Candidate Strangelove (or How I learned to stop worrying and turned around a campaign)
Strange or surreal would probably be the best way to describe what the past 2 days have been like for the Reilly for Massachusetts campaign. All campaigns have peaks and valleys, some have mortal spins. This isn't the latter, yet, and to make sure it doesn't become that, here's what I would do, if I ran the show.
(1) Get out on Caucus day and work like you never have before. No big busses, nothing planned other than a rented van, a few staffers, some Dunkin Donuts coffee and the most comfortable shoes you can find. Hit every town caucus you can find. Shake every hand thats extended (including those with Deval Patrick stickers). Offer to sit down and talk to people about the past month, explain to them that you know mistakes were made, but thats behind you now, you've learned from it, and you're a better leader for it. Reach out. Listen to everyone. Be the Tom Reilly they voted for to be their top law enforcement official in the state, twice in a row.
(2) Work to repair relationships with the 4 candidates for Lieutenant Governor. They're pissed, you're bruised and battered. Meet with each of them, hear them out, explain the process you went through, why you did it, and what you've learned. Humility is key, especially with these 4. You had the upper hand, now, in a lot of ways, they do. Offer to work with each and schedule events with each, all across the state. Fundraisers, coffee hours at their neighbors place, pulling BINGO numbers at the Local Elks Club (c'mon, its politics, its fun).
(3) Get with the ex-officios and elected officials EVERYWHERE. Their organization is your organization, and an organization without a fire lit under it does no good when it comes to getting the votes out (see: Menino and Finneran holding back the horses on Harshbarger). Same as with the LGs, hear them out. They've got a lot of griping to do, some warranted, some not, but most importantly, they want to be reassured. They don't need to hear your bio, but they do need to see that the ship has been righted, the course has been set, and the worst is behind them.
(4) Become the underdog. No, not the cartoon. How does Bill Belicheck get the Patriots to keep winning (forget about this season for a second)? He convinces them that nobody thinks they can do it, nobody thinks they have the most talent, the best players. He gets them mad. Now, I assume you're probably mad right now, but don't let that become self-loathing anger. Use it to fuel the comeback. Get out there and tell everyone that you know that Deval Patrick is the front runner now, that you know some people are thinking about jumping ship, but thats not going to stop you from working to earn the vote of every Massachusetts citizen from Pittsfield to Provincetown, Montague to Marblehead, Williamstown to Wellesley. Tell them you know the Republicans are laughing now, but they won't be laughing so hard come November, when we've sent them packing from the Corner Office and started running the Commonwealth in the interests of the greater good, not the special interests.
(5) Finally, don't forget anything you've learned the past month. Mistakes have been made and they can either be hidden in a closet, or used as lessons. Real people make mistakes all the time, real people understand mistakes. What they don't understand is political posturing, what they don't understand is backroom deals, and what they don't understand are candidates who care more about fundraising numbers than their problems. Meet real people everywhere you can, on the way to an event, get out, get a coffee and talk to the people in line, ask them what they care about, what they need, what bothers them. Each time you get up to speak, remember their voices, their desires, and their dreams for the Commonwealth. Do that, and in November, we'll be looking back on January and February like most New Englanders do, saying, "what a dark dreary winter that was."
I think you can do it. I think you think you can do it, so get out there and prove us right.
(1) Get out on Caucus day and work like you never have before. No big busses, nothing planned other than a rented van, a few staffers, some Dunkin Donuts coffee and the most comfortable shoes you can find. Hit every town caucus you can find. Shake every hand thats extended (including those with Deval Patrick stickers). Offer to sit down and talk to people about the past month, explain to them that you know mistakes were made, but thats behind you now, you've learned from it, and you're a better leader for it. Reach out. Listen to everyone. Be the Tom Reilly they voted for to be their top law enforcement official in the state, twice in a row.
(2) Work to repair relationships with the 4 candidates for Lieutenant Governor. They're pissed, you're bruised and battered. Meet with each of them, hear them out, explain the process you went through, why you did it, and what you've learned. Humility is key, especially with these 4. You had the upper hand, now, in a lot of ways, they do. Offer to work with each and schedule events with each, all across the state. Fundraisers, coffee hours at their neighbors place, pulling BINGO numbers at the Local Elks Club (c'mon, its politics, its fun).
