25 ways to lose elections1

We regularly offer advice on how to improve an election campaign.

Unfortunately, many lose campaigns, because they continue to make
the same mistakes. After conferring with friends and editors
throughout the country, we composed the selection of the most
common errors, committed by ambitious politicians and their
assistants.

We present the material, which consists of 25 recommendations. Five

of them apply to candidates for the elected office, the other five to
leaders of electoral campaigns, five more to those who head campaign
fundraising, rest ten are addressed to press- secretaries, those, who
correspond for the structure of campaign, the study of competitors,
and by all, who one way or another is connected with conducting of the
election campaign.

Thus, we present the enumeration of the errors, which it is necessary

for a candidate not to make.

1. To speak untruthfully about past positions and actions.

We live in the age of information. As a deputy, for each separate

question voted on and what was his position was is easy to establish,
since there is an account, including a computerized one. Furthermore,
many appearances are recorded on video or audio tape. Before
attempting to rewrite your past, remember that your competitors can
have a complete dossier on you. Any deviation from your previous line
can become the property of press, used to destroy voters’ confidence
in you.

2. Attempt to lead the election campaign.

1
Adapted from “25 Ways to Lose an Election”, published by Campaigns & Elections.
Many excellent leaders of election campaigns fall into the difficult
situation, when suddenly they find themselves in the center of political
scene. On one hand, many good deputies cannot be good leaders of
the election campaigns. In fact, a good candidate allows for a person,
who stands in the campaign headquarters, to lead it. Remember: one
person cannot deal immediately with two matters, especially, if each
them of them requires complete attention from 12 to 18 hours in a 24
hour period.

3. Failure to participate in fundraising for your campaign.

In contrast to campaign management and its scheduling, fundraising

requires your participation. A candidate who does not seek to solicit
funds from supporters must not expect that someone or another will
make up for this.

4. Traveling in entourages of many people.

Even if you not populist, remember that nothing will so turn voters
away from you as traveling in entourages of many people as in the
manner of an emir of a rich oil-producing country.

5. Inability to explain briefly and clearly why you decided to put forth
your candidacy.

If you are not capable of doing this, everything else no longer has any
value: you lost the campaign, without having had time to begin it.
Recall the famous 1979 interview when Ted Kennedy was unable to
articulate to Roger Mudd why he was participating in the fight for the
presidency.

The leaders of the election campaigns of candidates must not:

6. To revolt against the husband or the wife of candidate.

Under no circumstances, do not make it possible for oneself to irritate
either the husband or the wife of the candidate with whom you work or
any other member of his (her) family. This would force the candidate to
take management of the campaign upon himself. If you want to
preserve work, smile and endure. The candidate, of course, will listen
to the one with whom he will sleep in one bed.

7. To hire personnel, without explaining to each of his/her

responsibility.

Election campaigns are sufficiently disorderly by nature. The inefficient

distribution of authorities not only will lead to loss of time, but also will
create an atmosphere of rivalry and hostility. It is more useful to direct
the entire passion of the members of your command against the
competitors than to allow them to war with each other.

8. To leave secret information on the table.

Information is power. However, the places where information

connected with the campaign is kept are usually well-packed with
people. Moles exist not only in the spy novels of Le Carre and operate
not only among large multinational corporations. Offices of electoral
campaigns are also frequently the field of rivalry. So it is better not to
take the risk.

9. To allow “wedding generals” [people with good intentions who don’t

know what exactly they are doing] to control the election campaign.

Any kind of organizational committees usually consist of influential

persons, ready to help candidate by the means of their name or purse,
but not more. They are owed a showing/exhibition, but do not allow
their interference in the course of campaign. This is the affair of
personnel which works on a constant basis.

10. To be overzealous in March, if selections are scheduled for

November.
The early beginning of campaign does not mean that each day must be
examined, as if elections were taking place today. The first months of
campaign are conducive for fundraising, development of campaign
strategy and tallying the number of votes needed for achieving the
goal. If all necessary preparations are made at the early stage of
campaign in the manner that it is assumed, results undoubtedly will
show more lately. Prioritizing and scheduling will make it possible to
avoid the danger of “over-exhausting” the candidate before the
approach of elections.

