Frustrations in politics
Frustrations in politics
I ran for Congress in 2016 in Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District.[1] That district, at one time before 2011 stretched from Traverse City south past Holland Michigan. After 2010 redistricting it only went as far north as Ludington and got a little wider by adding Lake and Newago counties to east. But in either configuration, the district had not elected a Democrat in over 50 years and still has not. Subsequent campaigns in 2018 and 2020 had great candidates, but other than Dr Davidson in 2018 who go just over 40% of the vote, in all other results the Democrats received between 30–36%. We got about 32.5% in 2016.[2]
As the politics of health care and all the chaos of the Trump campaign continued to churn in the aftermath of the election results, I decided it was time to put together an assessment of our recent congressional run versus the incumbent Bill Huizenga.
Joni and I were on the fence after the election as to whether to run again or not in 2018. If we do decided to try it again in 2018, we would commit to 2020, which would make THREE election cycles-whew! The hope is that by the third time some name recognition would benefit the results. BUT- I would urge anyone that does run in 2018 and wins the primary to commit to 2020 as well. Mid-terms tend to be volatile enough and 2020 is, of course, another higher profile presidential season.
Assessment:
I am sure that there are things we could have done better as a candidate & campaign and which could be improved if we ran again. But I also want to offer some constructive criticism and my observations of a congressional run in the 2nd district of Michigan. I do so in the same manner as in my job of quality engineering with root cause analysis and problem solving. Some of my comments will be applicable to any congressional campaign, or indeed, maybe a campaign at any level.
We were, foremost, thankful sentiments for the support we received from many individuals. We will also always be grateful for the funding received from the 2CD committee which really got us off the ground. We never raised a lot of money. Our total was about $16,000. The 2CD committee (as a Democratic Party group) gave our campaign the legal amount allowed of $5000 for the primary and $5000 for the general election. It should be noted that the general election amount was really $3500 with the access to the VAN database valued as $1500 and considered an in-kind donation. (Note: if there is a primary challenge, no candidate will get money from the party in the period up to the primary. The various Democratic committees will not, can not, assist with funding until after the primary). While we are very thankful for the support and advice of individuals in west Michigan and the kickstart to funding, much of the advice and approach we were given and directed seemed more applicable to state legislature rather than a congressional level campaign, in my opinion. (More on that in my comments).
The 2nd District at the time faced two possible maxims:
A) the 2CD is UNWINNABLE by a Democrat EVER.
B) the 2CD could be won, possibly, and if so, what will create that winning year, and how?
Message:
From my perspective, we got off to a rocky start with regards to messaging. Trying to hone our message, create the “sound byte” phrases, etc. This could have been done better, but as it was our first experience with such a campaign, we learned a lot.
Fundraising:
I went to a Democratic “Camp Millie” class, which I found nearly useless with the exception of the framing of one’s message and the class hardly touched on messaging, instead focused on fundraising and did so in the most unrealistic manner. The approach seemed very “state level” and not really applicable to a congressional campaign. Throughout the campaign, much of the advice we were given seemed more applicable to a state house run rather than a congressional level campaign.
With regards to fundraising, I determined in July that we were being guided completely wrong! The list I was given by my campaign manager was for retirees in Wyoming. This list, which I was calling in July, was completely useless. The people on the list either already donated, already voted (absentee in the primary) or didn’t have money to donate due to fixed incomes!
There is only two reasons to make phone calls:
1. Sway on the fence voters
2. Raise money
The list I had did NEITHER! The same list to raise money will NOT necessarily be the same list to swing votes. As we all know, very likely most strong Democrats will vote for the Democratic candidate regardless. Strong Republicans likely not. A list of swing-middle voters is NOT likely the money list, in my opinion.
For the future, the phone call list I would have pursued is:
1. A list of swing voters for the 2CD to call after the primary to try to drive votes in November
2. A separate list of strong Democrats to call to try to raise money.
At one point, we were also given direction to “research and call all the organizations that were friendly to Democratic interests to try to raise money” What? This is another example of sink-or-swim approach. Doesn’t the Party already KNOW what our constituent groups are?
