correctly, you will need to guide and/or train your team to get things done the right way.

## Media Plan

449. Do you have a written media buy plan?

If you do not have a written plan for media buys, you do not have a media plan.

450. Does it include newspapers, television, cable, viral marketing, community publications, blogs, vlogs, radio, billboards, mail, phone banking and text messaging?

It must.

451. Does it include Spanish, alternative, student, African American and other media aimed at specific groups?

It has to do this, too.

452. Does it include talk radio?

This one is hit-and-miss for progressives. It is questionable that you will gain any value from conservative talk radio. Progressive talk radio is much more rare. Unless you get into podcasting and online radio, where you will have some more options, although not many of them are likely to be focused on your district. If you have progressive talk radio in your area, or that covers your race, you should appear on it.

453. Does it include surrogates speaking on your behalf in the various media?

You are only one person who cannot be everywhere and talk to everyone. So you need to find some trusted community leaders and local (or larger) celebrities and politicians who are willing to speak on your behalf. The more prominent and competent the surrogate, the better.

454. Does it include political, media and organizational blogs?

You want to search the entire district and find all the types of bloggers that might write about your race. Find out who they are, why they post, whom they are associated with and what their goals are. Bloggers can have as much influence as reporters, especially in local races. Figure out who they are, decide which ones are good to reach out to and make the connections.

455. Do you have a plan to target sympathetic bloggers first?

456. Will you leak them info ahead of the mainstream media?

Not only will this give them more time to write about you and possibly help the campaign, by giving them the respect of exclusive or first-look information, you will inspire them to write more frequently and more sympathetically. Bloggers are providing a service and candidates that recognize that can benefit from the stronger relationships. If you really want to show respect for bloggers, give them stories before you give them to mainstream media. And have direct contact with them in a way that shows that you value what they do. Many blogs are run by amateurs and they need funding. Sponsorships and ads on blogs not only make them more sympathetic to your campaign, they help independent bloggers survive and continue to write.

457. Are you creating original video content?

If not, you are missing out on one of the most effective and cost-efficient routes to voter contact. Getting people to watch may be a challenge, but once you do get them to watch, you have a much higher chance of getting them interested in what you are doing. Video is also connected pretty heavily to younger people and more cutting-edge technology. The more you properly use tech, the more you will connect with younger people and the more you will get earned media. If you live in a very tech-savvy district, however, this effect can be different. You not only will not impress the super tech-savvy if you use it wrong, you'll drive these higher-level voters away and they are likely to publicly ridicule you for incompetence or pandering uses of tech.

458. Is it creative and engaging?

If your video content is not creative and engaging, do not post it. Most campaign videos in most races are bad and a lot of them are not just useless, but harmful, both in terms of driving away voters and donors, but also in terms of the time and/or money wasted in creating the boring video.

459. Does it include supporter content?

While you should not allow supporters to post content on your channels without approval, you should give supporters the opportunity to create content that supports you and submit it to you. The best of this content you should feature on your channels, although you have to be careful that the creation of content does not violate campaign finance laws. A high-production video given to the campaign for use might be considered an in-kind contribution, whereas something that they post independently without coordination probably is not. Local law varies and this is an area where you should ask your campaign finance law expert for details.

460. Does it make a personal connection between candidate and voters?

All videos you release should be about making the connection between you and the voters. There might be other uses for video, but this is the big one.

461. Is it widely cross-posted?

When you release new videos, you should be getting them out as widely as possible. Obviously, you should post them on your website and share them on your social media, but also get surrogates to do the same, send them to press, share them with bloggers and ask your supporters to share far and wide. Even send out an e-mail asking supporters to share, too.

462. Are you using online ads?

Professional campaigns use online ads. Use a professional consultant or staffer trained in the execution of online ad campaigns.

463. Are you using newspaper ads and inserts?

These are only valuable at this point in certain communities. In most places, they will likely be a waste of money. Research circulation numbers, trends and other ad buys from politicians. Check those ad buys against campaign success to see if the cost is worth the benefit.

464. Do you advertise or post to church bulletins, senior center bulletins, newsletters published by neighborhood groups?

This can be a super powerful tool for attracting grasstops leaders with significant influence in communities. Make sure that you comply with campaign laws, but when legal these publications are direct conduits to communities that vote at higher rates.

## Voter Contact/GOTV Plan

465. Do you have a written voter contact/get-out-the-vote plan?

If you do not have a written voter contact/GOTV plan, then you do not have a voter contact/GOTV plan.

466. What is your voter registration plan?

First off, you will have to decide if you want to put the effort into voter registration. Obviously, you have to start this early on in order to make sure people are legally registered before the deadlines, which vary greatly across the country. Similarly, the rules on who can collect voter registrations and how they can be collected are significantly different in different areas. Always check the laws out and have regular conversations with legal experts on campaign law in your race.

467. Have you researched state and local laws on the topic?

These laws vary greatly by state and many localities have even further variations on how elections work. You need to consult a professional campaign law expert who lives and/or works in your district and is familiar with all the relevant laws.

468. What is your vote-by-mail plan?

Where available, vote-by-mail has the potential to be a powerful tool. If used properly, they allow you to track voter data more accurately, boost turnout, shift resources towards GOTV and expanding the electorate, weaken the value of late spending by your opponent and obtain other benefits. A good program is difficult to pull off at the largest levels. Field offices for larger campaigns should heavily invest in the vote-by-mail plan from the beginning. The public is not aware of the safety and advantages of vote-by-mail, which provides a significant voter protection component because of the ability to check to see if your ballot has been received and counted. The expansion of these plans across the country is a strong benefit for future voters, so candidates should champion vote-by-mail.

469. Does it include a process to track who has voted by mail?

It has to. This is how this process works. You track who has voted and remove them from your voter contact universe to save time and money.

470. Do you know not to call it absentee voting?

Absentee voting and vote-by-mail are not the same thing. Absentee voting requires a valid excuse in order to use the process. Vote-by-mail is simply an alternative to voting in person and can basically be done by anyone who chooses that option and files the proper paperwork.

471. What is your early voter plan?

472. Have you researched state and local laws on the topic?

473. Does it include a process to track who has voted early?

You need a plan to encourage people to vote early. If you are tracking this process correctly, you will be able to regularly update your voter contact universe by eliminating those who have already voted. This process will allow you to expand whom you can contact, since you will not waste time contacting voters who have already cast their ballot.

474. How will your GOTV phone-banking plan work?

Your early phone-banking and outreach should be focused on gathering information and registering voters. Later phone-banking should focus on GOTV and persuasion. Plan this program out in detail with deadlines and goals. Be intentional about when and why you are using phone banks.

475. Have you created a guide for constituents with directions on when, where and how to vote?

Do so. And share on your website and social media. The easier you make it for people to cast their ballot for you, the more of them will do it.

476. Do you have a direct mail plan?

Hire a professional to run this operation. It is a field with standards and laws that are not always obvious if you have not worked in the field, so make sure the person running this part of the campaign has the experience and knowledge to do this right.

477. Will it be produced in-house or through contractors?

Both options can work and both options can fail. If you do it in-house, make sure that whomever you task with this job has the relevant knowledge and experience. If you use contractors, check their record and view their previous work. Know what you are going to get for your money.

478. Do you have a process in place for obtaining voter feedback?

There are many different avenues to obtain this, but you need to seriously focus on obtaining feedback from voters, especially early in the cycle. Acquire feedback from a diverse group of voters and through a variety of formal channels. This way you broaden the feedback to make it more representative of the district and thus more valuable.

## Campaign Policies

479. Do you have a written campaign policy guidebook?

If you do not have a written campaign policy guidebook, then you do not have a formal set of campaign policies. This is a very dangerous thing, both from a legal and logistical standpoint. Campaigns operate under a large and complex set of federal and state laws. Beyond that, there are a large number of activities that your campaign staff could engage in that reflect negatively on you. In order to anticipate and prevent these potential problems, you need a set of campaign policies about what staff can and cannot do and other guidelines to protect everyone legally and give the campaign the confidence that legal technicalities or scandals will not derail the campaign.

480. Do you have a set of policies for obtaining endorsements?

You should. Few stories are more embarrassing to a new candidate than announcing they have an endorsement and that person says they did not endorse you. The way to avoid this is to have a set of policies on how to obtain, confirm and use endorsements. A common approach is to have endorsement cards that are very explicit in saying that signing this card means that the signer has granted permission to use their name as someone who has endorsed your campaign. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be super clear in what you are asking and in getting a clear signature that identifies the endorser very clearly and accurately.

481. Are you going to pursue endorsements?

You should. More voters choose candidates via cues from politicians they respect than from detailed analysis of the issues and candidates. Endorsements help. Get them.

482. Are you going to give endorsements?

If you are a candidate of note or have any following, then your endorsement can be a valuable asset. Endorsing candidates both gives you access to the endorsee's supporters and the endorsee access to your supporters. If you can do this in a way that benefits both sides, it is very valuable. Be careful about endorsing candidates who bring nothing to the table. If they are guaranteed to lose, are controversial or are not willing to work with you for mutual benefit, they are not worth it. Also, be careful to communicate with any candidates you want to endorse to make sure they want the endorsement and that the two teams work together. Endorsing someone without talking to them first can lead to unnecessary complications.

483. Are there races where you will not endorse?

This can be a very good idea, especially if there is more than one candidate in a race that might be an ally, which is particularly true in primaries. It is also valid to avoid endorsing in races where there is no candidate consistent with your values. Be prepared to explain to the candidates in the race why you will not endorse in a way that will only alienate candidates you want to alienate (like a conservative Democrat, for instance).

484. Are you going to endorse in primaries?

This can be very dangerous, as if you endorse someone in a primary and they lose, the actual winner could be quite upset with you for supporting their opponent. On the other hand, not endorsing someone that has endorsed or supported you can burn a bridge pretty quick. When endorsing in primaries, weigh your options very careful and, for the most part, stick to endorsing candidates that share your values and/or are willing to work with you.

485. Are you going to answer candidate questionnaires?

486. Do you have a set of policies for answering questionnaires?

Most organizations that endorse make candidates fill out policy and background questionnaires. These are incredibly variable in length and quality, but most organizations will not endorse if you refuse to answer the questionnaire. You need to decide whether or not your campaign is going to answer these questionnaires and what the process is for answering them.

It is important to be honest on these questionnaires. Not only do organizations use them in determining whom they endorse, and often, whom they spend money on, information in questionnaires is often used in attack ads, op-eds and other messaging against you. Not every organization keeps questionnaires private, either, so be very aware of what you are getting into when you decide to answer them.

Finally, codify the process. Have a designated person to both receive all incoming questionnaires and to search out those for organizations you want an endorsement from or who are important in the district. Some organizations mail questionnaires to any legally-qualified candidate who files to run. Others only send them on request. Make sure you know what organizations regularly endorse in your district and what ones might, but do not regularly do so. And make sure you track down their endorsement procedures and ask them directly to send you a questionnaire if they have not already done so.

487. Are there any groups whose questionnaires you will not answer?

It can be completely valid to ignore questionnaires from organizations that you know are going to oppose you. If you do not see any pathway to that organization supporting you, why give them the fodder to attack you?

488. Do you have a set of ethical guidelines for your campaign?

You should. It should start with the basic ethics laws that are required in your election, and these vary by location. Beyond that, your ethical guidelines should mirror those adopted by the Democratic Party and organizations that make up the coalition you expect to draw support from. If you want a group to favor you over your opponent, then you have to respect their ethical rules, which are a direct extension of their values. To reject those guidelines is to reject their values.

489. Do you have a campaign staff policy for answering phone calls and e-mails and responding to constituents?

490. Do you have a system in place for incoming and outgoing mail?

These are vital campaign functions and they have to be taken seriously. These are among the most common ways that you will interact with potential voters and donors. You will also receive official legal communications and documents, requests for interviews, candidate questionnaires, checks and some actual cash. You need a set policy to make sure that all these things are handled correctly and nothing falls through the cracks. And the campaign needs to have pretty strict oversight over the process by a senior staffer.

491. Do you have a policy plan to deal with campaign crises or disruptions?

492. Do you have a plan in place to deal with scandals that arise during the campaign?

493. Do you have a process in place for responding to news, campaign developments, holidays and real-world events?

These things are coming, so you had better be ready for them. The plan should include knowing who monitors the news and other channels to see things as soon as possible and should have that observer quickly report relevant things to a supervisor. After that, a team (usually including the candidate and high-ranking staff) determine the response and then execute it. One of the key things you should be looking for in all your staff are crisis management skills. The more people that have them, the better your team will be able to handle crises when they arise.

494. How does the system of accountability work on your campaign?

Who is in charge of oversight? Is this oversight redundant? Who oversees the overseers? Is there a system in place to determine culpability for a problem or a crime and to professionally handle both the problems and the people that cause them in fair and legal ways? Are there mechanisms in place so that even senior staff can be held accountable?

495. Do you have a system in place for backing up important information and accessing files and accounts if the person who maintains them leaves the campaign?

You should back up all important information. Back-up files should be accessible by numerous important people: the candidate, the campaign manager, the manager in charge of that particular information. If someone fails, is sick or hurt or leaves the campaign, you should have no problems accessing information and controlling access to it.

496. Do you have a way to access e-mail addresses for staffers who leave the campaign?

When people leave, they may still have important information in their campaign e-mail account and other campaign drives (physical or virtual). Always have a way to access these things so that you do not lose any information or work when people leave the campaign.

## Finance Plan

497. Do you have a written finance plan?

If you do not have a written finance plan, then you do not have a finance plan.

498. Have you determined how much money you need to win?

While this is a projection and prediction, it should be an informed one. The best way to estimate the amount will be to look at what winning candidates used to win the same (and similar) elections in the past. Look at the voter turnout numbers, figure out your win number, and project what it will cost to get those votes. Keep in mind that past numbers are an incomplete predictor and other factors can kick in that change them. At a minimum, you should factor for inflation and population growth. Whatever amount you think you will need, you should aim for more than that. If your projection is too low, you likely will not raise enough money. If your projection is too high, you will have money left over and that money could have and should have been used in a variety of positive ways.

499. Are you setting long-term fundraising goals?

500. Are you setting short-term fundraising goals?

The answer to both questions should be yes. Short-term goals can be influenced by deadlines, real-world events and the news. Long-term goals should have a little more insulation from day-to-day shocks and should be aspirational. Think big and then figure out how to achieve that bigness. Also, be flexible with your goals that you are not stuck chasing something that will slow you down.

501. Have you decided upon a plan how to spend the money that comes in?

You will have a timeline with deadlines as a basis of any spending plan, but also include all the other factors that are important, including important cultural events changing prices of advertising and other costs that fluctuate. Once you account for these, determine what money needs to be spent at each part of your campaign plan and then attach dates based on the value of that spending. For instance, earlier in a campaign you will want to focus on gathering voter data, doing early outreach, networking with party and community leaders, fundraising, registration and similar activities. Later money is more useful for things like GOTV and advertising. Be intentional about choosing when you spend money and do diligent research into past spending by successful candidates and get advice from experts.

502. Do you have a set of policies for your fundraising team, including ethics and legal considerations?

This should be one of the first things you come up with. Lawyers and experts with the relevant knowledge should brief your team and regular audits and refresher conversations are important to maintain accuracy and accountability.

503. Do you know how much money people and groups can give to the campaign?

504. Do you know who is not allowed to give?

You have to know these legal limits so you know what to tell people when they ask questions. And you need to know so you do not run afoul of the law or ethics rules.

505. Are there some sources of money you will not accept contributions from?

506. Will you accept money from PACs?

507. If legal, will you accept money from corporations?

508. Are there certain industries that you will not accept money from?

You have to make these decisions early on and stick to them. Whom you accept money from reflects on you and your values. As does switching back and forth between who you will or will not accept money from. Make a decision based on your values and stick to it.

509. Have you decided if your campaign is willing to borrow money or not?

This one is a little more flexible. Decide early on whether or not this is something you want to do, but remain flexible, because loans are not the same as contributions and if you are doing them correctly and legally, they can be a great infusion during slow times or when more money is needed than is coming in.

## Election Protection Plan

510. Do you have a written election protection plan?

If you do not have a written election protection plan, you do not have an election protection plan.

511. Do you know what legal rights voters have when voting in your state/locality?

These change somewhat frequently, so you should not assume that you are an expert on the topic unless you are actually a professional a field that would regularly study and keep up with these laws. The person you talk with about these things and base your decisions on should be an election law expert with direct knowledge of your district and state and the relevant local, state and federal election laws.

512. Do you have poll watchers to make sure voters' rights are not violated?

More and more in recent years, Republicans have attempted to undermine the right to vote, both through policy and through voter intimidation. They will send people to polling stations that intimidate or lie to voters or challenge the ballots they cast. They do not apply these things evenly, though, they overwhelmingly go after people of color and their tactics are on the rise. But if they can send observers to intimidate and challenge, you can send qualified experts to help people know and defend their rights against these attacks.

513. Do voters know whom to contact if their rights are violated?

At election time, numerous organizations will share election protection contact numbers. Make sure you participate in sharing these numbers far and wide and make sure all your staff, volunteers and supporters know the number for the public to call, too.

