|
2012 has come and gone. Barak Obama is still our President and national level politics is over. OR is it? Well, most likely yes but there are still plenty of local elections going on in 2013. Mayors, city council, some governors, some state reps, and senators are up for election. Do you every wonder what happens behind the scenes on these campaigns? Questions about general strategy? Wondering why you got 15 thousand calls from July to November? Well, you are in luck cause I want to (to the best of my ability) answer those questions. My name is Mooseontheloose, a political consultant (operative?), who has been doing campaigns since 2009. I am by no means an expert and have been in the field for a relatively short time, I notice lots of people who have questions about campaigns and how to effect political change. I have been an organizer, ran a small city council campaign (city of about 100k people), ran a state senate campaign, ran a paid canvass program, and been a volunteer too. Before you ask me some questions let's do some FAQ/Rules of the thread: Q: Are you a Republican or Democrat? A: Democrat, and worked for only Democrats. Q: HAH Trick question, all political parties are the same in the US and you are just a shill for the capitalists. How do you sleep at night? A: This strawman question is to stop this thing from happening. The political parties in the US are very different, sorry if you can't see that. Most everyone is this thread has seen good candidates, good candidates, good change and bad change. Please keep babies first protest stuff out of this thread. Q:Who are you and where can I find you (muhahaha)? A: Please, please, please, don't internet detective people in this thread. Q: Where can I find political jobs? A: There a few places you can find. Jobs that are left, New Organizing Institute, and Democratic Gain are all good places to check if you are liberal. Our Republican friends will hopefully provide links as well. Q: Can you get me a job? A: Probably not, you are a stranger on the internet. If you have a good resume and are in the Northeast, send me a PM. Q: I have a chance to work in a big huge Senate race or a small state rep/city council race? What should I do? A: Every race has it's pros and cons. Working as a volunteer for the Senate can be a bit of a thankless job but you can meet lots of people quickly if you do your job right. Still, don't be thinking you'll get a staff job after the campaign. However, for college students if you work your way up, it's great resume fodder. The flip is that a state house job is less glamorous but you get more responsibilities quickly if you can be trusted. You meet good local people who can help you later and maybe even make some party contacts. Still, the money is a bit lacking. Q: What's the best way to get noticed? A: Be reliable. If you want to volunteer, great! Make sure you show up on time, do the work assigned, and say you are going to show up when you do. Nothing bugs a campaign more than flaky volunteers. If possible, get to know people in the Director position, be friendly, be affable, and be flexible. Never, ever, say you are above making calls or knocking doors. Also, be a squeaky wheel. If you have been doing calls for 2 or 3 weeks, talk to the field person and see what else you can do to help them out. Q: Any good campaign humor? A: http://campaignsick.tumblr.com/ learn to love it! Q: I hear lawn signs are a great way to engage the public and get votes. I am sure people will love me if I request lawn signs and hold a sign at the corner. A: Die in a fire! Q: What's your pay rate like? A: Somewhere between manageableto makes me cry to save some decent money. Ask away!
|
| # ? Jan 2, 2013 00:39 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2013 13:35 |
|
|
Are you in my head? 
|
| # ? Jan 2, 2013 05:25 |
|
|
I don't have very much experience in field. My only paid position was as a Field Organizer in 2012. That being said, I would be more than happy to weigh in on questions in this thread. My question for fellow field folks is what you plan to do in 2013. I'm still unemployed and need to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do with my life until April rolls around and I can go back to making 350 phone calls a day. What are y'all up to? CobwebMustardseed fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 23:35 |
| # ? Jan 2, 2013 07:56 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:I don't have very much experience in field. My only paid position was as a Field Organizer on a large statewide coordinated campaign in 2012 that featured a high profile Senate race. That being said, I would be more than happy to weigh in on questions in this thread. I am not sure what your resume looks like but if it's just one cycle of organizing, you are in a tough position if you want to keep going. Try to find a temp job or live off unemployment. Or if you are like me, your parents let you mooch between jobs. Start looking into what races are coming up locally for you. Send your resume to all your contacts and see what they can do to help. TheDead1 posted:Are you in my head? I guess the FAQ worked.
