My Campaign Coach Minute

Here’s today’s tip: His chest is a cage in which two squirrels are at war – his conscience and his career. This quote comes from Winston Churchill, one of the 20th Century’s greatest statesmen and a personal hero of mine. He made an art of turning phrases and this is among my favorites. In describing […] The post His chest is a cage in which two squirrels are at war – his conscience and his career. – Winston Churchill appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation. I love this quote from James Freeman Clarke. Whether you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Alien, I imagine that you are nodding your head in agreement with Mr. Clarke. Too many politicians of all stripes fall into this […] The post A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Don’t forget: Your opponent reads your website too. Don’t post anything you don’t want used against you. This tip applies broadly to your website, social media and anywhere online. In any campaign, you are appealing to various constituencies which overlap to a greater or lesser degree. If you find yourself appealing loudly […] The post Don’t forget: Your opponent reads your website too. Don’t post anything you don’t want used against you. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Effective door-to-door campaigns are meticulously planned and methodically executed. If there’s one area of campaigns where the majority of my experience lies, it’s the ground game. Knocking doors, recruiting volunteers and calling voters. It’s where most campaigns live or die. Their ability to navigate the logistical hurdles and tactical setbacks dog make […] The post Effective door-to-door campaigns are meticulously planned and methodically executed. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Answering hypothetical questions is a great way to lose ACTUAL elections. I hate hypothetical questions in campaigns. I’m not talking about things like, “If elected, would you vote to cut taxes and spending.” The worst offenders are more detailed and harder to square with circumstances you may face in office. They’re also […] The post Answering hypothetical questions is a great way to lose ACTUAL elections. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Rejection on the campaign trail is a fact of life. Dust yourself off and get back on the horse. I don’t remember the first time I got cussed at while canvassing. I know it’s happened a lot but after careful examination by my bride, I can confirm that I don’t have a […] The post Rejection on the campaign trail is a fact of life. Dust yourself off and get back on the horse. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Projecting enthusiasm is critical. I don’t care how tired, stressed or far down you are in the polls. Smile! If you’re running for office or directing a campaign, optimism should simply ooze out of you. It doesn’t matter to me whether polling shows you down 15 or 25 points. If you’re in […] The post Projecting enthusiasm is critical. I don’t care how tired, stressed or far down you are in the polls. Smile! appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Free interns are awesome! Get all you can, train them well and keep them busy. As a former free intern, I endorse this message. The fact is that everybody wants free labor…but it’s the training and deployment where most people fail. The biggest surprise that I found once I started hiring interns […] The post Free interns are awesome! Get all you can, train them well and keep them busy. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: All campaign documents and material should be secure and accessible. Use the cloud. It’s hard to imagine that just a few years ago, you had to make hard-copies of campaign documents in order to share them. Printing, collating and mailing important documents all too significant time. Now that’s not the case. Cloud […] The post All campaign documents and material should be secure and accessible. Use the cloud. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Never break the law. You’re not Frank Underwood and you WILL get caught. I pretty well hope that y’all are virtuous, law-abiding citizens but it would be silly to pretend that temptation isn’t real. On the campaign trail, there are a lot of laws you need to pay attention to. The impact […] The post Never break the law. You’re not Frank Underwood and you WILL get caught. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: If you can’t tell someone why you’re running in 30 seconds or less, don’t run. One of the first things we talk about in our free online course is how to answer three questions: Why Me (why I’m the right person for the job), Why Now (why THIS is the time for […] The post If you can’t tell someone why you’re running in 30 seconds or less, don’t run. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Handwritten notes are one of the most powerful tools you have. And they’re cheap! Growing up, it felt like pulling teeth when my mom made me write thank you cards. For some reason I hated it. I was grateful for the gifts but something about it…laziness probably, just made it a process […] The post Handwritten notes are one of the most powerful tools you have. And they’re cheap! appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: There is no greater enemy to your campaign than your own ego. If you’re running for office, you’ve probably got a pretty healthy ego. Otherwise you wouldn’t be telling everybody that you’re the best possible option for the job. While ego rightfully carries a negative connotation, it’s an important part of each […] The post There is no greater enemy to your campaign than your own ego. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Every facet of your campaign should be infused with a sense of urgency. No lollygagging. A lot of people equate urgency purely with speed. Speed is obviously important in campaigns but just looking at urgency as a tempo measurement comes up short of what I’m talking about here. I mean that you […] The post Every facet of your campaign should be infused with a sense of urgency. No lollygagging. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Don’t just ask winning candidates for advice. Losing teaches lessons winners may never see. I’ve interviewed and talked to more candidates than I can count. Each of them has unique lessons they’ve learned but some of the most valuable advice I’ve received has come from men and women who lost. The biggest […] The post Don’t just ask winning candidates for advice. Losing teaches lessons winners may never see. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: You need to Work harder AND smarter than your opponent if you want to win. A good plan is awesome and burning a combination of sweat and shoe leather is important but there’s a limit to how far you can get if you can’t combine the two. When I talk about working […] The post How to win: Work harder and smarter than your opponent. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: “What orators lack in depth, they make up for in length.” – Charles-Louis de Secondat It’s hard to be concise with our words. It takes work. If you give me an hour to talk and a topic, I’ll have no problem filling the time and I probably won’t need to spend more […] The post “What orators lack in depth, they make up for in length.” – Charles-Louis de Secondat appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Never say or write anything you don’t want on Buzzfeed. It’s incredible how social media and the internet have changed campaigns! While there are plenty of negatives associated with these evolutions, one of the things I like is that it makes it much easier to catch candidates in lies. Even outside of […] The post Never say or write anything you don’t want on Buzzfeed. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: No candidate is an objective participant in their own campaign. Some of the worst candidates I’ve ever seen have a lot of experience running campaigns. That seems counterintuitive, right? The problem usually doesn’t arise from them having bad ideas about what it takes to win a campaign, but rather from refusing to […] The post No candidate is an objective participant in their own campaign. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.

Here’s today’s tip: Prepare to be attacked before you are. Anybody familiar with politics or political campaigns has heard about opposition research. That’s where you find out everything possible about your opponent, both to know where they are strong and weak. The flip side of that coin is far less well-known and tragically so. What […] The post Prepare to be attacked before you are. appeared first on My Campaign Coach.