Planning Your Political Campaign: Why Are You Running for Office?
When new political candidates brainstorm answers to possible questions they might be asked out on the campaign trail, they often overlook the simplest and most important query of all: why are you running for office?
In my own campaign for city council, I was guilty of the same offense . . . and I spent plenty of time coaching other candidates before becoming one myself.
Although I had researched many issues that were important to local voters, I was taken aback the first time someone asked me why I was running. Surprisingly, it ended up being the most common question I was asked during the campaign.
Why is such a simple question often the most common one that candidates are asked by voters?
When you meet a constituent and ask for their vote, they often know little about you, your qualifications, or your history. They want to know that they can trust you to make the right decisions, and they have relatively little time to familiarize themselves with you.
Thus the important question: why are your running? Knowing why you’re a candidate gives the them some insight into what your motivations might be.
While every successful politician needs a healthy dose of ambition, voters are wary of candidates who are only running for office to help themselves . . . and rightly so. They want to hear that you’ve put your name on the ballot to look out for their interests, not your own.
And that doesn’t mean that you should just tell them what they want to hear.
To prepare for the question, write down a simple, concise sentence that explains exactly what you want to change, preserve or protect for your constituents. Most voters don’t want you to go into too much detail; but they do want you to be sincere.
After you’ve written down that simple declaration of why you’re running for office, carry it with you and look at it often . . . until you can quote it, candidly and coherently, to anyone who asks. Remember: it’s easy to stammer and stumble over your words if you aren’t prepared for a question, no matter how sincere you are.
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