(I look forward to installments in this series. Anyone interested in this topic should look out for upcoming episodes -- kos)
It's been almost a month, now. I've taken some time off, fielded some offers, started up a new blog, The Albany Project (along with other kossacks, lipris, am and yodafone) and tried to figure out what's next. Am I going to run again? More than likely, but I've got another task at hand.
I want to share my experiences as a candidate with this community to help those kossacks who might decide to step into the political arena and actually run for office. I'd also love for other candidates to help out with their comments and other diaries to build on what we did in 2006. (Do you hear me Kelly Kelk, Eric Massa, Ned Lamont, and on and on?)
This is the first in a series that I hope will be helpful to the progressive candidates of the future. Sounds like a movie trailer, so join me on the second reel.
I'll try to address one aspect of what I learned in each diary. God knows, this might be a 150 part series, and that only accounts for the things I learned the hard way. I plan to go into the fund raising, the committee presentations, getting on the ballot, speeches, parades, door knocking, diet, TV ads, etc...and how all this fits into the Internet and the blogosphere...but, I want to begin with the most basic lesson I learned.
It's quite obvious, although I didn't see it until I'd been on the trail for a while. Here goes.
You are not running against your opponent. You are running against the perception the public has of your opponent.
So, your job as a candidate and that of your campaign, above all else, is to make sure the perception people have of your opponent works to your advantage. That means changing the story if you are running against a long time, popular incumbent. If you are running for an open seat, you've got to create a favorable story from the beginning. I doesn't matter what or who he REALLY is, it's what people think of him.
The campaign exists to create a winning story (perception) in the minds of the electorate. The money raised, the media buys, the volunteers, the staff...everything is there to get that story out...to frame it. So you see that step one has to be to decide upon a winning story. That decision is ALL IMPORTANT. Staying on that task is what "staying on message" really is. Audrey constantly hounded me about not getting distracted from the task at hand...staying on message...reinforcing the winning story we decided decided upon early in the campaign. Campaigns get in trouble when they have to change the story on the fly...or your opponent forces you to into a corner where your story doesn't work. (of course it helps when the story is the truth...the closer it is to the truth, the easier it is to create and circulate).
In our case, we had to change the perception of a public that my incumbent was a pretty nice guy and brought home lots of pork. He had been in Albany for 26 years. He was running on that experience and he was offering more of the same. A calming appeal on its face, but we pressed on by asking people if they really wanted more of the same...more of the most dysfunctional legislature in the country; sky high property taxes, a broken education system, part of the problem, etc.
Then, the next step was to create a positive story of what would happen if I was elected; openness in government, budgetary transparency, election reform and REAL property tax relief. In short, a NEW vision of the future, a NEW sense of hope and a NEW New York...the exact opposite of what his old, weary legislature had failed to deliver.
I know this sounds obvious, but the election is all about the story...the perception...AND it's so much easier if your story is actually the truth...which, in our case, was. We needed more time and resources to make it happen. I'll address that in another diary, but for now....
Comments and additions?