It is very important for candidates to have dynamic interactive websites.  Nearly two-thirds of US adults use social media, and for many, it is the first source for news and information gathering. Online ads not only put campaigns in a position of power by bolstering efforts, but also provide an easy way to communicate relevant news and messaging to an increasingly captive audience. Your website and social media presence need to be interactive.  Don’t rely on pages of text and a few pictures.  Don’t be afraid to use videos, especially on social media, like Facebook and Twitter.  Social media platforms…

We are now covering Part III in the study of digital campaigning. We have done the overview and covered Facebook for campaigns and setting up campaign blogs. Now we embark on Twitter and Instagram. Twitter is akin to the elevator speech. Get your message out in 140 characters or less. Instagram demonstrates how a picture is worth a thousand words. Jumping onto Twitter First, get Your campaign name at twitter, @YourNameForOffice. Over the past few years, there have been many cases of nefarious bloggers on both sides of the aisle as well as rival campaigns squatting your social media handle,…

Recap Last time Dr. Politics covered the importance of a digital campaign plan. Spoke on various social media platforms from Facebook to LinkedIn. Now let’s focus on Facebook and Blogs. FACEBOOK CAMPAIGNS: First create a separate campaign Facebook page. You do that by going to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/ . You want to select “Artist, Band or Public Figure.” Click on Category, then select from dropdown, “Political Candidate” Select your name or the name of your campaign committee, I’d recommend Name of Committee. However, you can use your name if you’d like. Important: Don’t forget to insert Authority Line on your official candidate’s…

Campaigning has changed a bit from when I first ran for MD House of Delegates in 1994. At that time, if I wanted to connect with voters, I had three options. Direct Mail, Door Knocking and Doing Media Buys. For the most part media buys are just too expensive, and when running for State Senate or State House of Delegates or County Council you will over-shoot your district. Direct Mail was good but you need to do three mailers before most voters start paying any attention. Door knocking was the most economical way to connect with voters, along with fairs…

Okay, 2018 candidates, right now I’ll bet you’re feeling a lot like I did after I signed up to run for office in 1994 and was looking forward to some no-holds-barred debates against my opponents. In fact, I had saved up some great one-liners for former Del. Henry Heller, Len Teitelbaum, and newcomer Andria Mandel. Del. Petzold had moved up to run for State Senate that year. (Remind me sometime to tell you a great Del. Petzold story). As I have previously mentioned, I had a serious case of “Candidatitis” that year which actually had me equating my little delegate…

You can’t win a campaign just by knocking on doors, especially when you have a district of 1,000 homes or more.  You need money to pay printers, TV stations, radio stations, the webmaster, the post office and the phone company. The bottom line is that you need to raise money and you shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for it. If you are, you may have a fear of rejection, and if that’s the case, you may be thinking that your campaign is more about you than about the cause.  Remember that if you are running to advance a cause, everything…

Let’s Review What We Have Covered So Far You’ve  filed for candidacy, put your finance team in place, and finished your first campaign event.  You likely have a small core group of volunteers now as well.  Hopefully, you also have a war chest of $5,000 to $10,000  in cash on hand, a campaign manager and many of your key people in place. Now it’s time to order your campaign collateral, or as I like to call them, “Campaign Tchotchkes.”  Of all the lessons I learned from my 1994 campaign, this is one of the most important ones.  By now, you’ve…

Congratulations! You guys have all filed for your respective offices, the deadlines have passed, and some of you running in Maryland are lucky enough to have no Democrat challenger.   Those of you without challengers should continue raising money.  Those with primaries should not only keep raising money, but also hit the Republican speaking circuits.  Those with just a Democrat challenger should keep in mind that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  You have 244 days to Election Day.  During the spring focus on door knocking, hit the swing precincts in your district.  You need to get a schedule of local…