|
| # ? Jan 2, 2013 15:46 |
|
|
For many of us, yesterday was the first day we were eligible for unemployment. Don't forget to file! And yeah, Field especially is going to have a hard time finding jobs right after the election. Find a nice cushy bartending job or something and relax. If you want to have a campaign job where you will always be the first hired, get into Finance.
|
| # ? Jan 2, 2013 15:55 |
|
|
JerkyBunion posted:For many of us, yesterday was the first day we were eligible for unemployment. Don't forget to file! Which is not to say, don't try to apply for jobs or don't give up. Just realize it maybe a bit of a slog. Contact everyone you met at the last campaigns, local electeds, consultants, party officals, you met and get your resume out there. Hell, contact your party chair. You never know.
|
| # ? Jan 5, 2013 17:34 |
|
|
I saw a job listing looking for city council race managers in NYC, and they were asking for a cover letter wherein you list your salary requirements... what would be an acceptable number to list, if a person were to apply? NYC is expensive as hell. I've done two cycles in field (FO), one for a statewide race, the other for a coordinated. I have some feelers out for 2013, but lucky for me, I also have a Peace Corps invitation heading my way (I hope) fairly soon, so I guess my advice is... get out of campaign work before you get fat. Or lose all the campaign weight and then some, and then put it back on. Seriously. So many of my friends put on a ridiculous amount of weight, but that also might be due to the fact that the state I worked in went into full out insanity mode after 2010 and November 6th brought an end to the nightmare. But really, I'm so sick of field, walk-ins, county parties, local candidates that I'm willing to bust out to the developing world for two years... unless I can find a way out of field, which doesn't always seem easy to do.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2013 06:59 |
|
|
So what's the endgame for political consultants like you? Does finding work and maintaining a sustainable living off of political consultancy manifest later in ones career? Or does that only happy to select few?
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2013 02:01 |
|
|
Andpie1 posted:So what's the endgame for political consultants like you? Does finding work and maintaining a sustainable living off of political consultancy manifest later in ones career? Or does that only happy to select few? To me the endgame is one of two things: 1) Get a policy job that allows me to expand my contacts in the area I am interested in, expand my knowledge of how to get poo poo done, and allow me to better effect change. 2) allow me to have a steady stream of clients I can advise and pay me so I can pay my bills and make a decentg living. Both points intersect each other but can lead to different outcomes.
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2013 06:28 |
|
|
Edit: double post goodness but since I am here. For salary requirements make sure state that you'll need to be able to live in nyc and not have to worry about paying bills and living in safe neighborhood. Don't gently caress yourslef by asking for to little. Come up with what you think is a reasonable range. Mooseontheloose fucked around with this message at Jan 9, 2013 around 06:33 |
| # ? Jan 9, 2013 06:28 |
|
|
I posted this in the last thread, but if anyone has questions about working on the policy side of things (ie as like a staffer on the Hill or in state government) or on non-Democratic campaigns, feel free to ask or to PM me (assuming Mooseontheloose is cool with it).
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2013 13:09 |
|
|
Roark posted:I posted this in the last thread, but if anyone has questions about working on the policy side of things (ie as like a staffer on the Hill or in state government) or on non-Democratic campaigns, feel free to ask or to PM me (assuming Mooseontheloose is cool with it). Definitely! Did you go from campaign to policy? Do you have an MPA/MPA and are they worth it?
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2013 15:27 |
|
|
Mooseontheloose posted:Definitely! I did, yes. I worked on a State Senate campaign in college, as well as on a Senate race in PA during grad school. I worked full-time on a House race straight out of grad school, and I went on down to DC as part of the legislative shop/team. I sat out this past cycle, other than doing some door knocking in Northern Virginia right before the election. Honestly, I go back and forth on the MPP. I don't have one; my background is in foreign affairs/defense issues, and I went the MA/PhD route instead. MPP programs are very modeling heavy, and the people who I personally know who have them tend to work either on budgetary/numbers heavy areas of policy, for think tanks or for Executive Branch departments/agencies rather than for legislators. Not my cup of tea, but having one certainly won't hurt you. The MPA has been viewed traditionally - fairly or not - as the "civil servants" degree and, again, you're more likely to find MPAs working for the government in less partisan positions than, say, as a Hill staffer. Honestly, the advanced degrees that I see the most of are JDs (half of DC seems to be lawyers...) or MAs, followed by MPPs.
