It’s another Saturday, so for those who tune in, welcome to a Saturday Diary of Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic Campaign. Each week, we discuss issues that help drive successful campaigns, and once a month we look into “Horrible mistakes you should avoid” (last Saturday of a month). If you’ve missed prior diaries, please visit our group or follow Nuts & Bolts Guide.
For those who have been following, you know that our candidate, Jessica Jones, is preparing her run for a state senate seat. Jessica has done a pretty good job following the prior steps of this diary series, from making contact to controlling expenses.
Very few steps in a campaign make candidates as uncomfortable as what Jessica Jones is committed to do this week. Jessica Jones needs to commit to her own internal research. Jessica Jones has to prepare herself for what kind of attacks she may face from her opponent this fall, e.g. skeletons in the closet, dumb mistakes of the past, and foolish endeavors, whatever they are.
Candidates try hard to avoid this step. Sometimes it is arrogance, sometimes a lack of understanding, and often a feeling of deep dread surrounds candidates who are afraid to look back at past mistakes. Campaigns that do a good job of actually knowing their candidate are prepared to respond to attacks based on opposition research.
I tend to classify self-research into three categories: Public Information, Private Information, and Political Stances.
Public Information: The First Stop for Opposition Research
Have you been arrested? Declared bankruptcy? Had a repossession, a court order against you in the last 7 years, or any other court-associated record? All of that information is considered the public record. As we covered in past diaries about your need to do opposition research on your opponent, public information records are one of the first places your opponent will go to find out who you are, and how to define you.
The good news for Jessica Jones is that she’s avoided most of the problems on this list. While Jessica had a run of speeding tickets in her youth, she’s never been in any real major court trouble. This isn’t true of every candidate. Candidates can find difficulties when they simply witness an event; Doctors who run for office may find past malpractice claims come up; small-business owners may face claims of bad service if they’ve ever been named in a small-claims court proceeding.
Pardoning major offenses, many public records issues can be dealt with in your campaign. Had Jessica run into problems in her public life before, whether it is a DUI charge, or repossession, if she is prepared for the claim, she can rebut and pivot on the attack.
Let’s give Jessica Jones a public record eviction for failure to pay rent in college. She was poor and after losing a roommate, she was unable to pay the monthly rent. In a state senate race, it’s unlikely someone will bring an issue such as this up.. but you never know. Being prepared for potential attack makes you a better candidate; you don’t run from the issue, you own it. You find a way to make it part of who you are today. You faced a difficult situation and it made you a better person.
Private Information: A Candidate’s Greatest Fear
Candidates can often brace themselves for information that is already known in the community on some level. Private information, though, is often the subject of bitter attacks, personal humiliation and true fear. We all wished that dirty campaigns and whisper efforts didn’t exist, but here in the real world it is absolutely possible that someone would or could say something truly malicious or horrible about you. What can make those accounts far worse is if the candidate knows them to be true.
And in the private information, Jessica Jones has real fear about what could be said about her in a campaign. Almost every candidate has real fear about their private life; big mistakes, small ones, we all tense up about dumb things we’ve done in our past. Jessica isn’t immune to having fears about her private life being made public. Many of her worries, though, are unrealistic. Fears that an opposing candidate will address deeply personal events are one of the top reasons why candidates choose not to run. They worry about whether or not a campaign of gossip and innuendo will be raised against them.
Candidates are best advised to sit down with their manager or good friend and go through the personal issues that they fear in a general campaign. If any issue is so significant that a candidate says: I cannot emotionally or financially deal with the disclosure of this information, they may need to rethink a run for office. In the vast majority of cases, candidates who own their past and can move past their own feelings can view even bad choices as a way to define how they became the person who is running for office today.
Jessica Jones made her list for her campaign manager and discussed it freely. Highest on that list: as a young woman she partied away her first semester at college, staying eligible with a 2.3GPA before she decided she needed to focus on academics. She’s not sure who might have any photos or content of her at any number of social functions when she was young, single, and not thinking about a future political career. Good news for Jessica, from this point on in history more and more individuals are going to be accustomed to the fact that politicians are humans and likely had some youthful indiscretions. Personal attacks on their youthful indiscretions aren’t as damaging today as they were 20 years ago.
Knowing the issues that concern her, Jessica has helped develop a pre-prepared answer with her staff and if the issue ever comes up, she’s ready.
Confronting your fear is often the most important step.
Political Stances
The easiest form of opposition to use is simple – your political stances. Jessica has previously determined where she stands on most issues facing her, especially her core issues. Now, she has to understand that no matter which side of an issue she takes there will be some who disagree with her.
If she favors morning trash pickup, someone will be unhappy as they wanted afternoon trash pickup. Her stances on many issues can stoke real passion – from her position on choice, to her stance on LGBT rights, Jessica will often be defined in negative ways because of her political stances.
Knowing where you stand on the issues can help you brace for the attack based on them. It’s OK to wear some attacks with a badge of honor, or even make a punch line out of the attack. A group attacks you for your progressive stance on LGBT rights? “It is unfortunate that XYZ is so opposed to the rights of fellow Americans. I’m proud to stand for the rights of all.”
If Jessica is aware of the attacks before they happen she can be prepared to take the attack and make it a strength, showing members who want to support her, why it is they back Jessica Jones. Realize, groups are saying things about your position, in hopes the news will rally voters for your opponent. You need to make sure you find a way to make it equally or even more motivating for your voters.
Final Thoughts: Be Prepared
The most important reason to conduct opposition research on yourself is to make sure you are mentally prepared for the campaign. It is often easier to deal with an attack or position of an outside group if you have already run through the scenario in your head and become used to your response. Candidates who are caught flat footed or shocked often give their opponent multiple news cycles by not having a response that blunts the attack, or, in some cases, calling more attention to those attacks by repeating the claim and calling it “unfair”.
If you’ve done good research on yourself, and you are comfortable with running, then you are prepared to help turn your weaknesses into strengths.
Taking a weekend to assess your issues can brace you for the coming campaign and can remove a lot of fear from your campaign. Once you know how to respond to your concerns, it is easy to be confident and feel in control of what happens next.
And for Jessica Jones, State Senate Candidate, feeling in control of what happens next is very important.
Next week: The Art of Saying No (or: Not All Help is Equal)
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.