So you want to run for public office. Great! We need good people in public service.
First, you need to organize a campaign. Campaigning is all about getting your message out.
How do you do that?
Locally: door-to-door. Regionally/Nationally: travel and radio/tv ads
You also need staff, unless you plan to do the whole thing yourself. Oh, and you also need some 'bling' to help spread the word and get your name out there. You know...buttons, bumper stickers, yard signs.
Wait...this sounds like its going to cost some money.
Why, yes it is. Luckily, you can go out there and get people to donate funds to your campaign.
Sweet. I'll just find a really rich guy to cut me a check.
Not so fast. There are rules regarding fundraising. They are called campaign finance laws and they put certain limits on raising money for campaigns. Money donated directly to an individual campaign is known as
hard money and is limited in the amount that can be donated. Money donated to a political party or political action committee however is known as
soft money and has far fewer limits on it.
So you're saying I can get around it. And by the way, isn't limiting the ability to donate money to a political campaign a violation of the 1st amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances?
Whoa there big fella! If you want to get into laws and Supreme Court case law on campaign financing, why don't you look up McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform,
Buckley v Valeo, and the
Citizens United case. But aside from that let's move this campaign train down the track.
Once you are organized, you have to formally nominate yourself for elected office. This involves paperwork and either a filing fee or getting a requisite number of signatures in support of your candidacy.
Sounds easy enough.
What? You think you're the only one? There will probably be multiple candidates you choose to run. Probably multiple candidates within your own party. That is, unless your seeking a position on a non-partisan governing body.
A what?
Nevermind. Let's move on. You're going to need to devote some of your resources to winning your party nomination. This is usually done one of two ways. Through a party
caucus or a
primary election. Most primary elections are
direct primaries in which the voters select the candidate.
How do I convince them I am the best candidate?
Well, you need to know who you are talking to. Who is choosing the candidate? Is it all potential voters, which happens in an
open primary? Or is it a
closed primary in which only registered voters of your party choose who they want to represent the party in the big general election? Obviously, in a closed primary, you need to speak the language of the party faithful and the hardcore base of the party to win their support. In an open primary, you would want to be more moderate and attractive to as many potential voters as possible.
Seems like there is a lot of strategy.
You bet. You'll probably want to hire a professional for that.
Spend more money??!
Yep. Welcome to politics. If you are good enough to be able to win the party primary, then you must prepare for the general election against the chosen candidate of the other party. And now you really have to appeal to as many possible voters as you can. And really get the message out.
So be more moderate and spend more money?
Now you've got it! Keep in mind that the objective is just to get a
plurality of support. That means, just get more votes than everyone else running for that position and you win. You don't even have to get over 50%. Just the plurality. Try and convince them early though. Because while most people will simply go to the polling location for their precinct on election day, a good number of people choose to vote early and some vote
absentee.
So I should get out the moderate message of who I am and what changes I am going to bring into office early and often? And that's the key to winning elected office?
If only it were that simple. Even those who do that the best won't win. That's because voter behavior is a beast. The 1st thing to keep in mind is that most Americans don't bother to vote.
What? Why? This is America, isn't it? Why wouldn't they vote?
As Americans, we are fat, dumb, lazy, and happy. We would rather sit on the couch eating Doritos while we watch stuff blow up than actually get off of the couch and go down the precinct polling place to cast a vote.
That's terrible.
God bless America. No...really... God bless America. We believe in individual liberty so much, we're not even going to make you vote. Vote; don't vote; what business is that of the government? So long as you play by the rules.
What are the rules of voting?
Well, you have to be 18, a citizen of the state you are going to vote in, and you have to be registered to vote by the deadline before that election. Unless you are in North Dakota, where you don't even have to registered.
Why don't you have to be registered in North Dakota?
I don't know. Probably because there are only like ten guys named Hank and a couple of moose living in the whole state so if someone drops by and wants to vote, they're glad to have the company. Its cold up there.
Okay then.
So even if someone is registered and actually gets off their couch to go and vote, then you have to deal with the human element of voting. Despite the message that you have been trying to get out, voters rely heavily on a few things that influence their voting patterns. Party identification, their own views on the issues, your background and their background. Can they relate to you? Do they feel like you understand the issues that are important to them? Even if they think you do, some people are single-issue voters and your stance on one issue can cause them not to vote for you even though they really like everything else about you. And then there is your party. There are some people who will vote for, literally, anybody so long as their is a blue-D or a red-R next to their name. It doesn't matter what you say. They won't vote for you. You could be facing a goat in a hockey jersey in this election and they would vote for the goat because the goat represents their party.
So why do we do this?
Because of the opportunity to serve your community and to try and make things better for people. Look, elections can be rough. Negative campaigns win. People don't get registered on time and they don't vote. Money seems to have undue influence. Its enough to make anyone cynical. But campaigns and elections inform the voters and allow them to express their views on what should be done for society. That is the essence of the democratic process.
Alright then....let's do this.
