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I've been asked to repeat my list that gives $10,000 worth of political advice for free. I originally posted it on June 5. Here it is again:
Here are my 10 basic rules of campaigning. Political consultants will charge you a fortune for these tips. You get them for free because you read our Opinion Talk blog.
1 -- Be able to say in 30 seconds why you are running. I'm stunned when candidates come into The Bee for editorial board meetings and go silent when we ask why they are running. It's as if they have never thought about this obvious question? And don't say you're running to "give something back." That's a given. Give me a succinct 30 seconds that tells me you really understand what your candidacy is about. Show me that you know what you stand for. If you can't do that, don't run.
2 -- Don't rely on political advice from your friends, family or special interests who won't give you a straight answer. I'd go talk to Dan Pessano. His Good Company Players audiences are the people who will get you elected. Pessano knows how to connect with an audience, and about 90% of getting elected is show business anyway. Pessano is a great coach. I'd tie him up before my opponent does.
3 -- If you're lazy don't run. You better be willing to walk precincts every day, no matter how much money you have to spend or how many endorsements you've collected. Connect with voters on their doorsteps. It will make you a better candidate and make you a better mayor if you actually get elected. Walking precincts is hard work. The lazy candidates don't want to walk. You'll know them by their whining about walking precincts.
4 -- Start your campaign early. The June 2008 primary is exactly a year away. If you haven't already done the preliminary campaign work, including putting together a fund-raising operation and lining up key supporters, you're starting too late.
5 -- Do a background check on yourself using public records and Internet search engines. Have you ever been sued or filed for bankruptcy? You better be able to explain that to voters. And don't think something won't come out because it happened 15 years ago. Your opponents have probably already started Googling you. You just don't know it yet. Opposition research is part of the game, even if we'd all rather that elections be conducted on a higher level.
6 -- Take the 10 top issues facing Fresno and write position papers on each to hand out to the media, supporters and at public forums. It shows that you've thought about the issues and can commit your positions to writing. I'm impressed by candidates who have position papers on the major issues. That takes discipline.
7 -- Understand Fresno's modified strong-mayor form of government. Know what you can and can't do in this system. That will keep you from over-promising when you're on the campaign trail. If you don't understand how City Hall works, how can you expect to be effective?
8 -- Show me in your work, home life or civic activities how you have handled a crisis or problem in a way that gives me confidence that you will be a mayor who takes the right action when major challenges occur. Will you wilt under pressure, or will you be a mayor who will calmly and professionally lead the city through a crisis?
9 -- Show that you have a passion for the job. If you're running because you're bored with your life, don't waste your time or the voters' time.
10 -- Have fun. The campaign will be long and at times miserable. It wil be a lot easier to get through it successfully if you have a sense of humor.
I'm tired of presidential candidates zipping into the San Joaquin Valley and only meeting with people who pay to see them at fund-raisers. Gone are the days of the political rallies where you could take your children to see presidential candidates -- introducing them to democracy in a very direct way.
Now most of us only see the candidates in TV ads, news coverage or campaign mailers sent to our homes. My column today talks about this impersonal way of campaigning and praises the Fresno City Council for inviting the candidates to Fresno for a presidential town hall meeting.
Now that would generate interest in next year's election. In the past, rallies built enthusiasm for the candidates, and I'm convinced they drove up voter turnout. We could use that today. But there's only an occasional event where the public is invited.
Here's a portion of today's column discussing the benefits of a presidential town hall meeting in Fresno:
Continue reading "It's time for presidential candidates to connect with real people again" »
Check in today to see what we are saying about the election results, and post your comments. The opinion page staff will start blogging on the election this afternoon when the results begin coming in from the eastern time zone.
Check out our take on the election on the opinion blog, and tell us what you think about what we are saying and offer your analysis of the election results. This is your chance to be a political analyst.
Come back to the blog throughout the evening for new election material.
You can also weigh in on your feelings on the election campaign that was just completed. Five readers have posted comments so far. Most didn't like the way campaigns are conducted. See their comments on this posting a few items down on our blog: "How did the election make you feel?"
The campaign is almost over and I've weighed in on what the candidates and their handlers are doing in these finals days. You can read my take on the election here.
But I'd like to know your views of this long campaign. What were the high and low points of the campaign? They can be at any level -- local, state and national. Here's your chance to get any gripes off your chest or praise campaigns that you think did well.
Post your comments and let everyone know your feelings about this election.
Christina Vance, The Bee's education reporter, has a story today pointing out that the race for four seats on the Fresno School Board is already the most expensive with more than a week to go until balloting. The race has passed the $338,000 mark.
This is a fundamental electiion for control of the school board. No matter where you stand on the candidates, let your voices be heard on Nov. 7. Here's The Bee's story on the school board campaign.
The Fresno Unified School District is trying to turn around a troubled school system that in the past has been more concerned about serving the adult employees than the students who were failing. That attitude is changing, but the district could return to its tired old ways of doing things if some of the union-backed candidates get elected.
I'm ready for this election to be over, just so I can stop seeing and hearing the political commercials on TV. But it's only going to get worse between now and Nov. 7, since absentee ballots are now in voters' hands. I wish there were a switch for the television so that once you returned your ballot you could turn off the flow.
The worst are the negative ads, where candidates attack their opponents instead of saying what they will do if elected. And there are definitely some negative ads out there this year.
Which ones bother you the most? And what can we do about them?