514. What are the rules for provisional ballots?

515. Do voters know the rules for provisional ballots?

516. What are you doing to make sure that voters know their rights?

Find out early, from legal experts, and know them well. Your election protection plan and team should be fully informed about all relevant law. It is also very important for voters to know these laws, especially voters who are more likely to be challenged by conservatives (people of color, immigrant and poorer neighborhoods). Make sure that you are reaching out to voters to make sure they are aware of the provisional ballot process. Some of them will need to know.

# Chapter 10. Research

## Basic Information

517. Have you researched the duties and responsibilities of the position you are running for?

This is probably the first thing you should do if you are seriously considering running for office. Take a look at what the office does. What are they responsible for? What freedom do they have to achieve it? What preparation do you need to do the job in terms of knowledge and experience? What issues does this office address? Are you a good fit for the job?

## Ballot Access

518. How are you getting on the ballot?

Whatever office you are running for, the government (federal, state, local) that has authority over your race has a set of guidelines for what it takes to get on the ballot. You need to find out what those options are and choose which one you are pursuing.

519. Are you gathering petitions?

520. If not, why not?

Most elections allow candidates to gather petitions to qualify for the ballot. This process is time-consuming and takes a lot of work. People will be reluctant to sign petitions, assuming that the petitions mean that they support the candidate for office. This is not true, petitions are unrelated to your vote, but people will have to be convinced. And while this approach is very challenging, it doubles as voter outreach and persuasion while it is happening. If you have the capacity and volunteers, this method is better.

521. If so, do you have a petition-gathering plan in place?

If you do not have a written petition-gathering plan, then you do not have a petition-gathering plan.

522. Are you paying a filing fee?

523. Do you know the rules and amounts for paying this fee?

How much is it? Where do you pay? When is the deadline? Are you aware of all the rules associated with filing? Are you going to make a press event out of it? Are you going to do it early enough to recover if there is a problem? I have seen candidates not make it to the ballot because, while they attempted to file on time, there were problems with the filing process that meant that they did not submit on time and did not make the ballot.

## District Information

524. Do you have briefing papers on the district?

Voters do not expect you to know everything about the district, but they expect you to know more than they do. If they are putting their trust in you, they expect that you are more knowledgeable than they are. This starts with the district and learning the most important facts about the district. It is actually valuable to allow voters from the district to teach you some facts from time to time. But overall you need to know more than they do, otherwise, why are you the candidate?

525. Does this include precinct-level voter data?

If you really want to get scientific about winning, you should have as much data as is feasible to obtain based on time, money and legality. Precinct-level data exists, but you may not be able to obtain it for free. You need it, though, so pay for it or gather it yourself.

526. Do you have a briefing on the demographics of the district?

527. Does it include race, gender, income, unemployment, religion, nationality, ethnicity and age?

This should be one of the first things you have produced when you are considering whether or not to run for office. The results of this research should influence your decision to run and how you create your campaign plan. The more comprehensive the data, the better.

528. Are there languages other than English that are prominent in the district?

If so, you must hire staff that is fluent in that language.

529. Are there any retirement communities in the district?

Seniors are the most active voters, volunteers and contributors to most campaigns across the country. Retirement communities that allow political activity are among the best places to hold events. Find out what communities are in your district and what their rules are related to political activity.

**530. What types of families live in your district** — **traditional, extended, LGBTQ+, single-parent?**

Families are diverse. Find out what kind of families live in your district and make sure that you speak to their variety of needs and experiences. Make policy proposals that appeal to the diversity of the families you are running to represent.

531. Do you know where people in your district work?

532. What job fields or employers are big in the district?

533. Who are the largest employers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors?

Be very aware of what types of jobs and employers are big in the district. If you propose or vote on economic legislation without knowing who is in the district and how people earn their money, you will likely get yourself in trouble.

534. Are there any military bases in the district?

If your district has one or more military bases or other military-related facilities, you will need to know about them and understand the issues that are important to military members, their families and veterans.

535. What is the state of the local economy?

536. What industries are growing and what industries are contracting?

537. What is the climate like for small businesses?

These things should lead you to the bulk of your economic policy proposals. People will care about these things because their livelihood depends on them. Part of your job is to bring jobs to the district. This is much easier to do if you are aware of the current business climate and what will grow your local economy in ways that benefit everyone, not just the elite few.

538. What is the geography of the district?

539. Is it urban, suburban or rural?

540. What significant geographic features does it have?

People who live in different areas live different lives. It is your job to understand the diversity of lifestyles in the district and be able to interact with people from different backgrounds. Rural voters and urban voters, for instance, have drastically different interests when it comes to public transit.

Knowledge of the geographic features of the district are important. Some geographic features are key to the local economy, such as living near an ocean or river. Other geographic features can be a danger to your constituents (living near an active volcano, for instance) and you must be ready to deal with them as an elected official.

541. Have you collected maps of parkland, transit routes, political districts, school districts, population distribution, real estate, historical museums and marker and other landmarks?

These maps can be valuable in helping you plan your strategies, from how you plan to canvass to where you send mailers. Know your district.

542. What community traditions and events are important in the district?

543. What are the annual neighborhood or ethnic festivals?

544. What are the holiday celebrations and parades?

545. What community events, walkathons, 5k races and other events happen annually?

Research your community's events and traditions. If you are going to represent the district, you will need to participate in as many of these as possible. You need to be seen in the community to be trusted as a community leader and these events are where the people actually are. Go talk to them.

546. Do you know what people in your district do for recreation?

Whether you think about it or not, the things that people in the district use for recreation are a policy matter. These things have to be funded, maintained, advertised, supported by law enforcement and other government officials, etc. Government gets involved in many of the aspects of our recreational activities, so you need to be aware of what is going on in the district. Few things will anger people more than something that takes away from their leisure activities.

547. Do you know what your district's favorite sports teams are?

548. What are the "Big Games"?

You need to know more than a casual amount about your district's teams. The voters will know and if you are not at least conversant on the topic, you will lose some voters that otherwise might not have a problem with you. Also, be careful when scheduling events that you do not put them up against the Big Game. If you do, you will not only lose potential audience for whatever you are doing, those who do not come to your event will complain and remember that you counter-programmed against their favorite team.

549. Do you know the technological savvy of the district?

If your district has a high level of technological savvy, you can be more aggressive in using social media and online information distribution channels. If they are not that savvy, pay attention and focus on more traditional approaches to voter contact.

## District Organizations

550. Do you have briefings on the political parties, interest groups, and community groups in the district?

These are vitally important groups for candidates to be aware of interact with. These are the more politically aware voters who participate and who study what candidates do. If you are not interacting with them, they will take that personally, and it will affect their image of you.

551. What about national groups that might have local chapters?

Do the research. Use the Internet. Use the phone book. Talk to people that you know that are activists. Use social media. Check campaign finance reports. Make a list and track down the information that you need about them, including things like contact information and rules and regulations about them being involved in politics.

552. What about national groups without local chapters, but who have local members, such as MoveOn, DFA, MomsRising, IAVA or VoteVets?

If you are running as a progressive, you absolutely should be reaching out to these organizations. Asking them for feedback on your platform is important and, to be honest, they're going to give it sooner or later anyway, so do it in a collaborative way early on, rather than a combative way later. Some of these groups endorse and others provide campaign support or training. Check with them to see what other options there are for working together.

553. What student and campus groups are active in the district?

Many, if not most, campaigns underestimate the value of students to campaigns. There will always be young people that want a future in politics and need experience in order to pursue their careers. Students will need and want internships. Student groups will need to complete service projects. There are many groups on campus that are more than willing to work to support campaigns that reach out to them and establish meaningful dialog.

554. Do you have briefings on community leaders?

Get them. Early.

555. What groups are likely to oppose your candidacy?

It is very important to pay attention to this because the groups that attack you are not always the most obvious. You need to be prepared. Do your research and find out who is going to be spending money or talking to potential voters about you.

556. Have you specifically worked for or against any current elected officials in the area?

Unless you did it so under the radar that no one knows about it, they will know. And if you want their support, you will have to talk to them about it. If you can give them a valid reason for it, they may be able to look past it and support you.

557. What groups are likely to oppose your candidacy because of your issue stances?

558. What groups are likely to oppose your candidacy because you are a Democrat?

Many organizations track the political positions of candidates and take action against candidates that they disagree with. If they think you are a viable candidate, they will attack you and spend money against you or for your opponent. Know who they are and be prepared for their attacks. Some organizations may go after anyone who files to run as a Democrat, so be prepared for them as well.

559. What groups are likely to oppose your candidacy for personal reasons?

Are there reasons why groups may oppose you for reasons not associated to politics? Have you had personal interactions with anyone that might make them work to prevent you from winning? Who are they? What might they do? Why?

560. Who endorses candidates in your district?

561. What is the endorsement process?

Look into the process and rules for any groups that do endorsements. Even if you are not going after that particular endorsement, it is good to see who might endorse your opponent and who might not. When they do endorse, many groups will explain why they chose whom they did and you may glean helpful information from that, too.

562. Who from outside the district/state endorses state/local candidates?

Do not forget to look into groups from outside the district that may endorse in your district. Do not overdo it; you do not want to look beholden to outside interests. Some endorsements and money from outside the district is usually acceptable, though.

## Voter Information

563. Have you gathered data on the number of eligible, registered and super voters?

To really get scientific and accurate about your campaign, then you need these numbers. Your strategy should be based on numbers like these. How many people are eligible to vote, how many are registered and how many always vote? You need to know these numbers not only because they are what you are pursuing, they also show you what is possible, what amount of work you will need to do.

564. What percentage of the electorate votes in local elections, particularly in your race?

This is a key number to know in order to project what you need to win the race. Find out what percentage regularly votes in the election for the office you are running for. Then pay attention to population growth or loss and project what turnout will be like in your election.

565. How many independent voters are in the district?

If there are a significant number of persuadable voters in your district, they are likely to be independent or independent-leaning. Finding these voters is important for your persuasion efforts; although it is possible that persuasion will not be your primary goal. GOTV is usually more important.

566. Do you have data on past elections in the district?

If not, get it. This data is vital for predicting what is going to happen in the next election. Be careful that the data is relevant, that it matches current districts or can be repurposed to fit current districts. If not, it may not be as valuable.

567. How have voters in the district voted on ballot initiatives and referenda?

Issue-based votes can be predictive of the Democratic-Republican split in a district, or the ideological split in a primary, so studying the data on these votes is also very instructive in some cases.

568. Will other high profile races or initiatives be on the ballot?

These things can highly influence both overall turnout rates and shake up the partisan distribution of the electorate that shows up. Knowing what other races will be on the ballot should also be taken into account for deciding whether to run.

## Voting Guidelines

569. Through what methods do people vote in the district?

570. Do they do it early or by mail?

Knowing the processes through which people vote in your district is an important tool for choosing your strategies, particularly when it comes to planning out the dates for the implementation of various strategies. If you have a high rate of early voters in your district, you will want to spend more money earlier and late money given to the campaign will be even less valuable.

571. What technology is used in the voting process?

Can people vote by mail or only in person? Can they vote online? On-site, you need to know what kind of machines are present. Are they made by a Republican company? Are they reliable according to independent tests? Are they optical scan or lever or touch screen? Do they have a paper trail?

572. Do you know what the ballot will look like to be aware of any problems?

573. Has someone on the campaign talked to the supervisor of elections in each county and walked through the process for voting and counting ballots?

You should see what the actual ballot will look like on election day as early as possible. Make an appointment with the local supervisor or board of elections and ask them to show you the process and show you what the ballot will look like on election day. The earlier you check in on these things, the earlier you can detect possible problems. This is especially important if you live in places like Florida or Georgia.

574. Where will your name be on the ballot?

575. Do people need help with the ballot in order to vote for you?

There is only a minor benefit to name placement on the ballot, but you want to check it out in advance for two key reasons. First is to make sure there are not any problems with the placement that cause unfair advantages or that might cause undervotes or overvotes. If you spot these problems early enough, you can prevent problems by filing lawsuits or formal complaints to fix problems. Second, if the ballot is complicated or long, you will want to be able to tell your voters where your name is on the ballot and how to find it if there are any problems that are not fixed in any challenges.

576. Do you know all campaign laws and deadlines pertinent to your race?

Candidates who do not end up paying fines, losing elections and/or spending time behind bars.

577. Have you obtained the official campaign packet for each county your race is in?

578. Have you obtained the relevant campaign finance rules for your race?

The supervisor or board of elections offers this packet to every candidate who files. It contains much of the legal information you will need to know to run. If you do not get offered one when you file, make sure you ask for one.

## Self Research

579. Do you have a research book on yourself?

To reiterate, the more thoroughly and professionally you research yourself, the more likely it is you will never be surprised by something out of your past.

580. Does it include everything from the self-review questions above (Chapters 1-6)?

Then you are not done yet. Go back and add that information.

581. What is your voting record and/or what actions did you take as a government official?

If you have held a public office before, make sure you compile a full record of every act that you took in office that might be scrutinized now and review them for both problems and positive things that might be valuable in helping you win the election now.

582. What legislation did you introduce/co-sponsor?

Make a master list of every piece of legislation you introduced or co-sponsored. You probably will not use the whole list, but it is easier to maximize your utility if you know all of the items that might be used in campaign messaging.

583. What committee(s) did you serve on?

Legislative committees have a lot of responsibility and power and those that serve on them are almost guaranteed to gain expertise in the areas the committee covers. This knowledge and experience can be very helpful in convincing voters that you are qualified for the job.

584. Have you instigated any hearings/investigations?

585. Were those hearings/investigations legitimate or were they wasteful?

Legislators who launch hearings or investigations often end up getting a lot of media coverage. While serving in such a body, have you launched an investigation or participated in hearings? If so, was it legitimate or did you waste taxpayers' money? What was the outcome? Did you find what you were searching for? Or did you come up empty?

586. What is your record of showing up for legislative/executive work?

If you have a record of absenteeism, it will become a story and it will likely be turned into a campaign ad against you.

587. Where do get your income from?

The way you make your money will be scrutinized. If you have done it in a way that is inconsistent with your values, voters will notice and call you out for it.

588. What property do you own?

589. Is your property up to code?

People will check into your property and whether or not you keep it clean and legal. If it is not, be prepared to see your personal business discussed on television.

590. Have you ever been fired?

If so, be ready to explain the story and what you learned from the experience.

591. Do you sit on any corporate boards?

592. What are those corporations like?

If they are for-profit, you will have a hard time explaining them to progressives. If they are for-profit and do evil deeds, you will be ripped apart for your participation.

593. Have you changed positions on any issues?

Everyone has, it is a human constant. And we should change our positions when we have been wrong in the past and we get new information. But if you change, have a reason for changing and be ready to explain it.

594. Have you been caught in any scandals?

If so, admit the truth, apologize sincerely, make restitution and move on. Prove that you have learned your lesson.

595. Is there any press coverage of your family, friends, business associations, investments, etc.?

Search for it. Find it. Read it. Be prepared to explain what can be found by others.

596. Have you paid all taxes you were supposed to?

If not, pay them before you run, if possible. If not, be ready to answer questions about why you did not pay them on time (or at all). If you do not have a good reason, it will come back to haunt you.

597. What business associates do you have?

Dig high and low to make sure you know who they all are, whether they be current associates or past ones.

598. Did you check in all counties you lived in?

Your opponents will.

599. Do you live in the district?

600. For how long?

For certain races, it is required that you live in the district. Even when it is not required by law, voters will expect it. If you do not live in the district and your opponent does, they will almost certainly use that against you. Same thing will happen if you live in the district, but have not lived there long (or as long as your opponent has).

601. Has anyone filed civil suit against you or anyone connected to you?

602. Do you have any DUIs or other driving offenses?

Be ready to explain these things and show that you have learned and grown from your past mistakes. Make sure you have paid all fines and made restitution, if required, or if it morally and financially makes sense.

603. Have you researched your staff and advisers?

604. Does your staff have Facebook, Twitter or other social networking accounts?

You can guarantee your opponents will dig into everyone of importance on your staff. They will probably take a peek at donors and volunteers as well. One of the first places they will look is on social media. You have to make a decision as to whether or not your paid staff are allowed to maintain social media accounts that discuss politics or not. If they say controversial things on their accounts, that is likely to have an impact on you.

## Opposition Research

605. Do you have a research book on your opponent?

Compiling a research book for each of your serious opponents, both in the primary and in the general election, is one of the more valuable tools you can have. Your job as a candidate is to show why you are a better person for the office than any of your opponents. You need to know what things differentiate you from your opponents in order to make that case.

606. Do you know their voting record or actions taken as a government official?

This is likely going to be your biggest area from which to draw key information to differentiate yourself from your opponent. If they have held office, elected or otherwise, they have a record of votes or actions. If you are running against them, you likely disagree with a lot of those actions. Tell people. But to tell them, you have to do the research first.

607. Do you know what legislation they introduced/co-sponsored?

Compile a complete record of what bills they introduced or co-sponsored and any associated controversies or negative effects of those programs or laws. Make sure you also pay attention to which ones succeeded. You do not want to mistakenly attack someone on something that they did successfully and that helped many people. You might attack on something like that, but it should be a choice, not an accident, and you should be in control of the process, not blindsided by it.

608. Do you know what committee(s) they served on?

Even if they have not sponsored legislation, they may have served on committees that addressed issues and/or held hearings and they may have statements on the record about issues relevant to voters.

