All candidates need a campaign strategy. In this video, seven key questions to ask when you are designing yours.

 

 

One of the reasons good candidates lose elections is because they copycat. They look at what worked for somebody else in a different year, in a different jurisdiction, and then assume the campaign strategy that worked for someone else will work for them.

It won’t and it doesn’t, for every race requires a unique campaign message, a unique plan to execute the message, and a unique campaign strategy.

As you devise your campaign message, and your campaign strategy, start by answering 7 questions:Read More…

What makes a great campaign message video? Watch this one by a Kentucky Congressional candidate. Correctly answer the question and I’ll send you a free copy of my book, The Worst Mistakes Candidates Make.

 

 

Today I’ll do something unusual. I am going to have a contest. It may have more than one winner. You might be one of them.

I am going to play for you one of the best candidate videos done during this campaign cycle, by a candidate for Congress in Kentucky. Her name is Amy McGrath.Read More…

If you are running against an incumbent in a political campaign, you’ll probably be outspent. In this video, how one candidate turned an incumbent’s fat war chest into a liability.

 

 

Through the years I’ve worked with a lot of candidates who challenged powerful and very well financed incumbents in political campaigns. We knew going into the campaign that we’d be hopelessly outspent, that we’d have to be very careful with our resources and make every dime count. And that our political campaign strategy would have to be spot on—not a single wasted word in our paid advertising – and spot on in our attack on the incumbent.

All challengers must demonstrate to voters why the incumbent needs to be replaced.Read More…

This past week, a 28 year old who less than a year ago worked as a waitress, defeated a 10 term Democratic Congressman in a New York political campaign.

In this video, how she combined all the elements of a campaign message into a two minute video.

 

 

If you’ve kept up with the news this past week you have seen or heard the story about a 28 year old who defeated a 10 term Democrat Congressman in a New York political campaign. Her name is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a woman who less than a year ago was working as a waitress.

No one took her seriously. Until she won.

She defeated a man many thought would someday become Speaker of the House. A man who raised 3 million dollars, outspent her 18 to 1, and lost. So dismissive was the smart set that not even the New York Times covered her campaign.

Read More

Those running for office or holding office during the coming years, will determine the fate of the American Empire.

In this video, what entitlements, demographics and a new superpower portend for those running for office and who will lead in the years to come.

 

 

It was my recent privilege to speak to a group of young leaders at the Luce Foundation in New York about the challenges they will face when their generation is running the country. I share today some of what I told them, for it also affects those running for office, and all who live in the United States.Read More…

Those who lead are endowed with the most powerful tool known to humankind.

In this video, an example of its raw power, and why it has never been easier to use it.

 

 

It was a perilous time in the United States of America.

Our political discourse had become a sewer, so vile, so venal, so filled with hate and division that certain subjects dare not be mentioned a family gatherings.

There is a crime epidemic no one knew how to contain. Civil unrest no one knew how to control. We were a nation wracked by a war that no one knew how to stop. Read More…

Throughout the history of humankind great Empires and Democracies have faced perilous times.

In this video, why some crumbled; how others survived.

 

 

There are occasions when it is useful to step back from running for office and the hard edged rhetoric of our time, turn off the news, silence the iPhone, and read some history.

Last week I afforded myself a short holiday from political consulting, and today will share with you some lessons learned from two books I read, How Democracies Die, and The Storm before the Storm, about events that precipitated the fall of the Roman Empire.

I commend both books to you, in addition to my new website about running for office that you’ll find at JayTownsend.com. Read More…

Most Political Campaigns waste money on their TV and video ads.

In this video, examples of award winning political spots, and tips on making yours great.

 

 

Properly done, nothing beats the power of television or video Political Campaign ads to persuade, move, inflame, motivate, cajole, anger or convince a voter to support you on election day. A voter need not make an effort to hear and see your TV spot or video. All they have to do is sit in front of a TV or computer screen.

Unlike radio or telephone calls, television allows you to use pictures and footage to help carry the message. Unlike mail, voters don’t have to read any words. Unlike a website, voters don’t have to click a URL to find you, or make any effort to learn something about you.

Those who were here on the day that President Kennedy was assassinated, or alive when planes hit the world trade center will never forget what they saw or where they were. That says all that needs to be said about the power of pictures and video footage to trigger human emotion.

Three basic tips about about TV commercials:

#1. Before you produce one, research the rules. What disclaimer is required? Must you use certain words to comply with the law? Where must the disclaimer appear in the spot and how large must the font be? Does the law require that your picture be in the spot? Are you required to talk in the commercial? If you don’t comply with the rules, the TV stations will not air your spot.

