The pre-campaign version of the website (maybe, hopefully, the permanent version?). Where the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street meet.
Yes, it's come to this. The majority in this country who aren't politically engaged, aren't politically polarized, but are politically marginalized and often exploited, that majority must become downright militant in order to get commonsense things actually accomplished. The two "tribes" that have so wrecked our politics have to go. In their place, independent citizen legislators not subject to the party whips and empowered to get the job done.
OR
Face it, Americans are mostly "live & let live". As a whole, we're pretty damn tolerant. Period. Maybe it's not that we're exactly what you'd call "enlightened". Maybe it's just that basically we just can't be bothered with what other folks are doing under their own roofs. Doesn't much matter why though. It works out to the same thing.
Of course that doesn't mean we're going to like our crazier neighbors and their lifestyles. And we sure as hell are going to get mad if we're lectured about how we should respect and embrace the way they've chosen to live. But so long as, at the end of the day, we know in our hearts that we all share the same belief in self-determination and individual personal liberties and that we've got each others backs if anyone tries to deny those rights, then it's going to be okay.
Showing posts with label campaigning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label campaigning. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
youtube
If a 2018 campaign is going to be even marginally successful, I won't be doing web videos on my own. Someone with more time and expertise will need to take over at some point. That said, initially it's probably going to be me. And 90% certain it'll be just me if there's a 2016 campaign (and web video is just one more element to "test drive" with a brief, limited-involvement 2016 run).
So.... probably ought to look into some sort of video cam (Flip cam?), maybe a decent microphone, perhaps even some lighting?? Certainly ought to set up an account on youtube, probably keeping everything uploaded there private.
So.... probably ought to look into some sort of video cam (Flip cam?), maybe a decent microphone, perhaps even some lighting?? Certainly ought to set up an account on youtube, probably keeping everything uploaded there private.
you can't really expect to win, right?
Since my campaign isn't about my ability to predict election outcomes, what I expect doesn't matter. What matters is that voters expect that the candidate with the most votes will win and I intend to be that candidate.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
jumping the gun?
Been thinking on & off (mostly off). Why not jump the gun, so to speak?
Let's say I retire early March '16. That would give me about 70 days to obtain ~550 (valid) signatures to get onto the Nov'16 ballot for state rep. (actual deadline is May 23rd) The idea would be to get those 10+ sigs per day by going one-on-one with the voters either door-to-door or at events. This would be a lot cheaper than paying the filing fee and it combines petitioning with campaigning. Assuming you have your candidate website ready and some handout card ready, this is an efficient use of time. So you've got a on-ballot candidacy at a cut-rate cost but since it's all rush rush last minute stuff, what do you really expect to get out of it?
Well, a tiny headstart on the 2018 statewide effort for one thing. If your short local campaign puts extra focus on local groups affiliated with larger statewide (or national) organizations, that can be particularly useful. Also, there's no reason why a well thought out and organized ( a relative concept based on what I've observed as some pitiful efforts of recent statewide NPA on-ballot candidates) campaign for state legislature can't be pitched to potential "big fish" donors throughout Florida just as readily as a federal legislative campaign. Again, it's at least a tiny introduction to these players. It also could mean the senate campaign starts off with a small pool of volunteers rather than zero. And it's a limited investment shakedown which could prove whether I'm actually up to all this 2018 business or not.
Update:
I don't know... the current thinking is to lead in with a federal issues website morphing into candidate campaign(s). If there's going to be a 2016 campaign, it probably(?) needs to be Congress. But for that, petitioning is much much higher - ~4,500 (valid) which is going to require a very early start against the May 23, 2016 deadline. The other option (fee) is expensive. >$4,000, which pretty much guarantees FEC filing due to the $5,000 threshold for reporting.
Let's say I retire early March '16. That would give me about 70 days to obtain ~550 (valid) signatures to get onto the Nov'16 ballot for state rep. (actual deadline is May 23rd) The idea would be to get those 10+ sigs per day by going one-on-one with the voters either door-to-door or at events. This would be a lot cheaper than paying the filing fee and it combines petitioning with campaigning. Assuming you have your candidate website ready and some handout card ready, this is an efficient use of time. So you've got a on-ballot candidacy at a cut-rate cost but since it's all rush rush last minute stuff, what do you really expect to get out of it?
Well, a tiny headstart on the 2018 statewide effort for one thing. If your short local campaign puts extra focus on local groups affiliated with larger statewide (or national) organizations, that can be particularly useful. Also, there's no reason why a well thought out and organized ( a relative concept based on what I've observed as some pitiful efforts of recent statewide NPA on-ballot candidates) campaign for state legislature can't be pitched to potential "big fish" donors throughout Florida just as readily as a federal legislative campaign. Again, it's at least a tiny introduction to these players. It also could mean the senate campaign starts off with a small pool of volunteers rather than zero. And it's a limited investment shakedown which could prove whether I'm actually up to all this 2018 business or not.
