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.

Sometimes They Do NOT Write Themselves

White House Calls Carter 'Irrelevant'

CBS News) CRAWFORD, Texas The White House on Sunday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism of President George W. Bush.

Carter was quoted Saturday as saying "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."

I know, I know, this one is very text-heavy. But I had a point to make, damn it.

Cross posted to the Gamut.

Sometimes These Things Write Themselves

Falwell was a uniter and a divider

Falwell, who had a history of heart trouble, was found without a pulse in his office at Liberty University at midday Tuesday and pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital an hour later. His doctor, Carl Moore, said he presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality. He was 73.

Cross posted to the Gamut.

My First Editorial Cartoon

Lottery to take over gamblers hot line

MORGANTOWN — The Lottery Commission plans to bypass state public health officials and take control of West Virginia’s nationally recognized program for compulsive gamblers, a move that is alarming addiction counselors and church groups.

Under the little-known plan, the Department of Health and Human Resources would stop administering the $1.5 million Problem Gamblers Help Network on July 1, when the current contract with First Choice Health Care expires. The Lottery would then begin paying providers directly.

Years ago, I was editorial cartoonist for the Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh student newspaper. Afterward, I would periodically try my hand at editorial cartoons for my own enjoyment. I think for now I will periodically do one up just to see how it goes. Feel free to let me know what you think of my work in comments.

Cross posted to the Gamut.

At Least We Tried

By a vote of 109 to 65, the final vote tally in the democratic race for Toronto's third ward seat was won last night by Jason Fogle. Congratulations, Jason, on a fair victory.

To those who supported me and those who voted for me, I want to say thank you, and to remind you that we did very well considering that we were running against incumbency.

I would also like to let Mr. Fogle know that I will not be pulling a Joe Lieberman. I have no intention of trying to run as an Independent and courting Republican voters trying for an upset in November. I ran as a democrat because I am a democrat.

At this time I would also like to announce that I plan to continue to maintain this site. I'll use it to editorialize on all forms of local government as I see fit. I may even run the occassional original editorial cartoon.

That's wonderful, however, I need a majority. -- Adlai Stevenson in response to being told that the intellectuals of America supported him.

Primary Finale

The election is now just one week away. This will be my final posting before the primary, hence the oxy-moronic headline for this post. Again, I wish to thank everyone for their support. Watch tomorrow's Toronto Scene section of the Herald Star for this ad which I am running.



I managed to stay well under the spending limit for this run, and I filed the necessary waiver, therefore I am not legally required to file a disclosure of my expenses. None-the-less, I intend to disclose all of my expenses relating to this campaign on this web-site. You will find it posted shortly before the election on the sidebar.

As I have added new posts to this site, old posts have dropped off the front page into the archives. The entire archive is still available and can be accessed on the sidebar as well. However, for the benefit of anyone who might like to read the posts through in order, I will end this installment with a link index in chronological order.

Introduction

My Issues

A More Interactive Council

Transparency in Government

Responsible Budgeting for ALL of Our Seniors

Preventing Urban Blight

Vision For The Future

Build It and They Will Come

Championing the Future

Notes on the Campaign

Don't forget to vote on Tuesday, May 8. May the best man win.

Notes on the Campaign

The primary election is now less than two weeks away, so I wanted to take a few moments to comment on the campaign thus far.

First, I would like to thank my opponent for joining with me in keeping the campaign free of mud. Second, I would like to thank Julie Stenger of the Steubenville Herald Star for writing a balanced and fair profile of Mr. Fogle and myself. If you missed it, it ran in this weekend's Saturday edition of the paper and it has been re-published in today's Toronto Scene. I have linked to the article in the sidebar on this site.

Third, I want to thank all of the people I have spoken with about the campaign for their support and kind words. It's hard to know if your message is getting across when you are running this kind of local campaign. It's not like I can rely on polling or media reports. All I can do is rely on word of mouth and then trust the fates.

This week I began distributing pamphlets door-to-door to the registered Democrats in my ward. If I miss you, I'm sorry. And it doesn't mean that I'm not interested in the Independents or Republicans in the ward. Your opinion matters to me as well. It's just that the materials are costly, and I am on a limited budget. This being a primary election, I have to concentrate my efforts on those who are legally qualified to vote for me.

But while we are on this topic, if you are a registered Republican or if you have no party affiliation and would like to help, election laws in Ohio work like this; to vote for a candidate who is running on a party ticket in a primary election you have to declare for that party in the primary at the polling place on election day. If you are not currently registered with either party, you simply request a Democratic ballot, and you will be considered a Democrat until the following primary at which time you can choose to change again. If you are registered as a Republican, you can make the same change, but you will be requested to sign a form called a "challenge." So if you are currently noted as an Independent or as a Republican, and if you would like to vote for me, you may do so in this primary. There are no Republicans running in this primary for you to vote for anyway, and you can re-register however you wish to next year. On the other hand, if you are currently listed as a Republican or Independent and if you do not choose to take a Democratic ballot, you will be given an "issues only" ballot, and you will be unable to vote for any candidates in this primary election.

On election day, I will not be campaigning. In stead, I will be working at a polling place in Steubenville as "presiding judge" for the Board of Elections.

You may have noticed my signs around the ward and on the ramps leading in and out of town. The weather has been hard on my signs, and I have had to replace several stakes. I have been working lately on new signs, larger ones made of heavy wood. Hopefully these will stay put until after the vote.

Tuesday, May 8. That's the date for the election. Please turn out and make your voice heard. There are also several issues on the ballot that need your support. These are all levy renewals and will not result in a single tax increase. Thank you in advance for your support of these issues as well.