#2. Decide what you want to say and write your script. Do that first. Repeat. Write the script first. Then decide what pictures or footage or symbols you are going to use to help carry your words. A good script will survive bad footage. The best footage in the world will not save a bad script.

#3. If you are doing a spot to air on YouTube, you will not be under the same time constraint, but you still have to comply with disclaimer requirements.

As you write your commercial script, remember this:

The purpose of your spot is to inform and entertain. Voters hate spots that don’t say anything and candidates who waste their time. As you decide what visuals and sounds to use in your TV spot, remember that what is most important is not what they mean to you, it is what that footage, those pictures, sounds and symbols trigger inside the head of the viewer. If your spots are irrelevant to the viewer, you will be irrelevant to the voters.

Broadly speaking, there are five different types of political television spots:  Biographical. Values. Issues. Negative ads (or contrast spots), Response ads. Some examples of each.

Biographical- If you are a first time candidate unknown to the electorate, you will need to tell voters who you are— and usually candidates do bio spots before they do anything else. These spots tell voters that you have done something significant in your life, that you have your feet on the ground, and that you have some qualifications to do the job.

Clayton William’s Biography- In his spot you learned that Williams was a Texas native, army veteran, father, husband, college graduate, business owner, successful entrepreneur, job creator, deeply familiar with the growth industries in Texas— a great resume for someone running for Governor.

When writing the script for your bio spot, ask yourself: What about your background makes you qualified to do the job? What about your background qualifies you to make decisions about how people live, make a living, and raise their families. If you are an incumbent, tell people what you’ve accomplished or done to earn another term.

Values- Voters need to know something about your core convictions, your fundamental beliefs and what is important to you. Your job is to let them know that your values and moral convictions are in sync with theirs.

Jim Jeffords’ Farmer Values- Vermont is a rural state with a lot of dairy farmers. In this spot you learned what Jeffords had done to help them, the farmland protection program, the dairy promotion program, and how that had helped farmers stay in business. There is a strong visual message in the footage associating Jeffords with a hard working farm family. Note the slogan. Jeffords was popular and had served as Attorney General and as a Congressman. He was opposed by a Vermont newcomer who had never held public office…thus the slogan. “It’s a job you have to earn.”

When you write a spot about your core convictions, look for things you have in common with the people you represent—common concerns, common interests, common moral principles or core beliefs. Letting them know that you do is your way of letting them know they can trust your judgment to make decisions on their behalf.

Issues- An issue positioning spot is one where you stake your ground on an issue important to you, important to the electorate, and note what you are going to do to fix a problem. This can cover a broad range of issues…trade, taxes, jobs, foreign policy, crime, race relations or just about any other topic that is of concern to the voters …

Clayton Williams’ Issue Position- What voters learned in the spot is that Williams was deeply committed to solving a drug abuse problem in Texas, that he had a three point program to do that, including early education, mild penalties for teenage drug abuse, and tough love for persistent drug abusers.

The spot also put the candidate’s personality on display, his grit, determination and sassy personality. This commercial was judged the best political TV spot in the United States the year it ran.

When deciding what kind of issue spots you should do, the first question to ask is this — is it something you feel passionately about? Is it something important to the coalition of people who are your likely voters? Can you give voters some specifics on what you’ll do to fix the problem? Is it an issue in which you and your opponent disagree? One in which voters agree with you and disagree with your opponent?

Negative Ads (Contrast Spots)- Negative ads are perfectly appropriate if you are fair, legitimate, relevant and accurate. And I mean dead on accurate. They are most effective when you supply information to voters that they don’t know at the outset of a campaign… Information that undermines your opponent’s credentials, qualifications, credibility or character. If you are going to do them, be prepared to prove, document, and validate everything you say. If it takes more than one spot to say what you need to say, there is no rule that says you can’t turn your broadside into a series of spots.

Hinchey’s Negative Ad- Three commercials were run in sequence over a three week period, and they told a story of a candidate who broke the rules to raise campaign cash, used taxpayers money to reward those who made illegal campaign contributions, and broke his promise to return the illegal cash after he was caught.

Note the use of questions posed at the end of the first two spots, which invite viewers to come to their own conclusions about the character of the candidate. And the use of newspaper clips to document the attack.

When you write a negative spot, look for way to prove what you are saying—newspaper clips, quotes, or footage. And Respect the voter. Just give them the facts. Voters know how to think and they don’t need you to do their thinking for them. If you telegraph to the viewer that they are suppose to hate your opponent without first telling them why, they’ll tune you out.

Response Ads- These are the ads you do when you’ve been attacked. The secret of an effective response ad, answer the charge, then kick back in a way that puts your opponent on the defensive or shames them for what they have done. If you can use a little humor, all the better.

