The Last Ten Days of Your Campaign by Ron Crickenberger
The Top Ten Things to do in the Last Ten Days of Your
Campaign.
Election Day and the few days before it are the most
important of the entire campaign. Whether you have invested
ten or a thousand hours in your campaign so far, your
efforts in the last ten days can as much as double your
votes, and in a close race can mean the difference in
victory or defeat. While you as a candidate have been
thinking heavily about the election for months, many voters
are just now beginning to pay attention to their electoral
choices.
Strange as it may seem to someone who is interested in
politics enough to become a candidate, ten percent or more
of the electorate makes up their mind on whom to vote for
for President on Election Day. As you go down th e ballot,
the percentage increases dramatically. In a city council or
similar race that has received little publicity, the percent
that make their decision on Election Day can be as much as
50% or more. Your job as a candidate is to swing as many of
those last minute deciders as possible into the Libertarian
camp.
Campaigns with differing levels of activity will have
different end game strategies. But the following final
stretch campaign activities can be do ne on even the tiniest
of shoestring budgets, and should be done by all Libertarian
Party candidates.
Letters to the Editor
Encourage your supporters to write one last letter to
their local papers, mentioning you and the Libertarian Party
by name, along with some good reasons to vote Libertarian.
Letter Kits
Letter kits are the ideal thing to hand to someone you
meet who says, "Is there something I can do to help your
campaign?" A letter kit consist of 20 small, personal
correspondence style envelopes, stationary to go with them,
20 of your brochures, three sample letters encouraging votes
for you, and an instruction sheet. Tell your letter kit
volunteers to draft a one page letter to their friends who
live in the district, using the sample letters as a guide,
or simply copying the letters if they desire. If they want
to do more, or if they say they do not have 20 friends in
the district, ask them to write to 20 people on their
street. Tell your volunteers that they may stamp the
envelopes themselves, or let the campaign stamp them - but
they should not mail them. You want to pick up the letters
from your volunteers to time the mailing for best
effectivene ss - as well as to insure that the letters
actually get written.
The power of this tactic is that very few people get
personal letters anymore. Getting a personally addressed and
apparently personally written letter from a friend or
neighbor makes a strong impact.
Raise last minute money for last minute ads. Call all
of the previous donors to your campaign and thank them for
their support of your campaign - and mention those last
minute ads you'd like to run with their help. Your previous
donors are most likely to give you an additional donation
right before the election. They already have an interest in
seeing your campaign do well.
Work the Phones!
Make get out the vote phone calls to your key
supporters reminding them t o go vote for you on election
day. Call all the Libertarian Party members in your
district. Even they need reminding to go vote. Then call all
the past members and LP inquiries in your district as well.
Plus all of your personal friends and family. Increase your
effectiveness by asking all of your core supporters to call
20 of their neighbors, and have a quick script ready to fax
or email to those who agree to do so.
Walk your district.
Doorbelling is time consuming, but highly effective.
Increase your effectiveness as a candidate by having three
volunteers accompany you on your walks, and "leapfrog" each
other from house to house. Having a volunteer distribute
your lit door-to-door while also walking their kids in
strollers can be a good touch.
Issue a final press release (or two, or three). If you
have campaign activities to report on, make sure you let the
press know. Inform them of what precincts you'll be walking
prior to E-day.
Your last release before the election should let the
media know where and when you will be voting. Do it early
and make a show of it. Vote with a local minister that
supports you, or with your family. You could show up on the
noon news with a reminder for your supporters to go vote.
Shake Hands! Go by the local senior centers for lunch
or breakfast in the days preceding the election. There is
near 100% voter "turnout" in group homes. Stop by the local
factory at shift change and greet voters on the way in and
out.
Do an election eve literature drop.
Doorhangers or flyers distributed door to door in the
early morning hours before the polls open can be very
effective. Make sure that as many voters as possible see
your literature the first thing when they leave for work on
the morning of the election. Hint: You may want to skip the
neighborhoods with lots of automatic garage doors - you
won't be able to get your flyer where it will be noticed
Work The Polls
Assuming that your state's election law lets you get
close enough to the polls for effective campaigning, this is
the most important Election Day activity for you and your
volunteers. Have signs to wave and literature t o give to
the voters on their way in to the polls. The candidate
should sha ke every possible hand all day from the opening
of the polls till they close.
Even if the law requires you to be a good distance from
the polls for campaigning, you may find precincts where
voters must park away from the polling entrance, and be able
to greet them there.
Thank your supporters with an election night party.
Make sure they feel appreciated, and that their efforts were
valuable. Besides, you still nee d their help to take down
all those signs after Election Day.
One Issue and One Message for Every Campaign: "There is
only one issue in every campaign - who can do the best job."
Jerry Russell, president Campaign Consultants.
Voters are looking for the candidate who can be most
effective once in office. They look for someone who has a
track record of accomplishment. They look for someone who is
"like them." Your job as a candidate is to position yourself
as that someone. You use your stand on issues as part of
your positioning, but remember that issues and principles
are what you win for. Organization, money and manpower are
what you win with.
"There is only one message in every campaign, "Me smart
-- make you money" Doc Sweitzer, President, The Campaign
Group.
Voters are looking for a candidate they perceive as
competent enough to make their personal lives easier. Some
may want a candidate who makes their lives easier by passing
out government favors. Others are looking for a candidate
who will make things better by getting government out of
their personal lives. The message you want to present to the
voters is, "I'm smart enough that if you elect me you will
be better off."
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