Update:
I don't know... the current thinking is to lead in with a federal issues website morphing into candidate campaign(s). If there's going to be a 2016 campaign, it probably(?) needs to be Congress. But for that, petitioning is much much higher - ~4,500 (valid) which is going to require a very early start against the May 23, 2016 deadline. The other option (fee) is expensive. >$4,000, which pretty much guarantees FEC filing due to the $5,000 threshold for reporting.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
getting specific | timeline
Let's start laying things out in somewhat greater detail.
If you leave active employment in December 2016, then I think you're looking to start public campaigning (e.g., filing with the state Division of Elections and the FEC; DoE filing is simply informational while FEC is required once >$5,000) in March 2017 for the November 2018 US Senate seat currently held by Bill Nelson. During this period you must:
1) Have a website ready with at least:
.. a) positions on at least 6 major issues primarily as video (text with voice-over) but also available as text.
.. b) outline your basic campaign strategy
.. c) entreat readers to volunteer and/or contribute.
2) Have determined the appropriate online means of donation in-take.
3) Set up an appropriate bank account opening it with an initial candidate loan of ~$2,500 (I would intend to be repaid, but in very small increments over a fairly long period.). Seriously consider credit unions.
4) Perhaps filed with the IRS - anticipating ultimately exceeding their threshold and perhaps needing that to open the bank account.
5) Probably having had to settle on a campaign disclosure software. Note that the FEC has free software available.
6) Investigated web advertising (anticipating outreach rolling out in this order: web, radio, cable, mail) and have "ballpark" estimates on radio/cable by market.
7) Compiled a list of organizations (most probably local/regional) to make initial contacts with (speaking opportunities).
8) Prepared the 15-second, 3-minute, and 15 minute campaign pitches referenced elsewhere.
9) Made certain of reporting requirements (if any) concerning "crash space".
10) I will need something like an iPad to use whenever I'm on the road (which will hopefully be most of the time).
11) Right out of the box, I'll want to know if/how supporters can independently fund and arrange media buys using campaign-designed materials. I'll also want a couple radio ads ready for this purpose. And maybe a couple videos ready for cable (or maybe some kind of web placement) too.
Assuming you got all that (and probably more will be needed) in place, you can go ahead and announce in March 2017.
You need to hit your list of organizations. At each one, you need to get donations, you need to get volunteers, and you need to get referrals (i.e., other places to speak and 'big fish' to solicit).
Since your campaign strategy absolutely has to anticipate at least $500,000 in donations (otherwise you get laughed at; it may have to be higher), the filing fee represents only 2.8% of that. Which means your strategy should divert not more than 10% of donations to the 'filing fee fund' (until such point as it's fully funded) which means you're going to spend 90% (or very nearly) of income on outreach ads. On the assumption that web advertising can be purchased in very cheap units, that means you're going to need to have ads and place ads quickly.
On fundraising, keep in mind these figures for 2010:
Rubio: $21 million
Crist: $13.5 million
Meek: $8.5 million
Looking at these, truthfully, people who might donate $5,000 probably shouldn't even consider you unless you can realistically make a case for raising an absolute minimum of $1 million. Let's (wildly) guess that you can land 20 max donors, that's $100Gs. If the average of other donors is $100, then that's 9,000 donors to reach $1 mil. Assuming 15 months of fund-raising (ignoring a few early start-up months), that's like 600 donors/month or 20 donors per day. Put that way, it's not astronomically insanely ridiculous. But it is really really hard.
Hopefully by Sept 2017 (six months in), you've got other people handling:
* campaign disclosures
* creation of ads
* placement of ads
* website
(is this enough for 6 months?)
Someone to manage the press release list will be needed, but that can likely wait until sometime into 2018.
Hopefully by six months in, I've also raised at least $70,000 (which @ 10% funds the filing fee).
Candidate qualifying is approximately mid-April 2018. If paying the ~$7,000 qualifying fee is 'an issue', then things are going badly; it could be wise to scale back.
By the time of the August 2018 primary (for those other candidates), I must:
* have vastly out-performed any other minor/independent candidate
* have all essential positions filled (hopefully all volunteers)
* have income such that at least $10,000/week can be spent on outreach
* have an organization providing voter venues on a (near) daily basis.
I will have to go upward from here until November 2018.
