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Hello again and welcome to the 2014 Campaigns/Elections/Politics thread. This thread is designed to answer any questions you may have about working on or the inner workings of political campaigns or political offices. I've been doing one for a few years now though the 2013 thread kinda sputtered out. Who am I you may ask? I am Mooseontheloose (or just Moose) and I am a just a guy who worked campaigns for about 3 or 4 years before moving over to an official office. I've run two campaigns a small city council race and a state senate race. Have been an organizer for two statewide campaigns and ran a paid canvass. I've worked mostly in the north but did spend some time in the South. I do not consider myself a expert or like David Axlerod but I do feel like there is a lot of questions that people have about the political process that they are afraid to ask. I am here to demystify our sometimes complicated political world. Mooseontheloose's rules and general questions 1. This is a safe space and I ask everyone to refrain from being internet detectives. Don't be that jerk who ruins it for everyone. 2. If you work in the political world please feel free to jump in with your own opinions. Always good to have more opinions and always good to have different perspectives. 3. I want to be Josh Lyman! Can you help me become Josh Lyman? I will also settle for Toby Zigler. Shamelessly stolen from this youtube video. If you want a job you can certainly send me a resume, please PM me but be warned that it's hard to recommend random strangers from the internet. 3a. Help! I have a chance to run a small state rep race or I can be low man on the totem poll on a competitive governors/Senate race. What would you do? Every option has advantages and disadvantages. Running a small state rep campaign gives you some invaluable experience in management, hiring, and volunteer management. Still, it's a small world and sometimes it hard to move up. Working for a bigger race is great, you meet a lot of influential people and lots of people within your political party. But be warned if you want to advance you can't just show up once a week. You have to dedicate yourself to the campaign and take every opportunity thrown at you. Even then, it takes time to claw your way up. 4. Aren't you part of a system that is just corrupt, making you part of the corruption. All political parties are the same and clearly my pet candidate from (libertarian/green/vermin supreme) didn't win because the two political parties don't want them to win. You make sick. Listen straw-man I made up, I get that you think that all political parties are the same and that your pure 3rd party candidate and thoughts would show Americans the light IF ONLY they could get elected. But both parties are not the same from the way they governor to the way the run campaigns and yes their policies are significantly different. 5. Lawn signs are a tried and true method of getting people elected. Why don't more campaigns use lawn signs? [sobs internally] 6. Where can I find jobs? Look for jobsthatareleft, idealist (thought those are more of the grassroots campaigns, more on that in a second), Democratic Gain, and Tom Mantos are all places that come to mind. 6a. I saw a Grassroots Campaigns job that says I can run a campaign with no experience. What's the catch? The catch is they pay like poo poo and make more than enough money to not do that. They say they run more legislative campaigns, which maybe true, but I haven't really seen them make a huge impact. This is my own personal opinion and others may vary. 6b. What about paid canvassing? It's not a bad way to start though it all depends on who is running it and if the people running it are willing to teach you things and let you in on what's going on. Plus, they are a bit disconnected from the other campaigns due to FEC and PAC laws. Finally, everyone should go to https://www.campaignsick.tumblr.com and learn to love that site. Ask away!
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Jan 4, 2014 02:18
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I also have quite a bit of politics/campaigning experience! I've worked on union GOTV campaigns, issue campaigns, and electoral campaigns. I started out as a lowly volunteer canvasser and have slowly worked my way up the 'totem pole,' so I definitely can relate to the difficulty/tediousness of just starting out.
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Jan 6, 2014 17:07
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I am also a recovering organizer who has worked on a federal (senate) race and a coordinated... where my main job was supporting that year's US Senate race. Am currently a Peace Corps volunteer alternating between regret, wondering, and happiness, so if anyone has any questions on escaping, organizing in 2010, being in a battleground state that wasn't actually so battleground-y in 2012, or with activists who often used the office to question whether or not someone was a Zionist, please, I'm here for you along with these other fine posters. My friends roll pretty deep. Getting back in shouldn't be too hard since they all like me, right? It's so sick -- I currently have time to pursue other adventures, there are no more check-in/out calls or 80+ hour weeks, but working in a role with no competitive aspect to it sucks. The thought that I miss all that makes me feel like I am sick. Does anyone else ever get that?