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2013 16:31 |
|
|
There's a posting on JobsThatAreLeft to do signature collecting in Virginia. It's for Mark Herring, the AG candidate. Well, more specifically, it's for an outside firm called Grassroots Solutions. Do you guys think that doing something that might help me when it comes time for the VA coordinated to hire FOs in March?
|
| # ? Jan 17, 2013 20:53 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:There's a posting on JobsThatAreLeft to do signature collecting in Virginia. It's for Mark Herring, the AG candidate. Well, more specifically, it's for an outside firm called Grassroots Solutions. Do you guys think that doing something that might help me when it comes time for the VA coordinated to hire FOs in March? Any experience is decent before hand. However, Grassroots Solutions may not be working directly with the AG candidate, they might be being used by a labor group or other PAC to do their own canvassing. Check with them before hand.
|
| # ? Jan 19, 2013 17:28 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:There's a posting on JobsThatAreLeft to do signature collecting in Virginia. It's for Mark Herring, the AG candidate. Well, more specifically, it's for an outside firm called Grassroots Solutions. Do you guys think that doing something that might help me when it comes time for the VA coordinated to hire FOs in March? No. You should do a fellowship with Terry. Where do you live?
|
| # ? Feb 9, 2013 20:15 |
|
|
SpaceGirlArt posted:No. You should do a fellowship with Terry. Where do you live? Sorry it's been awhile since I posted but this 100 percent. Work directly with the candidate and his/her staff as much as possible. Also, get in good with the consultants.
|
| # ? Feb 16, 2013 21:45 |
|
|
SpaceGirlArt posted:No. You should do a fellowship with Terry. Where do you live? Yeah, I ended up turning that position down for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that basically all my campaign contacts told me that it really wouldn't help me land a job with the coordinated. The stress and anxiety of not having a job and not really having many options is the worst part of campaign work.  Oh, and I live in western Pennsylvania. CobwebMustardseed fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 00:23 |
| # ? Feb 20, 2013 20:12 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:
Any local city council races going on in Pittsburg?
|
| # ? Feb 20, 2013 23:59 |
|
|
Mooseontheloose posted:Any local city council races going on in Pittsburg? Yeah, we're electing a new mayor in May. It just feels like a step backward, though.
|
| # ? Feb 21, 2013 00:42 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:Yeah, we're electing a new mayor in May. It just feels like a step backward, though. Still, see what they need until then. What if they need a FD or something?
|
| # ? Feb 21, 2013 01:44 |
|
|
Are there any people here that have been campaign managers? I might be doing that for a New York City Council campaign (my interview is on Friday), so any tips on what to expect would be awesome.
|
| # ? Feb 26, 2013 04:50 |
|
|
Y-Hat posted:Are there any people here that have been campaign managers? I might be doing that for a New York City Council campaign (my interview is on Friday), so any tips on what to expect would be awesome. I've run a State Senate and City Council race before. Do you still have my email?
|
| # ? Feb 26, 2013 04:54 |
|
|
don't drink and post rude things kids
crunk and white fucked around with this message at Feb 27, 2013 around 16:44 |
| # ? Feb 27, 2013 09:13 |
|
|
Mooseontheloose posted:I've run a State Senate and City Council race before. Do you still have my email?
|
| # ? Feb 27, 2013 10:15 |
|
|
I work in research and communications for Dems. I've done local, statewide, and national campaigns. I am, and for the immediate future will remain, an unmitigated hack. I can attempt to answer any questions for people interested in that sort of thing.
|
| # ? Feb 28, 2013 20:02 |
|
|
Swonga posted:I work in research and communications for Dems. I've done local, statewide, and national campaigns. I am, and for the immediate future will remain, an unmitigated hack. Have you had to track someone? And what was your worst tracking experience?
|
| # ? Feb 28, 2013 20:57 |
|
|
I am thinking about volunteering for Julian Castro in San Antonio. Are there particulars about Mayoral races that should be noted? Did I not read them already?
|
| # ? Feb 28, 2013 21:28 |
|
|
Paulywallywalrus posted:I am thinking about volunteering for Julian Castro in San Antonio. Are there particulars about Mayoral races that should be noted? Did I not read them already? What particulars are you looking for? City races are interesting because the issues are more about fixing pot holes and how to fund schools. State races and federal races are more about ideals and resource allocation. If you are looking to do this as a career ask to help in field or finance unless you really like media stuff.