Part of our function as editors of the Opinion pages is to meet with candidates for various public offices. We talk to them about why they are running, what they hope to accomplish and what their positions are on various issues. Based on these meetings, we make recommendations for our readers on who we think are the best candidates for the job.
As the newest person in this department, this process has been eye-opening for me. I must confess that in the past, before I became a part of this department, there were times when, if I didn't know anything about the candidates, I voted for an incumbent, figuring that at least that person had experience in the office for which he or she was running.
Never again will that be my thinking. Meeting with candidates for the upcoming election, I have seen that incumbents -- from the lowest to highest level of government -- are not necessarily the best or most qualified person for the job. In fact, in some cases, it's hard to imagine how the incumbents have stayed in office as long as they have.
Learn as much as you can about the people running for elected office. By giving someone your vote, you are entrusting them with the power to make decisions that will affect your life. That is not something you should ever throw away without thinking.
There's still plenty of time until the November election, but it's going to be very difficult for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides to defeat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Coming off his June primary win, Angelides should be riding a wave of momentum. Instead, it seems that he's just languishing. That's not a good sign against an opponent who is an international celebrity.
One problem: Angelides, a policy wonk, is not a very good campaigner. He's better in small groups where he can explain his proposals in depth while punching holes in the governor's initiatives. But if Angelides can't connect with the masses, he'll never catch Schwarzenegger, even in this blue state that should be easy pickings for a Democrat.
In addition, some legislative Democrats act as if they don't care if Schwarzenegger is re-elected. They handed the governor legislative wins with the infrastructure budget package they put on the November ballot and then allowed a relatively smooth passage of the state budget.
If it weren't for the public employee unions, such as the California Teachers Association, you'd have to wonder if Angelides has any chance at all. But he still has almost four months to turn his campaign around and you never know if Schwarzenegger will make a big political mistake on his way to re-election.
A surprising name on State Sen. Chuck Poochigian's fund-raising list for attorney general is tennis star Andre Agassi. Poochigian was given a $10,000 contribution by Agassi for his campaign against Democrat Jerry Brown. Agassi, by the way, announced this weekend at Wimbledon that he is retiring after this year's U.S. Open.
So how did Poochigian connect with Agassi? After all, Poochigian doesn't have a lot of celebrities hanging around him like Brown, the former California governor and onetime darling of Hollywood. The Fresno Republican said a common friend hooked him up with Agassi.
Here's what Poochigian told me in an email to me after I asked why Agassi was giving him 10 grand:
"A friend of mine (and his) told him about me and my campaign and urged him to be supportive."
Cal Minor, a retired California Highway Patrol captain, who finished first in the primary election for Fresno County sheriff, has been endorsed by one of his opponents. That should be helpful in his runoff campaign. Sheiriff's Capt. Colleen Mestas, who finished fourth in the five-person race, has announced she is backing Minor. Here's the story.
Assistant Sheriff Margaret Mims, who finished second and is in the runoff with Minor, earlier was endorsed by sheriff's deputy Chris Curtice, who ran last. Only third-place finisher Jose Flores, a sheriff's captain, has not backed a candidate in the runoff election. "I'm weighing my options," Flores said in a story in today's Bee.
In the primary, Minor led the pack with 37.4% of the vote and Mims got into the runoff by polling 28%
This race is going to heat up now that it's a one-on-one contest between Minor and Mims. Both are law enforcement veterans and the two campaigns undoubtedly will be scouring their opponents' backgrounds looking for anything they can use in the general election campaign.
This is an open seat. Sheriff Richard Pierce announced in January that he wasn't going to seek a third term. But this race will be all about Pierce. The sheriff's political problems, including conflict-of-interest allegations, will continue to be key issues in the campaign.
Driving down Clovis Avenue today on my way in to work, I noticed a few campaign signs (Dr. David Hadden, who won in the race for coroner) still hanging around between Clinton and Olive avenues. Winners and losers, get rid of the signs!
Before an election, campaign signs posted in a legal manner are a protected part of our First Amendment freedom of expression. Once the election has passed, however, they become graffiti, an unsightly blemish in our community. And some, mounted on road medians or on power and light poles, are illegal from the outset.
In the city of Fresno, candidates have until 15 days after the election to remove their signs (and that doesn't just mean laying them flat on the ground next to where they were displayed -- get them all the way gone). That deadline is tomorrow.
After tomorrow, citizens are encouraged to call the city's code enforcement staff if they see signs still posted after the deadline. We can also start a discussion here, and in the print version of the paper, if problems aren't resolved.
Where around our community are you still seeing election signs? And for which candidates?
Chris Curtice, a sheriff's deputy who finished fifth in the five-person race for Fresno County sheriff on June 6 with just under 6% of the vote, has endorsed Assistant Sheriff Margaret Mims in her runoff with Cal Minor, a retired California Highway Patrol captain. Minor finished first with 37.4% of the vote, followed by Mims with 28%.
The question now is who will Sheriff's Captain Jose Flores, who received 15.1% of the vote, and Sheriff's Captain Colleen Mestas, who received 13.4% of the vote, support in the runoff?
Here's part of Curtice's statement that was issued today:
"Assistant Sheriff Mims is the best choice for the department and for Fresno County voters," Curtice said.
"The campaign process, getting to know the candidates, and debating with them proved to me that Margaret has a real grasp of the issues facing the department and offers the best choice to solve problems and address the issues that face the department," Curtice said.
"It is clear to me that the department requires the experience that Assistant Sheriff Mims has to offer," Curtice added. "She has worked for over two decades in the Fresno County Sheriff's Department and has worked under three different sheriffs."
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