How to win an election

Steps To Election 1)Pick a race to run in 2)Acquire the tools needed to run 3)Issue Identification 4)Delivering the Message 5)Advertising 6)Debating

Picking the Race to Run In “In New York if you are looking for a good apartment you don’t look in the classified ads, you look in the obituaries.” 98% Re-election rate in the House 75% Re-election rate in the Senate So your best bet is to run for an open seat (one in which the incumbent is not seeking re- election) HOWEVER……

Picking the Race To Run In If you are going to challenge there are 3 signs to look for to see if somebody is vulnerable. 1)Times of Economic Distress 2)Public Scandal (Not Private) 3)Public Boredom

Picking the Race to Run in Local Races City Counsel, Mayor (Small to Medium Sized city), State Legislature, U.S. House of Reps. Need a good GROUND GAME because it is a labor intensive campaign. You win based on your volunteers, phone calls, and being closer to the voters State Races Mayor (large city), Governor (or other state wide office), U.S. Senate, President Need a good AIR GAME because it is a capital intensive campaign. You win based on spreading your message clearly to a large group of people.

Tools Needed to Run The decision to run must be made well in advance of the time of the election. Once you decide to run all of your activities should center around increasing the following tools. 1)Positive Name Recognition 2)Access to Money 3)Issue Identification

Issue Identification Your issue must be… 1) Something you care about, know about, and have credibility on. 2) Controversial in some way 3) Not a re-used, decided issue 4) Tie in to a greater theme 5) Something you NEVER drop

Delivering Your Message The centerpiece of your campaign is to develop a “rationale” for people to vote for you. (Some campaigns never do but still win, usually because the other campaign fails also and somebody has to win) Your rationale should tie into your theme and issue. Issue: Education Theme: The Future Rationale: Vote for me because I am the best choice to bring your children a better future

Delivering Your Message Consistency is key “It is ok for a candidate to have an opinion on everything, it is not ok for the candidate to constantly talk about everything” Most voters don’t follow day-to-day election news. So when they see you talk about different things every time they look up they believe you don’t have a “core.”

Delivering Your Message It is hard to stay consistent though. The Media in particular makes it difficult. The first three letters of “News” are N-E-W. So how do you do it? The Same Way I Get My Son To Eat His Broccoli You give them the same thing, dressed up a bit different. MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday

Advertising “How do I know if I should fire my campaign manager?” If he tells you to hold off on spending money early in the race. Spending money is an investment. You spend money early, get a lead in the polls, and can fundraise more If he says your first advertisement should be a biography of you. The Media and your website can do this for you for much cheaper.

Advertising A Good Ad will… Focus on your issue, theme, and rationale AND Work on a logical level AND Work on an emotional level AND Be visually compelling

Advertising Positive vs. Negative Ads Positive Ads actually work better. – Doesn’t require viewer to dislike opponent – Just has to think you’d be better at the job Positive Ads are much lower risk

Advertising If you go negative…. Don’t do this…

Advertising Negative Ads must… Be credible - well sourced Be comparison ads, not just attacks - saying bad things about somebody else doesn’t give them a reason to vote for you, just not for them Avoid having the candidate directly attack - use a surrogate as independent as possible

Debates There are a lot of rules for a debate. But the main one is to not let what I am about to show you happen to you.

Quayle vs. Benston Debate 1988

Debates Body Language is important – The camera is always on you Answer, Attack/Compare/Explain Always bring it back to your issue, theme, rationale.