Organizational considerations:
Frankly, the Democratic Party has lost its “machine mojo.” Let me clarify. I am a big history buff. We all know that “back in the day” the party machines (both Democratic and Republican), basically ruled the process. They picked candidates and worked to ensure they got elected and stayed in office. What we have now is far to the opposite in many respects- a free-for-all, sink-or-swim approach entirely dependent upon cult of personality of candidates to drive elections. The only “machine” aspect to the party is the VAN (Votebuilder database) and ActBlue which, to be blunt, it appeared at the time to be next to useless for other than collecting names for the state party to farm out so we all get emails from Tom Perez and Ellison and the DCCC, etc!
My suggestions, could be applied to county & local party organizations as well, but is mostly be directed to congressional district committees:
1. The Congressional committee should compile a “Playbook.” Bring on board an intern and begin researching the vote numbers for each county and precinct in the district, compile a list of Democratic leaning groups (such as Planned Parenthood, MEA, unions, etc) with contact names and phone numbers and emails. Research the incumbent Republican’s votes, positions, etc. Assuming that a given district MIGHT be won, it may take several elections and a system TO WIN. Why wait every two years to throw some candidate into the meatgrinder and expect better results? Create a system that can be built upon- data, information, fundraising, contacts, etc. A campaign in a box, so to speak.
2. Work to give your candidate as much free exposure as possible. During the last election cycle I sent an email that read:
“Nov 7th: Bill Huizenga with Ivanka and Tiffany Trump
Nov 5th Huizenga with Mike Pence
Nov 2nd Huizenga with Donald Junior
Oct 31st Huizenga with Trump, Pence and the entire GOP ticket”
I only received one response from anyone on the committee to that email which said “disgusting.”
Meanwhile, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine came to Grand Rapids, Michigan and neither I (from the 2CD) or the candidate in the 3rd Congressional District were invited to be on stage to perhaps garner some free publicity! You KNOW the media is going to cover these events! It was also extremely disappointing when Chelsea Clinton came to Muskegon Hts., Michigan. Not only was I as a candidate not included in any of the event, but when Chelsea read off the names of candidates running for office in the area from a cheat sheet in her hand, no mention was made of the 2nd Congressional District candidate (me) and Muskegon Hts. is in the second district! The excuse given by local Democratic Party operators was that the Clinton team ran the event decided who to have on stage. But it is likely they also rely on someone from the local party for information as well. Chelsea Clinton didn’t compile that list she read from the podium herself. She was clearly given names by the local party people who completely ignored the congressional candidate AT the event. I was standing down in the crowd with all the spectators as local candidates were called up on stage with Chelsea and one of our federal senators and the woman next to me said “you’re a candidate. Why aren’t you up there?” Good question.
During the entire campaign there were plenty of events at which we could have been included for free publicity which would not have cost money at all, but we never were invited.
3. Website: I think anyone that runs needs a decent website. I really liked Lon Johnson’s site that year for the 1CD. Sharp and professional looking. We went with the Campaign Partner site, but it was very structured and not really capable of being altered in appearance. My personal Blogspot blog looks better. I would always suggest a really smart professional website.
4. Fundraising: At the time, I was not all that satisfied with Actblue. Direct contributions, of course, don’t cost the candidate fees. If a candidate can get the donations directly without using ActBlue, that is a benefit in my view. ActBlue fees need to be considered in the FEC filing process as well, a factor we didn’t realize at the time. But in the intervening years, donating to numerous candidates, ActBlue has out-performed the Republican’s time and time again in delivering results.
5. Coordination: There needs to be much better coordination in literature as is legally allowed. I don’t know all the nuances of how this can be coordinated legally. I walked doors in 2008 and 2012 for the two Obama runs and Granholm’s governors race in 2010. I clearly remember going to the union hall, getting a map and addresses and literature. Maybe I am mis-remembering, but I thought that the lit packs included all candidate literature for every level of govt in that area. I worked to coordinate some literature and door knocking with Kim Nagy and Tim Meyer this past election cycle, but as noted, a congressional district is too large and this type of activity is tough for a congressional candidate to physically do themselves. But it would help to be able to get that literature into local hands for distribution in literature packages around the district.
6. Do NOT undercut your congressional candidate in favor of other candidates. I realize that there was big push to win some Michigan House seats. I also realize and understand that there are considerations of resources and funding etc. Any future candidate should know that if a given race is considered unwinnable, there will be reluctance on the part of some donors to commit money to this campaign. BUT that said, it seemed very often that not only were we battling a natural reluctance, but frankly, being obstructed and blocked from even being able to approach some of the constituencies which might have donated.
