A campaign manager's guide to success: 10 winning tips

Managers should work to make sure that consultants are meeting their goals on time and within the established budget.

For new managers, running the first race can be a daunting challenge full of pitfalls. Yet, no experience in politics can match the exhilaration or exhaustion that a manager encounters on the road to election day. To make your ride easier, listed below are 10 rules to help you run a better race and help your campaign win. Good luck!

1. Manage your budget. The most underestimated yet essential task facing a manager is developing a budget. The budget should be designed using a spreadsheet program like Excel and should include an entry for every anticipated expenditure and your estimated budget for each item. A sample entry is listed below:

Paid Media       October

1101 TV Buys     Budget: $285,000
                 Actual: $162,000
                 Variance: $123,000

Paid Media is the budget category and the TV buy is the budget item. Notice the line-item number, 1101, that helps you track your expenses because when a check is written or money wired, your ledger should include the corresponding line item. Under the month heading, October, are three categories. The budget represents what you plan to spend and actual is what the campaign has spent. The variance measures the difference between the two items. Once the budget is designed and includes all possible expenses and initial projections, then track the campaign cash flow every day. You will be able to determine if the campaign is meeting its goals and then make strategic decisions using this information.

2. Fight for your candidate. As a manager, you are on the ground for one reason: to get your candidate elected. Managers need to keep this focus and not be distracted by looking ahead to jobs or positions after the campaign ends. Furthermore, managers need to sacrifice their own aspirations or popularity in order to take difficult actions, for example, challenging debate sponsors over a proposed format.

3. Fight for your staff. Managers are faced with many challenges when joining a race, especially working with a new staff. One way the manager can earn the staff's trust and respect is to help them overcome barriers or impediments to their progress. Throughout the campaign, problems will arise for your staff, and the manager will need to handle a difficult volunteer or visit a recalcitrant county chair. Being an advocate for the staff will strengthen your team.

4. Communicate with your candidate. This rule seems obvious but too often the candidate and campaign manager are too busy to pro-actively schedule time when problems can be discussed and decisions made. Communicating and connecting with your candidate will foster a positive working environment that will empower you and alleviate burdens on your boss.

5. Build coalitions. Most candidates seek input from a variety of sources, for example, their spouse, relative or trusted friend. While building your relationship with the candidate, the manager should also reach out to these individuals and obtain their input. Working with the candidate's advisers and incorporating some of their suggestions will help you move the campaign forward.

6. Listen. It's simple. Stop rushing from task to task for a moment and listen. Take a step back, listen to your candidate, consultants and staff, juggle their comments, plot your strategy and then execute. By listening, you can avoid pitfalls that can plague your campaign.

7. Be inclusive - everyone contributes to victory. In staff meetings, among volunteers, and with the candidate and spouse, don't be afraid to ask people for advice. Through soliciting the opinions of others, you have made them part of the team. Being a good manager means that you bring others into the process and don't shut the door on any new ideas.

8. Handling consultants effectively. The manager must apply many tactics similar to those involved in handling the candidate when it comes to working with the consultants. Weekly conference calls should be setup and run by the manager to answer questions, handle problems and execute strategy. A strong manager makes a consultant's life easier by reducing internal problems that may have needed their attention. Managers should also work to make sure the consultants are meeting their goals on time and within the established budget.

9. Be aggressive and creative - don't be stupid. In every race, managers have opportunities to be aggressive and creative. There are times, however, when a manager can either act, direct or permit the campaign to cross the very narrow path that separates creativity from stupidity. Generally, the path is crossed when the campaign is desperate, looking for a quick solution to make up the difference in the polls. Before acting, the manager should honestly assess the situation and all outcomes. Being aggressive and creative, i.e., raising more money, going up early, changing your mix of paid media, can make a difference. Being stupid and crossing the boundaries of common sense will not.

10. Learn on the road. Every region and state has characteristics and people that are unique to that area. By immersing yourself in a region's culture and outlook, you can better understand the hopes and fears of people you are trying to persuade. Over time, you can synthesize anecdotal experiences with the targeting and polling to truly understand your district. Upon hitting the ground, every manager should drive the district and afterward, make a concerted effort to absorb information about the area. Taking the time to learn the district will ease the transition for out-of-state managers and will enable you to earn the respect of your candidate and supporters.

Jason Linde has successfully managed campaigns in every region of the country. Most recently, he directed Cong. Jim Maloney's (CT-5) winning re-election campaign.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Campaigns & Elections, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group