To win the day...

"We need to work harder than the other side. We need to be smarter than the other side. We need to know more about the other side than they know about us. And we need to do of these in perfect harmony."

All of a sudden, I have found myself involved in more campaigns than I have ever been involved in before. I am not complaining - not by a long shot. Each and every one of these campaigns are important for different reasons. And they range from a United States Congressman, to a State Senator, to a State Representative, to a County Commissioner to a candidate for Mayor. Besides being a fair amount of work, these races also have given me pause to ponder a very important question. Come November, how do we win the day?

Last night at our BPOU meeting, I asked a question about two of our candidates. First - do you now the name of the person that candidate is running against? And second, if you do know the name, how much do you know about that person? Platform. Positions. Record. Things like that which are important to draw some contrast and compare points. 

In the world of business, it is called business intelligence. I have had my share of that, thank you. In politics, it is called opposition research. And yes, the other side is very good at it. I would bet they are doing it right now. Probing for weakness, trying to get something to exploit in their literature or other media. Well to win the day this year, we need to do better than what we have done in the past. Most importantly, we need to better than the other side has done, is doing, or might do.

I am a big believer in planning. Set back schedules. For example, we are now down to 82 days and counting until the general election. What needs to be done, and when. I have not done too much in the inner workings of campaigns, but I have had to quite a bit of planning in the business world. To me, it will just be a matter of transferring those skills over to the politics side. Plus, I am listening and learning from those who have been down this road before working on successful campaigns. What works, what has not worked so well in the past and so on. 

In the next 82 days, what will we need to do to win the day? We need to work harder than the other side. We need to be smarter than the other side. We need to know more about the other side than they know about us. And we need to do of these in perfect harmony.

Going into the recent primary, a friend of mine was and still is the campaign manager for one of the statewide candidates. In that campaign, my friend was able to weave all three of those components together like a finely woven quilt. There was planning. There was plenty of hard work. There was smart thinking. And at the end of the day, there was victory. Victory over an entrenched incumbent with the St. Paul "machine" working against the challenger.

One more thing. When we select a candidate to represent us, it is not a matter of drawing straws and sending the candidate down the road. It becomes a symbiotic relationship. The candidate represents us, and we support the candidate. Money, time and work. We are all in this together. And that - is how we will win the day come November.