50 Lessons Learned During Campaign 2006

11/09/2006

Paul Munnis

Here are some things that I learned from this 2006 campaign: Use the Discussion Groups to add to this list so that we have some accumulated wisdom for the 2008 election.

1. Racial slurs and demeaning gestures can cost a person an election or a seat in Congress and can even cause the loss of Party control.

2. When anger rules you lose if you are a candidate who looses their cool.

3. Candidate patience and character will be tested to the absolute limit.

4. When you work tenaciously it pays off and it feels awesome when you win a race by just 106 votes.

5. Getting out the vote is the key to winning an election.

6. Campaigns are getting more expensive when TV is added to the media mix.

7. Campaigns are also more expensive when you are being attacked and have to buy unplanned ads to counter those attacks.

8. Once a candidate has lost and has been unseated it is not a good idea to run them again as candidates. They are has-beens.

9. Before giving endorsements to candidates one must consider how well they will hold up emotionally, physically, and financially to the rigors of a campaign.

10. Internet fund raising is awesome.

11. Blogs are a politician’s best friend.

12. There is no substitute for hard working, motivated, knowledgeable campaign workers and staffers.

13. Prolonged Pizza diets are not nourishing but door knocking is healthy exercise.

14. Clean offices and busy campaigns just don’t mix.

15. Negative campaigning does not work well for the one being negative.

16. People want their government to be moving ahead and not in gridlock.

17. The GOP is not dedicated to upholding Constitutional Law and wants to stuff the Supreme Court with like-minded ideologues.

18. A candidate who is sincere and capable and on the right side of the issues can beat a candidate with good credentials and who is on the wrong side of the issues.

19. A retired school teacher can beat an incumbent Congressional Representative.

20. You can’t rest on either your laurels or your poll numbers.

21. Women do well in politics.

22. Wedge issues are divisive and have no place in elections.

23. Separation of Church and State is essential to governing a pluralistic nation.

24. One billboard, properly placed, is worth a thousand lawn signs.

25. War and Foreign Policy gaffes can cost a president—big time.

26. Donald Rumsfeld overstayed his welcome.

27. Bush is a contrarian. When he says “yes” – he means “no.” You can become rich off of this lesson.

28. Democrats need to run a bi-partisan Congress.

29. Crime and Corruption catch up with a person eventually. When they do—jail then follows.

30. Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Habeus-Corpus are three essential principles in our society.

31. Torture and Abuse of POW’s is un-American.

32. The Official Secrets act will always be broached and there are no secrets just time delays at best.

33. Sex, Alcohol, and Politics, just don’t mix well at all.

34. Red and Black together are power colors on women running for office.

35. Halliburton is a blood-sucker on our National Treasury and we need to reopen the Iraqi Audit Department ASAP.

36. If Wal-Mart can sell generic drugs at $4 for a 30 day supply then the Medicare people can get big discounts by negotiating for lower drug prices.

37. People want educational excellence in our state.

38. Transportation issues are important in Minnesota.

39. Good people can easily finish first.

40. One individual matters tremendously in any endeavor and their attitude can make or break a campaign as it communicates itself to bystanders and co-workers.

41. Candidates grow as a person during the campaign as it brings out hidden resources and reserves in the candidate.

42. Congressional Ethics need an overhaul.

43. Use of local public access TV channels is an important communications media.

44. E-machine voting requires a paper-trail for recounting and strong monitoring at the polls.

45. FOX-TV carries things to an absurd level.

46. Ann Coulter is quiet now and Rush Limbaugh may be out of a job.

47. George Bush is a Lame Duck for the next two years.

48. Don’t hunt with Dick Chaney.

49. A Party cannot take a year off to rest after a campaign. They need to be gearing up for the next campaign.

50. After working so hard to gain constituents and a voter base it is wise once elected to keep that base and to spend time communicating with the people in that base. Otherwise in order to get re-elected you will start over again at ground zero.