25 Ways to Lose an Election

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, ;. ,: WAYS TO LOSE AN ELECTION . - -- W e regularly publish informa- tion about how to improve your campaign. Unfortu- nately, many campaigns are lost be- cause of simple, rudimentary mistakes. With that in mind, we at Campaigns & Elections, after talking with friends and editorial advisers across the country, have compiled a list of the most com- mon mistakes made by aspiring politi- cians and their staffs. We are presenting the story in two parts. This issue offers twenty-five sug- gestions. Five are for the candidate, five for the campaign manager, and five for the fundraising chairman; the remain- ing ten are divided among the press secretary, the scheduler, the opposition researcher, and everyone associated with a campaign. So, whatever you do in your campaign, here are the mistakes you absolutely should not make. A Candidate Should Never 1 Lie About Your Record. We live in the Information Age. A candidate's every vote can be easily located in official journals or on computer. In addition, many political speeches are preserved on videotape and audio cassette. Before attempting to rewrite history, keep in mind that your opponent's staff probably pos- sesses a thorough file on you. Any dis- tortion may prompt a call to an enter- prising reporter and destroy your credibility 2 Manage Your Own Campaign. Many good campaign managers have difficulty making the transi- tion from the back room to the speak- er's platform. By the same token, many good candidates do not make good cam- paign managers. A good candidate is one who allows the campaign manager to manage. Remember, one person can- not do two jobs at the same time-- particularly when each job consumes 12 to 18 hours of each day. 3 Leave Fundraising to Others. Unlike managing or scheduling, fundraising is a job where you must shoulder a significant part of the workload. A candidate not committed enough to ask supporters for money should not expect anyone else to do it for him. 4 Travel with a Large Entourage. Even if you are not,running as a populist, there is nothing that turns off voters more than a candidate who shows upwith an entourage more befitting an oil-rich Arab potentate. S Fail to Articulate in 25 Words or Less Why You are Running. If you can't do this, nothing else matters; your race will be over before it begins. To wit: the now-famous 1979 interview in which Ted Kennedy was unable to tell Roger Mudd why he was running for president. A Campaign Manager Should Never 6 Antagonize the Candidate'S Spouse. Whatever you do, under no circumstances should you irri- tate a spouse or an immediate family member. Regardless of gender, the spouse will almost certainly try to run the campaign. In so doing, he or she will inevitably distract the real campaign manager. If you want to keep your job, grin and bear it. The person sleeping with the candidate is more likely to have the candidate's ear. 7 Hire a Staff Without Clear Responsibilities. Campaigns are crazy enough as is. Vague job descriptions not only waste time and resources, they spur turf warfare. You are much better off if your staff's competitive juices are being directed toward the opposing campaign rather than each other. S Leave Confidential Information on Your Desk. Information is power, and cam- paign offices are full of people with less than altruistic agendas. Moles do not exist only in John Le Carre novels, and rival power centers are not the exclusive provinee of -largc multi-national cor- porations. Each can be found in many campaign offices.Take no chances. 9 Put a Steering Committee Behind the Steering Wheel. A Steering Committee is a good place for prominent people willing to donate their name and money to a cam- paign-but not much else. They should be paraded about for all to see; they should not be in charge of the cam- paign. Leave that to full-time profes- sionals. 1 0 Worry about March Mo- mentum in a NovemberElec- tion. Starting early does not mean treating each day like Election Day. The early months are ideal for raising money, devising a strategy, setting vote targets, and building name identification. If you are making all the right moves early, your polls will show momentum later, even if they do not reflect it now. Such pacing will also go far to forestall candi- date and staff pre-election burnout.

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Transcript of 25 Ways to Lose an Election

Page 1: 25 Ways to Lose an Election

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WAYS TO LOSEAN ELECTION

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We regularly publish informa-tion about how to improveyour campaign. Unfortu-

nately, many campaigns are lost be-cause of simple, rudimentary mistakes.With that in mind, we at Campaigns &Elections, after talking with friends andeditorial advisers across the country,have compiled a list of the most com-mon mistakes made by aspiring politi-cians and their staffs.

