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.
Some of you who have been following this series for the last three years have run for office, helped a campaign run for office, or just become more aware of what you can do as someone who wants to help a campaign win. When I sit to write these out, I often go through the email I receive about this series to help inform me on what entries people are interested in reading about, and I try to adjust my schedule. Since January, one topic has come up pretty frequently in my email, and I felt it would be a good topic for this week’s entry: what happens AFTER you’ve been elected, or appointed, to a civic position? What are the next steps? How can you be a successful city, state, or local officer?
So, you’re elected: what next?
Institutional Memory can be vital—or it can be pretty misleading
If you’re coming into a political office as a first-time office holder, one of the first resources you turn to is institutional knowledge; your fellow elected officials in the same post if you are on a city council, or former elected officials who can offer guidance on the way to become effective as an elected official.
Institutional memory can often be invaluable, providing you the general guidance regarding what approach may be effective within the body. Institutional knowledge can also quickly bring you up to speed on how interpersonal relationships, outside advocates, and current projects impact your role as an elected official.
At the same time, institutional memory can also be an enforcer of bad habits. The newly elected can be easily persuaded to “be quiet, learn” from those with institutional memory, as a way to negate their voice or to maintain the status quo; in that way, institutional memory can sometimes be used in a way that is very misleading—and sometimes borderline coercion—to make newly elected officials feel as though the only way to get involved is to “go along” even with proposals that they disagree with or ran in opposition to, during the campaign.
Institutional memory is best thought of as “trust, but verify.” In many cases, former leaders want only the best for you and for your success, especially if you are in the same party; but that doesn’t always mean the methods that lead to that success will be identical to the ways of the past. Make use of your institutional memory to get a read of how to move ahead, but think of it as a template, not a roadmap; you both want to reach the same end goal, and defining those goals is important—but how you get there may be different than someone else.
Transparency is an imperative
Transparency is used so frequently in statehouse discussions that the elected have referred to it as the hot “buzzword” of current session. Transparency, though, isn’t just about making the public aware of what is going on in your city, state, water board, school board or special district, it is also about keeping YOU, the newly elected, informed with a point of reference to keep track of how initiatives and efforts in your own committees are proceeding.
I’d love to think everyone has perfect memory with a 100 percent recall, but that simply isn’t true. Even minutes of meetings are often difficult to really put together with HOW a meeting went. Whether in a state house or in a courthouse, having a recording of some form of these meetings—if they are covered by a State Open Meetings Act, is important. It can help your constituents see what is going on, yes, but it also helps YOU, the elected official, have a point of reference for what exactly happened.
Six months from now, when someone asks about a project or a vote in a committee or meeting you were at, it is easy to say “The roll call vote was ...” it is sometimes more difficult to remember, “Councilmember Kathy brought up a point I hadn’t considered, and that changed several votes in the room.” But that piece of information can be important when you talk to voters and explain how and why your elected body voted or resolved a policy.
Don’t get bullied
Know your rights. Many first-time elected, especially those elected into state houses, tend to report that they have felt bullied over issues—often by those elected who have been in office for some time. This is the use of institutional memory to shut down newly elected. “We don’t do things this way”, “Are you really going to do this?”, “You need to ...” Effective caucus in state houses are often built with strong leadership that allows their own party members to bring out issues and succeed. That doesn’t, however, prevent those who oppose your ideas to use tactics that are pretty close to bullying to shut you down.
Build up allies, sometimes other elected, sometimes outside advocates, who can also rally and support your issues when you feel as though it is not being heard. If you constantly feel alone, or with minimal support on an issue, it is easy to have your position changed or your voice silenced. Listen to the opposing opinion, but also discuss with those who led you to your original opinion and decide how strongly you want to fight for an issue. If it is an issue you believe in, then you have to develop a bit of a thick skin against the lobbyists or opposition viewpoint and press forward. There are numerous people in every state house or committee who want to advance guidance or legislation that may be strongly anti-union or anti-woman, as an example, while you want to advance legislation the advocating an inverse position. Don’t allow bullying or political coercion to silence your voice on an issue—it minimizes how effective you are on an issue.
Don’t Christmas tree your own programs
A fellow city council member comes to a meeting and says; “Hey, your proposal for XYZ is VERY popular. I want to tack on this proposal (which is much less popular) as a way to get it passed.” Be careful. Clean proposals have a much better chance of passing, whether it is in a community trash board or a state house. The more amendments get added, the less likely it is that the proposal as a whole passes, especially if those amendments are not directly aligned with the original efforts.
As an elected official, one of the most important elements is to go back to your voters and note successes or cases you have made. Even if you don’t get everything you want, every time, you are much better off taking a “win” than a bill or proposal that could have passed—if only you hadn’t allowed it to become a wish list for your own beliefs.
Let me give an example. A state house looks at a piece of legislation geared at ending private for pay dumps inside larger cities. Some people like this, especially because they think the measure will improve property values or any number of other reasons. A fellow legislator announces: “hey, you know what else would be popular? If we’re going to meddle with trash, let’s require a recycling program in every city for free.” While very popular with other elected Democratic members, you know that Republicans are opposed to this—and adding it to your bill will make it far, far less likely to succeed. And it is likely that a governor will veto with that amendment attached.
Take the win. If you’ve got something you know can pass and get signed, do good work first and circle back around to making the effort on a second, more controversial, amendment. This also works out as better politics—combined votes and large bills are easier to confuse the public as to why someone voted against or why a governor vetos. Meanwhile, straightforward legislation that fails or isn’t signed creates clear distinctions as to where you sit from a policy perspective.
Final thoughts
Becoming a newly elected member has no great manual or training program. Every city, every school board, every state house, faces their own unique issues. There are some common threads and guidance that can come ineffective no matter where you are and what position you hold. Familiarize yourself with Robert’s Rules of Order; work to build personal relationships, both inside and outside of your party structure; develop friends who are advocates on issues who can help you quickly familiarize yourself with complex issues. And be willing to listen to a viewpoint you may wildly disagree with, and do so with a smile and a nod, rather than gritted teeth prepared to yell someone down. While you may disagree on 99 percent of all issues with some elected officials, there may come a time you need their vote, and trying to at least stay civil helps.
Next week on Nuts & Bolts: Is polling really worth it?
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Nuts & Bolts: Building Democratic Campaigns
Contact the Daily Kos group Nuts and Bolts by kosmail (members of Daily Kos only). You can also follow me on twitter: @tmservo433
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.