Wampum

Reality sinks in....

I thought with the purchase of the new laptop, blogging would pick up considerably. What I realized, however, was that I now had to deal with all the campaign-related tasks which I had put off due to the lack of dependable hardware. And it's amazing just how many things there are to do when beginning even a relatively small campaign, such as my run for the Maine House.

The "Message":

If my pursuit of this office should somehow fall short (i.e., I lose), I now know a sure-fire way of making my first million. Develop software which allows a candidate to throw in some sundry information about her personal strengths, her opponent's weaknesses, district demographic, pressing local hot-buttons, etc., etc. and, viola, out pops the campaign "message". Candidates will line up for miles, willing to pay exorbitant fees for those few precious sentences which "define" the candidate, and the race, up until the election.

For, to be honest, unless you're Machiavelli, establishing the campaign message is not particularly fun; in fact, it ranks slightly above having a root canal. But only slightly.

It sounds like it should be a cakewalk; Highlight your strengths, which, in a perfect world, are hopefully mirror-opposites of your opponent's Achilles' heel. Of course, unless you're Martin Luther King running against Tom Delay, it never is that easy.

And then there are the hidden strengths, the ones you're not supposed to mention, except perhaps in a sideways manner. For example, in my district, women comprise 62% of the Democratic electorate. And seeing that I'm the only Democratic woman running in the entire city (let's not mention Portland is the only major New England city without female representation in the state legislature), this should be one of those "mirror opposite" strengths, as my opponent is obviously male. But according to members of the local "Old Boy Network", it would be inappropriate for me to publicly focus attention on this detail. Affirmative action is "officially" a plank in the Democratic platform, but somehow, grassroots Democrats have subconsciously rejected it as inherently "unfair". Go figure.

So instead, I'm left with less tangibles to flesh out. But I did it. Took me over a week of ripping out my own, and my deputy campaign manager's, hair, and practically led to a dissolution of my marriage, but it's done.

Which then led to the first piece of...

Campaign Literature

I honestly convinced myself that I'd put this off due to the lack of adequate publishing software (which I refused to install on the previous machine-in-meltdown.) So once I had the laptop humming, I had no excuse.

Except, I hadn't a clue as to where to start.

See, like campaign messages, there is no "Campaign Literature for Dummies" manual out there. Not only that, there are very few websites which even give examples of good, or bad for that matter, literature. And how many of us pay attention to, let alone hold onto, the reams of paper which make their way into our mailboxes come June and November? My beloved printer could only come up with a few examples (turns out that every other candidate is also looking for a clue, and scooped up the goods before my appointment.)

So novice candidates are on their own. For the past few days, I've sat at the laptop, message in hand, pages of notes, attempting to get my past, present and future hopes and dreams onto the back and front of an 8.5" by 14" piece of 100lb glossy paper. It's truly amazing how the seminal turning points of one's life are deemed irrelevant when it comes to campaign lit. Terms like "white space" take on new meaning, and the shape of bullets can make one lose sleep.

The good news is, the first lit piece is done. With the bulk mail permit I picked up yesterday, we go live with our first mailing within the next few weeks (I'd tell you when, but then my campaign manager would have to kill you...or me...?)

So for all you budding entrepreneurs wondering how to survive in the new economy? Message software and compilations of past campaign literature. Sure to top the list at Amazon...though probably not until 2006, if you can starve that long.

Posted by MB Williams at March 25, 2004 07:50 PM | TrackBack