Winning for Dummies
July 23, 2004
After 30 years of political involvement with elected officials, I am often asked by an Asian Pacific American candidate whether or not he or she should run for an elective office. I generally ask questions and give them the following advice.
Evaluate the District
You must be totally familiar with the demographic breakdown of the district. You must know how your personality and political philosophy fits with the district. For example, is the district liberal, moderate, conservative, business oriented, labor oriented? What are the income levels, educational needs, environmental issues, business development issues? What is the voter profile of the district?
Evaluate Yourself
Quit thinking of yourself as an APA candidate. Just focus on your being the best-qualified person for the job. Evaluate how you can best represent all the special interest constituencies that make up the district. What type of cross coalition, mainstream networks have you established (i.e. chamber of commerce, professional and civic organizations, political party activities)? What leadership roles have you assumed that have made an impact and name for yourself in the district?
If you are a local elected official deciding to run for higher office, accomplishments as an elected official, name recognition, a good base and your ability to raise money will be keys to your success.
What type of a volunteer base do you have to help you with campaign tasks such as staffing the campaign office, scheduling, phone banking, precinct walking, putting up signs, raising money and organizing events?
And, of course, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents and secure a realistic assessment of your chances from trusted district leaders.
Personal Characteristics
Do you have the “fire in the belly”? Are you willing to forsake a lot of personal and family time in order to campaign 100% of the time? Do you have the energy and enthusiasm to fundraise, fundraise and fundraise until election time?
If you are not among the independently wealthy, can you overcome the awkwardness of having to ask strangers, family and friends for money over and over again without having the ability to guarantee that you will win? Do you have the communication skills and the ability to think quickly on your feet to allow you to comfortably articulate issues before the media and an audience? Will you be able to assert yourself and debate effectively in confrontational situations? Are you able to demonstrate passion and commitment about issues that are important to you? Do you present the right image for your district? For example, a successful candidate running in Iowa will have a different image than a candidate running in Hawai’i.Do you have the character to handle losing an election? APAs have a poor record of running again once they have lost an election. Many cannot over come the “loss of face” syndrome.
The Right Campaign Manager
A key to any successful campaign is the campaign manager. Before you select your campaign manager conduct a thorough reference check on the consultant’s successes and failures. Evaluate the consultant’s campaign workload, management style and familiarity with your district, personality compatibility and the consultant’s fee scale. Determine how much personal involvement the consultant will commit to your campaign. Oftentimes, a staff person will be delegated to handle the day-to-day tasks of your campaign while the manager only provides strategic oversight.
Meeting the Ethnic Test
Ethnic political networks often provide funding, training, networks and mentors to their ethnic candidates seeking elected offices. However, these seasoned caucuses are tough in screening out candidates who do not meet the expectations of credibility and effectiveness they deem worthy of their support.
The APA communities and their elected caucuses have been very generous in trying to help any APA candidate who runs. However, this trend cannot last forever. The good news is that there are more APA candidates running for office than ever before. The bad news is that APA resources are being tapped to the limit, forcing the community and the elected caucuses to start limiting their resources to only the most viable candidates who possess the greatest potential to succeed.
Let’s put more APA candidates in the “winners” column.
Maeley Tom can be reached at RTom902677@aol.com.
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