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Know Yourself. Your Opponent Does!

© Hunter

Good candidate research is critical!

But it is not your opponent's research information you have to be the most concerned about, it is your own. You can bet your opponent is digging into your private, professional and political background and your campaign team must know what they are going to find. Send your campaign manager out to find out everything about you that he/she can, without any help from you. See what comes back. Chances are, whatever is found, your opposition has or will have, as well. If you have skeletons in your closet, now is not the time to pretend they don't exist. Tell your campaign manager these things, so you can try to prepare to deal with it, if it should be made an issue. Wishing so will not make it go away. You might find your little secrets on the front page of the morning paper a week before the election. Never assume that your opponent is not as smart as you are. Don't risk building your campaign strategy on lies and secrets. Start your research early and plan your campaign strategy accordingly on the strengths and weaknesses. Remember, your opponent wants to win!

If you are an incumbent, you must research your voting records to know how, what you have done, whether it looks good or bad, to both the voters and the press, so you can be prepared to defend your vote or promote it as a strength, whichever is the case. An incumbent's legislative record gives you the most ammunition and your best defense in any campaign.

An efficient way to organize your voting analysis is to categorize your votes by issues. List each vote you made and your position on that vote. Also, look at the procedural votes — although they may appear harmless, they can contain hidden issues.

If you are not an incumbent, the fact that you do not have a legislative history won't stop your opponent from trying to paint an unflattering picture of you. Meet with your attorney, your pastor/priest, community leaders with whom you have been affiliated and visit with them about your perceived failures and accomplishments.

Finance is alway a hot box for research. You must know the exact status of your finances, your tax returns, salaries, investments, dividend and interest income, and, it goes without saying, campaign contributions.

This research information will accumulate into mountains of facts. This information will have to be broken down into manageable bits, called soundbites, that can be memorized by the candidate and used on the campaign trail.

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