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Jan 7, 2014 02:19
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Monkey Fury posted:
It's a fraternity and not in the college sense. You make tons of bonds working those 80 hour work weeks. And no one else can quite know what you went through other than fellow organizers (or fundraisers). The reason you miss it so much is because of the emotional roller coaster. EVERYTHING just feels so enhanced and stakes feel so big from the smallest race to the biggest.
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Jan 7, 2014 04:43
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Yeah, some of my closest friends here in the DC area are people I met during the 2012 campaigns. FWIW, several of my friends who've worked for Grassroots Campaigns say it's borderline scammy. They were working as canvass directors/asst canvass directors making ~$400/week (while working 70-80+ hours) and were in many cases expected to use their own money to purchase office/campaign supplies, and were often chastised by the national level staff if they called asking for any sort of assistance or support.
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Jan 7, 2014 14:07
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this_is_hard posted:Yeah, some of my closest friends here in the DC area are people I met during the 2012 campaigns. Googling Grassroots Campaigns makes you really think twice about them.
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Jan 10, 2014 22:25
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I'd like to add that if you are interested in working campaigns, Moose is a good guy to ask, he's very confidential and gave me advice regardless of political affiliation. I agree with the bonds thing, I didn't think so at first but I ended up in charge of a county for my race (our most important one too, what a dumbass mistake lol) and the kid that worked with me became a great friend because we were sitting across from eachother for 80 hours a week lol Also I developed a coffee dependency (I hate caffeine normally ) and a mild cigarette addiction during my time working so that was cool. Also an intern I hired smoked a joint in front of me which was also cool
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Jan 11, 2014 00:41
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tbp posted:I'd like to add that if you are interested in working campaigns, Moose is a good guy to ask, he's very confidential and gave me advice regardless of political affiliation. I hope so! I was recently hired for a MD state assembly race as a field director/campaign manager that I found off of tommanatosjobs.com (great site for people looking for work, requires a subscription though) but it didn't end up working out. I've been applying to just about every campaign related job near the DC area off of that site, idealist, and jobsthatareLEFT and haven't had too much luck past a few dead end interviews. I'd like to think I have a decent amount of experience, too: 5 cycles, a handful of internships, and now I work in strategic campaigning for a labor union.  quote:I agree with the bonds thing, I didn't think so at first but I ended up in charge of a county for my race (our most important one too, what a dumbass mistake lol) and the kid that worked with me became a great friend because we were sitting across from eachother for 80 hours a week lol Hahaha I had to fire several staff members during the 2012 campaigns for weed, apparently it's a good idea to leave a backpack full of weed stinking up our campaign office while you go canvassing??? Also had to fire a couple canvassers who were sneaking off and hooking up rather than actually canvass
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Jan 11, 2014 01:05
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He was only a year or so younger than me so as long as he gave me passable numbers I really didn't give a poo poo lol but it was funny when he lit up I started cracking up I was like dude I don't really care if you smoke but I am technically your boss
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Jan 11, 2014 01:22
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gently caress yes it's an on year again.
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Jan 11, 2014 23:57
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tbp posted:He was only a year or so younger than me so as long as he gave me passable numbers I really didn't give a poo poo lol but it was funny when he lit up I started cracking up I was like dude I don't really care if you smoke but I am technically your boss In my experience most people on campaigns smoke and no one at all cares but yes behind closed doors and not weed in the office. Anyway I'm on like my 9th race in field I can help answer whatever and/or join any suicide pacts. Field Director on a statewide race for 14. 2014, another year another declaration this will be my last cycle.