If you leave active employment in December 2016, then I think you're looking to start public campaigning (e.g., filing with the state Division of Elections and the FEC; DoE filing is simply informational while FEC is required once >$5,000) in March 2017 for the November 2018 US Senate seat currently held by Bill Nelson. During this period you must:
1) Have a website ready with at least:
.. a) positions on at least 6 major issues primarily as video (text with voice-over) but also available as text.
.. b) outline your basic campaign strategy
.. c) entreat readers to volunteer and/or contribute.
2) Have determined the appropriate online means of donation in-take.
3) Set up an appropriate bank account opening it with an initial candidate loan of ~$2,500 (I would intend to be repaid, but in very small increments over a fairly long period.). Seriously consider credit unions.
4) Perhaps filed with the IRS - anticipating ultimately exceeding their threshold and perhaps needing that to open the bank account.
5) Probably having had to settle on a campaign disclosure software. Note that the FEC has free software available.
6) Investigated web advertising (anticipating outreach rolling out in this order: web, radio, cable, mail) and have "ballpark" estimates on radio/cable by market.
7) Compiled a list of organizations (most probably local/regional) to make initial contacts with (speaking opportunities).
8) Prepared the 15-second, 3-minute, and 15 minute campaign pitches referenced elsewhere.
9) Made certain of reporting requirements (if any) concerning "crash space".
10) I will need something like an iPad to use whenever I'm on the road (which will hopefully be most of the time).
11) Right out of the box, I'll want to know if/how supporters can independently fund and arrange media buys using campaign-designed materials. I'll also want a couple radio ads ready for this purpose. And maybe a couple videos ready for cable (or maybe some kind of web placement) too.
Assuming you got all that (and probably more will be needed) in place, you can go ahead and announce in March 2017.
You need to hit your list of organizations. At each one, you need to get donations, you need to get volunteers, and you need to get referrals (i.e., other places to speak and 'big fish' to solicit).
Since your campaign strategy absolutely has to anticipate at least $500,000 in donations (otherwise you get laughed at; it may have to be higher), the filing fee represents only 2.8% of that. Which means your strategy should divert not more than 10% of donations to the 'filing fee fund' (until such point as it's fully funded) which means you're going to spend 90% (or very nearly) of income on outreach ads. On the assumption that web advertising can be purchased in very cheap units, that means you're going to need to have ads and place ads quickly.
On fundraising, keep in mind these figures for 2010:
Rubio: $21 million
Crist: $13.5 million
Meek: $8.5 million
Looking at these, truthfully, people who might donate $5,000 probably shouldn't even consider you unless you can realistically make a case for raising an absolute minimum of $1 million. Let's (wildly) guess that you can land 20 max donors, that's $100Gs. If the average of other donors is $100, then that's 9,000 donors to reach $1 mil. Assuming 15 months of fund-raising (ignoring a few early start-up months), that's like 600 donors/month or 20 donors per day. Put that way, it's not astronomically insanely ridiculous. But it is really really hard.
Hopefully by Sept 2017 (six months in), you've got other people handling:
* campaign disclosures
* creation of ads
* placement of ads
* website
(is this enough for 6 months?)
Someone to manage the press release list will be needed, but that can likely wait until sometime into 2018.
Hopefully by six months in, I've also raised at least $70,000 (which @ 10% funds the filing fee).
Candidate qualifying is approximately mid-April 2018. If paying the ~$7,000 qualifying fee is 'an issue', then things are going badly; it could be wise to scale back.
By the time of the August 2018 primary (for those other candidates), I must:
* have vastly out-performed any other minor/independent candidate
* have all essential positions filled (hopefully all volunteers)
* have income such that at least $10,000/week can be spent on outreach
* have an organization providing voter venues on a (near) daily basis.
I will have to go upward from here until November 2018.
major issues
Based on the slogan, I think the first two are clear.
#1
Corporate personhood amendment to the 14th. This makes rock-solid certain the authority to regulate these entities and, in particular, to ban them entirely from political involvement.
#2
Congressional rules. This is going to take a lot of research. Probably it involves things like:
* Single topic bills
* End senate filibuster and various non-majority "holds".
* Eliminate the ability of provisions to anonymously be dropped into last-minute conference bills.
The rest should probably be more "mainstream" issues.
#1
Corporate personhood amendment to the 14th. This makes rock-solid certain the authority to regulate these entities and, in particular, to ban them entirely from political involvement.
#2
Congressional rules. This is going to take a lot of research. Probably it involves things like:
* Single topic bills
* End senate filibuster and various non-majority "holds".
* Eliminate the ability of provisions to anonymously be dropped into last-minute conference bills.
