Welcome back, Saturday Campaign D-I-Y’ers! For those who tune in, welcome to the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. Each week we discuss issues that help drive successful campaigns. If you’ve missed prior diaries, please visit our group or follow Nuts & Bolts Guide.
In case you missed it, last week David Jarman put out an excellent piece of writing regarding the structure of the Democratic party.
It’s a great breakdown of how the national infrastructure is built. Knowing how some of the national infrastructure is built, though, doesn’t tell us much about what expectations a campaign can reasonably have of a county, state and national party in regards to their efforts to win an election.
This week, I’m going to take time to talk just a bit about what resources come to a candidate through these organizations, and how to make the most of the resources that are available.
Over the last decade or so, party infrastructure has not held up particularly well. Donors give straight to candidates or outside organizations, and the party apparatus, which is your state and county party organizations, really are not deep pockets for a candidate. This is also true of the national party organization.
In a single day, or through the course of a federal campaign, most candidates should significantly outraise a state and county organization. With county and states not having deep financial pockets to support all of the candidates under them, what purpose do these organizations have for a campaign?
First, we have to start looking at the pyramid. In David Jarman’s post, he talks about how the organizations are oriented for federal races, but when it comes to the party infrastructure, it is far more important to know what tools are available because they exist.
From DNC to State and ASDC to County: The Relationship
There are few things as establishment, as long-standing organizations like the national and state parties infrastructure. If you are a candidate, no matter new or old, an insurgent outsider or a long-time party member, those long-standing relationships that the state and national party build over the years help provide you with a running start to your campaign.
Because our series focuses heavily on state and local campaigns, it is often difficult to imagine how directly that the national party gets involved in your race for a county commission, state house or even state senate.
So, let us start at the top. The National Party (DNC) works to serve the state parties and ASDC — the Association of State Democratic Chairs — in a few different ways. Some of the most significant ways we do not often think about, but they matter in every race.
- SPP— The State Partnership Program is a funding program from the national party which provides money and resources to state parties to operate. State parties, in turn, use some of these resources to upkeep things every campaign needs. Data, tools, and staff which can help identify how races in the state will work.
- Training programs. Resources are provided to states to help train and organize candidates. Many of these training programs are free, and constantly ongoing. If you haven’t checked them out, you can click HERE to enroll in ASDC’s offerings.
- Research, Data and Tools. ata and Tools. Through multiple partners, the National and State parties offer data programs to all candidates. These programs help manage GOTV, Voter Contact, Voter Registration services, and more.
With these tools in hand, well-run state organizations work to get more counties and individuals prepared for their involvement in a campaign.
So how does this benefit my campaign?
First, training programs, online or otherwise, can help you get up to speed on what a decent campaign looks like--for free. The most significant way that a county, state, and national party benefits you, as a candidate, is the long-term retention and promotion of data.
Data regarding voters is certainly important, helping you contact voters that might be likely to vote for you, something the national party works on continuously whether an election is happening or not.
Your state and county organizations, though, are the organizations often tasked with “knowing where the bodies are buried”; a colloquialism used to define direct knowledge of the makeup of a district, names of donors, and prominent issues.
A well-run state and county organization is like an almanac of information and trends regarding the makeup of a state district, county or congressional district. They also provide candidates references and research about their opponent and individuals who might be helpful for their campaign.
Okay, but what about money?
No matter what state you are in, one of the questions campaigns ask frequently is: how much money will I receive from my state party to run? The answer in most cases is: very little, if any at all.
As some here have pointed out, there are hundreds of thousands of elected offices around the country. National, State and County parties would be overwhelmed if they tried to provide direct funding support into campaigns at all levels.
Numerous candidates have high hopes of entering into a race and finding that a state or county organization is prepared to fund their campaign. This is not a realistic, nor a productive way to campaign.
Outside of the fact that your campaign should be able to outraise infrastructure groups, getting people to directly support your campaign is a way to show people that you are running a good campaign. If your campaign was majority funded by party infrastructure you would be likely to pickup criticism of being an “insider” or “hand-picked” or other terms.
Okay, it’s an off year. Why should I donate to a county or state?
Here is the big question we run into: why should an average Democratic donor give to a state or county organization? Is the national State Partnership Program enough?
Well, candidates need state parties to have money and resources available in order to help lower their overall cost. Healthy state parties are better equipped to provide the training and services needed to make for great candidate recruitment and campaigns.
When we talk about the 50 state strategy, or 435 district strategy, or national precinct strategy, all of that really is not about the national party getting involved in every district; it is about having a state party that can afford to do the recruiting and research needed in off years to make elections competitive.
Next Week: From Organizing to Mobilizing.
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Nuts & Bolts: Building Democratic Campaigns
Contact the Daily Kos group Nuts and Bolts by kosmail (members of Daily Kos only).
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.
You can follow prior installments in this series HERE.