(3) Get with the ex-officios and elected officials EVERYWHERE. Their organization is your organization, and an organization without a fire lit under it does no good when it comes to getting the votes out (see: Menino and Finneran holding back the horses on Harshbarger). Same as with the LGs, hear them out. They've got a lot of griping to do, some warranted, some not, but most importantly, they want to be reassured. They don't need to hear your bio, but they do need to see that the ship has been righted, the course has been set, and the worst is behind them.
(4) Become the underdog. No, not the cartoon. How does Bill Belicheck get the Patriots to keep winning (forget about this season for a second)? He convinces them that nobody thinks they can do it, nobody thinks they have the most talent, the best players. He gets them mad. Now, I assume you're probably mad right now, but don't let that become self-loathing anger. Use it to fuel the comeback. Get out there and tell everyone that you know that Deval Patrick is the front runner now, that you know some people are thinking about jumping ship, but thats not going to stop you from working to earn the vote of every Massachusetts citizen from Pittsfield to Provincetown, Montague to Marblehead, Williamstown to Wellesley. Tell them you know the Republicans are laughing now, but they won't be laughing so hard come November, when we've sent them packing from the Corner Office and started running the Commonwealth in the interests of the greater good, not the special interests.
(5) Finally, don't forget anything you've learned the past month. Mistakes have been made and they can either be hidden in a closet, or used as lessons. Real people make mistakes all the time, real people understand mistakes. What they don't understand is political posturing, what they don't understand is backroom deals, and what they don't understand are candidates who care more about fundraising numbers than their problems. Meet real people everywhere you can, on the way to an event, get out, get a coffee and talk to the people in line, ask them what they care about, what they need, what bothers them. Each time you get up to speak, remember their voices, their desires, and their dreams for the Commonwealth. Do that, and in November, we'll be looking back on January and February like most New Englanders do, saying, "what a dark dreary winter that was."
I think you can do it. I think you think you can do it, so get out there and prove us right.
posted by JumboDem at 8:51 AM
8 Comments:
Great advice, maybe Reilly should call you! One flaw though, this advice only works for a campaign that has lost a wheel or two. The problem with Reilly's campaign is that people are fundamentally questioning the candidate. All of your suggestions get a campaign on track but they don't seem that effective for getting a candidate back on track
as odd as this sounds, campaigns can't worry about candidates. They get themselves back on track (see: John Kerry and John Edwards in Iowa ... both made great comebacks, part was staff getting the act together, part was the candidate hitting their stride) and the candidate either leads or follows.
Good points but this isn't about Reilly getting his stride. What have seen, and now what Reilly has admitted, is that he is fatally flawed on this level of politics. No proverbial coat of paint is going to make his house look any better, the foundation isn't there to make it strong.
"Fatally flawed" is a little strong.
However, I agree with your post this morning that the "non-political" message probably won't fly. Its a political campaign, they were politcal moves, they back fired.
I'm still convinced if Tom Reilly harnasses his inner Harry Truman/Teddy Roosevelt he can pull out of this. Then again, "if 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all be fat and jolly"
Pretty hard to play "underdog" when a StateHouseNews Poll from Jan 25-27 has Reilly up 58% to 18%. But give it a shot.
and it was pretty hard for the Patriots to play the underdog after winning 2 of the last 3 super bowls, but they did. More about perception than reality when it comes to that. And it's more about an attitude than anything else ... the back against the wall, go for broke mentality if you will.
Good advice, but, as a Deval delegate, I have to say that I agree with those who say that as far as Reilly is concerned, you are basically polishing a turd. The comparisons to the Patriots are a big stretch IMHO, almost as forced as John Kerry comparing himself to the Red Sox in 2004.
Uh ... John, let's go easy there buddy. You support your candidate, I'll support mine.
and IMHO, a man who has devoted his entire life to serving the commonwealth has a lot better chance of connecting with the electorate, than a candidate who has two experiences of Massachusetts: Milton Academy and Harvard.
But, then again, thats what elections are for.
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