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Jan 12, 2014 08:28
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Mooseontheloose posted:It's a fraternity and not in the college sense. You make tons of bonds working those 80 hour work weeks. And no one else can quite know what you went through other than fellow organizers (or fundraisers). The reason you miss it so much is because of the emotional roller coaster. EVERYTHING just feels so enhanced and stakes feel so big from the smallest race to the biggest. Amen. I find it's an amazingly close yet also very lonely lifestyle. I love that I can meet people from all over America, and we can form bonds that rarely exist in other professions, yet post-campaign it's always depressing to know that my closest friends are often thousands of miles away. It's really amusing to meet someone in one state then work a job a thousand miles away and run into them again. I got started in 2012 at the lowest end of the totem pole and have since worked several special elections up and down the east coast. Now I'm out west working an issue based campaign until mid-April then we'll see where the wind blows. So...any awkward supporter housing stories? Or crazy vol stories?
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Jan 27, 2014 03:29
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Xanderg posted:
I had one vol come in on election day to yell at me because we took so long in giving her a reimbursement she didn't deserve. Also, yay! Political nerd christmas!
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Jan 29, 2014 02:41
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So what's the joke with the lawn signs? I'm honestly asking. I'm guessing that they are not quite as effective as some would say or hope?
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Jan 30, 2014 11:49
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Junior G-man posted:So what's the joke with the lawn signs? I'm honestly asking. They're not effective at all. Campaigns that rely on them are usually hilariously low effort
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Jan 30, 2014 13:22
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Junior G-man posted:So what's the joke with the lawn signs? I'm honestly asking. You nailed most of it but the other side is the fervor that people want lawn signs and think how effective they are. There is also a subset of people who will only get a lawn sign and get pissy if you ask them to do anything else. Lawn signs do nothing for a campaign, they don't talk to voters, they don't convey much, and they get stolen all the time.
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Jan 30, 2014 13:26
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And every race has volunteers/family members/god for bid candidates who think there are never enough signs. Also if you win it is proof lawn signs work. If you lose, it was because there were not enough signs. Signs. Signs! Signs!!!
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Jan 30, 2014 14:25
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I don't want to phone bank. I don't want to knock on doors. I don't want to canvass. I'm totally willing to help out, though. Can I have a yard sign? Or maybe a few bumper stickers?
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Jan 30, 2014 14:52
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this_is_hard posted:They're not effective at all. Campaigns that rely on them are usually hilariously low effort I feel like it's the opposite. Yard signs are not only ineffective, but they're hilariously high effort. For some reason, it became a tradition to deliver yard signs to people rather than having them come pick them up.
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Jan 30, 2014 20:28
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Concerned Citizen posted:I feel like it's the opposite. Yard signs are not only ineffective, but they're hilariously high effort. For some reason, it became a tradition to deliver yard signs to people rather than having them come pick them up. But there are ways to use lawn signs to your advantage! You want to give out lawn signs, that's fine so long as you give me a list of names, numbers, and addresses of where you dropped them off. Than you make recruitment calls based of that. Still, they are awful and should be used sparingly.
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Jan 30, 2014 23:03
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Mooseontheloose posted:But there are ways to use lawn signs to your advantage! You want to give out lawn signs, that's fine so long as you give me a list of names, numbers, and addresses of where you dropped them off. Than you make recruitment calls based of that. Does this really work? In my experience, the guys who ask for a bunch of signs just end up storing them in their garage.
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Jan 31, 2014 17:33
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Concerned Citizen posted:Does this really work? In my experience, the guys who ask for a bunch of signs just end up storing them in their garage. I think you have to stay on them and limit the number of lawn signs people can take.
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Feb 2, 2014 20:14
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Have you ever worked on a small state level campaign like a state legislative representative and if so what was involved?
