Lessons Learned

Well, it's been one month since the election, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to post on some of the things I learned from this run to hopefully educate any future first-time candidates so they won't make the same mistakes I made.

Lesson one; even though you see the same people day after day, constantly reminding them that the election is coming and that you need their vote, DO NOT assume that they will remember to actually vote. Many people don't have the memory even of a goldfish. Call them on election morning - ALL OF THEM, and if necessary take them by the hand and drag them to the polls. This is especially true in a primary, because it's newly warm in Ohio in May and people are not thinking about elections.

Lesson two; take outside money. Don't try to do it all on your own. Yes, in a perfect world, honest candidates don't want to be beholden to anybody, and so one is tempted to rebuke offers of outside donations; but even small-time local elections cost money. Accept and even ASK for donations from those people who tell you "we need a man like you in office."

Lesson three; news nine sucks.

Lesson four; campaign ON election day. Actually, if you do no other campaigning during the entire cycle, make sure you are available to campaign on that one day. It's the only day that matters because too many people don't pay ANY attention to campaigns and they have no idea what a candidate stands for or even if he has a plan at all. But if you are there outside the polls on election day pressing the flesh and asking for their vote, they'll give it to you. It doesn't matter that the law says campaigning is illegal within 100 feet of the entrance to a polling place. It matters not one whit that actually following those guidelines would mean that you would have to shout to voters from well across the street. Apparently, you can actually walk right up to the door with voters asking them to vote for you. So do that.

Lesson five; buy signs. It is no cheaper to make hand made signs and it takes a lot of time. True, it's a labor of love and should demonstrate your commitment to actually DOING the job, but people are more impressed with signs that "look" professional, even though any shmo can have boiler-plate, cookie-cutter, mass-produced signs made for next to no money these days.

Lesson five-b; and speaking of signs, you can apparently put your sign in the yards of people who have no intention of voting for you. I didn't know that. Silly me. Here I was asking my supporters if I could put a sign in their yard when all I had to do was ask people I don't even know if they'd mind if I put a sign out in front of their homes giving their neighbors and friends the impression that they actually supported my candidacy.

Lesson six; hand out voter information about absentee voting to people who you know will vote for you. As I said in lesson one, people forget to vote in primaries. So ask them to vote absentee as soon as it is legal to do so. And then hammer that idea home until you know they've done it. I actually wound up picking up three votes from the initial count because of early voting. In West Virginia as we speak, voting has already begun on a planned special election to be held next week because of a strong push by pro-gambling lobbies. Over 3000 votes almost all probably pro-gambling have been cast by people the lobbies and their big cash have driven (literally) to the BOE.

Lesson seven; forget the primaries. As I have already noted, people don't even vote in primaries in Ohio. So just be on the November ballot. Of course, to do this, one has to forsake the party system. That means running as an independent. But if you can get people to see that you are better qualified and that you actually have a reason to run, and that you are the best candidate, you can get their vote in November whether you are listed with a party or not. Besides, you can always shift party designation after the election. So next time, I'm running as an independent and then if I win, I'll change my party assignation to democrat.

Well, I hope you found these notes interesting and informative. I know I learned a few things. Enjoy the cartoons.