"We got our clock cleaned," the spokesman for Democrat Mark Taylor's failed gubernatorial bid told a friend at Taylor's Buckhead campaign headquarters. It was the day after Taylor was trounced by Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, and the Democratic soul-searching had already begun. (AJC)
In an election year when Democrats nationwide swept into the once sacrosanct offices of Republican incumbents, Georgia Democrats were well and truly spanked. They took no new seats, barely held onto the ones they had, and lost vacancies to the GOP. They're now looking for ways retool the state party, hoping to hit the ground walking in 2008. I, internationally respected political strategist that I am -
Sorry, had to get my tongue out of my cheek.
I have some unsolicited advice.
1) Prove you exist.
Yes, cogito ergo sum, but that doesn't matter much in the world you inhabit. It's all well and good to have a statewide party blog that has seen exactly one update since July of 2006, or a website boasting one update since August 2006, but it's not exactly visible. I take that back - it's not all well and good. It's downright bad, smacking of disinterest and lethargy. Better to have no blog or website at all than one you can't be bothered to update even when you're trying to convert the state. Update your electronic media regularly - and tell people it exists, for pete's sake.
Do the same for your candidates, whom the state party largely left out to dry this year. After I finally figured out what my new congressional district is, I googled for the Democratic challenger, whose name I did not know and had to locate, and eventually found his website. Took me the better part of a day - and, I'm very interested in politics. Your average citizen is not, and will not take the kind of time I did to find someone if they don't show up on the first page of Google after a three-word search.
You don't exist if we can't find you.
2) Clean yourself up and get out of the house.
I have no idea where the local arm of the party is, how to contact them, or if they even exist. And I'm a person very interested in politics. Establish a local presence in every congressional district or county, and publicize that you're there. Really, take an ad out in the local news and local access cable, post it on library and church bulletin boards, call folks (who aren't on the do not call list) and invite them to come. Provide childcare so working people can attend without having to pay a babysitter; provide coffee, juice and a plate of cookies. Make the meeting like going to a friend's house (or have it actually in someone's house), so people feel comfortable and invited and want to come back.
You can't expect to be asked out on a date if you won't get out of the house.
3) Hit the road. Now.
I've never met my Congressman, my governor, either of my Senators, or even my state representatives. They all happen to be Republican, of course, but I've never met a Democrat looking to hold the office, either. I remember growing up in the suburbs of Memphis, I met Ed Bryant once or twice a year at one dinky little event or another. He was a nice man. I liked him. He is also an extremely conservative Republican, but I was predisposed to him because I had actually met the man. Since he was the incumbent, and everything with us seemed fine, and I wasn't terribly interested in politics at the time, voting for the guy I had met, and liked, instead of some other guy I didn't know seemed a pretty rational choice.
Lots of people aren't going to vote for you if they don't know who you are, so now that you're out of the house it's time for a road trip. Go to the dinky fairs and festivals. Hang out at the town squares. Check out some of the local theatre. Sit in on some public school board meetings. Have coffee with locals. Let them get to know you personally, and like you. Start now. Maybe next election when they're at the polls they'll think, "Well, I met Democrat X twice last year at the Onion Festival and Bob's BBQ, and Republican Y probably couldn't find my town on a map. I liked Democrat X, too." Maybe they'll give you a shot.
The car won't go anywhere if you don't get in and drive.
4) Don't be disingenuous. Be articulate.
"I'm a good person and I'd like a chance" will get you in the door, but it won't get you invited to stay for dinner. This is a pot luck dinner, and you've got to bring something to the party to be asked to stay. Don't attack Republicans for things they didn't, exactly, do. Focus on what they did, or did not, do and how that affects the average voter. Don't attack the opposition for things they - didn't quite - do, and don't try to fudge your record to make it look like you sponsored or supported something you did not.
Come armed with facts, not platitudes, and use them, forcefully. Stop being coy about what you want, or don't want, for Georgia in general and your constituents in particular. Formulate your platform, believe in it, and give the people a reason to believe in it, too. Hire a good speech writer and researcher who shares your vision, and believes in it, and will write with all of the passion you feel. But remember that you are the candidate and you have to follow up.
We want honesty in government, not just sound bites on TV.
5) Remember who your boss is.
I am. My neighbor is. The woman down the street with 15 cats? She's your boss, too. Find out what matters to us, not to the folks in DC, or New York, or Oregon or even in the next county. Yes, there will be some overlap, but if you want to represent us, you've got to work for us, and you can't do that if you assume we want all of the same things they want. I'll just about guarantee you we don't.
You'll never really know what we want, either, if you don't get out of the house, hit the road, and talk to us, which leads us to...
6) Money
A political dirty word and a political reality, we all know you need money to finance a viable campaign these days. Here's an idea, though, in addition to those $500 per plate shindigs you like to hold downtown, host a $20 per plate event at the local Lions or Rotary club. People who could never afford the big gala, or who simply aren't interested in dealing with downtown Atlanta, might be persuaded to attend something relatively inexpensive and local. I know you probably can't get the really big names for these sorts of things, but contact every Southern Democrat you know and ask. The worst they can say is no. And if they're on board with Howard Dean's 50 state strategy, they might say yes.
And speaking of Howard Dean, ask him for money.
7) Hold on to your volunteers, people.
After I finally found the Democratic congressional challenger, I wrote him an email. To give credit where it's due, he wrote me back. He did. Not some mailbot with a canned response. I appreciated that. We emailed back and forth a couple of times, and I finally asked him if he needed any volunteers for anything.
I didn't hear back from him.
If you get a volunteer, put him to work immediately, even if you have to make something up - which you shouldn't have to do. As the longshot underdog party in a state that barely knows you exist, you should have plenty of legitimate work for people to do. If you let a volunteer slip away, you lose not just one activist, but their family and friends, their connections and their community. And then you lose the election.
Besides, you need the volunteers to tell people you exist, to get you out of your own house and into other people's homes, to navigate the road for you, to tell you what they and their neighbors really care about, and to find you some money.
Volunteers aren't just for phone banks anymore - they're the lifeblood of your party and you are hemorrhaging.
That's it. I've been thinking about this for a few months, watching your dormant websites and waiting to hear from a candidate who would bother to ask me, personally, for my vote. No one ever did.
Shorter Kiosan: Get out and personally ask people for their votes. Sitting back and waiting for them to come to you obviously isn't working.
Update: Amy at Georgia Women Vote has some thoughts on the matter, as well.