We are presenting the story in twoparts. This issue offers twenty-five sug-gestions. Five are for the candidate, fivefor the campaign manager, and five forthe fundraising chairman; the remain-ing ten are divided among the presssecretary, the scheduler, the oppositionresearcher, and everyone associatedwith a campaign. So, whatever you doin your campaign, here are the mistakesyou absolutely should not make.

A Candidate Should Never

1Lie About Your Record.We live in the Information Age.A candidate's every vote can be

easily located in official journals or oncomputer. In addition, many politicalspeeches are preserved on videotapeand audio cassette. Before attemptingto rewrite history, keep in mind thatyour opponent's staff probably pos-sesses a thorough file on you. Any dis-tortion may prompt a call to an enter-prising reporter and destroy yourcredibility

2Manage Your Own Campaign.Many good campaign managershave difficulty making the transi-

tion from the back room to the speak-er's platform. By the same token, manygoodcandidates do not make good cam-paign managers. A good candidate isone who allows the campaign manager

to manage. Remember, one person can-not do two jobs at the same time--particularly when each job consumes12 to 18 hours of each day.

3Leave Fundraising to Others.Unlike managing or scheduling,fundraising is a job where you

must shoulder a significant part of theworkload. A candidate not committedenough to ask supporters for moneyshould not expect anyone else to do itfor him.

4 Travel with a Large Entourage.Even if you are not, running as apopulist, there is nothing that

turns off voters more than a candidatewho shows upwith an entourage morebefitting an oil-rich Arab potentate.

SFail to Articulate in 25 Words orLess Why Youare Running.If you can't do this, nothing else

matters; your race will be over before itbegins. To wit: the now-famous 1979interview in which Ted Kennedy wasunable to tell Roger Mudd why he wasrunning for president.

A Campaign Manager Should Never

6Antagonize the Candidate'SSpouse. Whatever you do, underno circumstances should you irri-

tate a spouse or an immediate familymember. Regardless of gender, thespouse will almost certainly try to runthe campaign. In so doing, he or she willinevitably distract the real campaignmanager. If you want to keep your job,grin and bear it. The person sleepingwith the candidate is more likely tohave the candidate's ear.

7Hire a Staff Without ClearResponsibilities.Campaigns are crazy enough as

is. Vague job descriptions not onlywaste time and resources, they spur turfwarfare. You are much better off ifyour staff's competitive juices are beingdirected toward the opposing campaignrather than each other.

SLeave Confidential Informationon Your Desk.Information is power, and cam-

paign offices are full of people with lessthan altruistic agendas. Moles do notexist only in John Le Carre novels, andrival power centers are not the exclusiveprovinee of -largc multi-national cor-porations. Each can be found in manycampaign offices.Take no chances.

9Put a Steering Committee Behindthe Steering Wheel.A Steering Committee is a good

place for prominent people willing todonate their name and money to a cam-paign-but not much else. They shouldbe paraded about for all to see; theyshould not be in charge of the cam-paign. Leave that to full-time profes-sionals.

10Worry about March Mo-mentum in a NovemberElec-tion.

Starting early does not mean treatingeach day like Election Day. The earlymonths are ideal for raising money,devising a strategy, setting vote targets,and building name identification. If youare making all the right moves early,your polls will show momentum later,even if they do not reflect it now. Suchpacing will also go far to forestall candi-date and staff pre-election burnout.

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A Fundraising Chairman Should Never

11Ask for Money Only Once.Even the postman alwaysrings twice; a fundraising

chairman should call upon people fouror five times. If a donor has not givenyou a flat-out "No," he or she ulti-mately may make a donation. This ruleis particularly applicable to those who

. have already contributed. Your donorsbelieve in and have invested in yourcandidate. That is why a contributorwho has given once is far more likely togive in the future than someone who hasnot donated before.

