You can get past your first appearance as a principal speaker by using an audience-participation quiz. This gag can be used over and over again until you gain confidence.
CHAPTER VI Political Influence, Its Sources, Uses, and Abuses
Claims of "controlling a district" are usually nonsense. There are two major ways in which a politician controls votes (a) by being the active leader of a live precinct organization (b) by the gradual and unconscious acquisition of a following who depend on him for reliable political information and advice.
Be prepared to furnish advice to your acquaintances by doing your studying of candidates and propositions early. Thus you may expect to influence the votes of about 250 people.
A fool-proof method of marking a sample ballot without previous study is to mark it against the choices of the newspaper you despise most.
TAKE BACK YOUR GOVERNMENT! 257
Patronage: Policy positions, except under extraordinary conditions, should go only to active partisans, but non-policy jobs should be filled without respect to partisanship.
When Called on to Dispense Patronage:
(a) Accept the responsibility.
(b) Refuse to countenance a "spoils" attitude.
(c) Be frank with the applicant.
(d)Be warm-hearted and helpful. Remember his human dignity.
(e) Don't try shenanigans with the federal civil service.
(f) There are many temporary non-certified federal jobs. Know the details about them so that you can advise people how to apply for them.
(g) Keep party politics out of Annapolis, West Point, and Coast Guard Academy recommendations. Instead be prepared to help applicants with accurate information and advice.
Moving in on a Party Organization: In cities where a corrupt machine is well entrenched the "official" opposition party organization is usually a clandestine part of the Machine. (Warning: Do not assume that a "machine" is necessarily a "corrupt machine.") Tb take over your own party machinery when it is owned by such a false-front group you must first take over the "reform" wing of your party and then win a primary for control of the official party machinery.
In taking over the reform group be extremely careful to preserve the prestige of its titular leaders. The process of taking over consists merely in joining and being more active than the titular leaders.
After winning control of party machinery in the primary make no compromises nor concessions of any sort under any circumstances at all to the group you have displaced, if you have certain knowledge that they have been in the business of selling out to the other side -but be sure of your facts!
258
Robert A. Hemiein
CHAPTER VII District Spadework, Choosing a Candidate, Caucusing
Even an excellent candidate can lose by neglecting the basic rule that elections are won with votes and votes are in the precincts. Don't attempt to elect a candidate until you have built up a precinct organization.
Selecting a Candidate:
1. Suitability - "sound" on issues from the viewpoint of you and your party; unquestionable character and integrity; record of unselfish public service; intelligence, education and experience.
2. Availability - able and willing to devote enough time and hard work to the campaign and able to afford the financial sacrifice of holding office.
3. Electability - if suitable and available a candidate is usually electable provided he has acquired immunity to "candidatitis" - a form of buck fever peculiar to inexperienced candidates, their managers, and their families - and provided he is willing to be managed in all respects save his stand on public issues. The superficial aspects of electability are usually quite unimportant. A suitable, available, and electable man is unlikely to want the job - you must seek him out and convince him that his sacrifice could be worth while, through the reasonableness of your plans and budget, by your analysis of the district, and by the strength of your precinct organization.
Budgets should be prepared and funds raised before your candidate announces.
Caucusing: Caucusing is a democratic process whereby like-minded individuals agree to work unanimously to a common end; it is a usual method for getting political associates behind one candidate. Unanimity is the essence of caucusing. The original
TAKE BACK YOUR GOVERNMENT! 259
terms by which the caucus is bound cannot be changed other than by unanimous consent - these terms must be clear to everyone before the caucus is signed.
There are no circumstances under which a man may honorably break a caucus. Be sure what you are signing - then don't kid yourself later!
You are justified in using any available legal means to enforce a caucus once bound.
If you cannot get a strong caucus behind your favorite candidate then he is not yet ready to run nor you to manage. Drop back and be a precinct worker for another candidate.
CHAPTER Vill The Grass-Roots Campaign
Two Rules f or Effective Campaigning:
(a) Is the action directed at specific, individual votes?
(b) If not, is it directed at your own district? Can it be done without sacrificing anything under (a)? Can it be done with minimum effort and at no cost? If it costs anything at all is it covered by your original plans and budget?
Effective Methods: Anything which goes after an individual vote, especially:
(a) canvassing by the candidate
(b) canvassing by precinct workers
(c) canvassing by the manager Put the candidate on a 40-hour week of doorbell-pushing for three months; the manager should canvass two afternoons per week.
Ineffective Methods: Meeting outside the district, signs outside the district, radio speeches.
Borderline Methods: Meetings inside the district, publicity by signs, newspapers, and radio spot plugs.
The Campaign Committee: Use a large "public committee" for advertising purposes, the officers of which have nominal duties and have been selected to
^Ja
Robert A. Hemfein
represent the community - Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and minority groups. The working committee is the candidate, manager, money raiser, publicity man, field supervisors, and precinct workers.
Headquarters: Public, swank headquarters are a waste of money. You need nothing but floor space, chairs and tables, a typewriter and a telephone. Take drastic measures to keep the telephone from being used for toll calls except by specific authority of the
manager.
Campaign Funds: Handle by check, require two signatures out of three, provide an audit.
Unavoidable Types of Expense: Filing fee, printing, postage, telephone bills, election night party
refreshments.
Conditional Types of Expense: Signboard rental, newspaper display advertising, handbill distribution, salaries of publicity director and office person, lunch money and car fare for volunteers, radio spot plugs, extra personal political expenses of candidate and
manager. No other types of expense should be tolerated in a
volunteer grass-roots campaign.
Training and Management of Precinct Workers: Form a club with membership limited absolutely to doorbell-pushers; build its morale in every possible way. Be lavish in praise. Require the candidate to spend all evening at the weekly meeting of this club without fail.
Split your workers into area squads often or less using the best leader talent available. Train them at dub meetings, in the field by sending freshmen out with old hands, and by means of photocopied instructions.
Emphasize recording and filing all doorbell data for
election day follow-up.
Never canvas "blind"-use lists. Afairly accurate list of members of your party who vote in primaries may be prepared from official records of voters "signing the