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Feb 3, 2014 00:00
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Azuth0667 posted:Have you ever worked on a small state level campaign like a state legislative representative and if so what was involved? I was political director and deputy campaign director for a state delegate race in a major metro area. I didn't touch the money side of things because I also had a Federal job at the time and the Hatch Act said I couldn't do that. We mostly spent hours thinking of people and groups that may be willing to endorse and supply volunteers. We wrote a bunch of letters to groups like local chapters of the Sierra Club, unions, some immigrant rights groups, chambers of commerce, etc. Spent a lot of time on the phone with the same groups. Usually they'd want to meet and chat, but rarely did they come out of it endorsing us, since we were well-connected but very unknown. Our candidate was a personal friend who had spent most of their career as Executive Assistant to a Very Important Political Figure from the world of political media and had spent some time working for a lobbying firm as well. It was really going well for about a month, and we had endorsements from 3 major county officials, one current state delegate serving in the seat next door, and one retired state senator who had also been mayor of a city in the district. The cornerstones of our pitch were universal pre-K funded out of a slight increase in the estate tax and women's issues. Then a candidate who'd worked for a former governor and been an LA on the hill for a then-current Senator jumped in with 3x the money in the first month and we stopped getting endorsements. Unions stopped talking to us and even sent guys to volunteer at the polls on his behalf against us for the primary. It was pretty soul crushing to watch 2 months of hard work to get out in front and make a real go of it come crashing down. There was no issue we really differed on. Really it was just an issue of being more connected. We were connected to people, but just not the ones that were big players in the state capitol. I don't live in that district anymore, but I lost a lot of respect for the candidate we were up against in the primary throughout the race. He never said anything in the open, but it was pretty well-known in local party circles that he mockingly referred to our candidate in pitches to donors we'd spoke to as "basically nothing more than a career secretary," which was real classy for a "progressive" male who was going up against a woman in a primary election for a legislative body with a lower-than-average number of women in it. I think we did the best we could. Our candidate was young and unknown but still got some good endorsements and won 35% against a bigger campaign that had union support and the resources one comes by working for a governor. My friend who ran has thought of running again for a county office, but she also recently got a dream job, so she may not any time soon. I think having a bigger cash haul early on would have been more helpful in getting people on our side, but most big donors were assuming someone bigger would get into the race and held their money. We impressed a lot of people, but sometimes you just can't expect miracles I guess. So what came of my career? Well, I tried applying for jobs on bigger campaigns the next year, but since I'm married I couldn't travel as widely as may have been necessary. I was only willing and able to work in my home area, which had a couple competitive federal races, but also brought in more experienced and flexible kids. I moved on after that. Moral: do all this stuff before you're married and be willing to go anywhere.
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Feb 4, 2014 05:02
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Did you ever run into ballot access problems?
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Feb 4, 2014 05:40
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Azuth0667 posted:Did you ever run into ballot access problems? No. It was a geographically small district and gathering signatures wasn't much of an issue, especially since the primary was in summer and we did the signature gathering in Spring. I was completely inexperienced on this side of things as well. I started out doing it as a favor for a friend and it turned into more. Prior to this, my campaign experience was all issue-based and limited to my time in college. I'd been out of college 4 years when I did this.
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Feb 4, 2014 16:00
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I do opposition research and have worked for campaigns, major Super PACs, and non profits at every federal level.
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Feb 5, 2014 00:54
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Azuth0667 posted:Did you ever run into ballot access problems? Anyone who is running seriously never should have ballot access problems. I've never seen ballot access as a major hurdle for a candidate.
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Feb 17, 2014 05:42
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This thread seems to be mostly for working on campaigns, but would anybody be able to answer some (probably) basic questions about being a candidate? Maybe extrapolate from what you've seen some traits that winners have in common? I'm still in college, looking to get into politics, and curious as to how to prepare myself for working in politics and where/how I need to try to build a name for myself. If not, can anyone recommend where to look for this kind of info? Do I just have to Wiki every member of my state's and the US legislature? I'm guessing elected officials don't have their own forum where they post tips and tricks... Quick background: live in Anchorage, Alaska; Economics major at local uni; eventually would want to hit national stage, but no doubt I will need to start in the local arena and coming from Nowheresville my chances of ever being somebody nationally are slim-to-none Education: Would switching to Political Science be more useful? If not, are there at least some PoliSci classes that I should be taking for the useful knowledge? What about school clubs? Is having a degree from a non-Ivy League gonna torpedo me later? Does education matter at all compared to job experience? Job Experience: Is it common for future candidates to work on others' campaigns to make connections, or would my time be better spent elsewhere? If so, where? And what are my best options for getting those positions? How about working for an incumbent? My school offers internships for seniors (I'm not a senior yet), but I'm guessing they are more errand-boy jobs than anything else. Still worth it for the resume? Extra-curricular: The state capital, and thus the state legislature, is a remote town only accessible by plane. As in: I can't go a hang out there to get a feel for how things operate. Assuming I'll need to start in a city race of some sort, is worrying about State pointless? Would I benefit from going to all the city council meetings and presentations by state officials, when they're in town? I know this is a lot to ask, but honestly I don't know where to even start looking.
