First, and most important, you have to be spoiling for a fight. No pulling punches, no holding back. The 2008 election is going to get ugly. At a minimum we'll see swift boatings, push polling, an anti-Democratic "conventional wisdom" among the media pundits, attack ads, faux scandals, smears, innuedo, enough mud to sink Texas, and the usual vote fraud. You think 2000 and 2004 were bad? Having been in power for five years, and then tasting not being in power again, the Republicans will do anything to regain power, and will have little reason to hold back.
This means that you are going to be in a dirty, ugly fight wether you want to be or not. As such you're going to need to hit back, and hit hard, if you don't want to go the way that Kerry and Gore went. If you keep insisting on following the Marquis of Queensbury rules, you're going to get your clock cleaned. I firmly beleive that the worst Democrat is way better than the best Republican- but if you aren't willing to fight, what we'll end up with is the worst Republican (again). If nothing else, you need to be willing to fight.
Along this line, good advisors is the next criterion I'll be using. Machiavelli said you can judge a prince by his advisors, and this applies doubly so for a Presidential campaign. After Dean blew out in Iowa, Joe Trippi lost some of his shine- but for all of his mistakes, I'll still take him over the likes of Bob Shrum or James Carville (whom I'm begining to suspect is actually a Republican agent). Get away from the Washington in-crowd. Get some fresh blood, some new ideas. They may make mistakes- but at least they'll make new mistakes (and they may not make major mistakes), as opposed to reliably and predictably managing you to a narrow loss.
The first thing your advisors should do is advise you to run a fifty state campaign (if they don't, fire them and get better advisors). This isn't just about the Presidential race- there are 33 Senate seats and 435 House seats up for bids, not to mention governorships and state houses and local elections. 2006 should teach you the importance of running everywhere. OK, early on you have to focus on Iowa and New Hampshire and maybe South Carolina. But the general campaign should be nationwide. Don't aim for 50% + 1 vote- that's a recipe for losing a squeaker (something Carville, Shrum, et. al. excel at). Aim high- you may not hit what you're aiming at, but at least you won't blow your foot off. Besides, you probably need at least 55% if not 60% of the vote to overcome the vote fraud which is pretty much inevitable at this point. If it comes down to 300 votes in Florida, expect to spend the next four years writting your book. Aim for 80%, settle for 60%.
As a side note, even if we don't stand a chance in the South, campaigning there probably isn't a bad idea. Force the Republicans to stay on the defensive, help local candidates, and lay the groundwork for future victories. This isn't just about 2008 either- it's about 2012, 2016, and 2040.
As a collary to this, you've got to be proud to be a Democrat. Don't hide your Democrat-ness, like it's embarassing. This may win you points with the talking heads, but it hurts every other Democrat. Your attitude should be "Yeah- I'm a Democrat, and damned proud to be too!"
The next thing they should advise you is to speak your mind. Don't fear the press. Of course the press will misquote you. You're a Democrat. The press are the people chucking beer bottles at you from the cheap seats. If you say something like "I often beat my spouse at chess", they will report the quote as "I often beat my spouse" followed by breathless speculation of exactly how often spouse abuse happens in your household. Expect this. The mainstream media is not your friend. If they only describe you as "effete", "weak", "flip-flopping", "french", etc., this is about the best treatment you can expect. They're not being notably mean until they start calling you a traitor, unAmerican, etc. Which, while not gaurenteed, is still highly likely. The good news is that the people who still beleive the puppet theater are becoming a minority- most Americans are getting wise to the code (nothing like 8 years of Bush Jr. to speed that trend along).
Knowing that the media is hostile (unfortunately you don't get to treat them in kind, no matter how tempting it is) should free you up to speak the truth. Take positions you know are unpopular with the media elite- it won't make a difference. Get out there on global warming, energy independence, affordable (single payer?) health care, education costs, a livable minimum wage, whatever. Even by condemning your positions, the puppet theater will actually get those positions out there. You want to make drugs affordable to senior citizens? Horrible- you're a socialist bordering on a communist, and no right thinking American will support you. Except for senior citizens. Or those who know one (parent, grandparent, etc.). Or are thinking of becoming one.
The real point here is that the American people don't like phonys. What ever causes you take up, they should spring from the heart. There should be passion in your voice (not to mention a fire in your belly) when you address this issue (or, better yet, these issues). If the puppet theater isn't labeling you "insane" and making tranquilizer jokes, you're being too dispassionate. But Americans like something who beleives in something and is willing to fight for it- even if they don't agree with, or beleive, in that issue themselves. Poll after poll in the eighties showed that people didn't like Reagan's policies- but they liked Reagan. Largely because he was willing to stick to his guns and fight for what he beleived in (I did mention how important it is for you being willing to fight, right? Well, your first opportunity that you're willing to fight for your beleifs and fight for America is when you fight the Republicans. Politics is a blood sport these days, but that's not necessarily bad).
Rather surprisingly, issues aren't going to be a major deciding factor- either to me or to the electorate at large. The Democrats should have learned that from Reagan. If you don't have the fire, aren't willing to fight for them, that's a bigger minus in the eyes of the electorate (and me) than having the wrong policies.
Well- except one. One policy is important. Gun Control. You need to be against that. This is odd, because I'm actually in favor of gun control. The main policy issue that I'm concerned about, I need you to disagree with me. This is because, if I have to lose on an issue, this isn't a bad issue to lose on. It's right up there in importance to me with seat belt laws- I'm generally in favor of them, but not enough to lose Ohio or Colorado. The more pro-gun cred you bring to the table, the better. For everything else, I'm willing to trust in your heart being in the right place and your brain being engaged.
Attitude is a big issue, but how you pitch your ideas is almost as important. Pitch them to Joe Sixpack. If you're an environmentalist, talk about the effects pollution has on hunting and fishing- or global warming will have on farmers. This sort of mainstreet progressivism is already winning in what was solid-"red" states like Montana. Don't "chase after" whatever "centrist" demographic is hot this election, be it soccer moms or nascar dads or whatever. Implicit in that is that you're not already where they are. You and they are in the same place, politically- they just don't know it. Don't change your opinions, change your pitch. Good advisors should be comming up with ways to do this.
Another thing- don't piss on your base. The Republicans are you opponents, and the media is certainly not your friend, but this means you need to know who your friends really are. We are- the netroots, the grassroots, the unions, minorities, etc. The talking heads will demand that you do things to deliberately torque off your base. Of course they will- they want you to lose. We're your organizaation, your donor base, your GOTV machine. We're also adults, we're tolerant of legitimate differences of opinion (see above comments on gun control, for example), and don't demand you suck up to us (unlike some other party's bases I could mention). But the truth of the matter is that if you snub your friends, sooner or later your friends will snub you. What we ask is that you not attack us. No matter how many cheap political points you might think you can score doing so. Those "cheap" points come at a dear cost.
So this is the yard stick I'll be using to measure the canidates by. I comment that currently it rules no one out, and no one in, yet. But if you clear this bar- I'll be there for you. Me and about a million other friends. Because as fun as the victory celibration these last few weeks has been, it's nothing like the one we'll be holding when you've got your hand on a bible come January Aught-Nine.
