Campaign Trials: 4 lessons from a first-time campaign manager

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since I helped lead my first campaign defeat. There is something disquieting about how much effort it takes to earn 32% of the vote. The confident, energized, and motivated manager that our volunteers had come to know had never taken a minute to prepare for a worst-case scenario. I was drained past exhaustion and I did not have the resolve to hold back tears. Two weeks later, after a much needed respite with friends and family (and a trip to Farm Sanctuary), I want to share some critical observations and lessons from my first campaign.

1) You need to believe your candidate is the right person for the office.

I was fortunate to be recruited by a former teacher of mine to help a fledgling idea become a political reality. I would not have jumped at the opportunity as quickly, if I did not wholeheartedly believe that Darryl St. George would be a competent and passionate leader for my town.

Dwight Eisenhower said, "The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office." Making decisions with and for Darryl St. George was the easiest part of the campaign because integrity was not only part of his vision for Huntington, it was a code we adhered to every single day. Our choices were a reflection of what we believed to be right. Luckily, that commitment was carefully paired with a humble curiosity and a willingness to learn and absorb information from any forum, Town Hall meeting, or person we met while going door-to-door.

In my previous position, we ascribed to the adage the "organizations don't recruit people, people recruit people". In this campaign, we believed that designating conventions shouldn't elect candidates, people should elect candidates. In order to run a successful campaign, you need a candidate people can believe in.

2) Volunteering is a worthy form of activism. If you are uncomfortable with the state of politics, or if there is a cause you believe is worth fighting for, do not hesitate to get involved. If you live on Long Island and are interested in getting involved with a grassroots campaign, I suggest looking at the work of the Long Island Activists. They were the first organization to recognize the importance of our campaign with an endorsement, and that brought a troop of dedicated volunteers along with it.

Each new day on the campaign trail offers opportunities to organize around a new cause. Affordable housing initiatives, sustainability, heroin/opioid abuse prevention, and campaign finance reform were a few of our causes.

Volunteering is, in a sense, one of the most charitable contributions a person can make to another. During the campaign, I talked about the importance of teachers. Volunteers are teachers too. Our volunteers amazed me and, even though I was the campaign manager, it was the volunteers that taught me about the importance of political engagement. In order to run a successful campaign, you need a candidate people can believe in and a platform that will inspire volunteers to sacrifice their time.

3) You can always raise more money or recruit more volunteers, but there are only ever 24 hours in a day. This observation is a practical one. Time management in the context of earning a Master's in Public Policy pales in comparison to the grinding schedule of campaign management. To-do lists, calendars, schedules, and reminders are essential. Another element of this observation is that campaigns are quantitatively driven. How many phone calls/door knocks can be made in an hour? How many of those result in contacts? Of those contacts, how many were positive? From the time it is socially acceptable to make a call, until the sun sets and you can no longer read addresses, there is work to be done. It is hard to balance having meaningful conversations with constituents while a clock is ticking in the back of your mind and you know there are ten more streets on your walking list.

In order to run a successful campaign, you need a candidate people can believe in, a platform that will inspire volunteers to action, and the capability to make every moment count.

4) All politics is local. My boss was motivated to run for office, in part, because of the tumultuous 2016 election cycle that left many people in the U.S. staggered. His race, like many others this year, was spurred on by a realization that we cannot be complacent with the status-quo operations of our political parties.

Before this summer, I always understood the expression that all politics is local to mean that every issue discussed in national campaigns has local implications, and that people ought to treat all politics as local so we can relate to the significance and GET INVOLVED. The reality is that, not only is politics local, politics is deeply personal. It only takes one teary-eyed neighbor to convince you that the efforts of a long campaign were not wasted. We understand that risks taken in order to promote a safer, more inclusive, and more educated community should be encouraged and celebrated. This campaign afforded me the opportunity to learn about meaningful political exchange.

In order to run a successful campaign, you need a candidate people can believe in, a platform that will inspire volunteers to action, the determination to make every moment count, and a personal investment in the outcome.

I graduated from the University of Maryland in May with a degree in International Security and Economic Policy. I never thought that my first job after graduation would be on a political campaign, let alone as the campaign manager. I thought I would be doing research in Washington, DC. But this was important work. I learned more about my government, my town, and my neighbors in one summer than I had in 26 years. I hope this campaign is the start of a long career dedicated to public service. I am grateful to Darryl St. George for the opportunity, to my family and friends for their support, and to all of our volunteers and voters who believed in our mission.