|
| # ? Feb 28, 2013 21:50 |
|
|
Mooseontheloose posted:Have you had to track someone? And what was your worst tracking experience? I have! For my very first gig, I was assigned to track a statewide primary candidate at the state convention. It was amazingly horrible, I thought, but not up there with the truly tragic tracker stories. Because it was a state convention, it was full of state legislators who kept gawking and screwing with me the whole time. The idea of tracking seemed very bizarre at their level. The candidate I was tracking, however, took it as a sign that she had made it and really showed off for the cameras. Her bodyguard kept putting stickers on me too. Nice guy otherwise. Luckily that three day nightmare was the last time I had to dedicate myself to tracking. Now I just review their footage in silent pity. Definitely some bizarre tracking stories out there if you ask!
|
| # ? Feb 28, 2013 22:30 |
|
|
Just sent in my resume for my 2013 dream job and now I have a question for you guys. With regard to animal sacrifices, have you had more success with goats or lambs? Or, while I’m at it, should I just go the extra mile and get a fatted calf?
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 00:40 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:Just sent in my resume for my 2013 dream job and now I have a question for you guys. With regard to animal sacrifices, have you had more success with goats or lambs? Or, while I’m at it, should I just go the extra mile and get a fatted calf? Just make sure you keep sending resumes out.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 00:50 |
|
|
If you wait around for a campaign dream job, plan on waiting forever. Especially in 2013.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 02:06 |
|
|
Yeah, I realize this. If I don't get this job (and I'll know by the third week of March) then I think it'll be time to move on from the idea of getting on a campaign this year.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 02:17 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:Just sent in my resume for my 2013 dream job and now I have a question for you guys. With regard to animal sacrifices, have you had more success with goats or lambs? Or, while I’m at it, should I just go the extra mile and get a fatted calf? What's the dream job, at least as far as type of position? You should sacrifice whatever animal preferred for dinner by whatever reference you are using to push your resume to the top of the pile.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 03:20 |
|
|
Swonga posted:What's the dream job, at least as far as type of position? It's just an FO position (which I realize is not most people's campaign dream job, but it's what I want for '13). Now I just need to figure out how to get blood out of my carpet.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 06:13 |
|
|
CobwebMustardseed posted:It's just an FO position (which I realize is not most people's campaign dream job, but it's what I want for '13). If you want a fo position you'll be able to find one this year if you aren't picky about which campaign, but most of them will be much much later this year (in Virginia at least)
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 07:27 |
|
|
About what time of year would a US Senate race kick off? Tom Harkin is going to retire at the end of his term, and I'd like to see if I could get a job/volunteer position in the Democratic candidate's campaign.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 08:12 |
|
|
JohnSherman posted:About what time of year would a US Senate race kick off? Tom Harkin is going to retire at the end of his term, and I'd like to see if I could get a job/volunteer position in the Democratic candidate's campaign. Braley had been fortunate enough to have the party help clear the field for him, so imagine his only campaign activity will be fundraising for most of 2013. Around the new year an actual apparatus will be developed. Beyond seeing an opening for finance assistant or anything else on the usual listing sites, your other options involve a little more legwork. You can try asking his local office, which might take your name or direct you to his political people. You could keep an ear to the ground about fundraisers, which are great places to meet a candidates political crew that would know what to do about vols. You could cold email the DSCC, which might take down your info if you are lucky. Or look into Link Strategies, I believe, which is a big Des Moines firm that Braley has long been plugged into. They would be another solid connection to his incipient campaign. But yeah generally I don't see him making in big campaign moves out until we get closer to 2014, outside of fundraising. He will outsource most of it til then to his consultants. Start a google alert of Braley and campaign manager and political director or something so you can get a feel for where he is on the whole developing a campaign thing. I imagine his plan is to keep his head down while the GOP potential primary shakes out and sucks up the media attention.
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 15:43 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2013 13:35 |
|
|
JohnSherman posted:About what time of year would a US Senate race kick off? Tom Harkin is going to retire at the end of his term, and I'd like to see if I could get a job/volunteer position in the Democratic candidate's campaign. I would probably say late this year or early next year. Use this year to get more experience!
|
| # ? Mar 1, 2013 15:51 |
|
