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.
During the 2015-2016 election cycle, we focused a lot on a specific candidate, Jessica Jones, who ran for state Senate. Thanks to so many groups looking for social and direct activism, we’re going to start this cycle following three different fictional people: an educator in Tim Smith; a stay-at-home mom in Nancy Wood; and an accountant activist in Sarah Goodnow.
With the rise of Indivisible, PSN, and many other local organizations hoping to make an impact on 2018 elections, now is a good time to start talking about how these organizations can begin to make an impact. Over the next 17 months, we’re going to follow different paths they can take in the process. Whether it is being an outside agitator, forming a state-level PAC, leveling endorsements, or providing campaigns outside support.
Tim, Nancy and Sarah met one another through post campaign activism. Immediately following the election in 2016, they found one another through Facebook participating in a local group aimed at discussing what to do next. The group had met a few times locally. Thousands of members participated online, and it was pretty comforting to know that others were interested in doing something to stand up to Trump.
As time went on, the group continued to grow and things like the Indivisible Guide, Move On, and even stories they had read on sites like Daily Kos were shared to help keep the group informed as to what was happening. Nancy, however, wasn’t content with this: griping on the internet wasn’t going to change election results. It wouldn’t alter the outcomes in 2018 either. How could they take the bottled up energy of their ever-growing Facebook group and start turning it into actual political power?
One of the things Nancy really liked about things like the Indivisible Guide was that it had direct ideas about what to do. Concrete steps of things she could implement. Tim, a friend she had met through the group had great camera equipment and enjoyed taping local political meetings in case anything happened. Sarah had great local business contacts to try and figure out how to support candidates if they ran.
All of this, though, struck Nancy as step one. Lots of opposition, but how do they get to the next step, using the opposition to overturn sitting elected people they didn’t like? Sitting down with her group, they moved forward with the first three steps.
1. Finding viable candidates in their own midst
With state House races in 48 states 17 months away, and many races coming next spring, Sarah pointed out that the potential pool of candidates within their group was not small. Finding and recruiting candidates can be difficult. This year has shown quite a few candidates willing to step up and run for US Congress. Still, thanks to their local activism, Nancy knows that a lot of the worst politicians are in their state house or county offices. With months of interaction under their belt, though, Nancy, Tim and Sarah have a larger circle of individuals in their local community who are politically minded who may be interested in making a change.
Internal recruitment for outside activists is the first step in making a significant change. State and county party units can reach out to potential candidates, but the activists who work with them frequently have a much better idea of the temperament potential candidates bring to the table. Sarah and Nancy begin to compile a list from their group of people they think might be potential candidates for their local races.
2. Setting up a fundraising and support network
While major candidates start worrying about their own donor tables and setting up what happens next, activists know that their votes and dollars can help shape a race. How can they use their early money and resources to help influence races to go the way they want?
Candidates running for local office are often underfunded. Relatively small money in political terms can shape a local or state race. In several states around the country, as little as $5,000 raised early can make a candidate a presumptive favorite. Repeatedly asking people for money covering hundreds of candidates, though, is a great way to burn out potential donors Sarah points out. So how do they make their donor network effective?
Sarah’s first task is creating a donor network. This isn’t just about getting people to donate, but getting a strong idea of what people can donate or are willing to donate. It is also about prioritizing races where they think their impact can have the most significant impact.
Using prior election returns, Sarah can begin the process of evaluating the math of winning races locally. Through her group’s private lists, she starts to work up a target network, establishing candidates close to home that are high targets they think they can flip.
Tim knows a few others who can also record meetings reliably, but they are still a limited resource. Knowing their target list, they can start to put more resources they have into making sure that as much research is done on the candidates they want to overturn as is possible.
Setting up early fundraising and on the ground support for their candidates allows the group of activists to begin to have some ownership in the outcome.
3. Town halls and public meetings were great. The statehouse and city meetings? Even better.
Thanks to their interest in activism, all of them had attended a public meeting of some sort in the last six months. Whether it was a US congressperson, senator, or local elected, they had video and details.
Going to DC was a financial burden for most of the group, who couldn’t afford to just pick up and rush across the country for direct pressure on their federal elected officials. Their state house and local city meetings though? Those aren’t so far away.
In many states, reporting about what is happening in these meetings is sparse and often fails to capture what really happens. Unlike federal officials, getting a meeting with people in a state house or city council often takes very little more than showing up. There are some exceptions, but in state houses as small as South Dakota to as large as Texas, local residents can often walk into public hearings on bills, sit in on state legislative sessions or even attend Democratic or Republican caucus meetings if they so desire. While numerous state houses have rules about video recording these events by non-press, people are still free to go, tweet or Facebook the events.
Nancy points out that most of the members of their new activist group are interested in making change, but putting a face on the people they are trying to overturn makes raising money and building support far easier.
Thanks to larger numbers within their group, Sarah suggests that they reach out to their group to see who can spare the time over the next 18 months and build a schedule of people who can attend state meetings. Organizing car pools, some help for lunch or other expenses, the group builds up their own reporting network that follows the officials they want to oust.
By building up a reporting network, they can start to contrast things said in public meetings in home districts versus what happens in a state house. It helps them build the right questions to ask the next time there is a public meeting, and also talking points for their group based on more than just the votes taken by their elected official, but also the role they had in it.
The more details they can provide their activist groups, the better prepared those groups are to oust elected officials that are not aligned with their goals.
Next Week: How dividing your tasks helps you become indivisible.