The rest should probably be more "mainstream" issues.
slogan
The point here being that our elected officials don't represent us nearly as well as they should. Main causes for this are corporate involvement in politics and the crazy rules which empower legislative leadership while neutering individual members. Both these things need fixing. As well as other steps which empower us.
okay, so the point is fine but the slogan is crap.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
goal
I think that when all is said and done (when typically more will have been said than done....), I would end up with say 10 to 15 issues. For each I'd have:
* a 10 to 15 second "sound bite"
* a 2 to 3 minute "pitch"
* a more or less unlimited "white paper".
The sound bite's use is fairly obvious. (and in fact, the very best 2 or 3 sound bites might make a great foundation/theme for an entire political campaign)
The pitch might be useful as the basis for answering questionnaires or in debate situations or as part of a larger "stump speech".
The white paper's utility is probably to demonstrate the legitimacy of the campaign/candidate and to provide a ready additional reference (largely for the candidate) when discussion of an issue goes beyond the contents of the "pitch". Regrettably, the specificity of such documents could simply end up as targets for opposition sniping. But even that could ultimately prove useful in the sense of helping to perfect the campaign's thinking and solutions.
* a 10 to 15 second "sound bite"
* a 2 to 3 minute "pitch"
* a more or less unlimited "white paper".
The sound bite's use is fairly obvious. (and in fact, the very best 2 or 3 sound bites might make a great foundation/theme for an entire political campaign)
The pitch might be useful as the basis for answering questionnaires or in debate situations or as part of a larger "stump speech".
The white paper's utility is probably to demonstrate the legitimacy of the campaign/candidate and to provide a ready additional reference (largely for the candidate) when discussion of an issue goes beyond the contents of the "pitch". Regrettably, the specificity of such documents could simply end up as targets for opposition sniping. But even that could ultimately prove useful in the sense of helping to perfect the campaign's thinking and solutions.
making it real
For the moment, let's assume that I figure out the answers to all the nation's most pressing problems. Okay, maybe not the 100% perfect all-inclusive nary a stray step answers, but vast improvements in the right direction. And, let us further assume, that these solutions can be explained in a way that's understandable and attractive to a significant subset of the population. So what?
Nothing much will change unless one switches gears from research to politics. How - talking nuts and bolts here - does one win office and enact change?
Rather than risk letting this topic become overly vague, let's assume that the optimum path is to be elected US Senator outside the 2-party system, using that bully pulpit to then recruit and support like-minded persons in other states, forming a working but flexible coalition with the two majors that varies from issue to issue, and thus putting the answers into law. Doesn't matter if the preceding scenario is true or not so long as it's true that politics is where implementation must occur; the rest is just details. Maybe it's intra-party insurgency. Maybe governor is the appropriate office. Maybe president. The nuts and bolts will be much the same, so long as it's a political implementation that's required.
I think the first thing you need is a website that's comprehensive on the issues. That's probably manageable by the candidate (who needs to have a mastery of the issues in any event). It won't be pretty and it won't be polished and it won't have the bells and whistles of video & etc, but it will have the information that needs to reach voters. Not, of course, that it wouldn't be good to find a good webmaster ASAP. One 'feature' should probably be some form of "HOT LIST" -
* Topics that particularly need research (e.g., nailing down provable examples of last minute anonymous amendments),
* Needs that particularly need filled (e.g., we could really use crash space in Pensacola for April 24th),
* Positions that particularly need filled (e.g., we really really need a videographer).
* Expert Advice (e.g., we really need an expert on health care).
The second thing you need is a treasurer to handle the money and disclosures. Again, initially the candidate can probably do that too. And again, it would be good to find a trustworthy treasurer ASAP.
Speaking of treasurer, don't forget what the filing thresholds seem to be. Once you cross $5,000 you must register with the FEC. Once you cross $25,000 then you've got to deal with the IRS. And speaking of money, there's getting on the ballot. The filing fee seems the way to go; that's ~$7,000. And keep in mind that, despite the absence of any primary election, donors can still contribute $2,500 per election including the primary which means the practical donor limit is $5,000 (although the internal accounting must be able to separate such contributions into primary/general and once the 'primary' date is passed, the practical donor limit drops back to $2,500. For me, the most advantageous option for 'primary' date is probably the mid-August date of the major parties' actual primary).
So anyway, very very early on you need to have a plan. For one thing, the cliche is true: failing to plan is planning to fail. For another, a credible (if optimistic) plan is crucial to being a credible candidate and being a credible candidate is crucial to fund raising and fund raising is crucial to political success. So you need a plan.