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Feb 27, 2014 01:41
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The not so idealistic advice: Figure out how you're going to fund your campaign, regardless of level. Are you rich? If not, is there a career path that you could see yourself making lots of money in quickly? Do you have connections to people who are rich and will donate to you? If not, make them. If you're not rich and want to run for anything above local level be prepared to spend enormous amounts of time asking for money. As far as background, law is the most common, but it varies a lot. Yes some people make their way in by working on campaigns first, though it isn't that common. If you're thinking of starting on the city level it is useful to start getting your face out there, making connections.
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Feb 27, 2014 15:43
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Other cynical answer: transfer to an Ivy, a public Ivy, or some really prestigious liberal arts school, and become friends with really rich and connected kids who like you. Seems to be the way it's done. I figure most people who can make it to public office at the Federal level through working on campaigns choose not to because they discover they can make way more money doing campaign work, without as much scrutiny and actually having to deal with the public.
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Feb 27, 2014 16:09
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It's sounding like money is the largest barrier to entry here for otherwise qualified candidates. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about campaign finance reform/spending limits?
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Feb 27, 2014 17:17
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Campaign finance laws should be dramatically reformed. This would probably not be good for me from a personal perspective. It is incredibly unlikely to happen anytime soon.
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Feb 28, 2014 15:10
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site posted:I know this is a lot to ask, but honestly I don't know where to even start looking. A few thoughts: Above all else. Be dedicated, there is nothing worse than lazy candidates and lazy candidates rarely win. Candidates who don't work hard piss me off. Mainly because I worked for one and ended up begging for the candidate to do the work and they wouldn't do it. They thought it would just come to them and it hurt me cause I was working so hard. YOU SET THE TONE FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN!!! Aside from that, look at what other candidates have done in the past, start getting in with local party leaders, see what paths are available to you. On the local level, I feel you shouldn't worry so much about having a rich job as you can win relatively cheaply.
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Mar 6, 2014 03:53
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Azuth0667 posted:Have you ever worked on a small state level campaign like a state legislative representative and if so what was involved? I worked on a senate campaign and did a state wide paid canvass. And a lot is involved. Think of this way. You need the following things: Campaign manger, finance director, field director, field organizers, communication director, policy person (assuming you aren't already elected). You have to have data on the race for finance, field, and media buys. You have to research donors. It's a huuuuge wonderful undertaking.
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Mar 6, 2014 04:04
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Mooseontheloose posted:I worked on a senate campaign and did a state wide paid canvass. And a lot is involved. Are many of the personnel volunteers? What makes donors such a crucial piece, advertising ability?
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Mar 6, 2014 04:27
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Azuth0667 posted:Are many of the personnel volunteers? What makes donors such a crucial piece, advertising ability? Everything costs money. Mailers, advertising, office space, staff, swag, food, votebuilder, everything everything everything. Some of it can be done by volunteers but your higher level stuff really shouldn't be.
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Mar 7, 2014 03:29
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In my experience, most state leg races might have one or two paid staff. Maybe 3. A field "director," a finance person, and a campaign manager (who does everything else) but maybe you're familiar with states that have a lot more money available for those races?
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Mar 7, 2014 15:59
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tyler is a joke posted:In my experience, most state leg races might have one or two paid staff. Maybe 3. A field "director," a finance person, and a campaign manager (who does everything else) but maybe you're familiar with states that have a lot more money available for those races? When I hear state leg, I think of state senate or state house. But a statwide (governor, treasurer, ect_ that requires a boat load of staff.
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Mar 17, 2014 05:10
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Mooseontheloose posted:When I hear state leg, I think of state senate or state house. But a statwide (governor, treasurer, ect_ that requires a boat load of staff. Sure but the question was not about that: quote:Have you ever worked on a small state level campaign like a state legislative representative
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Mar 17, 2014 07:06
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