Blog
So, You Want to Run for Office… Part 1
April 14, 2011
Well, the election of 2010 is now one for the history books.
Six new U.S. Senators now sit in “the world’s most exclusive club”, including political newcomers who finally give Jim DeMint some conservative reinforcements. 87 freshmen representatives were also sworn in, many of them introduced to the process and propelled by the grassroots rallies and groups that formed over the previous two years. It was the biggest wave election since 1948, and it didn’t stop in Washington.
At the state level, 20 legislative bodies previously split or under the control of the Left are neither anymore. There are now 25 states where center-right elected officials hold majorities in both legislative chambers. It was a swing of nearly 700 seats on Election Day, outperforming even the 628-seat record set in 1974, the 472-seat pickup twenty years later, and more than doubling the recent 322-seat gain of 2006.
And here you sit. You sense a true shifting of the political tectonic plates in America, but you’re not sure what it means. You saw the tremendous grassroots uprising of last year: the Tea Party movement, 9.12 groups, and libertarians focusing and mobilizing like never before. Yet you’re still by turns outraged, inspired, frustrated, compelled and afraid.
Afraid of the fiscal insanity perpetuated by this Administration. Compelled to try and change things, like the number of true small-government adherents actually in office. Frustrated by an archaic political system that has its own set of insular rules and hasn’t adapted to the 21st century’s information age. But inspired by the very real opportunities for new blood willing to work within that same system. And along with that, outraged that more people like you aren’t paying more attention to things like an unsustainable national debt, or even local and state tax rates where you live, work and raise a family.
You’re not alone.
Many new activists and groups are fuzzy on exactly how to go about becoming the next crop of liberty-minded leaders. Where and how should you begin considering a run for office? When do you decide it’s YOU that should step forward? Putting your name on the ballot involves enormous sacrifice, followed only in magnitude of difficulty by the actual job of becoming a public servant…that is, if you win a campaign.
In the spirit of “stacking the deck” with right-thinking, credible, competent candidates, here are some shortcuts that can allow for a rolling start should you decide to throw your name in the proverbial hat.
First get a political lay of the land. Look for open seats! If you live in a state where there are term limits at the state legislative level, an open seat is the best opportunity for a new, solid candidate. So do your homework in a term-limited state (compile a list of all seats coming open) and find out which seats are up in 2012.
Also look for seats that could be flipped due to the registered partisan make-up of a district, etc. Where’s the low-hanging fruit? Where are the best opportunities for victory (or unexpected wins)? Which incumbents are asleep at the switch? Which districts are long overdue for an upset but haven’t had an effective challenger—perhaps in years?
Occasionally you can find a congressional seat that falls into this category, but not often. And frankly, far too many idealistic individuals sally forth at this level only to have no real impact.
Why not steal the liberals’ mantra: “think global, act local”?
Many of the best opportunities for newcomers exist at state and local levels. Don’t put your entire focus on Washington—plenty of statist, big-government decisions are made at municipal and county levels. It’s a mistake to ignore the tax-and-spend good ol’ boys at city hall or the state capital when you can de-pollute that compost pile of a political ecosystem right under your nose. And it’s quite appropriate to run for school board, city council, or county board/commission (often multi-million, if not billion-dollar budgetary entities, with plenty of civic responsibility) before running for state legislature—much less Congress.
Then it’s time to ask yourself what makes you a strong candidate. Do you have the “fire in the belly” to persevere through an entire, tough campaign season? Are you a natural leader? Can you inspire other people? Articulate a positive vision? Zero in on voters and their core values?
If you’d rather win the philosophical argument about why your political beliefs are the clearly correct ones than actually go out and meet the people who could become your proud supporters, running for office is probably not for you.
(Still reading? Think you have what it takes to make a difference? Watch for Part 2 of this article on the nuts and bolts of political campaigns in May 2011)
I’d add one relatively easy thing; start blogging about politics in the area you plan to run in immediately. You don’t need to blog about planning to run for office, but get other Conservatives in your area reading the posts and recognizing your name ASAP. I limited myself by not having a fan base established well beforehand. Set up a WordPress or Blogspot blog and get to it.
Issues are no problem for me. I have worked behind the scenes in politics for over thirty years. I have worked in journalism, research, campaign and political advisory positions, political consulting, polling and much more. While I am not allowed to say who most of my clients are/were, due to non-disclosure agreements, but some of my work has ended up on bills on both state levels as well as the national level.
Problem! When no party will endorse you and you do not have enough money to break through the “Green Ceiling,” that is, having enough money to sustain a campaign and a living at the same time, how do you get a campaign off the ground and gain support? And since when has money become a qualifier for office in the first place?
I have filed papers to run in the past. I was quickly approached by the local Republicans and told I should quit immediately as they would not support me, and actually work against me. I approached various other groups including Independents and Libertarians only to be rejected for support. Among the reasons, I criticized former President George Bush in the papers over his stance on illegal immigration, I have no money, I am too strong on conservative issues, (I am right, but I should not be so vocal,) and more, but mostly money.
All of this has not stopped them from approaching me for free advice though!
Great article. I wish we didn’t have to wait till May for Part 2!
Thanks for the praise, Lane. I’ll try to make it worth the wait!
Joe, you are absolutely correct: having a “brand” name well before you roll out a campaign centered around you is key. We teach this in our Activist and Candidate tracks of training. And the good news is that there are all sorts of ways to do it via new media, like the blogging you recommend.
