This is How We Do It #1- Understanding What A Campaign Does

M. Arnold

This is the first of a series of posts about some things that my beloved Democratic candidates need to do in Mississippi to put up a fight this year. For more information about how to do the things mentioned in these articles, go to Democracyforamerica.com or Wellstoneaction.com

#1- Understand what a campaign does

If you’re going to run, know what a campaign is supposed to do. It doesn't build up the party base. It doesn't serve as the vehicle for a grand social plan, policy plan, or ego trip. A campaign persuades voters, identifies those voters that have been persuaded, and delivers those voters to the polls on election day. One sentence. If your campaign is doing anything other than those three things, or especially if it's not doing one of those three things, you need to take careful stock of your organization and your political future. If your campaign strategy doesn’t center around direct voter contact, you might not have one.

Understand that Mississippi is not special, at least not in any way that can't be discerned by a decent poll. Our people do not have a cultural background that's any different from SC, NC, TN, GA, AL, KY or LA. In all of those states Democrats forced competitive midterms in what were thought safe seats and we picked up congressional seats in those states. None of them had anything resembling the blowouts we had here. We have lost the majority of our statewide seats in the last three election cycles. We are on the verge of losing control of both houses of the legislature. This is a sign of the end times. Whatever it is that we, as a party, and the folks running the campaigns do has not worked. It should be changed. Not updated, not bolted on to or retooled. It should be thrown away and a new plan developed. Things that do not work should not be repeated.