Political Campaign Management TipsRun for office or become a campaign manager

Most people think that every political campaign begins with an announcement of candidacy.  In fact you have a lot of work to do before you call that press conference to announce that you are running for office.  You should have a basic campaign structure, a campaign treasurer, a campaign website that is ready to go live and some volunteers signed up.  You also need to be prepared with some answers on the issues. However, today let’s just talk a bit about the announcement event.

Is the media interested?

Assuming you are running for an office where there is a reasonable level of interest, it makes sense to invite all the media including print, television, radio and the Internet based media.  However, if you are in an extremely low profile race like a water board or a fire district, you may want to simply send out a press release.  The media outlets that are interested in giving you more than a paragraph will give you a call and you should have answers ready, but there is no need in wasting your time with a media event if the press isn’t going to be there.

Getting your supporters prepared

First off, don’t go to the announcement alone or with just your spouse and campaign manager.  Line up at least 20-30 supporters to join you.  Tell them to be on their best behavior.  They won’t like some of the questions the press asks, but you really don’t want to give the press a story about your volunteers and what they said and did.  You want to keep the coverage focused on your campaign.  Waving campaign signs and cheering you is great.  Anything negative is not so good.  Also, the press is likely to ask a few of your volunteers some questions.  Be sure to give your supporters a few talking points in advance of the event.  If your old grade school teacher is there and wants to say how she always thought you were a great kid, that’s fine.  However, if your old high school buddies want to share stories about how you used to go out in the middle of the night and pull pranks for kicks, that’s not helpful.  Give people some guidance in advance as to what sort of talk is beneficial and what isn’t.

Prepare a short speech

Second, have a good, short speech.  Make the case for your candidacy  in ten minutes or less.  If you can keep the speech to five minutes that’s even better.  A short speech will focus the coverage on your key points. You can hand out some additional information such as a biography and some details on your positions on the issues.  However, keep in mind that the more material you give reporters, the more likely they are to find an angle for their stories that you won’t like.  And, it’s good to have someone introduce you, but avoid people who are likely to go on and on or tell jokes that might backfire.

Prepare for questions

Third, prepare for likely questions.  For example, shortly before one of my candidates made his announcement a book came out by a former insider that criticized a U. S. President of his party.  That could have created an awkward moment. There was a very good chance the press would ask about it because it was a hot issue and they like awkward moments.  We told the candidate to get the book and give it a quick read.  Then, if he was asked about it, we suggested that he just mention that he had read the book and that it didn’t seem all that bad.   We were almost certain that none of the reporters would have actually read the book so they would realize that they might look foolish debating the content with someone who actually had read it.  That’s exactly what happened.  There was one question and no follow up.  It didn’t make any of the press stories.

Explain why you are running

Fourth, be able to clearly explain why you are running.  Sen. Ted Kennedy rather famously didn’t have a clear answer to the question of why he was running for President in an early interview.  Many commentators believe that one question seriously hampered his campaign.  People really want to know your motivation for running.  It can be an issue or issues.  It can be about integrity.  It can be about improving management.  The key thing is that there has to be some reason why people should support you.

Hold a practice press conference

Fifth, hold a practice press conference.  Most local candidates have never been in front of a group of reporters.  Get some politically savvy friends and supporters and tell them to act like reporters.  You want them to be tough on you.  An experienced campaign manager and (if you have one) campaign press person should be especially good at playing reporter.  Try to have this rehearsal at least a few days before the actual announcement to give you time to get up to speed on issues you may not have been prepared to deal with.

Should you have multiple press conferences around your district?

Statewide candidates almost always make a barnstorming tour to announce their candidacy.  If you have a large and diverse district with supporters in all areas, it may make sense for you to do the same.  However, unless you are prepared to put together a first class event with sign waving supporters everywhere you go, I’d suggest that you would be better off having one really top notch announcement.   Don’t spread your resources too thin.  You can always schedule events in those other areas later when you have a particular issue or endorsement you want to highlight. Also, you should always be prepared for telephone interviews that day with reporters who can’t make it to your event.  It doesn’t matter how many places you go, some reporters will want to cover the announcement from their offices.

What if it is a really bad news day?

I know of at least one candidate who planned to announce his candidacy at events all over his district on a day a very, very major news event happened.  He decided to tough it out and continue on with the events.  I think that was a mistake because he got very little publicity and some people even considered having a press event on the day of a major tragedy to be in bad taste. If some huge news event happens the day you plan to announce, you may have a tough call to make.  However,  my advice is to just re-schedule.  The press and your supporters (at least most of them) will understand.