609. Have they instigated any hearings/investigations?

610. Were those hearings/investigations legitimate or were they wasteful?

Look at what they did. Was it valid? Did they waste taxpayer funds? Did they find anything? Did they conduct themselves properly?

611. What is your opponent's record of showing up for legislative/executive work?

If they have not shown up to work, make sure you tell voters about it. How can they do the job if they never show up to work? Now, if they have a better record than you, then do not bring the issue up.

612. Where does your opponent get their income?

What type of job do they have? What other sources of income do they have? What ways have they made money in the past? Are any of these jobs controversial or were they involved in scandals? Are they inconsistent with your opponent's stated values?

613. What property does your opponent own?

614. Do they own property that is not up to code?

If they own any property, is it up to all legal requirements? Do they have any tenants? How do they treat those tenants? Are those tenants involved in anything illegal or unethical?

615. Have they ever been fired?

If so, you probably will not find out about it unless it was from a high profile job. But if they were and you can find out about it, it may help you question their professionalism and qualifications for the office.

616. Do they sit on any corporate boards?

617. What are those corporations like?

It goes without saying that this is a gold mine for finding holes in your opponent's messaging. Examining their messaging and compare it to the corporations that they are associated with. If those corporations have done bad things, then your opponent is at least partially responsible if they sit on the board and have not taken action.

618. Who has given money to their campaign?

619. Is someone regularly checking campaign contribution reports of your opponent?

620. And researching the donors?

621. Have those donations appeared to influence their votes/actions?

You should be regularly checking your opponent's campaign contributions and finding out who those people are, especially larger donors or donors who give regularly. Dig deeper and find out what those donors do. Are they doing bad things? Is your opponent involved? If your opponent is or was an office holder, have those contributions influenced the votes they cast?

622. What has your opponent said in the media?

623. What has your opponent said on blogs?

Scour everything you can find and compile the greatest hits of what your opponent has said on anything that might be relevant to your election.

624. Have they been caught in any scandals?

If you find out about any significant scandals that your opponent has been a part of, these are important things for voters to know about. Voters should have knowledge about anything that makes one of the candidates unqualified. Depending on the type of scandal, though, you may not want to be the message-bearer. It is often better for you to stay above the fray and let others go on the attack. This can be left up to chance or you can reach out to the media with evidence or get a surrogate to talk about the issue in public.

625. Is there any press coverage of your opponent's family, friends, business associations, investments, etc.?

626. What business associates does your opponent have?

627. What groups is your opponent a member of or have they been associated with?

It is definitely worth looking into, as who one associates with is a measure of that person's values. If the people they have formal relationships with do illegal and unethical things, you can force your opponent to have to go on the record in order denounce or defend their problematic associate.

628. Has your opponent paid all taxes they were supposed to?

If not, it will undercut their ability to sell themselves as a good steward of money and a person that should be in a position of authority and responsibility.

**629. Has your opponent** — **or someone connected to them** — **been charged with a crime?**

Many voters will be hesitant to vote for someone who has been charged with or convicted of a crime. Or if someone that is directly connected to them commits a crime. If the crime involves money or violence, it will make them appear less qualified for office.

630. Did you check in all counties they lived in?

People move often. Find out where else they have lived and check there, too.

631. Does your opponent live in the district?

632. For how long?

If they do not live in the district or they have only lived in the district for a relatively short time, it will be easy to portray them as an outsider who does not share the values of the voters of the district.

633. Has anyone filed civil suit against your opponent or anyone connected to them?

637. Does your opponent have any DUIs or other driving offenses?

If your opponent has had run-ins with civil or criminal law? Did they lose? What did they do? Whom did your opponent's actions harm?

634. Have you double-checked your opponent's biography for accuracy?

635. What is missing from their biography?

636. Is someone getting ahold of the opponent's mailers?

637. Is someone getting ahold of the opponent's e-mails?

638. Is someone recording opponent's television and radio commercials or obtaining them online?

639. Is someone regularly checking your opponents' website?

640. Is your opponent or their staff on Facebook, Twitter or other websites?

641. If so, is someone monitoring them?

Your staff should scrutinize everything that your opponent puts out. Immediately after it comes out. And when things come out that fit your potential message frames, you must be prepared to act on them quickly, while they are still fresh and your opponent is not ready for you.

642. Is your opponent or their staff on your e-mail list?

You should have someone sign up for your opponent's mailing list so that you can get their e-mails as they send them out.

643. Have you researched opponents' staff and advisers?

You should. The larger their staff is, the more likely someone has made a mistake that would be harmful to the candidate if anyone found out about it.

644. Are you using campaign trackers?

Now that everybody has the technology to be a tracker in their pockets, it is easier to grab video evidence of the things your opponent is saying that they might not want to get out to a broader audience. Pay close attention to local laws and ensure the safety of any trackers, especially as more extreme conservatives are engaging in more violence against their perceived enemies.

## The Issues

645. Do you have briefing papers on issues that might be relevant to the race?

In order to be taken seriously as a candidate, you will need to have a command of the issues that are likely to come up in the campaign. Detailed briefing papers that include the philosophical big picture, policy details, involved players and other important details. As you figure out your positions on the issues, they should be included in these briefing papers as well, so that you have the opportunity to maintain consistency over time and so that your staff are also informed of your positions.

646. Have you proposed specific policies you would pursue if you got elected?

647. Have you researched those policies?

This is a major part of the job, so you should be working ahead. Talking about policies you would pursue is one of the most concrete ways to express your values and to connect with voters. If you are not already an expert in a policy area that is relevant to the office or district, then you will need to get up to speed with professionally researched briefing papers.

648. Do you know that they are appropriate policies for someone in your position to propose?

649. Does the office you are pursuing have any power to enact those policies?

Make sure that you are talking, for the most part, about policies that the office you are running for actually addresses. If you are running for mayor, foreign policy is unlikely to be important in your race. If you are going to promise things while running, they should be things your office actually has the ability to deliver on.

650. Do you know what is likely to happen, both positive and negative, if those policies are enacted?

Study the policy for what effects it is likely to have. Find out who else has implemented similar policies and see what happened there. Study scientific and academic journals and publications to see what has already been learned about the policy.

651. What would be the cost of those policies and how are they going to be paid for?

This is one of the easiest areas to make a mistake in promoting policies. If your projections on the costs are off, that could come back to haunt you. If you have no way to pay for the policies, promoting them probably is not the best idea. You will be asked about it and if you do not have a good answer, you will look amateurish and unprepared.

652. What are the ideological and logistical challenges your policies would face?

Who is going to oppose your policy on ideological grounds? What things in the real world will get in the way of the policy and prevent it from passing or being implemented?

## Media Research

653. What advertising avenues are available in the district?

You need to know what advertising options exist in the district early on so you can plan for possible media buys later on. It is also important to follow along with what candidates are buying ads in the district so you know whom you will be competing for when it comes to ad time. Also, find out about blackout times and times where ad space is limited. You cannot buy ad space that has already been bought up. You may not want to use all of these options, but knowing what is possible and how others are using it should be a part of your decision.

654. What are the television stations in the district?

655. What are the radio stations in the district?

656. What are the newspapers in the district?

657. What are the blogs/online news sites in the district?

658. What are the alternative media in the district?

659. What are the college media in the district?

660. What are the Democratic Party and club/caucus websites and newsletters in the district?

Compile a database of all the media in your district that might cover your election. Get contact information, editorial policies, advertising policies, rates and anything else that might be valuable to your campaign. You should make specific contacts at each outlet so that you can pitch stories directly to the human being that would write them or oversee the writing and publishing process. It is also valuable to know the editorial slant of each outlet and have an idea of how open they are to working with you or sharing information that you provide them.

661. What is the Netroots like in your district?

Netroots activists are frequent voters and will freely share information about you and your race if they support you. Many of them are significant influencers both inside and outside the community, so finding out who your local Netroots activists are and reaching out to them is very smart.

662. Who are the key leaders and opinion leaders?

Find out who they are. Get to know them. See if you can connect with them about supporting your campaign. And ask about what they want from a candidate who serves in that office. When your values align, let them know what your goals are towards pursuing those values.

663. Do you have briefings on the relevant Netroots communities?

You should do this several times throughout the campaign. Meet with people directly. Talk to them on the record. Let them see how your campaign runs. Get to know them.

664. Do you have a set of policies for engaging with the Netroots?

Netroots activists have a significant ability to share information with like-minded voters in the district. Your policies and staff should treat them as the influencers they are.

## Advanced Research

665. Can you afford to poll the district?

If you are running for a small local office, polling probably is not that accurate or helpful, but the higher the office you are running for, the more polling is necessary. Only use professional polling companies and examine their track record before hiring them. Have they been accurate in the past? What is their plan for polling the district? Have them walk you through it before they begin polling. Also, ask them what information they hope to learn from the polling that will help your campaign.

667. Can you conduct focus groups in the district?

These are not highly valuable unless they are done early and are done in a larger race. Late in the race, the feedback you might get from a focus group is not particularly valuable. In smaller races, focus groups are less valuable, since you are already engaging in direct voter contact with a large percentage of the potential electorate.

668. Has anyone else done polls or focus groups about the district?

669. Will they share their data with you?

670. Do you have to purchase it?

Do not reinvent the wheel if you do not have to. If someone already has quality data about the district, find out if they will share it with you or sell it. This information, if the data is good, can be super valuable, but not if the price is too high.

## Research Guidelines

671. Is your research accurate?

Where are you getting your information? Are you looking towards respected news institutions, policy experts from the Democratic Party and liberal organizations and nonprofits, scientific and academic institutions and properly-conducted government research entities? Or are you getting it from non-experts and those that are expressing clear biases in their research? If your research is not accurate, how can your conclusions be valid?

672. Is your research well-documented?

Where did your research come from? When a constituent or reporter asks you to provide support for your facts, can you provide them with the answers? From unbiased, accurate sources? The longer it takes you to back up what you say, the more questionable your statements will be.

673. What are the counter-arguments and what is the counter-evidence to your research?

Good research is not good unless it takes into account the questions and complaints of opponents. You have to be able to answer their relevant questions by knowing what people who do not agree with that research are going to say and what the counter-arguments are. Be careful, however, not to get caught up in responding to every criticism or question, as some opponents will try to waste your time by trolling you.

674. Are you regularly monitoring newspapers, the Internet and television news coverage for updated information?

The world of news and research are fast-changing and if you do not regularly monitor them, you are likely to be left behind. Few things can undercut your fitness for office more than to be behind on an issue when your opponent or audience are caught up.

# Chapter 11. Messaging

## What You Say About Yourself

675. Why should people vote for you?

This is the most important part of your message. More important than anything you can say about your opponent or the district or the issues. You have to give the voters a reason to vote for you. It has to be honest and accurate and you have to believe it. And you have to be able to tell many different people why they should vote for you in many different ways. It all comes back to your values that are expressed in a consistent and believable manner.

676. Is your message based around your strengths?

This question is rhetorical. Of course it is.

677. Does your messaging address your own weaknesses?

While you obviously would not want to base your campaign around your weaknesses, you do want to be prepared to not only respond to attacks on your weaknesses, but on how to overcome any advantage your opponent may gain from them. Stories of overcoming a weakness to grow are powerful. If you can tell that story before your opponent tries to use it against you, you can undercut any advantage they might gain from your weakness.

678. How will you inspire voters to trust you?

You can be really good on the issues and still fail spectacularly if the voters do not actually trust you. What methods are you going to use to get voters to respect your honesty, competency and ability to do the job?

679. What is the challenge in this election that you seek to address?

Why are you running? What are you seeking to accomplish? What called you to run?

680. Why are you the appropriate person to address that challenge?

If you are running for an open seat, you are likely to have multiple challengers. You may learn that you will face a political ally, even your closest ally. Be sure that your differences, your resume and your impact really would stand above what your opponent is capable of, whether it is your closest ally or not.

681. How can you define the job so that no one but you can do it?

682. What unique qualities will you bring to the job?

Answering this question correct is one of the major challenges you have during an election. You have to not just convince people that you can do the job, but that only you can do the job. And the key way to do this is to start with really focusing on what is unique about you.

683. Do you have a message that energizes people who support you, wins over new people and divides the people that oppose you?

This can be a difficult question to answer correctly, especially when it comes to dividing the people who oppose you. Many people come into politics hoping to make positive change. You do not necessarily have to be negative to divide your opponents enough so that you win. You can actually use your strengths and positivity to convert supporters. Note that there are times that call for negative information to be shared.

What this does mean is earning respect from voters. It does not necessarily mean converting voters to new ways of thinking. Ultimately, a stronger, more positive message will encourage your supporters to come through. There are occasional swing voters, but be careful. Too many progressive or left-of-center politicians alienate their supporters by focusing too hard on converting people instead of turning out people who agree with their message.

##  What Others Say About You

684. What will people say about you?

You have little control over what other people are going to say about you. You can counter it by being prepared for what is coming. What are people from your past going to say about you? Particularly people that would have a valid avenue to knowing you well, such as family members, friends, co-workers, fellow students, neighbors, etc. Find out what the people who love you will say and what the people who hate you will say. Both are part of what the public will be able to find out about you.

685. What will your response be?

Always be prepared to know what people might say about you and what your best response is. Think about what things others might say and prepare responses. Or release information on those topics before others do, thus undercutting the power of that information. Do the research to find out what things people are saying about you before you run, as those things will almost certainly be found by your opponents and you want to stay ahead of them.

686. Will you respond in the same news cycle?

How timely you are going to respond to what people say about you should depend on what is said, how valuable it is to respond, whether or not it is valuable to respond at all and what else is going on. Responding to a petty Tweet from an angry supporter during a natural disaster is a terrible idea.

687. What reasons would people have to not vote for you?

Critically examine yourself to find out what reasons people would have to vote for your opponent. Have other people do it to. Ask for fair evaluations. Ask people to do overly negative evaluations. Research what people are actually already saying.

688. Are you prepared to respond to criticisms people have about you?

The earlier you know what people are saying, the earlier you will solidify your response to whatever criticism you will receive. The better you can respond to (and learn from criticism), the more ability you will have to shake off criticism and stay focused on your message.

689. Why might someone else be better than you at solving the challenge the election is about?

There will always be someone better than you at solving a particular problem. Your election is likely to only focus on a handful of salient issues. Consider what would make someone else better at solving the problems related to those issues. Consider what you could be better at sooner rather than later.

## What Will You Say About Your Opponent

690. What reasons would people have to not vote for your opponent?

Your message should also make the case as to why people should vote against your opponent. This is not just negative campaigning, although it would include that, but also logical, evidence-based accurate reasons why your opponent cannot get the job done as well as you can.

691. Is your message centered on your opponent's weaknesses?

This question is rhetorical, too. If you are going to talk about your opponent at all, then you have to focus on why they are not as good as you would be for the job. This is inherently negative, but most people do not consider directly talking about your opponent's lack of qualification for the job or bad policy ideas as "negative campaigning." It does not really matter anyway, since quality negative campaigning works, no matter how often people tell you that it does not (or they tell you that negative campaigning makes them less likely to vote for the candidate who engages in it). The data simply says otherwise, negative campaigning works.

692. Does your messaging address your opponent's strengths?

A key part of your messaging is undercutting your opponents strong points. Find out what they are great at and/or what they are going to campaign on and find the flaws and weaknesses in those arguments and do what you can to counter them.

693. Why is your opponent unable to meet the challenge the election is about?

While you are going to portray yourself as uniquely qualified to meet the challenges that the people care about solving, you are also going to explain why your opponent is uniquely unqualified for the job.

694. What negative qualities will your opponent bring to the job?

It is not just the fact that your opponent is not qualified to meet the challenges of the office; it is that they will actually cause negative consequences if elected. Be careful about exaggerating here, and do not lie, but if the harm is potentially real, voters need to know about it.

## What Will Your Opponents Say about Themselves

695. What will your opponent say about themselves?

To best counter your opponent's message, you need to know what it is. You should check out not only their website, social media and advertising, but also any media appearances they make any speeches they give that are public and any time they are quoted in articles or online stories.

696. Why should people vote for your opponent?

Do a fair examination of what your opponent brings to the table. If you were not running against them, why might you vote for them? Or what attracts voters to choose that candidate over you? Look at them through the eyes of a supporter and find out what their strengths are that might appeal to voters.

697. How will you undercut those reasons for people to vote for your opponent?

And then find ways to turn those strengths into weaknesses. Find the flaws or lies in their story. Show the inconsistencies between their stated values and their actions. Show how their ideas are naive or will fall apart under scrutiny. Do not cede any area to your opponent if you do not have to.

## Delivering Your Message

698. Do you have the ability to stay on message, despite people trying to derail you, without seeming fake or disrespectful?

Message discipline is one of the most important skills a candidate can have. Whether intentionally or otherwise, many people will try to derail you from what you are trying accomplish and you have to be able to find ways to stay on message. And you have to be able to do this in a way that does not insult or lose voters.

699. Where will you deliver your message?

You already have a plan for this, right? With a calendar? From earlier in this book? Make sure you recognize and strategize around the fact that where you are can impact which way is the best way to deliver your message. What might work in one venue could backfire in another. Know your audience and know how that audience is likely to react based on where and who they are.

700. When will you deliver your message?

You need to be delivering your message when people are actually listening. Do not plan events when people are not available, such as early in the morning, late at night, during big sporting events, during religious services or holidays, during peak work hours, etc.

