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When Jessica Jones put herself on the ballot, any individual or organization in the state could find her filing, her statement of treasurer, and realize she was a candidate running for office. While they might know her party affiliation, what they don’t know is where she stands on the issues.
Issue advocacy groups, lobbyists, and others may have an interest in Jessica’s race. They may want to make endorsements, provide money, or think about putting outside resources – independent expenditures – into her campaign. Before any of that happens, though, they must decide if Jessica is a candidate worthy of their time and effort.
Now that the filing deadline has passed in Jessica’s state, she’s prepared for her physical mailbox and email to fill up with invites from these groups to participate in surveys – a traditional way for groups to find out who you are as a candidate. This week, we’re going to talk about how to handle surveys that hit your campaign.
NOT ALL SURVEYS ARE THE SAME.
Jessica receives at least 10 surveys on her very first day from groups around the state wanting to know something about her campaign. Many are short multiple choice. Some are long with essay portions. Before she dives into handling the responses, though, Jessica might take time to look at who the surveys are from.
Conservative groups will often paper candidates with surveys in order to get them on the record about any issue. Jessica receives a survey from the NRA, Americans for Prosperity, and (state) For Life, the anti-abortion group. On the bottom of each survey reads an ominous disclosure: “Failure to respond will be interpreted as a negative response to our organization.”
Sounds scary! If she doesn’t respond, those organizations will assume she’s against them, right? What do you do? THROW THEM AWAY. There is no benefit, none, in responding to surveys by groups you know you are opposed to on policy. Your non-response will be assumed as though you oppose them – because you, in fact, do oppose them on their issue. Providing them responses to the survey, however, gives them information to use directly against you. If they don’t have a response from you, they just make assumptions about where you stand. If you provide them on the record responses from you justifying their questions, they are now free to tell people what you have said.
Some candidates and campaigns fill out confrontational surveys and file them. It’s a way to “know where you stand”. I’ve heard this frequently. I generally oppose this method, because it remains a waste of time, and I’m not a fan of leaving paper filled out anywhere that could accidentally be sent in by a volunteer or staff member. It’s just not worth it.
PRIORITIZE YOUR FRIENDS
As a Democratic candidate, you’re going to receive a lot of known friendly surveys. Unions, social issue organizations, Democratic advocacy groups. Jessica opens her mailbox and sees that she has received surveys from the local NEA, AFT, AFL-CIO, Local Labor and Renewable Energy.
At the top of each of their survey is a notice: “This survey is due back by…” she takes note of that information and she makes sure that her surveys are back in plenty of time. Don’t make your friends wait until the very last minute. Many of these organizations make funding decisions, campaigns they may invest in indirectly or as outside support. There are a lot of candidates hoping to get help, and making sure your responses get to your friends promptly certainly doesn’t hurt in helping you get access to the resources your campaign needs.
DO SURVEYS RIGHT.
The first temptation when candidates receive a survey is to go through them quickly. Answer in fast fashion and turn them back in so you are at the top of the list. It is important to get your surveys back in a timely fashion, but even more important is to make sure your responses to advocacy groups is actually what you want to say.
If you receive an online survey, print it, or move a copy of it to Microsoft Word, GoogleDocs, or another writing format. Go through your answers, and ask someone else to review for you. Make sure that your survey responses say what you want them to say, and that they are free of easy errors that make it look as though you are unprofessional. Think of these surveys in the same way you think of a job interview. Put your best foot forward.
In some cases, you may need to do research on the questions being asked about specific legislation or goals of their organization.
Jessica Jones receives a question from a local labor organization about state contractor preferences in bid selections. Jessica doesn’t know enough about this to give an informed answer. Stop. Call someone. Make sure before you respond to a question by a friendly group that you understand their argument and you understand your own response.
Don’t do a survey in a single pass and turn it in. Let someone else review it, discuss it, think about it. Make sure what you turn in is what you want to say.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Small campaigns can live and die based on the support they receive from friendly groups around them. Jessica Jones state senate race isn’t tiny, but it isn’t large enough that she has natural connections to every union and issue advocacy group. Surveys help them know who she is as a candidate.
Don’t waste your time on unfriendly surveys and make sure that when you do interact with friendly groups your responses are polished, well written, and speak to the issues they care about. Groups appreciate when you can show you’ve put thought into their issues. Rushing through their surveys with little attention to detail also sends a message, and it isn’t a good one.
Next Week on Nuts & Bolts: Look For The Union Label
Nuts & Bolts: Building Democratic Campaigns
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Every Saturday this group will chronicle the ins and outs of campaigns, small and large. Issues to be covered: Campaign Staffing, Fundraising, Canvass, Field Work, Data Services, Earned Media, Spending and Budget Practices, How to Keep Your Mental Health, and on the last Saturday of the month: “Don’t Do This!” a diary on how you can learn from the mistakes of campaigns in the past.
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