Thinking of Running for Office? How You Can Prepare? Darcy Burner

Fri, 07/18/2008 - 3:00pm
Have you thought about taking the leap and running for office? This informative discussion will walk you through what you need to think about before you launch your campaign and give proactive steps that you can take now to run in the next one to five years.
Speaker: Darcy Burner

Darcy Burner is really fantastic. In the midst of recovering from her recent family crisis, AND in the middle of a hard fought campaign she came here to Netroots not just to shake hands and do outreach to the blog. But to help. She volunteered to run this session to help other Netroots citizens make the important decision about running for office.

AND how to organize and prepare for running for office.

Some keys;
FIRST
Do you have the support of your family?
Do you have a fundraising base?
Do you REALLY want this?
Do you have a grounded belief system?
Are you willing to do what it takes. including asking family and friends for money, calling for money, get up every day and knock on doors, every day working for your campaign.

PLAN
Make sure you have a plan. At least a basic one.
Have a budget.
Do self research. Be prepared to defend before they attack.
Prep for your defense.
The point of running is to win.
You can have issues in your past and still run; but you have to be prepared to deal with issues about your past, education, work, voting record, tax records etc.

Places to get names and supporters.
Join relevant groups and orgs.
Get to know the party people.
Show up and meet people.
Get comfortable introducing yourself to strangers.
Get to know the money people in your area.
Great place to get names and info; charity events, big charity galas etc. will often print a program with big donors listed as sponsors... those people are great to approach.
House parties. The more you do the bigger your list of supporters, voters, and money.
Make sure your list is in excel or digital in some form, with back ups, addresses, phone, fax, as much info as you can. AND keep notes on the people. If you know stuff about them, include it in your file.
Every group has a connector; the person who talks to everyone else.
Mail your list cards, birthday and holiday.
Call people you haven't you talked to in a while.
Friends and family go on your list first. (that letter does not need issues)
Don't forget to add everyone you know. Teachers, past colleagues, coaches, club members anyone you know, everyone you know. Church, temple, neighborhood orgs, all your drinking lib. friends, political friends.

If you have a lot of time to plan:
You can move to another neighborhood to run, but you need to give yourself time to get established. Add experience like boards, etc. Change jobs to improve your prospects.

Now Go Win!