Jeffords Response Ad- This spot capitalized on the good will that voters had toward Jim Jeffords, and used a working dairy farmer to rebut the charge that Jeffords was dishonest. It also ridiculed the charge leveled by the person who made it, painting him as an untrustworthy person willing to say anything to win votes.

Television and video are the most powerful tools in your advertising arsenal. Lots of candidates waste money on television spots. Usually the mistake is in the way they are written. And usually the problem is candidates try to make too many points in one spot, or communicate so much information that the viewer remembers nothing.

Before you write your spot, decide what idea, message or thought you want to convey. Make one point well, and your spot will serve you well.

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Political consultant Jay Townsend works with smart, passionate candidates who want to run for office, win elections and make a difference. He has successfully helped candidates learn how to run for the U.S. Senate, how to run for Congress, how to run for Mayor and develop a winning campaign marketing strategy.

How to win an election:

Running for office and knowing how to win an election is a challenge, especially for first time political candidates just learning how to run for office. Discerning the fine points of how to campaign, raise political contributions, and execute a political campaign strategy often requires the help of someone who has served as a political strategist or who has experience as a political consultant.

Most Political Campaign websites… are awful, and ill-serve their campaigns.

In this video, how to make yours great.

 

 

What makes a good website?

This is the definition of a bad one. Grainy pictures that don’t flatter you, convoluted copy that is difficult to read or comprehend, with a homepage that looks the same day by day and week by week. We’ve all seen those. That kind of website will not serve you well.

What is a good website? I’ll start with the basics. Use photographs that flatter you. If you need to hire a professional photographer to get them, do it. You’ll need good pictures for your printed material anyway.

The home page should be sticky. Meaning it should be updated frequently with news articles, information on campaign events, fundraisers or commentary so that it has a unique look every time a viewer visits.

In fact, most of my clients put the feeds from their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts right on their home page. Content that constantly changes makes your website more interesting, and encourages your visitors to join the discussion.

The banner at the top of the home page should clearly display your slogan, and links to the social media that you are using.

The main menu items on your navigation panel should also include the following:

• An about page, where voters learn something about you.
• An issue page, where voters learn about your positions on important issues.
• A News page, which contains your press releases, good photographs, news, endorsements and pictures from the campaign trail.
• A YouTube page, where you post video messages about yourself, your positions and events on the campaign trail.
• A contact page, where people can find you.

A little about the content of each section:

The ABOUT PAGE is your biography. I always suggest it be done in two forms.

1) A chronological biography, easy for the press to read so that they know where you were raised, the schools you attended, the jobs you held, the charitable causes you have been involved with and the honors you have received.

Your biography is not a place to exaggerate what you have done. If you embellish or inflate, or claim degrees you have not earned, it will come back to haunt you, so make sure your biography is dead on accurate before you post it.

2) In addition, I usually suggest that my clients post their story— what is called your signature story. It’s a story about some seminal event in your life that changed who you are and what you became; a story that helps voters understand why you view the world the way you do; one that helps the reader understand your deeply held beliefs and moral principles.

Putting your signature story on the about page lets votes know what makes you tick, and it makes you more interesting.

The ISSUE PAGE is where you let people know where you stand on issues of our time, and matters that may be of concern to them. How many and what issues do you cover? That depends on what you are running for, and the major concerns of the electorate in your jurisdiction.

A few examples: Spending. Debt. Jobs. Immigration. Zoning and Development. Budget Deficits. Entitlements. Taxes. The Tax Code. Wages. Schools. Climate change. Healthcare. Campaign Finance. Ethics reform. Religious Freedom. Crime. Education standards. Campaign Contributions. Gay Rights. Privacy. Terrorism.

You don’t need to address all of them, but you will need to clearly state your position on those that matter to your jurisdiction. 2-3 short paragraphs on each, along with pictures or a video embedded in the copy to make this section of your website visually interesting.

The NEWS PAGE is a great place to put endorsements, press releases, videos and pictures of you on the campaign trail, pictures of press conferences, speeches, flattering photographs, factory tours, town hall meetings and just about anything else you are doing on the campaign trail.

Doing this tells viewers that you are an active and passionate candidate. It lets your contributors know that you are doing what you need to do to win the election, and it gives volunteers a chance to be seen and given credit for the work they are doing. It also gives news reporters a better sense of who you are, your energy and passion for the job.

Your YOUTUBE CHANNEL should be embedded on a page of your website for a number of reasons:

1. Video is a great way to communicate your story, your issue positions, speeches,
   press conferences and campaign activities. In fact, many voters much prefer video to words pasted on a screen.
2. When you are on camera, voters see your body language, your facial expressions, your passion and energy.
3. When voters see your videos, or you talking, they better remember you and what you said.

