A veteran campaign manager’s advice for new candidates, Part 3

Trying to be all things to all people usually fails

Over the past two weeks, I have written in this space about campaign strategies, tactics and techniques that are intended to be helpful to people running as candidates in this fall’s municipal election. Some of these are familiar to experienced candidates. Most will represent an advanced take on the trade for first time candidates.

To date, topics have included campaign strategy as a driver of campaign activity; the role of a campaign team; the value of a campaign launch; keeping public and private faces; staying true to your persona; taking criticism and admiration in stride; using canvassing as a means for research and problem solving; and developing the capability to adjust quickly on the fly. This column adds a final chapter to the file.

First, and regardless of your status in the community or your political messaging, you will have supporters who are likely to vote for you, even if they are few in number. That base of support may be driven by factors such as name recognition; personal or professional engagement; community standing; political affiliation; media exposure; religious affiliation; age; or gender. A sophisticated campaign will attempt to understand this base for two reasons.

The first is to grow it and cater to it. The second is to determine how far the campaign can depart from it without offending it, in order to attract a wider group of voters. There is always a careful balance required between actions that reinforce and grow your existing base of support on one hand and actions that widen that support on the other.

This is important for new candidates who are not bound by party discipline and who can easily develop a tendency to agree to any and all positions suggested by any and all constituents – a practice that can quickly disperse the base.

For a candidate who is primarily associated with progressive and socially responsible issues, for example, a proposal to attract new businesses in order to create jobs can extend the base without offending it, whereas a proposal to reduce business or property taxes for the business sector will threaten it.

Candidates who are all things to all people rarely succeed; they end up with a brand too anemic to earn distinction in the public mind. Be aware of the consistency expected of you by your voter base and stray from it only after careful consideration.

Second, your door-to-door canvas will have identified voters who are likely to support you and you will have already helped to get them on the voter’s list.

As fatigued as you will be at campaign’s end, you should work at getting out the vote on election day; that is, choosing from a variety of techniques that courteously remind and assist your supporters to vote for you. Remember that there is no truth test for someone who offers a doorstep promise to vote for you.

People routinely tell people at their door what they think they want to hear, sometimes simply to bring the encounter to an end. There is little point in identifying the intentions of a supportive voter if you don’t make an effort to get them to act on those intentions.

Finally, pace yourself. A campaign is a marathon, not a sprint. It will challenge you emotionally and physically. Keep in mind that the last day of a winning election campaign is the first day of a new job of governing for which you will need your strength and good health. My counsel is to work at it every day, but not all day. If you don’t rest, you harden.

‘A campaign is a marathon, not a sprint.’ DAVID GOYETTE