And Richard, I feel your pain. Money shouldn’t HAVE to be a requirement to run for public office but unfortunately it is in many cases. However, the threshold for having to raise funds is fairly small when you start at local/lower level offices (which is what we recommend). At the end of the day though, being credible and competent enough (which you sound to be) to convince others to invest in you and your campaign is a built-in hurdle to a run.
Voters are very concerned about the many job losses and changes occuring on a daily basis.
When we talk about voters, we are not talking about every citizen. Many are not registered, and on average, a significant portion of those who are do not vote.
That being said, yes, voters are concerned about job losses as either they are unemployed or facing the possibility they will be soon. This is due to the significant uncertainty of our country’s future, and this very much has to do with problems in Washington.
The voters want our representatives to actually take a firm stance on fixing the problems, and then to actually act on their stance as opposed to giving the issue lip service. This is among the chief reasons for the rise of the Tea Party. Without a real central leadership or organization for that matter, the party is made up of a wide cross of people from all political persuasions who are focused on those in Washington who just do not seem to get it, and who appear to be working against the people while enriching themselves and building their personal power base.
There are many answers to the problems the job market is facing. You cannot take one answer and say, “This is it!” It must be a comprehensive answer that addresses the primary problems, then make those solutions long term so private industry knows what the future holds and they head onward with confidence in their planning.
Lower tax rates are a good thing, but steady rates for the long term are also important as companies need to be able to budget. Impossible to do when you never know what the rate may be. Answering the problems in health care coverage so again companies will know what to expect and if they can afford it. Another, though largely ignored for business is energy. These prices and supplies must be stabilized so businesses can properly budget for the costs of running their business to include transportation costs.
Business loves certainty. Without it they cannot properly plan and hedge more cash against the future as opposed to full investment in their own companies. Stabilize these uncertainties for business and more private sector jobs will be created.
Off the top of my head, I can think of 248 job losses that wouldn’t concern me one bit; two in the Executive Branch and 246 in the Legislative Branch.
Robbins neglected to mention the numerous recent additions to state House and Senate seats who promised their constituents they would reduce the size, scope, costs, and invasiveness of government during the campaign, and then, when elected, pulled the same perfunctory, partisan self interested nonsense that their predecessors did. Apparently, a partisan Republican, Robbins ignores the dangerous mentality of allowing candidates and incumbents who fail their constituencies right out of the gate to achieve tenure or seniority. If anything meaningful is to come from the grassroots/conservative resistance/Tea Party, call it what you will “movement” it will be that citizens and voters never again give any politician an incentive to cling to power longer than their performance on our behalf can justify. With majorities in the House in most states, these newly minted politicians have only themselves and their devotion to the ‘wisdom’ of party incumbents to blame when voters send them home in the 2012 Primaries! These politicians all promised to accept and respect the will of the people as their guidance in our governance, but when push came to shove, far too many of them compromised on issues where compromise was neither necessary, nor beneficial. Unless we place every seat in constant jeopardy, we will never truly achieve the sort of citizen/politician mindset necessary to restore the will of the people as the compass by which our government is lead.
Theresa, you are exactly right: to misappropriate a phrase, the “misery index” (the pain people feel with their jobs not being certain, the radical, systemic re-orienting of the relationship of the federal government to its citizenry going on right now–or even the gouging we get at the gas pump) will go a long way toward determining how intensely voters agitate for even more change in the next election cycle.
And Richard fleshes it out even more fully. Obamacare (and the unknown prospects of its complete implementation) is forcing business and the private sector to sit on capital, delay reinvestment, and largely operate out of fear for what kind of debilitating financial burdens probably are coming down the pike. Richard also properly points out the actual make-up of the “electorate”, and that the few, distilled tips I’ve attempted to cobble together in my piece should really simply serve as an introduction to a philosophy of governing (and more importantly, the concept of leadership) held by the truly conservative candidate. You have to start with the “bread-and-butter” issues that real, living, everyday voters want to initially discuss; then you can broaden the conversation to what kinds of individuals and choices need to be injected into the political environment.
And Joe, I get your point, but to respond honestly, not only to you, but also to Ed’s post below your comment, it’s not only those on the D side of the aisle who need to live perpetually with the Sword of Damocles dangling over their heads.
You may not agree with all the ratings given on the following website, but is Bert Loftman’s effort at clearly identifying and ranking Republicans who’ve cast questionable votes in their congressional careers.
I’m assuming Ed’s anger in his comment is over the recent budget “deal” and averted government shutdown, but if he thinks I’m going to argue with him about the need for even newly-minted elected officials to feel the heat (and fear for their seats), he’s mistaken. American Majority’s stated, public goal is to always challenge statists and career members of the political class wherever you can, wherever it makes sense. Stacking the deck with conservatives in the primary elections (when you’re sure you can win in the general) is the only way we know how to ensure that any fresh majorities in our legislatures will truly represent the will of the grassroots folks who just sent them there.
Thanks Matt! Admittedly, I was taking the easy way out because I couldn’t remember where I’d seen a good listing of RINOs. Got it bookmarked now.
I would like to run for office but like you said earlier in your post. It is about money and political parties trying to shut you down. There is no reason why it takes millions of dollars to run a campaign this is insane and it has to stop.