YouTube videos are easy to do, inexpensive, and an entertaining way to share your message with both reporters and voters.

The CONTACT PAGE is just that. It lets voters know your headquarter’s phone number and physical address, and how to email a question or comment.

You’ll note that I did not suggest a special tab for the CONTRIBUTION PAGE OR VOLUNTEER PAGE. That is because those items should be on every page of your website, along with your phone number and social media icons.

Why? Suppose a voter reads something on the issues page that compels them to contribute to your campaign, or share what they just saw or read. You want to make that as easy as possible. Don’t make them hunt for the tab to give you money, or some other section of the website to volunteer. Make sure that it is always easily found by putting it on every page.

A key function of your website is to capture the email addresses of people willing to leave them. Give something away if you have to…a subscription to your newsletter, an insider’s guide to the campaign, a map with your name on it, an autographed window poster. The email addresses that you accumulate are gold.

It’s a central repository of people who have already expressed an interest in you. —a list you can use to ask people for money, for help passing out literature, going door to door, or attending a rally.

There is an excellent tool called GOOGLE ANALYTICS that does a marvelous job of telling you who is visiting your website, how much time they spend on each page, and how they found you.

You cannot monitor what you don’t measure. And if you wake up one day to find that your website traffic skyrocketed you won’t know why or from where those visitors came from unless you have the Google Analytics tool installed.

FACEBOOK makes it very easy to insert a code on each page of your website so that you can re-target those who have visited your website with ads they will see on their Facebook Newsfeed.

You can also insert a GOOGLE ADWORDS code on every page. It will capture information about your website visitors which you can use to reach them with internet advertising.

You can learn more about these tools on Google.

Make sure you put your WEBSITE ADDRESS on every handout, flyer, in every email you send, every sign, every mail piece, in every TV or radio ad.

Don’t know how to do a website? Easy. Go to Google. Type in ‘how to build my own website,’
and you’ll find plenty of tools, software and companies that make it easy and inexpensive.

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Political consultant Jay Townsend works with smart, passionate candidates who want to run for office, win elections and make a difference. He has successfully helped candidates learn how to run for the U.S. Senate, how to run for Congress, how to run for Mayor and develop a winning campaign marketing strategy.

How to win an election:

Running for office and knowing how to win an election is a challenge, especially for first time political candidates just learning how to run for office. Discerning the fine points of how to campaign, raise political contributions, and execute a political campaign strategy often requires the help of someone who has served as a political strategist or who has experience as a political consultant.

The demands of a powerful interest group sometimes collide with the demands of voters.

In this video, what all office holders would be wise to remember when running for office.

 

 

Last Saturday newspapers made it a page one story. Another school shooting. This time in Texas. More dead children. More dead teachers.

President Trump promised to do everything in his power to protect school kids, the same promise he made three months ago after 17 were killed at a High School in Parkland, Florida. Other political figures offered their perfunctory thoughts and prayers for the slaughtered children, their grieving parents, siblings and friends.

The sorry truth is this. Parents will again grieve and bury their children. The political class will offer a few more empty words and hollow rhetoric. Then pray that it doesn’t happen again before the next election.

It also illustrates a truth about all candidates running for office, office holders and political parties. All face pressure from four sources.

1. The press, which pressures them to act.
2. The contributors, who pay for their campaigns.
3. Powerful interest groups that offer important endorsements.
4. And voters, who ultimately decide elections.

After president Trump promised last February to promote new measures to curb gun violence, he was visited by lobbyists from the National Rifle Association, a group that spent $30 million to help him become President. The lobbyists told President Trump to shut up about restrictions on assault weapons. He did. The NRA also made clear to the Congressional leadership that no such bill should ever see the light of day. The leadership complied.

In democracies, political parties and office holders often become captive of the interests groups and contributors that support them, unwilling or unable to respond to a public that begs for leadership. Sometimes those bonds can only be broken by indignant voters at the ballot box.

If you are running for office, or someday hold office, you too will find yourself subjected to pressure from the press, your contributors, and the interest groups offering endorsements you want.

It is wise to remember that your fate is ultimately decided by the voters who expect you to lead.

 

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Political consultant Jay Townsend works with smart, passionate candidates who want to run for office, win elections and make a difference. He has successfully helped candidates learn how to run for the U.S. Senate, how to run for Congress, how to run for Mayor and develop a winning campaign marketing strategy.

How to win an election:

Running for office and knowing how to win an election is a challenge, especially for first time political candidates just learning how to run for office. Discerning the fine points of how to campaign, raise political contributions, and execute a political campaign strategy often requires the help of someone who has served as a political strategist or who has experience as a political consultant.