701. How often will you deliver your message?

This one is more of a math question than anything else. You need to contact each voter a sufficient number of times to convince them to vote and to vote for you. This number will vary greatly, but most marketing science suggests at least five contacts are needed to persuade someone. Think about it in those terms, how often do you need to deliver your message to get that number of contacts for the number of voters you need to win the election.

702. Will you deliver your message through a variety of methods?

You must. Not everybody uses every information source. And not everybody learns through the same methods. Give people multiple ways to learn about you and your agenda.

703. Who else will deliver your message?

704. Who will talk about your opponent?

705. Will you attack them directly or will you have surrogates do it for you?

Even in a small district, you cannot talk to everyone by yourself. You need help. Who is going to provide that help? Who will be your attack dog against your opponent? Or will you be your own attack dog and use other voices to build you up and build relationships.

706. Will you go negative?

Decide early on if you are going to use negative advertising and attacks or not. You will, at a minimum, need to attack your opponent's qualifications for the job, since you need to show that they should not get the job. Beyond that, you do not have to go negative if you do not want to. Positive campaigns are rare enough that they still garner a lot of goodwill, but attacks work, so make a choice. And stick with that choice. If you start out positive and then go negative, that will hurt you with voters. It will be a sign of dishonesty. And if you start dirty and then clean it up, you will just be ceding strategy to your opponent without any real opportunity of a tangible benefit.

707. Who will back up your message when you are attacked?

Take extra time to prepare for attacks and identify who will be able to defend you. This is an area that can be challenging. Especially in a primary, you are likely to identify close confidants that will not come through either because their loyalty is divided or they support your opponent more than they support you.

No matter what position you are running for, you cannot always assume people have your back. Take extra time and care to really understand your relationships and ensure you have a professional team to support you so you can make informed decisions about who to rely on.

708. Are you ready to repeat your message ad nauseum?

You will have to say the same things over and over again so many times that you will feel like an 80s one-hit wonder band that is still touring in 2018 off that one hit.

## Presentation

709. Do you remember basic manners, like saying please and thank you?

Candidates have to be polite. Always. Get used to it.

710. Do you shake hands?

People expect you to shake their hand when you greet them. Do it gladly.

711. With women?

You are running as a Democrat or progressive, you should know by now to treat men and women equally in your interactions with them. People will notice when you do not.

712. Do you fail to look people in the eye when you talk to them and they talk to you?

People do not like this. Make sure to make eye contact, especially when listening.

713. Do you have good posture?

If not, get it.

714. Do you bite your nails in public?

If so, stop.

715. Do you keep hand gestures to a minimum when speaking?

Your hands should not be a distraction from what is coming out of your mouth.

716. Do you maintain an appropriate tone of voice when speaking?

Watch videos and listen to audio of successful speakers, especially those on the campaign trail. There are lots of great speakers who you can listen to and learn from.

717. Do you project loudly enough without shouting?

Shouting makes you look angry, confused and weak. You do not want to come across as temperamental or easy to fly off the handle. These are not looks that voters like. The key here is to always use the mic when you are in front of a group of any significant size. Always.

718. Do you remember to breathe at the appropriate times when speaking in public?

Awkward breathing during your speeches can come across as problematic. Forgetting to breathe properly in a stressful situation, such as public speaking, can also be bad for your health. If you are not fully healthy, forgetting to breathe properly can lead to mishaps that can get earned media or social media buzz. You do not want buzz for being unhealthy.

719. Do you make sure you are not sweaty or dirty before going into an event or meeting?

Always check yourself before entering an event or meeting. Your personal assistant (often called a "body man") should always carry the things that you will need to freshen up in any situation, including back-up clothing in both casual and more formal options.

720. Have you practiced your speech beforehand?

You should always do this. Never read a speech in front of voters for the first time. Getting surprised by your own speech is terrible, especially in front of a crowd.

721. On videotape?

This is really the only way to examine your public speaking in a way that you will repeatedly be able to view so that you can learn from it. You should not videotape every speech, but should take a random sampling of speeches over time and record and review them with an eye for improvement.

722. Did you get constructive criticism about your speaking habits?

You should do this and do it early, preferably before you decide to run.

723. Do you need a speech coach?

If you do not have a lot of public speaking experience or you are bad at it, there are amazing coaches that can help you get better. They usually are not free.

724. Is your speech easy to understand by people of different backgrounds?

Test it and find out. You do not want to find out that you were misunderstood because you did not think to run your speech by people with different backgrounds and experiences who could have easily spotted something that you might not even know about.

725. Is your public speaking clear, consistent, convincing and humble?

If not, start practicing and taping your speeches now so you can get there. You really need all four of these to be an effective political speaker.

726. Do you remember to smile?

Do not do it all the time or you will look crazy, but people do want to see you smile, so do it. Often enough that people know that you are a normal, happy person. It is hard to trust a person who never smiles.

## Media Appearances

727. Do you have a research briefing on the show you are appearing on and its host?

When you go on a show, do your homework. What is the show's format? Will you be speaking alone or on a panel? Answering questions from the host? Other panelists? The audience? Is the show likely to be friendly or antagonistic? Is the show regularly combative or is it more thoughtful? How does the host conduct the show? Do they expect things of guests of the show? Do they have personal pet peeves they hate in guests? Is there anything you can learn in advance of the show that will increase your chances of doing well on the show?

728. Did you make sure the show's content is not inappropriate?

You have to watch the show before you go on it, at least a few times. You need to research the show. You need to talk to people who are fans or haters of the show and find out why they feel like they do. Ultimately, you have to know whether or not going on the show is going to help you or hurt you.

729. If appearing on TV or radio, have you watched/listened to a few episodes of the show before appearing on it?

You have to be aware before you go into an environment where you will be asked questions without the opportunity to prepare for them explicitly in advance. Watching or listening to a few recent and representative episodes will give you some idea of what you are in for and what type of environment the host creates.

730. Do you have something to tell the host that shows you know who they are and what they do?

The easiest way to get a host on your side is to show that you have actually paid attention to what they do. The best way is to be an actual fan and regular consumer of the program. If that does not describe you, then you need to do some research and listen to/watch a few episodes of past programs so you have some actual knowledge about the host.

731. Did you remember that the microphone is always on and make sure that you conducted yourself as such?

If you are not in your home or your own vehicle alone, act like someone is recording you or might testify against you at all times and you will never have a problem. Save private conversations until you are in 100% private space.

732. If there are rules or guidelines for your media appearance, did you review them in advance and make sure you followed them?

You do not want to make a blunder on the air, so make sure you know what you are going into and be the polite but confident guest.

733. Did you avoid telling bad jokes, off-the-cuff comments and insults?

Even if you are funny, do not do it unless it is scripted and approved by your relevant staff. These things kill careers more than they help.

734. Do you politely but firmly handle interruptions and hecklers?

You have to show that you are in charge, but that you will gently handle those who break the rules of decorum. Crowds do not like interruptions, even when they agree with the protestors. You will look sympathetic unless you react negatively.

735. Did you ask for support?

736. Did you ask people for their vote specifically?

737. Did you ask people for money, if allowed?

738. Did you promote your website?

739. Did you promote your text message program, if you have one?

These are your basic asks. You should always be asking for these things in every venue you appear in.

740. Did you thank the host for having you on the show?

741. Did you thank the audience for listening/watching?

Make sure you do. Always be polite.

## Debates

742. Are you going to participate in debates?

It will be expected that you do, but there is not a ton of evidence that participating in them is particularly useful, either in helping candidates win elections or in helping voters learn more about candidates. They tend to be stilted, pre-arranged affairs that rehash information that is already available elsewhere. That being said, you will be expected to participate in them and while there has been an increase in candidates skipping debates, there is not yet much evidence that skipping them is part of a pathway to winning.

743. What format and how many?

These are among the first things to nail down about debates. How many debates are there going to be and what format will they be in. Is there a moderator? Who will the moderator be? Can the audience ask questions? How many questions will you be asked? Do your opponents get a chance to do rebuttals or follow-ups? How much time will you have to answer questions?

744. What rules will be in effect?

What are you allowed to do and not do during the debate? What are the consequences of breaking those rules? Who makes the rules? What input do you have on the rules? Being accused of breaking the debate rules is not a media hit you want to take unless you are protesting unfair or discriminatory rules.

745. Who is sponsoring the debate?

Figuring out who is sponsoring the debate goes a long way towards helping you decide whether or not participating is a good idea. If they are ideologically opposed to you and your values, you have to determine whether or not you can get any value out of participating. Also consider whether or not participating in an event by that particular sponsor harm you with voters.

746. Have you researched the moderator and the audience?

As always, if you are going to be asked questions in public, you need to prepare in advance. Know who is asking you questions and what they are likely to be interested in. Know what type of audience is going to be in attendance so you can speak directly to them.

747. When questions are asked, do you answer them?

Do you actually answer the question that was asked or do you ignore it and talk about something else? Your choice will be obvious and everyone will know.

748. Do you reject your opponents' bad frames?

When your opponent says something that does not reflect reality, do not let them get away with it. For instance, if they start by saying that Social Security is in crisis and that means we have to have cuts, reject the false crisis storyline and do not allow them to establish a falsehood. Do not respond to lies. Call them out as lies.

749. Do you bring the answer back to your frames and your message?

Whenever interacting with your opponent or others, make sure that you control the framing of the conversation. Do not cede to your opponent's arguments, keep the conversation rooted in your message and your frames.

750. Have you researched what will be the likely questions in the debate?

751. Have you done debate practice?

752. Have you practiced rebuttal?

Never go into any interview or debate unprepared.

753. What is your opponent likely to say?

Just like you, your opponent has a message and a stump speech and lines they repeat all the time. Know what they are saying so you are ready to counter or undercut it.

754. Where and when will the debate(s) be?

Not that you can fudge the details on any event, but you have to be super precise with larger events that are covered by the media. Be redundant in getting these details and making sure you are on time and prepared.

755. Who is doing a crowd-build, if necessary?

756. Who will make sure they have signs and other appropriate materials?

As you prepare for an event, have someone specifically in charge of making sure that the event is a success. You can leave no details unconsidered or unprepared for. If you cannot build a crowd for an event, why have that event? If you are not in charge of crowd build, you should still bring supporters if it is allowed under debate rules.

757. Will the debate be broadcast?

758. When and where?

Know the details and share them with supporters on your website, on social media and via e-mail.

759. Who will handle rapid response during and after the debate?

You should be ready with a response immediately after the debate that re-emphasizes your strongest moments and/or calls out the problems with your opponent's performance. If at all conceivable, you should claim victory and should fact-check your opponent's statements. If you have the capability, consider live commentary about the debate from a trusted staff member while having your team fact-check the debate live.

760. Did you reinforce your message with a media contact afterward?

Unless you totally bombed, you should give interviews afterwards to help reinforce both your message and your performance in the debate. Show confidence and reiterate your best moments and your opponent is worst while still taking the high road and focusing on policy and qualifications.

## Message Clarity and Accuracy

761. Have you fact-checked any message before distributing it or speaking it?

One of the easiest ways to mess up your image and have voters question your honesty is by putting out inaccurate claims because you did not do a good job of fact-checking your website or speeches. You need someone whose job it is to make sure that everything is accurate before you go public with anything.

762. Are your campaign materials being spell-checked and grammar checked both via computer and via a person with a good knowledge of these things?

You need a professional political copywriter. This is not a job that can be half-assed. Failing to do this correctly can lose you an election or get you in legal trouble.

763. Are your campaign materials being fact-checked for accuracy?

Do I really still have to ask you this question at this point?

764. Have you anticipated what groups like Politifact and FactCheck.org will question about your message?

They will check you out. You will get busted for egregious spin. Because Republican politicians lie as often as they do, these sites often get complaints of anti-conservative bias. This leads them to looking at progressive candidates more closely, so they can defend themselves against such accusations. It also leads them to making a bigger deal out of errors from progressives than facts warrant.

765. Is your message free of political jargon?

If you do not know what jargon is, do not use it. Jargon is the super-technical language that experts use that laypeople generally do not fully understand. Too much jargon and you will be thought of as out of touch or elitist. If your average high school graduate does not understand the word, use it sparingly, if at all.

766. Are you avoiding doublespeak and language that voters will not understand?

Doublespeak refers to words that imply one thing and mean something else. The concept was illuminated best by George Orwell's "1984" in terms such as "freedom is slavery." Another great example is Bill Clinton saying, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," which while legally technically accurate (under the legal definition, sexual relations only refers to intercourse), was meant to mislead. Fewer and fewer people are falling for such nonsense tricks, especially when your old words are recorded and videotaped and put onto blogs and Wikipedia, etc.

767. Is your message free of potentially offensive language?

768. Are you making sure not to insult anyone's faith, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.?

Pay attention. There is no reason to make a mistake and include something offensive at this point in time. You need to make sure that your staff is diverse and that they have the ability to give input on your messaging before it goes public. And even beyond that, it is easy to find online sources that include pretty much all the language that will be found offensive by any demographic group in the U.S. Google it.

769. Do you have a method for tracking what you say on each of the issues in different venues?

While the more committed you are to your values and the more developed your moral system is, the less likely you'll have a problem, it is probably a good idea to track what issue statements and promises you make and who you make them to so you can keep your message consistent and accurate.

# Chapter 12. Connections

## Democratic Party

770. Whom do you know in local Democratic parties?

Hopefully if you are running for office as a Democrat, you will have been participating in party activities already. County-level parties are relatively easy to get involved with and state party conventions and other events are often open to any registered Democrats, so get involved in advance of running for office.

771. Whom do you know in the state Democratic Party?

The state party theoretically has more power, money and voter information than a local party does. If you are the only Democrat in the race and the seat you are seeking is important enough, the party is likely to help you right away. If not, then you will need something to get the party to support you over your opponents. There are many ways to get there, but one of the best is through a personal connection. The more people in the Democratic Party power structure that know you and support you, the better your chances are.

772. What elected officials do you know?

Make a list. Even if you did not feel comfortable asking them for favors before now, if you become an elected official, they will be working directly with you. Meet with them now and talk about the election and the office. Ask them to endorse you. Ask them to introduce you to other important officials and community leaders. Make sure that you are offering support in return, it is important to build relationships with other leaders by making sure the exchange is a two-way street.

773. Do you know anyone involved in state Democratic clubs and caucuses?

774. Do you know anyone involved in local Democratic clubs and caucuses?

775. Do you know anyone involved in national Democratic clubs and caucuses?

776. Do you know anyone in the Democratic National Committee?

777. Do you know anyone in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee?

778. Do you know anyone in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee?

779. Do you know anyone in the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee?

780. Do you know anyone in the Democratic Governors Association?

781. Do you know anyone in any other national Democratic organizations such as the Democratic Leadership Council or Young Democrats?

If you are running as a Democrat, digging into whom you know throughout the massive Democratic Party structure is super important. These are the people that already know what you need to know and are inclined to help you if you are a real candidate. People in this structure can help you in a variety of important ways. Talk to them as early as you can and gauge their support for your campaign. If they are supportive, move to strengthen the relationship. If they are not, find out if their opposition is only for the primary, or if they oppose you in the general as well. Someone may oppose you up until the minute where you actually win the nomination and then become your biggest supporter.

## Media

782. Do you know anybody in the media?

Check all the local media that might be covering your race, from more traditional outlets (television, radio and newspapers) to newer ones (bloggers, online journalists or YouTube vloggers). Do you know any of them? Well enough to reach out to them about covering your campaign?

783. What is the relationship like?

784. Are you friends or enemies with them?

Knowing people in the media is not particularly helpful if you have a terrible relationship with them and have made enemies out of them. Friends help friends. Enemies fight enemies. If someone in the media already dislikes you and you cannot persuade them, incorporate that into your press plan. Make a decision about how to deal with that person in a way that minimizes and blowback against you and the campaign.

785. Has anyone in the media written or produced an audio/video segment about you before?

786. Why?

787. Are these articles or segments available?

788. Is there anything controversial in them?

If article or segment is public, review it. If it is not public, check to see if you can get a copy and review it. Make sure you know what others can find and use against you. And it is important to know what you have done before that you can use to help yourself.

789. What is your relationship like with the people who produced those segments?

Can you get them to supply you with the audio or video? Will they give it to others, such as the media or your opponent? Is use of the video in any way illegal or unethical? Can you use it in campaign commercials or for your website? Do you have to pay to use it?

## Interest Groups and Activists

790. Do you know anyone involved in any interest groups at the local, state or national level?

Few people are more passionate about politics and issues than those that work or volunteer for issue-based interest groups. Once you have determined your issue priorities for your campaign, you should be pretty focused on making connections with organizations that have similar issue stances as yours. It is better if you already have these connections before running for office, but it is key that you start developing them if you have not already.

791. Do you know anyone involved in Democracy for America, re:power, MoveOn or other progressive training or advocacy groups?

Many of these groups do training, support candidates and make endorsements. Knowing people that work at these organizations can be helpful, although most of them have pretty formal systems for endorsements or funding. Ask questions and find out what is possible.

## Opponents

792. Are you reaching out to those you defeated in the primary?

Primary opponents, for the most part, are not enemies. Once you have defeated someone or they have dropped out of the race, you should talk to them directly and see if you can work together and whether or not they will support your candidacy. This may involve you offering them something in exchange. When legal, these types of favors are common in politics, but make sure you are aware of and are complying with the law. Just because a candidate did not win does not mean that they do not have significant followers or resources.