7. I was also disappointed in the lack of feedback from previous candidates. I had met three of them and got very little information from them. I am certainly willng to give my feedback and experience to subsequent candidates, and have. What they do with my information is their decision. These lessons learned could/should also be incorporated into the ‘playbook’ suggested above.
8. News media: I was fortunate to be able to get three TV spots. But I only had one time where news media (Holland Sentinel) reached out to me for an opposing statement with regards to a current event. I suggest candidates be very aggressive in this regard. Create a list of media emails well in advance, contact them frequently, contact them every time an issue arises with a statement. I did do this, but was not as aggressive as I could have been. Huizenga, as a sitting official, will get free contact from them and free opportunity to make statements on a regular basis when issues arise.
9. Minority outreach: we worked hard to meet with the African-American community and the Hispanic community in the district. We started this later than we would have liked, but had good feedback from both. We also walked door to door in Muskegon Hts.
10. Endorsements: we did get several standard constituency endorsements. But we were disappointed in the few we did NOT get, especially Planned Parenthood. Joni and I went to a fundraiser for them and I defended them aggressively at my debates with Huizenga. Yet we never got their endorsement which is still a mystery to me. All in all, I know getting endorsements seems like a “check the box” activity. We also didn’t get any money for the campaign from any of them.
Conclusion/Summary: It is my opinion that door-knocking is of marginal value for the congressional campaign. The district is simply too large. Some very targeted door knocking may help, but to make inroads, assuming a district could be won, I think that the ONLY way someone will beat the Republicans in the in a large spread out district is more publicity in the general election cycles. Some of this obviously requires the money to do so, which is problematic as has been pointed out, if the district is considered a no-win district.
Media could be such as:
a) Two or three direct mailings
b) Perhaps TV spots and radio ads
c) Free media at Democratic events especially in 2020 when there is a presidential campaign.
d) Other events- candidate needs to host or be at numerous public events
e) Coordination of literature to all areas of the district
f) Repeat run- candidate needs to run in more than one election cycle to build name recognition
g) News media- build a medial list and email them regularly with opposition statements
Keep in mind all the commentary above was put together in January of 2017 after the election. I sent these comments to the committee via email.
As an aside, I was also very frustrated with the local progressives. We went to the local Bernie Sanders campaign office in Grand Rapids during an event. My campaign was still in the midst of collecting the necessary 1000 signatures on petitions needed to even get on the ballot. (We ultimately had 1400). I went into the office jammed with people and was directed to the local campaign chair. When I told her why I was there- to collect signatures to get on the ballot as the Democratic candidate- she asked me:
“Are you a progressive? A real progressive?”
She then just walked away and never acknowledged me again. I was not allowed to speak to the gathering as a whole so I circulated and garnered a half dozen signatures.
As a progressive who wants single payer health care, free college tuition, bolster social security and trim the military budget, this same infighting has continued since 2016. It really arose again in 2020. I have been pushing progressives to stay in the fight, stay in the Democratic Party and change it from within. In some places in the country that is what is happening. Not in west Michigan, however! The local progressives are dis-functional and run by emotion rather than pragmatic political thinking. They also exhibit a large amount of litmus-testing, ensuring only a small clique of people really have any effect on progressives in the area.
This election cycle I see the same thing from the local county party as well. A clique-ish approach which, in my opinion, resulted in a very poor endorsement process. It also appears in some ways that party operatives were putting their thumbs on the scale in primaries. Then there was the despicable means-spirited campaign by one candidate using surrogates to throw dirt at his primary opponent and after the primary, he verbally belittled other Democratic candidates on social media. He was one of the candidates I felt was getting the “thumb on the scale” treatment to benefit him.
It has been heartening this election season, though bittersweet, to see so many Democratic candidates being able to put on really professional television commercials, expand literature as needed, and garner free exposure at rallies and events. This trend started in 2018 and held up largely through the 2020 campaign. I hope it means another solid blue wave. But ultimately I am not sure how involved I want to be anymore aside from just donating and putting up yard signs.
As of this writing, only 21 more days until the election. I see a lot of people online bash politicians. But unless one of you want to step up, perhaps reconsider your vitriol. It takes a LOT of energy and effort to run for even lower offices. If you don’t like the candidates, you an always run yourself!
[1] https://ballotpedia.org/Dennis_Murphy_(Michigan_congressional_candidate)
[2] https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan%27s_2nd_Congressional_District_election,_2016
