January 1998
Election '97: What We Learned
The key: Issues and hard work
By Barbara Goushaw
Libertarian Campaign Managers Association
Running Fred Collins for City Council taught me, first, that a Libertarian can win. Our positions on the issues can and do resonate with the voters, if we select the issues carefully and focus on what is important to the district, not on what we think should be important to them.
Community involvement prior to running is also important. Fred had been active in the community for a long time, and while it was commonly known (at least to the politically active) that he was a Libertarian, he had a reputation as a "good guy," so this was not seen as a negative. Certainly, lower-level non-partisan races are easier, as folks are still mired in the "two-party" system.
Finally, you have to put forth maximum effort. Fred doorbelled every single household in the city (6,700 homes), plus we did two full citywide literature drops, a letter targeted to the absentee voters, a reminder postcard, lawn signs, and a print advertisement.
Campaigns are won by having a strong organization, a well-planned strategy, enough money to fund the tactics that evolve from the strategy, and a committed team of volunteers. The Jon Coon races provided the experience needed to create the strategy. Funding and volunteers came from those who had contributed to or worked on Jon's campaigns, as well. Thus, we went into Fred's campaign knowing that we had what we needed to win.
That's perhaps the most important lesson. Keep track of your contributors and volunteers after each campaign so that you don't need to recreate your support base every time. And treat those people like the golden resource that they are.
Editor's note: Barbara Goushaw was the campaign manager for Jon Coon for U.S. Senate (1994), Jon Coon for State Representative (1996), and the victorious Fred Collins for Berkley (Michigan) City Council in (1997).