793. Are you asking them for endorsements?

This is one of the easiest things someone can do for your campaign. An endorsement can range from simple adding their name to a public list of supporters all the way up to being a fund-raiser or running mate. Ask them directly.

794. Are you asking them for fundraising lists?

Raw lists are not as useful as introductions or fundraisers your former opponent might throw for you. Direct contact where people have opted in is always superior to cold calling.

795. Are you asking them for volunteer lists?

You can ask your former opponent to directly give you the list. Or you can ask them to send their volunteers a recruitment e-mail on your behalf. Or you could ask them to host an event to introduce you to their old volunteers with a focus on recruitment.

796. Are you being a gracious winner?

Winners who are not gracious end up losing potential supporters and donors.

## Reaching Out

797. Have you talked to previous candidates who have run for the seat you are running for?

Few people have more knowledge of the district and the office than former office-holders or candidates who have run for the office in the past. Reaching out to them can be pretty valuable in learning all the things you need to know, they can help you learn about things that might not be as obvious or well-know about the election or the district.

798. Have you talked to other candidates currently running for office?

You should. If other candidates support you, their voter outreach can have a synergistic effect. Talk to any candidate that might share your values about potentially working together, both in terms of the election, but also if both of you were to win elections.

799. Have you talked to current office holders?

800. Have you talked to retired candidates?

The same basic thing goes for current or former officeholders or candidates, many of whom still have strong support among voters (depending on whether or not they have been in scandals and other complications).

801. Have you talked to party officials at the national, state and local levels?

802. Have you talked to party caucus and club leaders at the national, state and local levels?

These are the people who are most likely to pay attention to elections and campaigns and thus are likely to be a source of knowledge, resources, votes, money or other things valuable to your efforts.

803. Have you talked to key community and neighborhood leaders in the district?

804. Have you talked to leaders of demographic groups in the district?

You should do this before you run. Once you have filed your paperwork is not when you start building connections. You have to start before the beginning of the official campaign.

805. Have you talked to non-political groups in the district?

People who are active in non-political social organizations also vote at higher rates than the general public. If there are legitimate ways to approach these groups without violating their rules or culture, they can be helpful in expanding your network in unexpected directions.

806. Have you talked to church, synagogue, mosque and other religious leaders in the district?

These are important community leaders who carry a lot of influence with the voters who regularly attend their services. They are also moral leaders and that will matter when you approach them. If you share values with them, they are much more likely to support you. Lots of politicians pander to them, however, so make sure that your interactions with them are authentic.

807. Have you talked to veterans in the district?

This is one of the easiest blunders to avoid and yet some candidates make it. Veterans have offered their lives in defense of the system that you are running to be a part of. Treat them with the respect they have earned.

808. Have you talked to unions in the district?

Working people are the backbone of the progressive movement. If you make it clear that you are going to fight for them, they will fight for you. And they have already organized.

809. Have you talked to interest groups in the district?

These are the easiest voters to make connections with. They participate in interest group politics because of their values and they are telling you what their values are. If you can authentically connect to them because you agree with them or at least are sympathetic and respectful.

810. Have you talked to family members?

811. Have you talked to friends?

812. Have you talked to past and present co-workers?

813. Have you talked to people who were in groups with you in the past?

814. Have you talked to your mentors?

815. Have you talked to people you mentored?

Do not assume that they are all going to vote and all going to vote for you. Ask.

816. Do you know any college or professional athletes?

817. Have you talked to them?

818. Do you know any other celebrities?

819. Have you talked to them?

Non-political celebrities seem to have pretty notable impact on voters. Maybe even more so, for many voters, than political celebrities. Whatever the reason, celebrities both have money and know other people who have money, so if you know a celebrity and they are willing to endorse you; it can be very valuable in multiple ways.

820. Have you prepared in advance to talk to each of these groups or leaders?

This is what your community leader briefings are for. Read them and know whom you are talking to.

## The Asks

821. Have you specifically asked all of these people for their help and their vote?

This is politics. Asks have to be explicit. In fact, you should probably make sure that you get major agreements in writing (or e-mail) or with other witnesses who are aware of what is being discussed. The news cycle can have a pretty big impact on agreements that have been made in the past and political communication is so filled with innuendo and creative use of language you want to make sure that any commitments you get are real and that there are no misunderstandings.

822. What members of these groups would be interested in participating in the campaign?

Who already works on campaigns? Who shares your values? Whom do you already know or have a relationship with? Who actively works on issues that are important to you and will be incorporated into your campaign?

823. Would they help with your campaign as volunteers or staff?

824. Would they donate to your campaign?

825. Would they endorse your campaign?

826. Would they serve as campaign surrogates?

827. Would they reach out to their networks for you?

You will not know until you ask.

828. Would they serve on your kitchen cabinet?

This is a stranger ask. Many people have never heard the term and it may take some explanation to get them on board. Others may need to know what level of commitment you expect from them. Do your best to make sure that anyone you ask understands how much time and energy you want them to do.

## Following Up

829. Do you have work for these constituency groups to do?

When reaching out to people to ask them to help on your campaign, you have to have work for them to do. Not busy work, but real work that has an impact and that any staff or volunteers can see the real impact of. They need to know that their time is being valued.

830. Are you listening to and acting on the advice of activists?

You should be. Many of them will know more about the district, the race and the office than you do. Do not ignore that source of wisdom.

831. Are you taking advice from everyone with a grain of salt?

On the other hand, many think they know more than they do and some lack wisdom altogether. Take everything with a grain of salt and always get multiple opinions.

832. Have you engaged in a listening tour or open office hours at the beginning of your campaign?

It is very important to establish early on that you are the type of candidate who listens to the people. Go beyond just online opportunities to solicit feedback and listen to people in the real world, where they are. And actually listen. Hear what they have to say and, if it is valid, incorporate what you can into your efforts.

833. Are you tracking whom you have met and the specific details about them, including contact information?

Always, always, always do this. This data is the key to running an effective campaign.

834. Are you regularly reaching out to people you have had contact with and keeping them connected to the campaign?

One contact is not enough to keep someone interested. Ignoring them after early contact may push them away from you and kill lines of trust. Winning elections is about building relationships and maintaining them.

835. Have you set up constituency groups, such as "Students for...," "Women for...," etc.?

This is a very good idea. Even better is when these groups form without your instigation. That shows you not only can connect with people, but that you have momentum. Encourage groups to self-organize and provide them with the tools they need to succeed, including access to the candidate.

## Conflict

836. Are you monitoring the press releases and public pronouncements of your allies to avoid conflict?

Once you start building a coalition of supporters, you will want to stay in contact with those supporters so that you are working on the same page. You will want to follow their press releases and social media and know what is going on with your allies, so you can stay allies and to prevent unnecessary conflict.

837. Are you staying out of contentious primaries in other races?

This is important. If others are having conflict, getting involved in the middle of it is very unlikely to benefit you in any way; you will just be dragged into the mud with them.

838. Are you staying away from controversial candidates and organizations who might conflict with your message?

839. Conversely, are you supporting controversial candidates and organizations who also happen to support your message and can pay you back for your support?

One thing about controversial candidates is that they sure do get media coverage. And if you are somehow associated with them, you might also get some of that coverage. But if they are controversial in a way that your potential voters will dislike, you should stay away from them. If they are controversial, but only to people that were going to vote against you anyway, that controversy might help you, by attracting opponents of that controversy to support you.

# Chapter 13. Campaign Personnel Decisions

## Key Personnel

840. Who will be your campaign manager?

This is one of your earliest and most important decisions. If you are seriously running, you need to have a professional campaign manager. You cannot do it. You should not give the job to a friend or family member. You should hire a manager who has had high-level campaign experience, but the experience is much more valuable if it comes from winning campaigns, or at least campaigns that were well-run, even in a loss. This person will not just head up the operations of your campaign, they will be one of your top advisers and strategists and this has to be someone whose knowledge you respect and whose integrity you trust. Your career depends on it.

841. Who will be your campaign treasurer?

This position has the most potential to get you sent to jail if the person you choose does something wrong. Do not take this position lightly. Do not give it to a friend or an amateur. Give it to someone who has a reputation for not only being honest and accurate, but someone who also shares your values and wants you to win. This is a job that is all about accuracy.

842. Who will double-check your campaign treasurer's work?

On a professional campaign, all systems are redundant. There is always a backup. There is always oversight.

843. Who will be your scheduler?

One of the most important jobs on the campaign is the person who keeps track of where the candidate is supposed to be and what they are doing there. If you run a successful campaign, the demand for your time will be significant. The only way to keep track of it and maximize the value is to have a strong, professional scheduler.

844. Who will be your finance director?

Like it or not, campaigns run on money. You cannot run even a "grassroots" campaign without a lot of money. Hire a professional with demonstrated success.

845. Who will be your GOTV/field/volunteer director?

Just as important is the person that will get your voters to the polls. As you choose these positions, consult with the other key members of your team since they will be working together hard and long. They should not only get along personally, but they should share similar philosophies so that you minimize internal conflict. That has not to suggest that you should not have alternative ideas or should all be yes-men, but even when people disagree, they should do it in a way that is constructive.

846. Who will be your press secretary or communications director?

If you are running a campaign that is city-wide or higher, you will definitely want an experienced press person with existing connections in local media.

847. Who will be your social media director?

There is no way to overstate the difference that a good, experienced social media director makes. It is the cheapest and easiest way to communicate and if handled well, can be a powerful fundraising tool as well. When hiring this person, ask for a proposal. Make sure that they have an existing social media presence. You do not have to guess on this one, the numbers are public.

848. Is this person involved in important campaign discussions and decisions?

Social media is not a secondary tool; it is part of your strategy. Your opponent will likely have a professional social media person on their campaign (or a contractor) and if you want to win, you should, too.

849. Who will be your call time manager?

You have to do call time. Somebody has to be in charge of making sure you do it. This has to be someone that can give you direct orders when they need to make sure you do sufficient time on the phone.

850. Who will be your opponent trackers?

This is a great entry-level position for more active and outgoing people, but it is imperative that you maximize the safety of anyone that has to do this particular job.

851. Do you have a personal assistant to travel with the candidate to take notes, get and give business cards, carry lit, carry supplies, etc.?

If you do not have one, get one. This can be the same person who is your driver. And if you have a big enough campaign or a big enough district, it might have to be a shared duty.

852. If you do not have someone in these roles, who will fill them?

It is very likely, especially on a smaller campaign, that many of these roles will be shared. Doubling up duties is certainly okay, as long as you do not pile too much on one person. Make sure to share the burden so that no one gets burnt out.

## Kitchen Cabinet

853. Who will your kitchen cabinet or campaign advisory team be?

A kitchen cabinet is an informal group of advisers who you can regularly meet with to run ideas, decisions, messaging and other import things past. These should be people you trust and people that know you and what you are trying to accomplish. They should also have political experience enough to provide you with valuable feedback.

854. Is the group diverse in terms of demographics?

It should reflect the district as much as possible. You want your advisers to be advising you on the realities of the people in your district, which they cannot do if you leave large segments of the population unrepresented or underrepresented.

855. Is the group diverse in terms of political experience?

You will want both experienced and inexperienced advisers and pretty much everything in between. The variety of opinions will prevent your advice from getting too unrepresentative or skewed.

856. Does the group include people of different ideologies and party affiliations?

857. Does the group include someone new to political campaigns who can ask questions others assume the answers to?

This group is not about people who will tell you what you want to hear. It is all about people who will tell you the truth and help you break through the onslaught of varying opinions that people will constantly be hitting you with. You need people that will cut through the bullshit and make sure that you are being realistic and on the right path.

858. Who do you trust to give you constructive criticism and advice?

859. Can you trust them to be discreet?

You need people that you can talk openly and honestly with while avoiding situations where you fear that these people will share sensitive information with the public. Trust is essential for this process to work.

## Other Important Roles

860. Do you have people volunteering or working on the campaign who are experts or knowledgeable about photography?

Modern campaigns have endless need for high-quality, well-composed photographs. Your website should have a lot of professional-quality images and your social media should regularly include photos from the campaign trail. Media will often also request photos from you and it is good to have a constant, fresh supply of good photos from the campaign trail.

861. Do you have people volunteering or working on the campaign who are experts or knowledgeable about web design?

You will need a website. You will need it to be able to be regularly updated, even after hours and on weekends. This means that you cannot leave all of your website design and maintenance needs to a firm outside the campaign. You need full 24-7 access to be able to change anything on the website at a minute's notice, particularly in response to a scandal or disaster.

862. Do you have people working on the campaign who are experts or knowledgeable about video production and editing?

863. Do you have people working on the campaign who are experts or knowledgeable about graphic design and layout?

If you are reading this book, the time has passed when it is okay to not have ready access to a video producer and editor. It is also past time where you run for office and do not have a paid graphic designer on staff.

864. Do you have someone to monitor, collect and disseminate news clips about you, your opponent and the election?

865. Do you have someone to monitor, collect and disseminate blog clips?

866. Do you have someone to monitor, collect and disseminate stories about the district?

You need an early-rising person to get up before everyone else, gather the relevant news to your race and share it with the team. When everyone arrives at work in the morning, they should be able to catch up on all the important news before jumping back into the work.

867. Do you have someone on staff to serve as a translator?

868. Do you have non-campaign people available to double- and triple-check translated materials?

You are progressive. There are people who live in your district who do not speak your language, or speak it more poorly than they speak another language. You still need to reach and out talk to these people. Do it in ways that are respectful of their language. Hire people that speak their language, too.

## Get to Know Your Staff

869. Have you interviewed your staff?

It may sound counter-intuitive, but the value of getting to personally know your staff cannot be overstated. The more you know about them, the better their skills and energy can be put to the best use for the campaign and the more happy they will be doing the work they are best suited for. Even more importantly, getting to know your staff is a great way to inspire loyalty and increase energy. And do not just get to know them in the office, take some time to interact with them in social spaces where work is not required. Do this early in the campaign and it will be very valuable, but later on it will be less valuable and more of a distraction.

870. Have you asked them why they are working for you?

If they cannot answer this question, then you need to work on your messaging. They should inspired to work for you for some other reason than "money." The more you talk about your values and tell the story of you, the more invested people will be in you and the campaign. Give them reasons to support you and then ask them to articulate those reasons. Listen, learn and adapt.

871. What skills, knowledge and experience do your staff have?

Find out what things your staffers are talented at. Not just the things that were on their resumes, but other skills, talents and hobbies that might be helpful for the campaign.

872. What work do your staff want to do?

Ask them what they want to do and do your best to give them as much work related to their preference as makes sense.

873. What do your staff want to learn while on the campaign?

Campaigns are time-limited and even if you win, only a few staffers will join you in your new office. Make a priority to give your staffers the opportunity to learn and develop professionally so they can become better at doing their job (and related jobs). Not only will you benefit from them learning while they work with you through enhanced skills and knowledge, they will forever be a representative of your campaign and your leadership. If they go on to be great and successful, you will have played a part in that and it will reflect well on you. And they will be more willing to help you in the future when you ask them.

## Staff and Volunteer Compensation and Perks

874. How will you compensate staff and volunteers?

Are you going to treat them well? Are you going to treat them like the people that help you achieve your goals? Or like just another group of employees to be exploited for your ends? The former makes it much more likely that you will achieve your goals. You have to respect the people that work for you in order to get their best efforts on your behalf.

875. Is your compensation competitive?

876. Do you offer any bonuses?

It better be. You are a progressive, run as if workers' rights are important to you. They are important to your voters. Bonuses can be valuable as incentives or rewards, but you have to make sure that you raise enough money to make paying them of value to your campaign instead of being a hindrance.

877. What kind of orientation do you offer to staff and volunteers?

One of the biggest complaints at many progressive organizations and campaigns is that new employees are not sufficiently prepared for the work, not because they do not have the intellect and experience, but because every campaign has a different mix of rules and culture. Make sure you transition people into this new environment by giving them an orientation that provides them with the key information they need to help you win.

878. Do you pair new volunteers and staff up with more experienced people to help them learn about the campaign and their role in it?

This is a very good idea. The new person gets the benefit of the knowledge and expertise of the senior person, while the senior person gets to see things through fresh and enthusiastic eyes. Both should come out of the experience more invested in the campaign and more capable of working for you.

879. Do you have regular campaign events where staff and volunteers can get to know each other?

Social functions allow staff and volunteers to interact in lower-pressure situations, which gives them time to get to know each other. The more your staff and volunteers are friends with each other; the more likely they are to grow into a family. Families can achieve greatness.

880. What kind of training do you offer staff and volunteers?

881. Do you have repeated training sessions throughout the campaign?

If you want your staff and volunteers to be at their best, you need to provide them with regular training so they always have the best skills available and get refresher training so they do not fall into bad habits that are counterproductive to your efforts.

882. Does your training teach staff and volunteers how to answer the question 'why do you support the candidate'?

If not, revise your training materials. This is a top priority.

883. How do you keep staff and volunteers informed of major campaign updates?

884. Do you arm staff and volunteers with the information they need to be ambassadors of the campaign?

At a minimum, you need a daily clip service to provide everyone with the latest news. Beyond that, you need to regularly find ways to make sure that staff and volunteers have other more focused information. The better the information your team has, the better prepared they will be to do their jobs.

