Recruiting an Army of Candidates

Recruiting an Army of Candidates
http://www.lp.org/campaigns/crm/three.html
You're ready to turn your local LP into a credible political
force by fielding a team of candidates. But before you begin
recruiting, it pays to do your homework to identify in which
races a Libertarian candidate can be the most effective.
Think about every elected position at every level of state
and local government, including county commission and school
board races. This process is called "political mapping."
Focus on open seats.
They offer the best opportunities for electoral victories.
It can also be a good strategy to run LP candidates in races
left unchallenged by the non-incumbent party. If the
Democrats won't bother to challenge the entrenched
Republican candidate, the race needs a Libertarian.
Two-way races against an entrenched incumbent, while they
may be even more unwinnable for us than for the major party
that has already given up on that seat, provide avenues for
extra exposure, and increased vote totals over what we could
expect for the same effort in a three-way race. They also
get people in the habit of voting Libertarian.
Find out what's important to voters in the district.
Research the area's demographics, including voting patterns,
socioeconomic status, ethnic groups, etc. You may discover
weaknesses of your opponents, or come across a race that
would be perfect for a particular candidate.
OK, you know which races to target. Here, then, is a
suggested strategy for preparation, recruiting, and
follow-up in putting Libertarians in the race for our
country's future.
The state leadership must lead. It is much easier to recruit
candidates if you are already a candidate yourself
(assuming, of course, you meet whatever legal residence
requirements prevail in your area).
The state leadership must prepare. The preparation process
includes:
Getting maps of all the appropriate electoral districts.
Identifying which districts have possible candidates
(subject to the guidelines below). This is done by matching
the addresses of your people with the appropriate spots on
election maps. In Utah, the party's database has five
informational fields that relate to candidate recruiting
purposes.
Each member's information includes: district
number, state senate district, state representative
district, congressional district, and county. The membership
list can be sorted by any of these items to facilitate
candidate recruiting.
Selecting a first, second, and third choice (if possible)
for each office.
Plenty of lead time is required. If the candidate filing
period opens in March, potential candidates should get their
first recruiting letters by January.
Putting together a candidate recruiting team. Depending on
your circumstances, three or four people may be enough. If
your state is large and spread out, you may want to assemble
local or county level recruiting teams. The definition of an
effective county party includes their ability to recruit
their own candidates, apart from the state effort.
Any help you can get will allow you to concentrate on weak
areas.
Prepare a timetable and quantify your goals. For example:
Preparation and homework will be done by X, letter will be
written by X and mailed by X. Second letter will be sent on
X and a follow-up meeting or telephone call will be
completed by X.
The person(s) responsible are X, X, and X. A
total of $X will be required to complete this process. This
money is already (a) in the party treasury, or (b) must be
raised by X date. A rough draft of a candidate recruiting
timetable is outlined later.
Quantifying your goal is a most important part of the
recruitment process. If people are going to put their names
on the line for us, we have to prove to them that simply
filing for an office will do something useful for the party.
Thus, "Your commitment is important because we are trying to
field candidates for 100% of the legislative seats up for
election this year. This will bring the party credibility
and help us become a threat to the special interest
parties." Set this goal high -- low enough to be within
reach (at least theoretically) but high enough to make you
work. Publicize this goal and create a bandwagon effect.
Create an environment supportive of running a lot of
candidates. The farmer plows before he plants. Every time
you communicate with your party members, talk about this
numerical goal and how important it is to run a lot of
candidates. Run articles in your newsletter -- mention it in
fundraising letters -- write about it in your "Chair's
Column." Build the bandwagon effect -- and when you think
everyone has heard enough about it, keep on truckin' and
talk some more.
Make a full slate part of your party strategy. Filling
ballots with Libertarians should be part of a larger plan
for victory. In turn, more candidates will be attracted by
an organized effort that supports their own efforts.
Once you have finished your preparation, completed your
homework, agitated the pot, plowed the field, run it up the
flagpole, and counted the number of salutes, implement the
recruiting process. Get everyone out of the frying pan and
into the fire and see how things hop. The implementation
phase should look something like this:
Ninety days in advance of the candidate filing period
opening, the first letter goes out from the state chairman,
inviting the person to consider running for office.
This letter will be two or three pages, to allow enough
space to explain why the candidate is important to the
campaign and may include a one page "recruiting flyer"
prepared by either the national HQ or your state party. The
one page flyer is to address general questions of strategy.
Follow-up letter encouraging the candidate to run for
office.
Personal follow-up. This phase is crucial. It's a good idea
to telephone the potential candidate to get a sense of his
or her feelings. If they don't say yes right away:
Find out exactly what their objection is. Attached is a list
of common objections and suggested responses.
Secure a commitment to "keep thinking about it." Above all,
on this first telephone call, avoid an outright "No." As
long as they are still on the hook, you have a chance to get
them in the boat.
