In Political Campaigns, the Harder it is, the Better it Works

What makes for good campaigning, anyway?  Ask some local incumbents in districts that tilt heavily toward one party, and they’ll tick off a laundry list of tactics that they think work well.

“Toss up as many yard signs as you can.”

“Have a spaghetti dinner fundraiser, and wear your campaign t-shirt.”

“Get some of your friends to write letters to the local newspapers.”

These types of uninspiring and easy campaign tips are fine, and you shouldn’t omit them from your strategy.  But they don’t win elections. Not by themselves.

Sure, lots of shoe-in political hacks think this kind of lazy campaigning wins elections . . . because it’s all they’ve ever had to do. And can you blame them?  No one wants to work any harder than they have to.

But if you’re a new candidate who isn’t part of the politically anointed in your district, you won’t have the luxury of stopping with spaghetti dinners and yard signs.  Not if you really want to win.

Here’s all you ever need to know about running a killer campaign: the harder it is, the better it works.

Going to spaghetti dinners and shaking hands?  Easy.  Knocking on every single door in the entire city to introduce yourself to voters?  Hard.

The same goes for fund raising.  Getting people to donate money to your campaign is hard to do. Most candidates don’t like to make fund raising calls, because it takes a lot of work.

And that’s why you should dial until your fingers bleed, and pitch until your voice is hoarse, to out-raise your opponent.  Regardless of what you’d like to think, fund raising is an extremely important part of any campaign.

Dropping the same photocopied flier on someone’s porch is easy.  Spending all night writing a personal message on every single piece of literature is hard.  Guess which one the voters will remember more?

You get the picture.  Lazy campaigning works for lots of candidates, because they’ve never had to do anything else to win.

Show them what it really means to work hard. Early on, when they see how much work you’re putting into your campaign, they’ll shake their heads and laugh.

But on election night, when the fruits of your labor become clear, they’ll be shaking their heads for a different reason altogether.

Related Political Campaign & Local Election Strategies:

1. In Political Campaigns, Focus on What Matters and Ignore the Rest
2. Why Don’t More People Run Political Campaigns for Office?
3. How to Build a Political Campaign Fundraising Donor List
4. Political Campaigns: the Balance Between Transparency and Secrecy
5. Targeted Direct Mail, Postcards, Flyers in Political Campaigns