885. What are the perks for volunteers?

886. Do you provide food and beverages for people in the office?

887. Do you arrange transportation for volunteers that do not have it?

Your staff and volunteers are going to sacrifice a lot to support your run for office. Make sure that you do the things that show you appreciate them. And, no, their salary is not sufficient. They are doing a job to earn that paycheck; you should go above and beyond to make sure that they feel that they are a vital part of the campaign. Giving them perks and extras helps them see that you are doing more than you have to in an effort to reward them.

888. Will you do campaign jobs with staff and volunteers to show solidarity and the importance of the work?

You should always be willing to do the work of any staffer or volunteer. And you need to be seen regularly digging in and doing the hard work of the campaign and that you do not hold yourself in a superior position to them.

889. Will you personally meet each volunteer and staff member?

890. Will you encourage volunteers and staff regularly and personally?

891. Do you let volunteers and staff know how their efforts are helping the campaign in specific terms?

It is important for you to not only meet all of your staff and volunteers and know their names and faces; you need to regularly interact with them in substantive ways that show that you know them and that you care. If you do, they will work harder for you and stay involved longer.

892. Will you provide staff and volunteers with awards and incentives?

Everybody likes recognition. Awards and rewards based on hard work, innovative thinking or successful ideas encourage staff and volunteers to strive to get that recognition. The growing science of gamification shows that incentives can encourage people to achieve more than they otherwise might.

# Chapter 14. Volunteers and Interns

## Building Your Volunteer List

893. Do you have a volunteer list?

A volunteer list has not just the names, phone numbers, e-mail, addresses and other important information about contacting your volunteers, it also has things like their availability, their interests, the issues that are important to them and the skills they are willing to contribute to your efforts. This is necessary for you to both retain volunteers, but also to make sure that both you and they get the best out of their time with you. Keep track of your volunteer list in some sort of searchable database.

894. Have you looked for volunteers amongst family?

895. Have you looked for volunteers amongst friends?

896. Have you looked for volunteers amongst co-workers?

These should be the first places to look. These people are likely already on your team; it should be the easiest to get their support. If not.... The earliest days of your campaign will be the least professional and the most ad hoc, as you professionalize the campaign (which you must do if you want to win), you would only keep friends in key positions if they are professionals or have proven they can produce professional-level work.

897. Have you looked for volunteers amongst groups you have worked with in the past?

899. Have you looked for volunteers amongst former co-workers?

900. Have you looked for volunteers amongst former schoolmates?

901. Have you looked for volunteers amongst Democratic Party groups?

902. Have you looked for volunteers amongst interest groups?

903. Have you looked for volunteers amongst student groups?

904. Have you looked for volunteers amongst social clubs?

905. Have you looked for volunteers amongst online networks?

906. Have you looked for volunteers amongst old campaigns?

907. Have you looked for volunteers amongst people who lost in primaries or withdrew from elections?

908. Have you looked for volunteers amongst members of groups like DFA and MoveOn?

909. Have you looked for volunteers amongst blog readers?

Look everywhere you can, you never know when or where you will find your volunteers.

910. Have you sent a call for volunteers to your e-mail list?

911. Have you posted calls for volunteers to social networks?

These are best practices. Do them regularly.

912. Have you had your current volunteers recruit new volunteers?

913. Have your volunteers held house parties to recruit volunteers?

The more you invest in your team members, the more willing they will be to take initiative that will benefit the campaign. Empower them to help you and they will.

914. Do all your staff and volunteers carry volunteer sign-up cards with them at all times?

This should be a policy for all staff and volunteers. Always be ready to expand the electorate and the proportion of the electorate that supports you.

## Interns

915. Who provides interns inside your district?

Research all the colleges and universities in your district to find out which ones offer internships to students, particularly those that are relevant to politics or any fields related fields to the office you are running for.

916. Who sends interns to your district?

If your district is small, there may be numerous universities near enough to send interns to work for you in the district.

917. What is the process for obtaining interns?

Internships are subject to various laws and policies from the institution that they attend. There are not only policies about who can get interns and how they can be obtained, but also what work they can and cannot do and what reporting requirements they have in order to get credit.

## Get to Know Your Volunteers and Interns

918. Have you interviewed your interns and volunteers?

Interns and volunteers are just as important to your overall success as staffers are. Take some time to get to know them as well. Many of them are on the campaign specifically to get to know and work for an aspiring and inspiring leader. Give them that experience and they will not just give you their best, it will influence their future experiences in politics, too.

919. Have you asked them why they are working for you?

This is even more important for volunteers or lower-paid workers. They have to believe that working for you and helping you win is the morally valid choice. If not, how are you going to get their support and hard work on your behalf?

920. What skills, knowledge and experience do your interns and volunteers have?

Ask about everything. Catalog it in your volunteer database. Make it searchable or sortable so you kind find specific skills, experience or hobbies when you need them.

921. What work do your interns and volunteers want to do?

Ask them what work they want to do and do your best to assign them that work as much as is feasible.

922. What do your interns and volunteers want to learn?

They are here to learn or help, make sure they get those experiences and are rewarded for their dedication. And compensate them as much as you can.

## Putting Your Volunteers and Interns to Work

923. Do you maintain a database of all volunteers and their contact info, skills and amounts of work they have done for you?

You only have a limited number of volunteers and a limited amount of time with them, so you need to coordinate what activities you have them engage in. You should have a volunteer coordinator whose job it is every day to make sure that they keep track of all the information related to your volunteers. The coordinator also makes sure to schedule when volunteers are in the office as much as possible and makes sure that they all have valid work to do when they arrive. Few things are more likely to scare away volunteers than having them arrive and you having nothing for them to do or only having busy work for them to do.

924. Have you prepared for something for staff and volunteers to do at all times?

925. Do you have work prepared for walk-in volunteers?

If not, you will lose them. When they come into work, they expect that you will give them tasks to do that will help you win the election. This means you have to make sure that they have those tasks available pretty much every time they arrive. Part of this involves scheduling, and you should have a volunteer coordinator to handle this. The other part involves higher-level preparation from senior staff. If you want volunteers to phonebank today, you need to have phones for them to use, numbers for them to call, scripts for them to read and goals for them to achieve. You should never tell someone that is ready to work for you and has made the effort to do so that you do not have anything for them to do. Even worse, do not give them pointless work or drudgery that will drive them away for good.

926. Do you have work that empowers volunteers to take ownership in the campaign?

The more you can empower supporters, give the opportunities to invest themselves in the campaign and help create opportunities to grow and improve, the more dedicated to the campaign they will be and the better they will be at doing the work.

# Chapter 15. Fundraising

927. Do you have a fundraising list?

You should get a fundraising list ready to go before you publicly declare that you are running for office. Be careful not to violate any campaign laws that prevent certain types of contact with potential campaign contributors. It is easy to cross the line into illegality here. Compiling a list of potential donors, though, can be done legally as long as you are not contacting them to solicit donations until after you have legally filed paperwork as a candidate.

928. Have you cataloged who is likely to give you money?

929. Does it include family?

930. Does it include friends?

931. Does it include co-workers?

932. Does it include professional associates?

933. Does it include personal acquaintances?

This is the start of your fundraising list. The people most likely to contribute to your campaign are the people that you already have established relationships with. People that already know you and like you are the easiest people to convert to supporters.

934. Does it include party officials and members?

935. Does it include interest group members?

936. Does it include PACs?

937. If legal, does it include corporations?

Another key pathway to explore is that of organizations in your district, and the broader region, that are publicly already taking part in political battles. If they discover that you are a new potential champion for their cause, then they are likely to be among your most dedicated supporters. Make sure not only to check local laws about who can give, but also check the local political climate. If everyone in your area rejects candidates that take donations from PACs or corporations, for instance, then taking money from them is likely to hurt your overall candidacy.

938. Does it include groups/candidates you have donated to in the past?

It is super valid to ask for a contribution from a person whose campaign you donated to in previous elections.

## Fundraising Research

939. Have you done the research to see what individuals give money in your district?

There are two major approaches to starting your research into donors. You can research contributors to past campaigns through online public campaign finance databases. Contacting contributors through cold-calling, however, is not very likely to raise much money. It is much better to use personal connections to bridge the gap between you and donors. Public lists can help you start the process of finding contributors, especially if you find out that you know people that are regular contributors already or if you know people that can introduce you to regular contributors.

940. Have you done the research to see what groups give money in your district?

These reports are publicly available and you need to get them. Campaign finance regulators require candidates to submit this info and then they publish it online. Obtain or purchase that information (based on applicable law and policy).

941. Have you examined who has given to other campaigns?

These lists can guide you by connecting you with people you, your staff or your surrogates already know. Word of mouth and six degrees of separation is a valid approach to finding and meeting potential donors.

942. Have you seen who gives to local cultural institutions, civic organizations and nonprofits?

While it is not a guarantee that they will also contribute to political campaigns, you should not rule it out. Cold calling is still a pretty bad approach with this crowd, so try to pursue more effective methods.

943. Have you determined who dislikes your opponent and is likely to contribute?

Politics is a realm where "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is often true. Find out who dislikes your opponent and why. If you share the same reasons (or complementary ones), then it is easier to connect and easier to get them to contribute to your campaign.

## Fundraising Methods

944. Are you using call time to raise money?

Put this book down and go start using call time to raise money. You need to dedicate several hours a day to call time. It is never fun and you will not want to do it, but there are few things a candidate can do that are more high reward than call time.

945. Are you using personal meetings to raise money?

This is one of the most effective ways to raise money, especially large sums of money. Set up personal meetings with people who have money and give it to candidates like you. Then pitch them on you, your campaign and your ideas for getting into office. Tell them how their money will be used to help you win.

946. Are you using events to raise money?

You should absolutely be doing this. Both high-end fancy events for big donors and low-donor events open to the general public. Do a wide variety of events with a wide variety of groups and organizations.

947. Are you using phone banks to raise money?

They are not the highest success rate, but if you have the staff and the ability to do it right, it can help raise money.

948. Are you using direct mail to raise money?

Still one of the best ways to raise money, direct mail should always be part of your strategy.

949. Are you using e-mail to raise money?

E-mail is also still a powerhouse when it comes to fundraising and you should be using this tool pretty much daily.

950. Are you using social networks to raise money?

Again, a lot of these questions are rhetorical. You should definitely be using social networks.

## The Fundraising Ask

951. Does your money pitch include the campaign metrics?

You should be letting potential donors know not just how you are spending their money, but what effect their dollars have on actual campaign-related metrics. Tell them how many mailers their contribution pays for. Or how many volunteer packets it pays for. Or something concrete. Give real numbers that show people that they matter.

952. When approaching a potential donor, do you know them well?

It sure helps if you do. If you do not, do your research. Find out about what makes them tick and what makes them give money. And talk about those things or related things, as much is appropriate. The more you can make the discussion about them and their impact on the election and how supporting you helps support their goals, the more likely they are to give.

953. Do they share a profession with you?

A shared history that you can discover with a donor is one of the easiest ways to find a connection that gets them to support you. Having worked in the same profession as someone gives you lots of opportunities to chat about things that can build bonds.

954. Do they share values with you?

955. Do they reject your opponent's values?

Shared values is the most common and effective way to get donors to invest in your campaign. If you have shared values (or shared opposition to your opponent's values), they are much more willing to contribute. People want elected officials that will represent them and their values before government.

956. Do they think you are going to win?

You have to convince donors that you have a chance to win. If it looks like you are going to lose and you cannot convince them otherwise, it will seem like they are wasting money by investing it in your campaign. Nobody wants to waste money.

957. Before making the ask, did you learn enough about the donor to know what the best approach to asking them is?

The most successful way to get a donor to say yes is to connect with them. You do this by getting to know them and showing them that you have shared values or history or something like that. What do you have in common with this person?

958. Did you ask people for money even if you did not think they had it?

It hurts, but you still have to do it. A donation to your campaign is an investment in their future that will pay off in better policies and better performance on the job.

959. Did you ask people who always give money, even if you were afraid they might be over-asked?

If they have been convinced to give before, why cannot you convince them this time? Why would not you try?

960. Have you prepared a fund-raising kit for potential donors that includes a resume, bio, explanation of message, vision, big ideas and values, campaign plan, fundraising plan, recent polling, recent articles, list of endorsements, campaign lit and photos?

Best practice.

961. Are you providing people specific info about how their donations are spent?

962. Are you informing donors of your progress?

These things reward donors and give them confidence that their donation was respected. It makes them more likely to give again and more likely to recruit others to give.

## Fundraising Assistance

963. Have you recruited friends/allies to solicit contributions on your behalf?

You have to learn that you need the help of others to win a campaign. You need to learn how to get past any shame or fear or discomfort with asking people to help you. If you cannot consistently ask people to contribute to your campaign in one way or another, then you are not likely to win.

964. Have you found surrogates who will ask your list or their list for contributions?

If no one is willing to help you do this, then you probably have not done enough preparation before running. If it is clear that you are a serious candidate with professional staff and concrete progressive values, you will attract surrogates. Do not wait for them, of course, recruit them, but it is easier when you have put in the work.

965. Have you identified and asked party groups, national organizations and interest groups that do contributions?

Often these groups will not contribute unless they have endorsed you. And they usually will not endorse you unless you have filled out a questionnaire and/or completed an in-person interview or appearance. But once a group endorses you, it is very valid to ask them about possible contributions or other support.

## Vetting Your Donors

966. Have you looked at your donors and expenditures to see what they say about you?

Who gives you money? Whom do you give money to? These things reflect who you are and what your values are, regardless of what you actually say your values are.

967. Do you have a process to vet donors?

968. Are you vetting donors to make sure there are no questionable donors or contributions?

You need a formal process to look into each donor and make sure that accepting a contribution from them will not harm your campaign or tacitly support someone or something anathema to your values. Do your research.

969. Are you getting donations from a wide variety of sources?

People will study your donations list for trends and patterns and they will likely overstate the reality of any patterns they find. The best way to counter this type of story is to make sure to diversify your contributions to make sure they are as representative of the district as possible.

970. Are most of your donations from small donors or large donors?

971. What is the average size of your donation?

Track these numbers very well. The smaller your average donation, the more you can make the case that you are a candidate of the people. The larger your average donation, the more you will have to explain how you are not beholden to the wealthy or special interests.

972. Are there any particular fields that more of your donations come from than others?

973. Are any of these fields controversial?

Do not guess, know.

974. Do a large percentage of your contributions come from lobbyists, corporations, PACs or other organizations or individuals that are widely disliked, particularly in your district?

You should either minimize these kinds of contributions or refuse to take them altogether. When you need to raise as much money as possible, it can seem counterintuitive to turn down money. But when those giving the money are widely despised by Americans, and progressives in particular, it may not be worth it. It can prevent others from contributing to your campaign and it can help opponents portray you as dishonest or hypocritical. Not all lobbyists and PACs are created the same; however, as a progressive voter would be much less offended if you took a check from Planned Parenthood than they would be if you took a check from the National Rifle Association.

975. Are a large percentage of your contributions come from the district, neighboring areas and state you live in?

976. Do too many of your donations come from D.C.?

Try to keep the percentage of contributions from in the district as high as possible. You want your contributions to primarily come from your constituents. If you take many contributions from outside the district, especially if they come from D.C., people on both sides of the aisle will call you out about it.

977. Are you ready to release information to press/bloggers on how much money you have raised, the total number of donations, average donations, online donations and local donations?

They want this info, their readers want it and they will attack you more for not revealing the details than they will if you did poorly. Be honest and share the information, even if it looks bad. If you do not want it to look bad, raise more money.

## Tracking Your Donors

978. Do you have a system to keep track of donor details?

Start one now. Using Excel, Google Sheets or some sort of database. You need a system to track not only the legally-required details for all of your donors, but any information you need to convert donors into more active participants in the campaign. Knowledge of their interests, goals, other networks they belong to, etc., are the key ways to do this.

979. Who is in charge of tracking contributions?

This has to be a dedicated staffer who works on this every day. If you are raising money properly, donations will be coming in every day. It is super important to stay as up-to-the-minute as possible with tracking contributions and complying with legal requirements.

980. Who is in charge of filing campaign finance reports?

Make sure this person is professional and well-paid.

981. Who is in charge of writing thank you notes to contributors?

This is an important process for retaining the support of donors and encouraging repeat donations. Be authentic and personally sign the thank you notes yourself.

982. Who is in charge of making sure that donors submit all the proper information?

Donations that are improperly obtained without the required legal information are likely to cost you more than they gain you. Have your most detail-oriented staff follow up on all donor information so that you are compliance with the law.

# Chapter 16. Field/GOTV

## Voter Contact

983. Do you have a plan to identify voters and prioritize voter contact?

If you do not have a written plan to identify voters and prioritize which voters to contact and through which methods to use in contacting them, then you do not have a voter contact plan.

984. Are you setting up a precinct captain plan?

If you have the resources, this is a very good idea. Precinct captains can be the frontline of the campaign: persuading neighbors, hosting informative house parties, following up on absentee ballots and/or voting, arranging transportation to the polls, reporting to the campaign about turnout or problems on election day, etc. With a formal structure to establish and maintain infrastructure for your campaign, winning gets a lot easier.

985. What are the key demographics in the neighborhoods you are canvassing?

Know where you are going and who is going to be there. Never be completely random. Always be intentional.