12Think SmaU.The only thing worse thannot asking enough people for

money is to not ask people for enoughmoney. It is far better to flatter peopleby asking them for too much than toinsult them by asking for too little.

13Take Rejection Personally.People will say no. Some-times even a lot of people

will say no. But if love means neverhaving to say you're sorry, fundraisingmeans never feeling sorry for yourself.Expect to be turned down a lot. Itcomes with the territory.

14Assume a Pledge is a Con-tribution.People mean well, but when

all is said and done there is usuallymore said than done. A fund raisingchairman should not count money inthe bank until it has actually been de-posited.

15Keep Sloppy Records.Bad bookkeeping not onlyreduces your-ability to raise

money in the future, it can get you introuble with the Federal Election Com-mission or the state election board. Anysuch incident is sure to embarrass thecandidate.

17 Go Over a Reporter's Head.If you have a serious com-plaint, approach the reporter

directly. If you have not complainedmuch in the past and you really believeyou have been wronged, you will earnpoints for expressing your displeasuredirectly to the reporter's face. Com-plaining to his or her boss will be seen asa direct assault on his job and pocket-book. Given reporters' pay scales, thatis a mistake you do not want to make.

A Scheduler Should Never

18 Ignore Small Details andPersonal Eccentricities.Little details like what time

alLe'le.J1Ls.ta~~d the exact .locationbecome magnified when a candidatehas 13 events scheduled in a single day.Be sure you know precisely all of thedetails of a particular event-and makesure the traveling aide knows them, too.Also, keep in mind the candidate's per-sonal preferences and eccentricities.Behind an unhappy candidate often liesan unemployed scheduler.

19 Force the Candidate toB~cktrack Across the Dis-tnct.

Candidates find few things as frustrat-ing as spending most of a day riding in acar when he or she could be outsidepressing the flesh. Your job is to maxi-mize the candidate's exposure-andminimize the amount of time wasted.

2 0 Commit to an October Eventin May.A campaign needs flexibility

in the final three weeks before ElectionDay. Having to cancel scheduled eventsat the end of the campaign to providethis flexibility will unnecessarily angera lot of people who are about to stepinto the polling booth.

A Researcher Should Never

21 Leak An Attack.The element of surprise iscritical in politics. To maxi-

mize the success of an attack, youshould do everything possible to catchyour opponent off guard. The fewerpeople who know about your plannedattack, the better.

2 2 Impersonate Someone Else.There are many ways youcan go about digging up dirt

on your opponent. One way not to is totell people that you are a reporter, gov-ernment agent, or anything else. If thepress ever finds out, and it probablywill, the campaign would suffer a pain-ful body blow. Just ask Wisconsin Sen-ate candidate Ed Garvey.

No One Should Ever

23 Lie.When the lie blows up inyour face-and it will-the

candidate is not going to be the one totake the fall. Any attempt at damagecontrol means you lose your job. If yourefuse to lie, you still may be fired, butyou will leave your dignity-and fu-ture-intact. This is especially true ofpress secretaries, who once caught lyingwill quickly find they are of no value tothe campaign-or any future cam-paign. Just ask Larry Speakes.

2 4 Forget to Say Thank You.You do not need a Ph.D. inpsychology to know people

are more likely to respond positively ifthey feel appreciated. Campaigns arelong and arduous, and staffers are in-variably underpaid and overworked. Anoccasional "well done" and "thankyou" goes a long way toward increasingproductivity-and often compensatesfor an ill-timed temper tantrum.

2 5 Forget Who is the Ultimate

~~Uickest path to the un-employment line is to forget whosename is on the ballot. Only the voterscan fire a candidate. But a candidatecan easily fire a staffer-or a campaignmanager.

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A Press Secretary Should Never

16Leak to the Same Source Re-peatedly.The largest newspaper or

media outlet should not receive everyhot tip. Otherwise, the others will resentyou for always giving the break to thebig guy. Even if you save the biggestscoops for the biggest papers, toss a fewmorsels to the smaller sources everyonce in a while.