Set up a time to meet with them personally. If they are
resistant to this, don't push it. Tell them you will call
them back in "a few days." At all times and at all costs,
don't let them say "No" to more follow up. Remember: As a
major survival skill in 20th Century America, we all have
strong and effective defenses against people who are trying
to talk us into doing something new, strange, unusual, and
possibly risky. Included with the objection list are a
couple of ideas for breaking through those defenses.
Immediately, send them a letter (same day!) thanking them
for the opportunity to speak with them and answer --
again! -- their main objections. Mention your progress to
date ("of the 120 candidates we are trying to recruit, 35
have said yes").
Depending on the circumstances, you may
want to contact someone else in your local party to follow
up with another telephone call or another letter. If they
are acquainted on a friendship or business basis with
someone already committed to run, have the friend contact
them. This can be very effective, as it is harder to say
"No" to a friend than it is to some faceless party official
on the telephone.
Follow up a second time with a telephone call. At this
point, you'll find that about one-third sign up immediately,
having thought about it a second time. For those still
holding out, remember that "the third time is a charm." Send
them another letter of thanks and explanation (these
follow-up letters should never be more than one page) and a
third call.
If they are still sitting on the fence -- and
assuming you have a backup -- ask if they mind if you fall
back and talk with your "second choice" for the office.
"Understand, Mr. Smith, we want you to run -- you are our
first choice -- but we do have some deadlines that are fast
approaching, and since running a full slate is so important
for us this year, we have to talk with a couple of other
people to see if they are interested."
Some will sign up at that point. Others will be relieved
that they are "off the hook" for the moment. Complete the
recruiting process with your second and third choices. If
you still don't have success in filling that slot on the
ballot, return to the original candidate and try again.
Once the candidate filing period has opened, send another
letter out to the "final holdouts" for races you still
haven't filled and give them another phone call. If you have
time, call them on the last day of the filing period -- give
them the current statistics, and turn on the emotion -- "We
really need you -- you can be more help to the cause of
liberty than ever before, and it's for doing nothing,
really, just going down and putting your name on the ballot.
You won't have to do anything else -- we'll handle it." You
may get one or two more candidates that way. Never give up
until the filing period is closed.
Frankly, the success rate after three follow-ups is not that
great -- but it has occasionally proven useful, particularly
when you are just short of a goal.
Once committed, send them a letter of thanks. Include with
this letter any of the legal information (such as candidate
reporting requirements) etc., and how the state organization
is going to help the candidate handle this requirement. For
line candidates, you should offer to file the required
reports for them. You may want to offer a monthly class for
active candidates.
All the preparation in the world does little good without
follow up and follow through. Candidates have been lost
simply because they didn't make it to the filing office by 5
PM on the final day the period was open.
The week before the candidate filing period is to start,
send a letter to each confirmed candidate noting the
beginning of the filing period. Give them the place and
times that they can file. Schedule two or three "mass
filings" where several candidates could get together and go
down in a block to file.
For many of your people, this will
be the first time they have run for office -- and they may,
understandably, be a little uncertain as to the actual
mechanics of finding their way through a maze of bureaucrats
in order to complete the required paperwork. You can also
offer to find a volunteer to go with them, if such support
is available. Make sure that each candidate has two phone
numbers to call if he or she has problems with the filing
bureaucrats.
On the first day of the candidate filing period, meet with
your candidate recruiting team. If you have teams in several
areas, try to bring them all in for a face-to-face meeting.
If this isn't possible, call them on the telephone. Since
all of you are running for office (remember?), one good
choice for a meeting location is a coffee shop close by the
candidate filing office. Every candidate recruiter should
file for office on the very first day, unless strategic
reasons dictate otherwise. Copies of the "Status Sheet"
should be distributed to all concerned and assignments
checked.
During the first week of the filing period, contact everyone
by telephone to remind them of the deadline.
Someone should check with the appropriate clerks every day
and the status sheet should be updated.
On the first day of the last week of the filing period,
everyone who has not filed should be personally contacted --
with a sense of urgency -- about filing. Offer to get them a
ride, etc., and make sure they haven't changed their mind
and are trying to back out. Schedule another "mass filing"
for this week.
For the final day, anyone who has not filed should be called
the night before AND in the morning. Clerks should be
checked at 1 PM, following the lunch hour, and more calls
made to those who still have not filed. Offer to go and pick
them up -- right then -- if possible.
Determine the required travel time for each holdout, and
contact the clerks appropriately to find out if they have
filed. If not, call them -- immediately -- and get them on
the road.
It is disheartening to work hard to recruit candidates --
and then have people flake out on you at the last minute.
Avoid this by getting everyone filed as early as possible.
We do not have so many candidates that we can afford to lose
even one.
Honor your candidates. Send them another "thanks" letter
once they have filed. Print their names in your newsletter
and tell everyone else to thank them. Don't recruit them,
file them, and forget them. Keep in touch -- preferably,
with a regular party candidate's newsletter of some sort.
Use candidates as a source for suggestions for other
candidates. If they say yes, tell them what areas in which
you are still looking for candidates and ask if they know
anyone who might be interested in the area. If they say no;
ask them if they can suggest someone. You may find a lot of
apolitical libertarians that way -- principled people who
simply are not party people.
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