986. Are you sending people of similar demographics to canvass those neighborhoods?

People are much more likely to listen to people who look, act and speak like they do. They are also more responsive to those who come from the neighborhood or close by. Connections and trust, once again.

987. Do you have a plan for outreach to snowbirds and seasonal residents?

988. Do you have a plan for reaching out to college students away at college?

Transient voters are still voters; they just face more barriers to successfully casting their ballot. If you help them overcome those barriers, you build trust and support.

989. Have you come up with creative ways to reach out to voters?

And by "you," what we mean here is "your campaign." Brainstorming sessions should be encouraged on your campaign and innovation should be rewarded.

990. Do you have a system to keep track of voter details?

991. Do you have a system to keep track of voter contacts and sentiment toward the campaign?

These questions are rhetorical. Track everything.

## Staff/Volunteer Preparation

992. Do your staff/volunteers know where to go if voters ask for help with voting, information, etc.?

Any person that has contact with the public has to know 100% of the answers to the reasonable questions that voters will have about the election, the district and voting in general. If the voter is asking you these questions and the answer is "I do not know," then you increase the chances that the voter becomes a non-voter. Your staff should be fully prepared to prioritize removing barriers to voting, no matter how legitimate those barriers might seem.

993. Is there a method for staff/volunteers to get feedback from voters to senior staff?

While senior staff should not be regularly monitoring feedback and messages from voters, someone regularly should be examining these things and providing feedback when necessary or helpful. Senior staff should decide the rules and guidelines for this process and junior staff should not take matters into their own hands, but this process should be pretty formalized and should include training in spotting the things that are most important to you and to the district.

994. Do your staff/volunteers know what to do when they encounter reporters?

Make sure they know what they are allowed to say and prepare them so that these encounters are not scary for them or dangerous for you.

995. Do your staff/volunteers know what to do when they encounter hostile voters?

They need to know both what to say and how to protect themselves and how to de-escalate and remove themselves from bad situations that do not endanger them or somehow reflect negatively on you. Train them.

996. Do your staff/volunteers know what to do when voters report fraud or abuse of voting rights?

You should have a policy for what they should do, step-by-step, that should be largely authored by lawyers and experts in the field.

## Phonebanks

997. Do you have phonebanks set up to identify supporters far in advance of the election?

Do not fall for the mistake that phonebanks are only valuable for voter turnout or late in the cycle. Identifying voter support, volunteers, donors and other information from the district can be handled by early-cycle phonebanking. Some of the functions of polling can be better handled by early phonebanking.

998. Do you have follow-up phonebanks planned?

If not, start setting them up now. You will need them.

999. Do you have phonebanks set up for voter persuasion?

These should be done early to the middle part of the campaign and should be focused on both persuading voters to show up to vote and persuading them to vote for you specifically.

1000. Do you have phonebanks set up for getting out the vote?

These are designed to make sure that the people that are going to vote for you remember to make the time and get to the polls. Do this for early voting and vote-by-mail as well.

## Canvassing

1001. Are your canvassers trained to be polite and respectful?

At all times, anyone engaging in voter contact on your behalf should be polite and respectful. This does not mean that you have to put up with abuse, but that there are policies in place to deal with harassment and abuse that protect both your canvassers and the voters.

1002. Do you have a dress code for canvassers?

You should and it should be based on three primary principles: 1. Appropriate for professional work, 2. Explicitly reflective of the campaign and the candidate and 3. Comfortable for staffers so they are safe and have a good time. Find the balance between supporting the campaign message and goals and the safety and comfort of your canvassers.

1003. Are canvassers dressed appropriately for the weather?

1004. Do they have sufficient food, water and break time so they do not have health concerns and stay comfortable and happy?

Comfort and safety are important for your volunteers. Make sure that the field experience can be as positive as possible to get the best results and retain volunteers.

1005. Does your field team have signs, campaign fashion, creative outreach and bilingual materials?

If you have these materials, make sure that you have them in languages that reflect the diversity of the district. Do not close off anyone in the district from the various parts of your campaign and its merchandise unless you have to.

1006. Do your canvassers know the details about what politicians are popular/unpopular in the area they are walking?

If you are canvassing someone's home and they do not know you, they are likely to ask you questions to establish whom you are and why you are at their door. They are likely to ask you about politicians, either locally or nationally, and your answers may determine whether or not they engage in you. The easiest way for them to bail is for you to not know what they are talking about.

1007. Do they know about sports teams in the area?

1008. Are you making sure not to canvass during a time when there is a big game happening or something else that will make people upset that you are bothering them?

Violating a devoted sports fan's time watching their team is a super easy way to make someone dislike you.

1009. Are you avoiding canvassing times based on religious observances of your district/neighborhood?

The same thing goes for people during religious observances. If you violate the sanctity of the event, you will likely offend not just those people, but also others who share or respect their faith.

1010. Do you have a back-up plan for inclement weather and alternate work for volunteers to do?

If the weather gets too rough, you cannot have your canvassers keep working. At least not on canvassing. Make sure that you have transportation to help them get out of the bad weather and make sure that you still have productive work for them to do if they cannot canvass.

1011. Do you have a strategy for your canvassing plan?

1012. Which houses are you hitting first?

1013. Which houses are you avoiding?

As with all things campaign, be intentional when you canvass. Choose which houses to visit and not visit based on a strategy and data. Plan your routes through canvassing areas to maximize the number of houses you can hit with the time and personnel you have.

1014. Do canvassers have literature?

1015. Do your canvassers have maps, voter lists, sheets to record responses, paper, pens, and clipboards?

Do not send people out into the field without the things they need to canvass and an easy way to resupply.

1016. Have you prepared a script for canvassers?

1017. Do they practice it before they go into the field?

Do not sent canvassers into the field without a script and sufficient time to practice the script so that it is personalized and sounds natural when your canvassers say it.

1018. What houses are you re-canvassing?

1019. Are you sending the same canvassers back to those houses?

Later in the campaign, it will be important to shift canvassing away from information gathering and sharing and towards GOTV. Heavily focus on the households where people are likely to vote if reminded and likely to support and re-canvass those houses.

1020. What is your accountability plan for canvassers?

You have to have a system in place that will make sure that your canvassers are doing the job you send them to do. Track the details of who gets sent out and what they come back with and look for unexplained variances in effort and success levels. Make sure that canvassers know that there is an accountability plan and what that plan requires of them.

1021. What is your system for tracking voter responses?

1022. How do you get that information into your database?

Have a system that makes sure that the data you collect is kept safe and gets into your database as quickly as possible so it can be of use.

## Other Types of Contact

1024. Do you have a plan for lit drops?

If you have an excess of volunteers at times when most voters are not at home, it may be more valuable to engage in lit drops. While not as effective as more direct forms of voter contact, lit drops can help increase both name recognition and positive impressions of the candidate, if well made. Negative lit drops can harm you (or your opponents) as well.

1025. Do you have a plan for leafleting?

Are there community events or other places where large populations are available to reach out to? Many large events do not allow for leafleting or put restrictions on what you can hand out. Pay strict attention to these laws and guidelines, because violating them can get you in quite a bit of trouble.

1026. Do you have a schedule for visibility events?

These events should be held early on in order to get your name recognition up and later on to remind people of the impending election and the need to get to the polls.

1027. Do you have a calendar for canvassing and phone banking?

You should and it should be as full as possible.

1028. Do you have a calendar for house parties?

1029. Do you have a plan on how house parties are to be planned and run?

These should be less frequent, set up for specific reasons and volunteer-directed, although all volunteers should run these events in coordination with the campaign and should receive campaign assistance on materials and an agenda and activities for the event.

## Rapid Response

1030. Do you have a rapid response team to comment on blogs and media articles, respond to polls and vote in contests?

Opportunities will come up for volunteers and supporters to give you assistance by helping control the message on various websites where public comment are allowed. Some people do read those comments and they have some influence on the way readers act as a response to what they read. And by recruiting volunteers to comment, like, share and vote in online polls, you both have a small influence on public opinion and you give supporters something concrete to do that can have an impact.

1031. Do you have a letter to the editor and media contact program for volunteers?

Start one now. This is a relatively easy and cheap way to get your message out. And this type of higher-level work is great for volunteers to do something for the campaign that allows them to see the impact of their work and allows them to use their creativity to help you.

1032. Do you provide them with talking points?

1033. Do you provide them with the details on how to submit letters/blog posts or call into radio/TV shows?

Create a toolkit that includes talking points, suggested messaging and details on how to complete the task.

## Election Day

1034. Do you have an election day plan for how to utilize personnel?

If you do not have a written plan for how to utilize all staff, volunteers, interns, surrogates and supporters on election day, then you do not have an election day plan.

1035. Do you have a leader to run that plan and make decisions about changes in tactics if necessary?

Election Day activities differ from many other aspects of the campaign, so it is important to designate someone with the proper knowledge and experience to manage those efforts and properly deploy your staff and volunteers to maximize the last-minute impact they can have.

1036. Do you have people to provide visibility at all polling locations?

1037. Do you have people to provide visibility during early voting?

As much as legally allowable, are you providing for visibility at polling locations? Signs, supporters in t-shirts, waving, etc.? Are you providing water if it is hot or coffee if it is cold or pizzas if the lines are long? Are you offering assistance to voters who face problems or do not understand the process?

1038. Do you have drivers on standby to give people rides to the polls?

Some people will volunteer just to do this, although the trend in recent years is for ridesharing apps to offer free rides to the polls or other companies or sponsors to pay for transportation.

1039. What about for transporting the candidate and materials?

Unless you are on a super-small campaign, you should have a driver whose primary responsibility is to transport the candidate. The candidate should be focused on other things and should not be doing their own driving, both because it wastes time and because it increases the chances of a negative news story if the candidate is driving and something bad happens, like an accident.

1040. Do you have election day phonebankers?

You should be phonebanking on election day until the polls close. In many elections, the difference between winning and losing is only a few hundred or a few thousand votes. Do not lose by a small margin when there was more you could have done.

1041. Are you pulling staff off of less important aspects of the campaign and putting them into the field on primary and election day?

On election day, nothing matters except GOTV. Transfer everyone to work that gets people into the voting booths.

# Chapter 17. Events

1042. What is your presence in the community going to be?

Early in your campaign, you should decide what level of public presence you are going to have at community events and plan your staff and resources deployment around that concept. If you are running as a grassroots or people-powered candidate, you obviously need to have a presence at most, if not all, community events. It does not have to be you 100% of the time, but it should be a branded presence, including t-shirts and signs. If you are not pursuing a grassroots strategy as part of your campaign, what are you replacing it with? There are not a lot of ways to replicate the value of a strong community presence. Money might not even be enough to do it. And it is harder to do it later in the cycle that it is earlier.

1043. Does each event you plan help the campaign meet its message goals?

If any event does not do this, then you should fix the event so it does or cancel it.

1044. How frequently are you planning events?

The right amount of events varies depending on how far away from election day you are and how big your district is. The bigger your district, the more events you should be planning. In really big districts or statewide offices, the candidate does not even have to attend all of them, as it will not be possible. Overall, your goal will be to contact voters enough times to make sure that they vote and they vote for you. Events are a big part of this, both through the direct contact that they afford you to voters that and through the earned media that events can get you.

1045. Are you planning or attending events frequently enough to establish your presence in the community?

Attending events organized by others has the advantage of being less work for your staff. On the other hand, you have less control over the message and you have less time to speak to the entire audience.

1046. Are you planning a variety of events in terms of the location, time, day of the week and potential audience?

You have to do this so that you are giving yourself a chance to contact all of the voters you are pursuing. If you are always doing events during the same time block on the same day, you will narrow down the potential audience your events will reach.

1047. After each event, are you doing things to reinforce the message of the event such as talking to media, appearing on radio/TV shows, writing blog posts, online chats, etc.?

In order to maximize the value of your events, do not let the event end when the people walk out the door. If you gathered voter and volunteer information, you should act on this as soon as you can. Get the voter data into your database, whatever you are using. Get the volunteer information into your volunteer database and immediately start your process of contacting and activating them.

You should also make sure that you have pictures and video from the event. If you have good pictures and video, you need to get them on your website and on social media as soon as you can after the event. The use of event pictures and videos is also useful for your e-mail program, which should help establish that you are an active candidate who is talking to voters all the time.

Events should be regularly shared with the media, too. Invite media to all public events that are going to be newsworthy. What is newsworthy varies from location to location, though, and the best way to understand what is newsworthy in your district is by regularly consuming the local and regional media and by reaching out to reporters and editors and learning what they will share with you and what you can do to make their job of reporting on you easier.

## Event Calendar

1048. Do you have a calendar for candidate appearances and canvassing?

Start one now. You should always track appearances at all community events, both before and after the events. You need to know where you need to be at all times, so you can be prepared for the appearance and be on time. It is also important not to over-book your time or miss events that you have committed to because of scheduling conflicts or errors. Even when you are not around, volunteers and staff need to know where you are and know what everyone should be doing in support of your campaign.

1049. Do you have a calendar of community events and activities the candidate is invited to?

This should be done as early in the campaign as possible. You need to know in advance what the important community events are and which ones you are invited to. As much as possible, you should go to events that you are invited to that have a chance of helping you achieve your goals, which is most events that are open to voters.

1050. Do you have a protocol in place for best using the candidate's time during these events?

This process should be worked out early in the campaign and refined over time. If you are at an event and the candidate is doing a bunch of standing around, you are not doing it right. As a candidate, all of your time is valuable and it should not be wasted.

1051. Do you have a plan for scheduling and organizing original events and making sure people show up to them?

The famous _Field of Dreams_ quote, "If you build it, they will come" should not be taken literally. If you just plan an event and expect people to show up, you will be disappointed. You actually have to do the work to build the crowd. This does not just mean advertising or putting the event out on social media, although those are valid things to do. You need to do the research to find out who the audience is for the event you are planning and do the work to find those people and give them a reason to come to the event.

1052. Have you set location and made arrangements for parties for primary and general election night?

If you ran a good campaign, then your supporters will want to find out the results in a community setting, especially if you have a good chance of winning. Give them a party to thank them for their efforts, even if you are going to lose. Make it a party worth going to and make sure that all your supporters get invited.

1053. Are you planning town hall meetings?

High-frequency voters tend to love town hall meetings and the fact that such events give them a chance to directly and personally interact with politicians and candidates. Many will already be planned in your district, although they generally will not be focused solely on you and your race. Participate in those events when the timing, subject and audience are to your benefit. If you can plan your own event where you are more of the focus, and it can be planned efficiently and effectively, can be more valuable.

1054. Are you planning any tours of the district/state/etc.?

A tour of the district can be a powerful and quick way to interact with a large number of potential voters. Such tours have to be well-planned to be valuable. You have to coordinate the tour with local organizations and leaders who will take the lead on making your visit to their town or event space valuable. Such a tour is also a notable way to earn media, so make sure that you are reaching out to press and bloggers to promote the tour before and after it takes place.

1055. Do you have events that provide opportunities for the public to give the candidate feedback?

If not, you are closing off one of the easiest channels to win over voters. The average American wants to be able to provide their feedback and ideas to their representatives in government. If you provide them those channels even before you get into office, you will increase your levels of trust and open up more pathways to connecting with voters.

## Event Planning

1056. Who is responsible for planning the event?

You need to know both who is responsible for planning the event and who is responsible within your campaign to plan your participation in those events. The person on your campaign in charge of coordinating the event should be in direct contact with the event organizer.

**1057. What type of event is it** — **public, private, media, rally, etc.?**

Deciding whom the event is for should be one of the first decisions made. How you plan everything else will depend on who the audience for the event is and why you want that audience at the event.

1058. Who is inviting the media to the event?

Someone from you communications team should be inviting the media to all events that are appropriate (this should be a team decision, not a solo call). One of the most important things you can get from an event is earned media. You have to invite the media to get that.

1059. Have they done follow-up calls?

Reporters are busy. They have many things to cover. Make it easier for them to cover you buy following up to see who is coming and if they are not coming, why are not they coming. This is valuable information.

1060. Did they follow up with the media after the event?

Always follow up with the media after an event, especially those who showed up. Make sure they have any resources needed (such as reports or fliers) and that you answer any questions they have. The easier you make it for them to tell your story, the more likely they are to tell it.

1061. Is it easy for the media to attend the event?

If you make it hard for the media to attend the event, for instance by putting it at a bad time or in a remote location without enough advance reason and an incentive to attend, they will not show up.

1062. Are you providing something for the media to report on in this event?

Not only will reporters not write a story if you do not give them something newsworthy when they come to your event, they will be less likely to come to future events you plan.

1063. Did you invite bloggers to the event?

You should 100% do this. Bloggers are not just amateur reporters; they are advocates and participants. The more you welcome them, the more likely they are to help you get votes.

1064. Who is arranging for the location for the event?

This should be a designated person who builds relationships with venues and their owners. Event locations should not only be chosen well in advance, they should be inspected and details of what you can and cannot do should be worked out with the owner.

1065. Is it free or paid?

Be careful about paying for venues, as it can be expensive and free venues are usually plentiful for political activity. If it is paid, you have to make sure that you will get more value from renting that location than it cost.

1066. Did the check get dropped off?

This type of follow-through is super important. If you are tardy with people's money, they will not respond well.

