That question is never answered in the movie: The Candidate. It is the final line of the film delivered by actor Robert Redford. The bad news for any serious political candidate is that winning your party’s nomination is when the hard work begins. For all of those eager candidates being chosen for the upcoming federal election, Babel-on-the-Bay is going to provide periodic candidate check lists to assist candidates to be the best candidate they can be. Other readers can also enjoy:
When you hit your stride as a candidate by admitting that you have never worked so hard in your life, you will be able to say you are a real candidate. Sure, there might be candidates in Alberta who can take it easy but there are many cautionary tales of candidates who lost because they thought they could coast to victory. No candidate has ever been sorry for working hard every day of the campaign.
And every candidate needs a personal calendar so that every day to the election can be crossed off. And when you cross off another day, you have to remember that there are no do-over days or grace periods.
This initial period of the campaign is classroom time for the candidate. You keep your mouth shut and your ears and eyes open. Your time has to be spent learning every street and rural route in the riding. You study census information until you are quoting riding demographic information in your sleep. You study previous elections and learn by the mistakes of previous candidates.
Of course we all know that you will only win on your leader’s coat-tails but you never, ever know when you will come across someone who only votes for the individual. Those are the votes you have to win.
One of the major tasks in this period is finding voter groupings. Where are the pools of voter support that can be accessed for campaign assistance and support? You can find them in churches, community centres, temples, libraries, legions, hockey arenas and the local bocce association. And never forget the local religious groupings. Never interrupt services but there is nothing wrong with getting to know all the local pastors, priests, rabbis and imans. And never forget that when elected you represent all these groups.
Next chapter in this series, we will look at early communications needs.
-30-
Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]