Political Campaigns: the Balance Between Transparency and Secrecy
One of the most amusing memories from my days as a political consultant (and believe me, there are plenty of them) was during 2004, when I was a county field director for a presidential campaign in northeast Ohio.
It wasn’t a particularly high-profile job–I was hired by the state party, not the campaign itself, and the closest I got to “inside baseball” was being part of a 30-person conference call a few times every week. It was a paid gig, but I wasn’t exactly rubbing elbows with anyone from the upper echelons of the campaign.
One evening, when I was leaving our office after a particularly long night, I was surprised to see two people hop out of the parking lot dumpster we used to deposit our campaign trash and hurry away.
Although I’ll never be sure, I had a nagging suspicion that they were digging through our stuff to try and find something–anything–that could shed light on our local campaign plans.
Forget the fact that there was really nothing anyone could have gotten their hands on from our office that would have given them some kind of an upper hand. It was still unsettling, and it brings up a good question that every candidate should consider: how do you walk the fine line between having a transparent campaign and offering too much information about your plans?
Don’t get me wrong: if you’re just running in a local race, you’re unlikely to have any operatives sifting through your garbage. But the amount of information that you voluntarily broadcast to supporters and the media should, at the least, be something you give a bit of thought.
If you’ve put together a great campaign plan that includes targeted precincts, scheduled mailers and a killer fund raising strategy, then I don’t have to tell you which of this data could be useful to your opponent’s campaign.
Needless to say, don’t start bragging about what an astute tactician you are before implementing your plans. Instead, work hard at hitting the milestones you’ve set for yourself, then let everyone know what kind of ground you’ve covered.
Here’s an important word of warning, though: while it’s wise to be discreet, I’ve seen far too many local candidates who start seeing “black helicopters” during their campaigns.
When you focus on perceived conspiracies and injustices, you’re only taking energy away from your own campaign. Concentrate instead on the tactics that no opponents can counter: knocking on doors, making phone calls, writing personal letters, and countless other things that equate to winning on election day.
Remember: if your most important campaign secret is simply that you’re going to work as hard as you can, then there’s no harm in letting your opponent know every detail, anyway.
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