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Campaign Top 10Activities
Written byRon Crickenberger
Fill out, on time,all required legalpaperwork. It’s a
hassle, and as Libertarianswe tend to look on campaignreporting as just so muchmore governmental red tape.But the “all publicity is goodpublicity” theory falls flatwhen the story is about youbeing fined for not filling outyour disclosure forms. Plus,campaign disclosure lawsactually serve as restraintson political power, and onthat level at least could besupported by Libertarians.
Return all mediacalls promptly.The opportunity
for “free” media exposure isone of the most valid reasonsfor running an informationalor paper campaign. If you donot return calls quickly, thistaints the reporter’s view notonly of your campaign, but ofLibertarians in general.
Answer all candi-date surveys youreceive. Some of
them may seem irrelevant,and others may have ques-tions worded in such a wayas to not really allow aLibertarian answer.
But nothing looks worsethan an organization’s survey
compilation booklet beingfilled with “the Libertariancandidate did not respond tothe survey.” Answering thequestions in a forthrightmanner can garner you somepositive publicity even fromgroups that are not ingeneral agreement with ourparty’s positions.
If you have trouble withany survey questions due totricky wording, feel free tocontact LP National DirectorRon Crickenberger forassistance. Call him at:■ (202) 333-0008 Ext. 227.■ Or via e-mail at:[email protected]
Attend all candi-date forums towhich you are
invited. This is anotheravenue for easy publicity thatshould never be passed up.It’s not the people in the liveaudience that are important;they are usually candidatesupporters who already havetheir minds made up. But theforums are covered bymedia, who will spread themessage to people whohaven’t made up their mindsabout which candidate tosupport.
The Top 10activities
for allLP infor-mational
candidates
Most of the cam-paign mater-
ial in this package,while applicable forall levels of cam-paigns, is gearedtoward the seriouscandidate runningin a local race.
The more you followthe campaign techniquesand activities in themanual, the more suc-cessful your campaignwill be.
But at this stage ofour party’s development,many of our campaignsare of the limited, or“informational” type.These campaigns servevaluable functions for
the Party in terms ofpublic and media expo-sure. But even strictly“paper” campaignsshould have goals andstandards.
The first five items onour top ten list comprisea “must do” for allLibertarian campaigns.
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Get a good “headshot” photodone, preferably
by a professional. You’llneed it to graduate from astrictly paper campaign to ahigher-level informationalcampaign. The photo shouldbe included in any mailingsor press releases sent to themedia. It will increase thechances of newspapercoverage.
Plus, the Libertarian Partymight be able to use yourphoto for inclusion inpublicity campaigns that wecan handle for you. Pleasesend us your photo ASAP, toRon Crickenberger at:■ Libertarian Party2600 Virginia Avenue, NWSuite 100Washington DC 20037.
important for the LP’s long-term success. I encourageyou to include an LP mem-bership form on any literature.
Prepare a newsrelease aboutyour candidacy.
If your campaign covers onlya small area, hand deliver asmany press releases aspossible (along with photo).Use this as a way to intro-duce yourself to localreporters. Basic news releasestructure is covered in yourcampaign manual.
Prepare a presskit. This shouldinclude your
photo, your announcementnews release, and a list ofshort quotes from you on theissues you’ll be stressing inyour campaign. This is alsothe stage where you shouldbe preparing a brochure orcampaign card. You may alsowish to include the LP’shistory sheet and other partyliterature. (See the enclosedorder form.)
Write a “stump”speech. This isyour basic cam-
paign speech, which explainswho you are, why you’rerunning, and what you woulddo if elected. You should
Once you’ve metthese mini-
mum requirementsfor a campaign,here are the nextsteps you shouldtake to move yourcampaign to thenext level of success.
Set goals for yourcampaign. Setaggressive but
realistic goals — ones thatare appropriate for yourexpected level of activity.Don’t set a goal to win unlessyou intend to be at least asactive as the major partycandidates.
All goals should be interms of specific numbers.Good goals for informationallevel campaigns could be towin your home precinct, toincrease your vote totals by acertain percentage overprevious Libertarian cam-paigns in your area, to do acertain number of mediainterviews, or to increase LPmembership in your area bya certain number.
The latter is particularly
prepare one for Libertarians,and another for the generalpublic. For bonus points, joinToastmasters, which willprobably lead to speakingengagements itself.
Raise at leastsome money foryour campaign.
The program described in theenclosed flier “Raising MoneyQuickly: Raising Your First$2,500 in Seven Days” willwork for you as it has forhundreds of other candi-dates. You simply have touse it. Nothing will push yourcampaign further than usingother people’s money tospread the Libertarianmessage.
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The National LP HeadquartersA P R O D U C T I O N O F
2600 VIRGINIA AVENUE, NW, SUITE 100
WASHINGTON, DC 20037
PHONE: (202) 333-0008
FAX: (202) 333-0072 • WWW.LP.ORG
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