Posted on 05/08/2008 7:48:48 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
Many candidates in many primaries across the nation have written statements after their defeats. I may be the first to use a title like this.
In more than 750 columns I’ve been unstinting in praise of able achievements and honest politicians, (Yes, there are some of each.) And I have been merciless against incompetence and stupidity. I owe the same integrity in discussing myself.
My third and last run for public office ended this Tuesday. It was not a pretty sight. In a three-way contest for the Republican nomination for Congress from the 11th District of North Carolina, I ran third. The other candidates got 49% and 41%. I drew a mere 10%. And the fault for that is mine.
I did one thing precisely right. We candidates had eight live debates. Five were televised. My Internet guru posted them on the Net with click links on my webpage. In those debates, I demonstrated more experience, more knowledge, and better ability to serve, than my opponents.
That’s an extraordinary claim. I offer only the tapes as evidence. View any part of any of the debates. Reach your own conclusions about my qualities.
But if that’s so, why did I do so poorly in the election?
I had too little staff. Full time, or nearly full time, I had my fiancee, Michelle Mead, and my Net guru, best known by his screen name, MitchellC. Both gave their best, along with me, but that’s too little staff for any congressional campaign.
Connected to that was lack of money. On the FEC filing date, 20 days before the primary, I had neither raised nor spent the required minimum of $5,000. I exceeded that before the election. But that was effectively zero.
My lawn signs were among the cleanest, most readable for any candidates in western Carolina. Again, don’t take my word for it. See the design that is on the upper left side of my website. But again, critically, this was too little, too late.
One of the most famous quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson was, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” It’s a clever quote that seems to state a universal truth. But Emerson actually said, “If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell ... you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house.”
Those words are not as clever, but the concept is there. Quality will out, and he who offers it, will succeed. But two, absolutely essential elements are missing from that equation: marketing and advertising.
Half of the marketing is done in advance for all candidates. The North Carolina State Board of Elections will cheerfully sell the complete record of all voters in any district, by name, address, and voting history. Polling to find the political views of targeted voters is simple. But of course, that requires money – “the mother’s milk of politics,” as the legendary Jesse Unruh once said.
Effective marketing identifies who you want to reach, and in what order. Here’s a brief description of my District: about 40% Democrats, 39% Republicans, and 21% independents. Because many independents and some Democrats are conservative, this District has usually votes conservative.
In the era of satellite TV and the Internet, the possibilities for targeted advertising are clear – messages directed very specifically to very precise audiences . Add to that targeted mailings, and advertising on the many small radio stations, and it is easy to communicate with individuals with well-crafted messages. But again, that requires money.
Lastly, there are the no-brainer steps that every candidate knows. Ideally, he would cover every polling place for its 12 open hours with two people at all times, which means six people total for six-hour shifts, plus relief. All these people are volunteers. But it takes money to provide the transportation and communications support for these people, and equip them with materials.
In short, I not only lacked the funds and staff I needed, I knew two months out that those defects were likely fatal. By that practical standard, which has nothing whatsoever to do with either issues or personal qualities, I deserved to lose.
If I had gotten half of all the voters in my District to look at any of the debate videos, I would have had a chance of a possible run-off. Or, half of all the Republican leaders to watch those videos and tell others about them. But both of those were impossible.
So is there a moral or lesson here? It is this: ideas and visions, even very good ones, are necessary but not sufficient in elective politics. For the balance of my days, I will go back to being a writer. I’ve retired as a candidate, and turn that over to younger men and women.
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About the Author: John Armor has spent almost 40 years working with all branches of the federal government, plus state and local officials. He lives and works on a mountaintop in Highlands, NC. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
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I’ve lost count of the battles I have fought... Win or lose, I’ve learned one important lesson: Keep your options open... Never let a defeat detour you from your mission... Your Faith, coupled with the knowledge of lessons learned, will bring the Victory you seek...
I named my cat after you.
Executive failures are always the fault of the person in charge. That applies to every endeavor from baseball to bombing missions. I took that as a given.
John / Billybob
I was disappointed to learn that you will not be the nominee. And I blame myself that I didn't give more than I did, tho if other FReepers did what I did you would have had some money to work with. And if they didn't . . . I guess in that sense we all got what we deserved.
Don't discount the 'power of the pen' ........ Best Wishes!
In a nutshell, you summarize the story of the Libertarian Party and other American Dissidents who believe government governs best that governs least.
A Conservative is a Liberal who has been mugged, a Liberal is a Conservative who has been arrested, and a Libertarian is a Citizen who says "Is all this really necessary?"
Best regards,
LOL...I was drinking coffee!
Get out the vote is an essential effort.
Hey Billybob, we have a Mayorial election here in Farmers Branch Texas. Care to take a road trip and work the precincts?
Election is tomorrow.
The quintessential say one thing in the district and vote the other in Washington ‘Critter.
Finally, a few years ago, I was having a tough time getting a passport. There was no reason for it, just the passport office was being slow. Finally, after three months of calling the office, getting hung up on, being told to leave voice mails on voice mail boxes, then having the voice mail boxes refuse to accept the message because they were full, I called Congressman Edwards' office. Two days later I got my passport by overnight mail.
I disagree with Edwards on a lot of issues, but you couldn't blow him out of office with a stick of dynamite.
Anyhow, learned a lot...in real-estate, its location, location, location.
In politics, its money, money and political machine.
The fella I ran against spent approx. $12K as close as I can tell for a $5K a year slot.
Now he is running for a county commissionaire position only weeks after winning the council position.
You are generous to the voters. I prefer the line “The People have Spoken ... the b*stards.” :-)
I was told to expect to spend at least $400,000 for a *primary* run for Congress in Texas. That’s way too much and I hope these candidates spent less now and have more later, but you can credibly reach out to 40,000+ voters or more for a lot less than that. Just do the math on a few flyers, plus staff and signs, plus an office and calls (3 cents a pop).
If you want to feel better, there were some primary election losers who blew through millions of dollars in primary election races here in Texas ... and didnt win. So your dollars per vote is still pretty good, fwiw. ;-)
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