1067. Who is doing the crowd build for the event?

For each event, someone should be working on crowd build. Designate a staffer to be in charge of this, but most events will have local hosts or organizers from outside the campaign and you should coordinate with them.

1068. Have you planned to have a crowd to fit the size of the venue?

Know the venue in advance. Know how many people it holds. Work to get that many people. If the crowd is too big, turned away people will be upset. If the crowd is too small, you will send the message that you do not have enough support. These are not the messages you want to send.

1069. Have you reached out to others for crowd builds?

It is pretty hard for a starting candidate to be able to effectively build crowds alone. Work with other like-minded candidates and community leaders to build joint crowds or to have them help you with crowd builds for your events.

1070. Have you used social media for crowd builds?

It can be very effective if you are using it according to the most up-to-date professional standards. Use a professional social media person, on staff or as a consultant. Do not half-ass it.

1071. Have you planned for a percentage of the people who said they would attend actually not showing up?

There are various rules of thumb about projecting your actual crowd from those who said they were going to show up. A percentage of the population RSVPs to events and does not attend. This will always happen, no matter what you do. But, if you are doing things right and you are building crowds the correct way, using media and social media as part of your strategy, you'll get people attending that did not even RSVP, and you may be able to balance these things out.

1072. Have follow-up calls been done for the crowd build?

One contact is not enough to persuade most people to do what you want them to. You need to contact them over and over again and follow-up calls are one of the most effective ways to boost participation in events.

1073. Is it easy for people to find and attend the event?

1074. If not, how are you making it easier for people to find the event?

Provide exact addresses for those using GPS. Give the name of the building, if it has one. Provide maps, especially those that tell people how to enter the building correctly to get to your event. Tell people about parking. Tell them about costs. Let them know about the accessibility of the venue. At the venue, put up signs or have volunteers direct people to the right place. The easier the venue is to find, the more people will show up.

## Attending Events Organized by Others

1075. Who is holding the event?

You should always know who is sponsoring, organizing and running and event. You need to know this because participating in event is a tacit endorsement of those that are sponsoring the event. Just as importantly, the reason you are going to an event is to connect with those who are participating. Do your homework in advance, so you can make authentic connections at the event.

1076. Does attending reinforce your message?

If not, then why attend? There might be other reasons, but do not assume that there are, find out and make an intentional decision.

1077. Is it at an acceptable location?

Who owns it? What else happens there? Whom do the donors contribute to? What policies does the owner enforce? What impact will these things have on your voter base?

1078. Do you know all the relevant details for each event?

The who, what, when, where, why and how of the event. Do you know them before the event? If not, why not?

1079. When is the event?

While candidates are often late because of their busy schedules, avoiding as many schedule conflicts as possible is important. Missing someone's event is going to naturally make them less favorable towards you unless you make sure to avoid as many conflicts as possible and communicate well with supporters. Do not miss things you do not have to. You cut down on that by knowing when events are and what conflicts might exist.

1080. Where is the event?

Location is obviously super important and you need to know exactly where to go, not just the address, but where on the property once you arrive.

1081. How long is the event?

Knowing how long the event lasts and when it starts and ends can help you plan your schedule. Especially if you have multiple requests for events that are on the same day. Do they overlap? Can you make both? How far apart are they? When in the schedule are you supposed to speak? Are the people running either event flexible and will they work with you to accommodate your busy schedule?

1082. How long is the candidate supposed to be there?

Why are you appearing? Are you speaking or just there to network? How long is your speech? Is the press available? You need to know all the details so you know how long you are expected to participate and what you are expected to do. You do not have to follow those expectations, but if you know what they are, it is easier for you to manage them.

1083. What is the dress code?

Find out what it is and dress appropriately. Being overdressed or underdressed is what is called in tennis an "unforced error." There is no need to ever make this mistake; all you have to do is do your advance work. This one is not a major error, either way, but the more little mistakes you make over time, the more they can add up to a synergistic effect that makes voters think less of you.

## Appropriate Venues

1084. Have you checked out the venue?

Are there any particular problems with the venue? Is it owned by a person inconsistent with your stated values? Do problematic people or organizations hold events or frequent the venue? Is the venue inaccessible to your supporters, especially with those with disabilities? Is it large enough for your needs? Is it too large for your needs?

1085. Have you made sure the "shot" is not offensive or problematic in any way?

At any event, pretty much everyone in the audience has a camera in their pocket. And that does not even count press. When you are standing in front of the crowd and everyone is taking your photo, what else is in the picture? Think of signs, pictures, flags or anything that looks like background and make sure it is not inappropriate or going to lead you to embarrassment if a picture gets taken with you and that background.

1086. Did you do a walkthrough the day of the event?

You or someone on your staff should walk through the event space before the event begins. Look at everything in the space to make sure it reflects your values and your messaging. If anything is off, ask organizers to find a solution that works for you and them.

1087. Is the venue TV-friendly?

You are running for office and that means you want TV coverage. Does the venue allow for that? Does it have the proper space and angles and size that you need to get good TV coverage? And since most phones these days are video-capable, you have to imagine any event getting on TV via phone as well.

1088. Does the location fit your message?

Are you running as a progressive and the event is being held at a Chik-fil-a? Do not go. Make sure that the venue is consistent with your message and your values. And this is not just a warning to stay away from venues with problematic owners or policies or whatever; it is also a reminder to reward good owners and venues by giving them your business and/or tacit endorsement by holding an event at their venue.

1089. Who owns it?

What do they do when you are not there? What is their party? Whom do they give money to? What do they say in the media and on social media? Do these things all come together, make sense and jibe with your values? Do not guess, find out.

1090. Is it a union hall?

This is almost universally a good idea, as long as the union is not actively involved in an issue or event that is inconsistent with your values and message. For instance, if you are running on a platform criticizing police brutality, you probably do not want to hold your event at a venue owned by the International Union of Police Associations, which has been highly critical of those who protest police brutality.

1091. Is it a party headquarters?

If you are running as a Democrat and it is a Democratic location, you are totally good. If you are running as an outsider or an independent, this can be more detrimental.

1092. Is it a public space?

If so, are you allowed to engage in partisan activity there? Is it open to the public? Will the public be able to disrupt your event? Will your event disrupt other events in that space or cause problems for others that use it? If you have no control over the venue and cannot ensure that you have the ability to control the way your event looks and comes across to the press and media, you probably do not want to use that location.

1093. Is it owned by a corporation?

Which corporation? What do they do? What is their image among progressives? What policies do they enforce that may be antithetical to your values?

1094. Is the agenda of the owner of the venue appropriate?

Find out. Savvy voters will know and they will associate you with people who do bad things if you hold events at venues owned by those people.

1095. What other events take place at the venue?

1096. Are any of them inappropriate?

Find out. Check schedules. Check the media. Check social media. Find out what happens in this location so you know that it is appropriate to be associated with. Stay away from venues that will get you in trouble.

## Materials

1097. Do you have signs and are they appropriately placed?

At any public event you are in charge of, you should have your signs displayed in an appropriate and tasteful manner. The photos from the event taken by any media or supporters should feature your name in the background, if possible. Anywhere else, you should set up signs if you can do so in ways that are not inappropriate or illegal.

1098. Are the appropriate flags present?

As silly as it sounds, there will always be people that pay attention and there will always be complaints if you do not do it right. The only 100% safe flags are the American flag and flags of other government entities and those of other formal U.S. institutions that are appropriate (schools, military, etc.). Be super careful with foreign flags unless you are in a venue that is frequented by immigrants from the country in question. Some conservatives will still attack you for such things, but they were not going to vote for you anyway. Work with the people you are talking to and hope to have vote for you, not their opponents.

1099. Do you have a microphone?

Get one. Demand that one be present at all of your events. No matter what anyone says, you need the mic. No matter how loud you think you are, you need the mic. It is not about you and what you think of your voice, it is about the audience and what they can hear. There has never been a crowd where 100% of the audience is great hearing and can understand all accents and voices equally. You need to be louder than any human talking voice without screaming. This needs to be true at all times so everyone in the room can hear all of what you say.

1100. Is it a handheld microphone or on a podium or stand?

Know in advance. This way you know whether or not you need to adjust things and whether or not you have a place to put notes or a speech down.

1101. Do you have literature?

1102. Do you have chum?

If not, send someone to get it ASAP.

1103. Do you have contribution envelopes?

If not, you are misunderstanding the very idea of coming to the event in the first place.

1104. Do you have sign-in sheets?

Have these ready at all times and make sure they are at any event you organize so you can capture the information of visitors. This is one of the most important things you can do at an event.

1105. Do they ask for full name?

If you do not have a full name, you cannot identify a voter.

1106. Do they ask for phone numbers?

If you do not have a phone number, how can you contact them?

1107. Do they ask for permission to sign people up for your text message program, if appropriate?

You should have a checkbox asking people to opt into your text program. You should absolutely not add anyone to your text list that did not explicitly say "yes" to being on the list.

1108. Do they ask for addresses?

If you are asking for contributions, you will need addresses. If you are trying to contact them in the future, to send mailers or request absentee ballots or whatever you can legally do in your district with those addresses, you will need this info. And do not assume that the information that is in a voter file or other database is correct. Always keep updating your data.

1109. Do they ask for e-mail addresses?

Your sign-in sheet has to ask for e-mail addresses. They are both very valuable and the first sign that you are running a competent campaign.

1110. Do they make a volunteer ask?

It is super important to always ask for volunteers. You always need them and you always need more of them.

1111. Do you have pens, paper, clipboards, etc.?

You will need them. Always have them on hand and always know who is in charge of bringing them and resupplying.

1112. Is there a podium or something else for the media to put recorders/microphones on?

Ideally, you will have a lot of press at your event. One way to make sure this happens, and that they come back, is to make sure that reporters have what they need to get the information they need. Make sure they can hear. Make sure they can record what is being said. Make sure they have power outlets. Make sure they have comfortable seating options. And make things as easy as you can for them.

## VIPs

1113. Do you know what VIPs will need to be introduced and talked to at the event?

You will want the support of any VIPs who are consistent with your values. And you do not want to lose their support over inadvertent signs of disrespect. You should know in advance, as much as possible, which VIPs are going to be at any event you are hosting or appearing at and how and why they need to be recognized. You should get briefings on these things, and any of your support staff at the event should have these briefings and key staff should be able to visually recognize important people at events and be prepared to quickly provide you with important and/or relevant information that you might need to talk to that person.

1114. Who is speaking at the event?

Know who else is on the bill, that way you can adjust your messaging or be prepared for what other speakers might say. If there are controversial figures, do you want to appear with them? Will your opponent(s) be there? What are they going to say about you? What are you going to say about them?

1115. What is the speaking order?

When you speak during the lineup can make a big difference. Do you want to speak early or late? Will more people be there at the beginning or end? Are you being put in a situation where you have to respond to your opponent or other speakers? Is there any potential bias or negative implications of the speaking order?

1116. Who is introducing you?

1117. Do they know enough about you to do a good job?

Who are they? Why were they chosen? Do you know them? Do they know you? What are they going to say? Can you give them feedback? Are they friendly or hostile? If they are hostile, can you get the organizer to change? Do you have to provide someone to give the introduction?

## Message

1118. Did you ask people for their vote?

Always explicitly ask people to vote for you. As silly as it is, some people will not vote for you if you do not explicitly ask them.

1119. Did you ask people to volunteer?

You not only need to ask this explicitly, you need to direct people to your staffers who will be holding sign-up sheets for volunteers. And if it is your event, you should be gathering this information as people walk in the door.

1120. Did you ask for financial support?

You should ask several times. You should have contribution envelopes on hand. You should tell people how to give online. You should make sure that all staff on site understand campaign finance rules so there are no problems when you collect donations. You should tell everyone how you are going to use their money—be specific (e.g., $5 pays for 10 stamps to send mailers to voters). And, it is important that you not only ask the overall crowd for money, you should be ready to ask individuals for money as well when you have conversations before and after the event.

1121. Did you promote your website and social media?

These are more avenues for you to convert supporters and gather information that can be used to recruit volunteers and voters. Your website and social media should be plastered over all your printed materials and you should explicitly talk about them during any speeches.

1122. Did you promote your text program, if you have one?

You probably should have one at this point. There are various uses that a text program can have; such as crowd build for events or GOTV, and few enough campaigns are doing them that they still have significant impact if used correctly. The laws and technology are in constant flux in this area, too, so this is something that should be handled by professionals, preferably a firm that does this type of work all the time.

1123. Did you thank people for attending?

Always thank everyone for everything (as long as it is valid and relevant). People want thanks, they expect it and they can be turned off if you do not say it.

1124. Did you thank the event sponsors, hosts and organizers?

Do this explicitly in front of the crowd and, as much as possible, individually with each person. Sending personalized thank you notes afterwards is also super helpful and helps strengthen bonds.

1125. Did you announce results of campaign efforts such as fundraising totals, total doors knocked, calls made, house parties held, signatures collected, hits on a video, e-mails gathered?

As much as you can without giving away strategy, it is helpful to provide supporters (and people you want to become supporters) with concrete details of the work you are doing. They want to know you are running a serious campaign. They want to know that their vote, their time and their money are not being wasted. They wanted to see momentum and growth. Show it to them when you can and you have positive things to show them.

## Interruptions

1126. Is there a time for attendees to ask questions?

No matter how meticulously you plan an event, there will always be audience members who both feel they have something to say to you at the event and will refuse to follow protocol in exercising their free speech. This can be a challenge, or you can set up the agenda for the event to allow for questions. Person-to-person questions asked and answered in individual settings work better, but many people will feel left out if you do not schedule a time for questions in the program. There are times and places where allowing questions is a bad idea, but if it is at all possible to include them in your event, you should. A planned time for questions that is announced well in advance will go a long way to preventing unwanted interruptions.

1127. Do you have a policy on campaign trackers?

You will absolutely need one. Not only do many professional organizations on both sides of the aisle pay trackers to go to your events, many unscrupulous amateurs will go "undercover" to record video at your events, often with the intent to "trick" you with the intent to get "gotcha" footage or footage of you saying things that could be manipulated or edited to look even worse. Be aware of what campaign trackers do and be prepared to handle them.

1128. Who is on hand to deal with trackers or hecklers?

At all events, you need to designate a person to handle trackers, hecklers and other interrupters. Who will it be? Will it be your personal assistant? Or another staffer? A volunteer? Whoever it is, they should be trained in advance and be prepared to handle any type of eventuality that is plausible.

1129. How will they be dealt with?

What does local law say? What about the building the event is at? Is it taxpayer funded and thus open to the public? What are the optics of the event and you turning away or allowing trackers in? Are you going to allow recording? If you are not going to allow recording, how are you going to stop it? Are you going to eject the tracker? Is that legal? What are the optics of ejecting a tracker? Can you eject the tracker without physical confrontation or even worse video than what they might have recorded if they were allowed to film the event? Are you going to position a staffer in front of the camera to prevent usable footage from being taken? Are you going to get authorities or building staff involved? What will trigger that level of response?

# Chapter 18. Questions You Should Ask All the Time

1130. Does this waste people's time and money?

At all times you should have this question in your mind. People watch what you do with their money. Waste it and they will know and will respond accordingly. People consider their time to be precious. If you waste their time, they will remember.

1131. Is what I am saying consistent with the campaign's stated values?

It is common for people to treat apparent hypocrisy worse than they do honest criminality. If you say one thing and do another, people will not like it much. If you claim to have certain values and vote in a way that is the opposite of those values, you will lose support.

1132. How does this help advance the message of the campaign?

Whatever it is you are doing, whatever it is you are saying, and whoever it is you are saying it to, how does what you are saying help express the message you want to express? Are you supporting your mission and goals, or are you undercutting them?

1133. What else?

As soon as you come up with a plan, ask your team, what did we forget? When a voter or a reporter finishes with their questions, ask them what other questions they have. When you complete a project or complete a stack of call sheets, ask yourself what else you can do. There is always more you can do right up until the polls close on election night. Until then, keep asking yourself, "what else"?

#  About the Authors

**Kenneth "Professor Rex" Quinnell** is a father, blogger, activist, and musician from Florida. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and has worked in politics for more than 20 years. In 2004, after volunteering for his first campaign, he launched Florida Progressive Coalition, a group blog about politics in the Sunshine State. He has served in a wide variety of roles on Democratic campaigns, from volunteer to campaign manager. In 2010, he served as New Media Director for the Kendrick Meek U.S. Senate Campaign. In 2012, he worked as Communications Director for Darcy Burner's U.S. House Campaign before becoming a senior writer at AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C.

**Shawn Logue** is originally from Connecticut and resides in Washington, D.C. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and worked as a field organizer for the Ned Lamont U.S. Senate campaign in 2006. He has since been a key volunteer in elections including for governor, state assembly and local elections. He also served on the boards of local and statewide Young Democrats chapters in Connecticut and Virginia. He is currently working in the non-profit sector.

**Revolutionary Exchange Productions** is a progressive and diverse organization dedicated to artistic development and event planning in Washington, D.C.

# Resources

This section will be developed for version 2.0 of this book, with a full selection of resources related to the questions, including links and contact information for progressive professionals.

# Acknowledgements

In this section, the authors and Revolutionary Exchange Productions will thank those that helped make this book possible.

The following people contributed editing and corrections to this book: Jet Netwal, Ray Seaman, Michael Calderin, Brian Lee and Alison Berke Morano.

164
