Learning how to win

Back during my enlisted naval service, I vividly remember talking with a few shipmates who had been Navy recruiters. Recruiting requires a mindset similar to that of politics. It not only deals heavily with numbers but also salesmanship. The better the sales pitch the better the numbers. To improve each, The Navy sent new recruiters to a four day school to learn sales techniques. The school taught the attendees how to sell vacuum cleaners. I learned how wonderful the school was from just about everyone I met who attended it because all concurred the techniques they learned worked on selling anything and everything EXCEPT the Navy!

After being involved in state level Democratic politics for over half a decade, I finally saw my local Democratic Party take some measures to improve its performance at the ballot box on Election Day. In the spring of 2010 the leadership of the Tulsa County Democratic Party retained the services of Democracy for America and arranged to have them hold a weekend training program they had developed known as Campaign Academy.

The first campaign training in Oklahoma was held some six months before the 2010 midterm election. That was the election cycle where the Democrats bore the brunt of the backlash against President Obama and were washed over by the Tea Party wave. That marked the beginning of a nationwide Democratic losing skid. With few exceptions, that trend continued unabated into 2017. When all was said and done, the Democrats lost a sum total of around 1000 legislative seats in state houses across the country. Several of those seats were right here in the Oklahoma Legislature. Please bear in mind that in 2010 that we here in the Sooner State were a mere four years removed from a Democratic sweep. That year, 2006, the voters of Oklahoma elected or reelected Democrats to eight of nine state offices. With shifting national demographics, certain economic trends and multiple electoral dynamics, local party leadership saw the writing on the wall and sought to get out ahead of it. Democracy For America had developed some proven strategies for winning close elections and has been able to repeat their results in multiple localities. I for one was impressed with what I saw. I internalized certain of their campaign techniques and have continued to use them on the campaign trail to date. In spite of all best efforts by party leadership, candidates and volunteers, I vividly remember waking up the morning after the 2010 General Election in all-Republican Oklahoma after our state Democratic Party suffered the worst beating up and down the ballot in its history! I also remember thinking about that Navy recruiter story about how learning successful sales techniques may have been and how using DFA strategies were so much like it in that they work so many other places EXCEPT in Oklahoma!

Although DFA no longer holds their Campaign Academy, the Oklahoma Democratic Party leadership managed to assemble a weekend training this past weekend at the Reed Event Center in Midwest City. It was in line with the same model used by DFA. Refresher training is always good as all can learn how to better use campaign necessities like the Voter Activation Network and how to raise a lot of money. The best part of the entire conference was the policy updates provided by members of Oklahoma Policy Institute. Issues like criminal justice reform and health care from the viewpoint of the analysts were well worth the time. There was even a low key evening gala at this event where Yours Truly got to meet and visit with a few other legislative candidates and even an incumbent. Even though this was a scaled back version of Campaign Academy as I remember it, I do feel it is worth the time of novice volunteers and candidates. Mind you, I don’t think it should be mandatory but it is highly recommended. We may be multiple cycles removed from that initial Tea Party wave in Oklahoma, however its effects have lingered with us for a decade. For several of the election cycles subsequent to 2010, the Republicans won dozens of legislative and senate seats unopposed. Those days are past as we have Democratic challengers stepping up to contest all but a handful. Moreover, we now have enough results from a state government controlled by one party to evaluate. It is imperative that a Democratic perspective be presented on all major issues confronting our state and its citizens. It is therefore essential that the voters be given a choice on the ballot. This begins by challenging incumbency and open legislative seats by committing to an electoral exercise which is in and of itself the ultimate numbers game. Despite the assault from outside and unseen entities, the American and Oklahoma electoral systems are predicated on the concept that everything works and nothing is certain. If a candidate can sell themselves to a majority of voters at the ballot box on Election Day, they win. Knowing how to do this through some basic techniques learned at Campaign Academy provides a good start. Even in a losing effort the experience gained for having been a candidate or a volunteer is a great foundation to build upon. Although the future may appear grim, losing an election is not the end of the World. Hold your head up, regroup and learn from mistakes. Who knows? Some of those who supported you and even some who didn’t might like to buy a vacuum cleaner!