Pro Tip for internal Democratic Party Elections and Primaries: Democrats are moved by positives, they are moved away by negatives. Make the case for you(r candidate) not the case against your opponent. Have a vision and understand the role of the office you are seeking. Sell it with narratives and forward looking ideas, not repeating […]
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Recently, I visualized the argument against a candidate for FDP chair in the following exchange: Insider_01: Hey, let’s attack that one candidate for chair as not capable because he lost his own campaign! Insider_02: Do any of the others have records of winning any races or running a similar organization? Insider_01: Of course not, but […]
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National Landscape Before we look at the state of the Florida Democratic Party, we should start with an understanding of the Democratic Party as it stands at the close of 2016. While much of the country, right and left, pundits, campaigners, donors, activists, and candidates point fingers in every direction and dissect every individual event […]
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(This originated as a Facebook post and was cross-posted at The Florida Squeeze.) As we consider the candidates we (as Democrats and Progressives) want and will have on the ballot in 2016, I want to put this out there, as it came up in a discussion about the Florida Senate seat. Some activists question “litmus […]
Read More →Since 2005 I’ve worked with dozens of Federal candidates/campaigns, some for a few days, some for a few weeks, some for a few months. One of the things I do often is ascertain what expectations have been given to candidates and what assumptions they have about not just running, but what happens next. I’ve worked […]
Read More →I have two sessions proposed for RootsCamp 2012 at DC’s Washington Convention Center. Already scheduled for Saturday in Room 149B at 10:30 AM (first session) is: “Where are we & how do we fix it. Auditing campaigns to right a sinking ship, even when already under water.” You can find the handout for this session […]
Read More →One of the best things going on right now to help progressive candidates find their way on to ballots and to run effective campaigns is The Candidate Project, a joint venture of The New Organizing Institute and Democracy for America. The Candidate Project’s goal was to recruit, train and empower 2012 candidates to run […]
Read More →A few weekends a year Democracy for America sends me to a new community to participate in their Campaign Academy program as a trainer. DFA posted a profile of me as a trainer on their blog recently. This past weekend, we took the Campaign Academy show to Miami’s FIU Graham Center. Thank you to our […]
Read More →Notes from the closing session of RootsCamp 2012, “Some Guy Candidates: How they Delay Progress & How to Make Them Suck Less.” You can find some background here: ‘Some Guy’ vs Contender – which are you? Reviewing, the basics of the ‘Some Guy’ candidate: Lacks money, social network and the experience/understanding of how to be […]
Read More →Since I started publishing my analysis of Florida’s new US House districts, a number of candidates and/or supporters have challenged the label of ‘some guy’. One supporter sent a nice email, asserting her candidate was the real deal (the facts disagree thus far). Another sent an email with what might classify is disgust. And one […]
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