And I think the plan is fairly simply stated:
If your answers are sufficiently motivating to sway meaningful numbers of voters (assuming they ever hear your answers), then there's going to be a small subset of those voters who are sufficiently motivated that they're going to volunteer and work. From this group you're getting your webmaster, your treasurer, your fundraiser, your local field directors, your media specialists, etc. And with enough people being volunteers (and you will need many in order to spread the work around), your fundraising can be overwhelmingly directed towards reaching the voters through media (radio, cable, web, etc). Hard goods (lawn signs, handouts, etc) can be created by volunteers and simply made freely available for independent local production and distribution. Even additional media could be handled similarly - produce x radio ads, make them available for download by local supporters, the local supporters raise their own money, buy their own airtime on their local media to air whichever ads they like best. The candidate simply needs to keep getting in front of as many people as possible while the volunteer staff: supports the candidate's schedule, handles the money, creates new media (some of which may come up from the local supporters), makes training and direction and resources available to the local groups, and makes media purchases. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The basic premise is, I think, sound. But obviously a lot more work would need to be done. But the first step really is to be comprehensive about the issues. Which is what's being attempted here.
Nothing much will change unless one switches gears from research to politics. How - talking nuts and bolts here - does one win office and enact change?
Rather than risk letting this topic become overly vague, let's assume that the optimum path is to be elected US Senator outside the 2-party system, using that bully pulpit to then recruit and support like-minded persons in other states, forming a working but flexible coalition with the two majors that varies from issue to issue, and thus putting the answers into law. Doesn't matter if the preceding scenario is true or not so long as it's true that politics is where implementation must occur; the rest is just details. Maybe it's intra-party insurgency. Maybe governor is the appropriate office. Maybe president. The nuts and bolts will be much the same, so long as it's a political implementation that's required.
I think the first thing you need is a website that's comprehensive on the issues. That's probably manageable by the candidate (who needs to have a mastery of the issues in any event). It won't be pretty and it won't be polished and it won't have the bells and whistles of video & etc, but it will have the information that needs to reach voters. Not, of course, that it wouldn't be good to find a good webmaster ASAP. One 'feature' should probably be some form of "HOT LIST" -
* Topics that particularly need research (e.g., nailing down provable examples of last minute anonymous amendments),
* Needs that particularly need filled (e.g., we could really use crash space in Pensacola for April 24th),
* Positions that particularly need filled (e.g., we really really need a videographer).
* Expert Advice (e.g., we really need an expert on health care).
The second thing you need is a treasurer to handle the money and disclosures. Again, initially the candidate can probably do that too. And again, it would be good to find a trustworthy treasurer ASAP.
Speaking of treasurer, don't forget what the filing thresholds seem to be. Once you cross $5,000 you must register with the FEC. Once you cross $25,000 then you've got to deal with the IRS. And speaking of money, there's getting on the ballot. The filing fee seems the way to go; that's ~$7,000. And keep in mind that, despite the absence of any primary election, donors can still contribute $2,500 per election including the primary which means the practical donor limit is $5,000 (although the internal accounting must be able to separate such contributions into primary/general and once the 'primary' date is passed, the practical donor limit drops back to $2,500. For me, the most advantageous option for 'primary' date is probably the mid-August date of the major parties' actual primary).
So anyway, very very early on you need to have a plan. For one thing, the cliche is true: failing to plan is planning to fail. For another, a credible (if optimistic) plan is crucial to being a credible candidate and being a credible candidate is crucial to fund raising and fund raising is crucial to political success. So you need a plan.
And I think the plan is fairly simply stated:
If your answers are sufficiently motivating to sway meaningful numbers of voters (assuming they ever hear your answers), then there's going to be a small subset of those voters who are sufficiently motivated that they're going to volunteer and work. From this group you're getting your webmaster, your treasurer, your fundraiser, your local field directors, your media specialists, etc. And with enough people being volunteers (and you will need many in order to spread the work around), your fundraising can be overwhelmingly directed towards reaching the voters through media (radio, cable, web, etc). Hard goods (lawn signs, handouts, etc) can be created by volunteers and simply made freely available for independent local production and distribution. Even additional media could be handled similarly - produce x radio ads, make them available for download by local supporters, the local supporters raise their own money, buy their own airtime on their local media to air whichever ads they like best. The candidate simply needs to keep getting in front of as many people as possible while the volunteer staff: supports the candidate's schedule, handles the money, creates new media (some of which may come up from the local supporters), makes training and direction and resources available to the local groups, and makes media purchases. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The basic premise is, I think, sound. But obviously a lot more work would need to be done. But the first step really is to be comprehensive about the issues. Which is what's being attempted here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)