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. Her campaign has already assembled data, gathered local resources, she’s begun to interact in a way designed to generate some earned media. We also took time to discuss how to not screw up your campaign by keeping online expenditures in control.
For those waiting on canvass videos — ARGH — we did get them done this week, however, I need to edit a bunch of video, and so I’m going to push that off for a bit. Twice since starting this series I’ve been asked this question: “How much do I have to know about what is happening in my legislature to run?”
Almost every candidate at some point asks this question, or they have confidence issues: concerns over how much information they know in order to impress voters and make a point. So, this week, we are going to focus on “hitting the books” getting informed on what is happening in your race.
Jessica’s run focuses on a state senate seat, but most of this advice is valid to races all the way up to US Senate. There are a few components to get into here.
Before we get into the heart of this, AdamB brought up an important item in the comments. I have always taken for granted that if you are reading these, you know why you are running as a Democrat for office. That being said, understanding WHY you are a Democrat through self-evaluation will greatly impact how you look at these issues. If you address that question upfront, it makes it much easier to evaluate why some issues are attractive to you and not, and it can help you find the issues and items you care about. While many issues on a state house level are not always as clear as “right” and “left”, that lens can help you shape everything you do in all of the Nuts & Bolts diaries.
You Aren’t Expected to Know Everything. And Don’t Pretend You Do.
Many candidates feel the need to “know everything” that is happening within the elected body. As a matter of fact, this is not something that is possible, by anyone. You just can’t do it. We’ll talk in a little bit about how to limit what you learn about — but right now we need to start out with the most significant point of this diary: if you don’t know it, do not pretend you do.
Constituents are OK with you providing an answer of: “Thank you for bringing that up, let me look into it and I can get back to you, I don’t know enough YET.” They may wish you knew more about their issue, but what they will not forgive is BS. Individuals take whatever their issue is very personally and they also don’t know all the issues, but they know their particular issue very, very well. If someone wants to talk about an issue, odds are they have an opinion and they know where they stand. They have either done research for themselves, learned about it on the internet from friends, or have something that directly impacts them. Because of this, they have an emotional investment in the issue they care about. So, the quickest way to turn that emotion from hopeful to bitter/angry: BS them. Always remember, it is OK to say “I don’t know enough, YET.” Offer other people the chance to send you information about their position.
I Can’t Be a Full Time Student and Campaign: What Do I research?
So, you’ve passed step one. You know not to BS people. Now, you need to figure out what you need to know in your race to discuss. Before you even start looking at the legislature that you will serve in, you need to look at your district. There are several factors to consider, and demographics is the first stop.
Knowing the demographics in your district can give you a good idea of the issues that will have a lot of voter interest. The younger your district, the greater significance some social issues, education weigh but JOBS JOBS JOBS becomes even more important then younger your district becomes. Think about whether or not your district is poor, if it has a school, a hospital, who the major employers are and what are there agendas.
Everyone — all the way down to super markets — have legislative agendas, things they hope to accomplish, and they will be the things you discuss, both pro and con. Your grocery store is a big mover behind allowing alcohol to be sold in grocers as opposed to only liquor stores? Your district is booming with young professionals? All of these things help determine what you research.
Focus in on the issues that help shape your district first; make those the things you learn about first. If there is a nearby prison or mental health facility, as an example, you will likely discuss those issues. If the nearest prison is 80 miles away from you, your constituents are far less likely to care about that as a significant issue.
Much of this research can be gained through the state census and tax reports; some you can gather through the Chamber of Commerce and city officials. Find out what your most pressing issues in your district are and try to get a handle not just on where you think you stand on the issue, but where your opponent stands. When there are strong differences embrace the strong differences.
Ok, I’ve Got a Handle on My District. What Else Matters?
Remember, no one is counting on you to be an encyclopedia of knowledge. You will have numerous other Democrats and elected officials who hopefully will be more than willing to help you learn about issues as you need them. In some states, state house & state senate Democrats will offer you a “mentor” someone to contact in case you have trouble. In other states, the state party will offer you a “research book”, some states also offer a “party position” guide, made out for your district. Ask your state party & house/senate leadership about these items.