Those responsible for fundraising should never do the following:

11. To ask only once.

Even the postman rings twice. The leader of the fundraising group
must be ready to turn to people four or five times. If there is no solid
and no final answer, then hope exists that a contribution might be
made. Separately, this also relates to those who have already made
contributions. Your donors believe in your candidate and they have
invested in him. Those who have given money once before are more
likely to give again, rather than those one who have not given.

12. To be too paltry.

The only thing worse than not appealing to a large enough number of
people for the money is requesting an insufficient sum. Better to
request too much than too small.

13. To assume failure upon calculation.

They will reject to you. Sometimes many. But if love is not shameful,
fundraising is not shameful. Expect many failures. This occurs.

14. To assume a promise to make donation is a donation itself.

People want to make good, but sometimes their words get carried
away. One ought not to count money before they entered the
calculation.

15. To keep messy accounts.

Poor accounting not only reduces your chances to obtain money in the
future, but it is also possible to lead to troubles with the federal
election commission or the state commission. Any such incident will
complicate the position of candidate.

The press- secretary should never do the following:

16. To allow leakage of information to one or another media outlet.

Any “rumors presented as fact” must not appear in one or another

media outlet otherwise others will be angered that you are always
trying to get to the “big wigs”. Present the larger portions of
information to the largest newspapers, from time to time offer up
smaller pieces to smaller scale outlets.

17. To go over the head of a reporter to his boss.

If you have serious grievances, turn directly to the reporter. If in the

past you have not been critical and your claims are substantiated,
turning to the author will directly be o your benefit. Complaint to the
boss will be considered as an attack on the work and the wage of the
journalist. If one takes into account reporters’ wages, this the error
that you hardly want to make.

Critical for the scheduling of the campaign one must never:

18. Ignore fine details and personal preferences of candidate.

The knowledge of such details as the time an event began and the
precise place of its conducting grows exponentially, if a candidate
must take part in 13 events in the same day. Be sure that you know
exactly all the details of each concrete event and that they are known
to the people who accompany the candidate. Do not forget the
personal preferences and even the quirks of the candidate. Every
candidate who is not happy with the work of his assistant on campaign
design, thinks that he can should do the work himself.

19. To force the candidate to stay in the car, traveling around the
region.

More often than not, it depresses the candidate to sit the entire day in
the car while he could be amongst the people to personally shake
hands with each. Your task is to make it so that the candidate is able to
be more with the people and so that less time would be lost in vain.

20. To make promises in May to take part in events planned in

October.

Any election campaign requires flexibility in the last three weeks

before the election day. During this time, cancellation of previously
scheduled events for the sake of such flexibility will only anger people,
and they will not show up at the ballot box.

The person responsible for scrutinizing the competition must not:

21. Allow the leak of information about an upcoming attack on the

competitor.

The element of surprise is critically important in politics. In order to

achieve maximum success, it is necessary to catch the opponent off-
guard. The less people are dedicated/prepared in planning their own
attack, the better.

22. To present oneself for not who you are in reality.

There are many ways to reach compromise with the opponent.
However, one ought not to say that you are journalist, government
agent or someone else. If press learns about this, and it for sure learns,
you will receive a very serious blow. Ask about Eda Garvey about this.

23. To lie.

When they catch you in a lie (and this unavoidably will happen), the
initial blow will not reach the candidate. Any attempt from your side to
neutralize damage will cost you your work. Refuse to lie, you will lose
work nevertheless, but at least preserve your integrity and the future.
Being that once caught in a lie, they suddenly explain that the
campaign no longer requires their services. Ask about this of Larry
Spinks.

24. Forget to say “thank you”

You don’t need to be a doctor of psychology in order to know that

people’s reaction will be more positive if they feel that they are valued.
Election campaigns—they are long and exhausting races, and regular
personnel as a rule work overtime, and do not receive corresponding
pay. From time to time dropping a “good work” or “thank you” often
compensates this, whipping up the desire to work and quelling the
flash of irritation.

25. To forget who is the chief boss.

The shortest way to end up in the unemployment office-- that is, to

forget whose name is entered into the ballot for voting. Only voters
can deprive the work of candidate. But candidate can easily discharge
the coworkers of his staff or the leader of his election campaign.