Political Education-Candidates, Managers and Senior Staff
We Focus on Skills, Strategies and Tactics for Successful Campaigns. Our goal is to empower our candidates to be the change they seek, to win policy making positions in their communities, states and nation in order to bring about progressive solutions to the lingering problems that threaten all of us. Candidates who attain power can in fact empower their constituencies and lead them to take ownership of their lives.
At Progressive Push we aim to educate and inspire individuals to become Citizen Legislators, people who care enough for their communities to get involved with their city and county governments in order to influence their decision making process. Citizen Legislators join advisory boards, and committees (such as school board book adoption committees) in order to learn how their government works and how a citizen can affect change. Eventually, the Citizen Legislator will seek to run for office in local school boards, water and conservation boards and other policy making positions, inspiring others to follow their example, leading the way from powerlessness to citizen power.
Progressive Push will help Citizen Legislators attain their goals by providing them with the necessary knowledge, tools, affordable education and guidance. Our program is customized for the candidate, not the politician, who aspires to a long career in public service. We are working with men and women who want to be policy makers, whose goal is to move forward progressive issues
These are four and a half or two day weekend courses with a six month distance learning extension designed to prepare you for practical politics and the management of political campaigns. We will help you develop analytical and practical campaign skills through course lectures, guest speakers, and required assignments. Students are required to actively participate in a political campaign of their choice an average of at least 15 hours per week through February 2010. As an additional option, students interested in participating in a campaign or trainings may also register for internships.
Our unique Customized Political Education Program
1.) Actual training of candidates to hold the offices that they are seeking, including the duties of the position sought as stated by law, local or state sunshine restrictions, and the kinds of activities and public appearances required of holders of the job;
2.) A detailed description of the practical political environment for the candidate upon the assumption of the office, including discussion of probable associates and opponents, and common pitfalls for people who hold that office;
3.) A detailed political history of prior races, both successful and unsuccessful, for the position sought;
4.) Detailed demographics of the political districts in which they will run, including, where possible:
a.) Census data, including but not restricted to race, sex, income, number of people in household, proportion of divorced/single heads of households, religion, home ownership (where available), and similar data;
b.) Survey data, including especially the use of crosstabulations for the measurement of related attitudes;
c.) How and where to obtain such data and how to use it; and
d.) If necessary, how to conduct one’s own polling.
5.) Detailed discussion of the use of voter files, including but not restricted to:
a.) Use of Party Voter files where available (Voter Activation Network’sVoteBuilder and NCEC data) for tracking and targeting voters;
b.) Use of local Supervisor/Commissioner of Elections files for tracking and targeting voters.
6.) We impose obligations upon those candidates whom we assist. We track specific political positions that they have assumed during an election campaign and send them regular reports on the efforts they have made to behave consistently with such positions as they have taken. Failure to abide by these obligations results in Progressive Push’s abandonment of the candidate and, where possible, assisting and training her or his replacement in the primaries.
SAMPLE 2 DAY COURSE CURRICULUM
The Curriculum provides attendees with the necessary knowledge to run and win their political campaigns.
How many months are left before your primary elections? and how many months to the general election? NOW is the time to look for a countdown clock and start working on name recognition.
Early name recognition will save you money and time when you form your Campaign Committee and make a formal announcement. The early campaign budget and message is all about getting your name known and telling prospective voters about yourself. The better known you are at that time, the easier the task and the less budget resource needed.You are not political at this time and should remain that way in the public eye. Right now your task is to establish yourself as a civic-minded member of the community:If you own or manage a business, this is a good time to intensify your presence at local business networking events, Chamber of Commerce and other similar activities. If your town has high-visibility citizen involvement, volunteer to serve on the Town Budget Committee or the Comprehensive Plan Committee or the School Facilities Review Committee. If you belong to a church or service organization, get active on the fund-raising project or the Fourth of July Parade Committee. If you volunteer for a charity, get onto the public relations or community outreach committee. And, of course, don’t overlook your core support: get active in a project for your local party. The point is that a candidate is taken more seriously if he or she is already known as a doer in the community. And your cheerful participation will establish good will. When you first mention that you’re considering a race for public office, many of the people you’ve worked with shoulder-to-shoulder will support you because they know you, like you and can attest that you roll up your sleeves and get to work. Keep in mind that Issues sometimes play less a role in local and legislative races than the personality, name recognition and hard work of the candidate.
Now is also the time to work on your financial strength, clear the decks and make sure you are in a safe financial footing. You CANNOT use campaign funds for personal expenses, its is forbidden. Work overtime, do whatever is necessary to build up your savings and make sure you can cover necessary personal expenses like mortgage, rent, utilities, car payments and food during the final months of the election cycle You might have to take time time off from work without pay.
Once the campaign begins you will not have vacation time or as much quality time with the family as you will desire. You’ll be spending the summer of 2010 campaigning every weekend at community picnics, the local Fourth of July Parade, the county fair and other events where large groups of voters gather. Save up your paid vacation days because you’ll need them between September and Election Day next year for heavy duty campaigning and get-out-the-vote.
Make arrangements at work to minimize the amount of work time you will miss, because you will take an earnings hit. Plan your work schedule so that you will have time to drive from work to a neighborhood door-to-door campaigning every day until dusk. You‘ll finish the door knocking in time to make an evening town meeting party gathering
Get in shape, physical conditioning must begin now. Work out religiously. It’s a crucial to your campaign. It’s a long way to Election Day and you’ll need stamina. Train for the November finish line like a runner trains to win a race.
Without good conditioning, fatigue will set in right at crunch time before the election. You’ll be too tired to go that extra block of door knocking there there are dozens of voters or you’ll be so exhausted you won’t do out on a day when your opponent has canvassed an entire neighborhood. Fatigue will affect you mentally. You might not feel so sharp and it will come across at a crucial candidate night speech. Or, you’ll say things you’ll regret the moment they leave your lips.
Campaign conditioning includes diet. Watch what you eat. You’ll miss meals with the family and munch in the car while driving to campaign appearances or door-to-door neighborhoods. You’ll have to be a good guest and eat what you are offered, practice moderation
Avoid alcohol at fundraisers or political cocktail parties, booze and politics are a deadly mixture for a candidate and can cause regrettable comments to come out of your mouth. Even one drink might be too many when you’re fatigued. If you enjoy an adult beverage to relax, wait until you get home at the end of the night.
Having your financial, physical and mental house in order will pay off on Election Day.