With that established, as a candidate, the next item on your research list is your opponent. In the case of Jessica Jones, her opponent sits on a few committees in her state. He sits on “Commerce” “Judicial” and “Ethics and Elections”. These committees are the point of origination of bills regarding those subject matters. For Jessica Jones, those committees are also where she starts. While chasing down every bill in the state house would be overwhelming, finding bills that start in these committees that are linked to her opponent narrows the research she and her campaign focus on.
There will be numerous bills every legislator votes on (Budget/Appropriations, Final Action on bills from committee); but finding bills that are tied directly to your opponent is a way to help define who they are as a legislator. There is a false assumption among many voters that, should you win, you will ‘assume’ these roles in the legislature. That is of course not true, however, the voter is right that the only way you know what your current legislator is actually doing is to look at their actions on the committees in which they sit.
If you want to take on a legislator for doing nothing, find that their interaction in their own committees is limited; if you want to say they are working against the interest of the district, the committees they work in will help provide you the bills and proposals that represent their agenda.
As a challenger, people are going to want to know WHY the incumbent should be replaced. Defining them by what they have done is important, and this is where you start.
This Seems Like a Lot of Work. Can’t Someone Just Feed Me The Answers?
This is an unfortunately frequent question a lot of campaigns ask. Can’t someone else just give me the answers, and I can run as me? I mean, I don’t have time for all of this. I know generally where I stand, and when elected I can learn this stuff. If I can get some smart campaign consultant/manager, they can just fill out my positions and hand them to me pre-done, and then I don’t have to worry about all this research.
In many ways, your party — whether it is city, county or state, will help you formulate a lot of your message. The Democratic platform can help you shape quite a bit of your message. But that doesn’t let you entirely off the hook for what you really should know. No campaign can be run in hiding, and you as a candidate will need to meet with constituents and press throughout the campaign. If you are clearly uninformed about the issues in your race it will show — and while Republicans may be wiling to vote for someone uninformed but with an (R), Democrats are less interested in voting for someone they think isn’t prepared for the position. They will reserve their vote or not turn out for you. In order to woo them, you have to make a case. Remember, for those voters your campaign is a long job interview, and no one wants to hire the person who comes in and shows lack of interest in understanding the issues.
Can I Call For Help?
So, you have to know the issues. Reading through the legislation proposed and the issues your opponent discusses can be a bit confusing. At first blush, you can review what is going on and say: I don’t understand. Do not worry, this is not a problem. Reviewing the above you’re thinking to yourself: I’m not a state reviser/auditor/attorney! I can’t make heads or tails of most of this stuff?
Ah, yes. For all the concern about the research work you should do, and the advice you be prepared, you are now looking for cliff’s notes, correct? Good news. Advocacy groups around the state already have them and most of the time they are written in a way to summarize the debate in a clear, straightforward way.
When bills are discussed in committee or before the full body, most advocacy groups will testify as a “proponent” or “opponent” of the bill. These documents, written testimony are available at most state websites or can be requested. Rather than try to build a law degree on your own during a campaign, find groups you naturally align with and read their position statements. They are shorter, cut to the chase, and provide you the important details as well as long term analysis of legislation.
Your city/county/state party may have a position, but to really understand it you can get much farther by reading through the position statements and discussing with advocates. Another great advantage: talking to advocates directly can help build you more connections into your community who will speak about your interest in knowing about the issues.
Find Issues that Resonate With You
One of the best elements of this research is that candidates often find an issue that resonates with them. Jessica Jones began her campaign running for State Senate because, as a working professional she was concerned about the state economy and budgeting practices. She had other issues she cared about, but that was her motivating issue.
In doing research on the issues and her opponent, however, she discovered that he had repeatedly tried to advance bills to change the rules to divorce, and those changes are viewed by women’s groups as devastating for women trying to escape abusive relationships. Jessica wasn’t aware of this issue when she started to run, but reading and hearing the positions of others gave her an issue she could speak passionately about as she talks to constituents.
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.