Home » Politics & Society » Women in Politics » Public Appearances

Public Appearances

© Hunter

When you become a candidate, you can not stay home and watch television and expect to get elected. You must go where the people are that you want to vote for you. As they say, you must press the flesh and kiss the babies.

The campaign manager or a specifically appointed person on your campaign team should try to arrange opportunities for the candidate to speak or debate in front of community groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voter Debates, the many community service clubs, i.e. Rotary, Women's Political Caucus, church groups, professional groups, i.e. the Bar Association or teachers, Farm Bureau, and last but not least, the American Association of University Women. Some you may or may not want to address voluntarily are your Pro-Life or Pro-Choice groups. Some candidates hide from these groups, especially if they feel threatened by them, but personally I always met with them and stated my views. You can't please everyone and at least then everyone knows where you stand on the issue.

Do some research and try to learn as much about the groups and their issues of interest as you can so that you can be prepared to answer questions. Ater a public presentation, there is usually time set aside for questions. If you are asked a question that you don't have the answer too, then admit it. At that point, get the name and telephone number of the person asking the question you can't answer and move on to the next question. But the important thing here is to find out the answer to the question and get back to that person as promised. Otherwise, the negative feedback will get you.

Try to get yourself invited as a guest by a member of each organization and if you are not asked to speak, just go as the guest and no doubt you will be introduced. This gives you a chance to network and always carry along your cards or brochures. Attend as many of these types of meetings, lunches or dinners as you can possibly arrange and encourage your friends to try to find a way to get you on the programs of these groups.

Other places to be seen if you don't have arranged appearances are employment places, shopping centers, community events, school activities, sporting events, church functions, etc. Take every opportunity to meet new people. . . they may be a vote for you or know someone who lives in your voting district.

The copyright of the article Public Appearances in Women in Politics is owned by . Permission to republish Public Appearances in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.