What No One Told Me About Navigating DC Political World

 

Growing up, I always wanted a big sister. Someone who had been to high school dances, for example and could tell me what people wore, what to expect etc. This would have saved me a lot of grief when I showed up in a bridesmaid dress from the Nordstrom Rack sale section to an event where everyone else was wearing baby tees and jeans. (Keep in mind this was in the earlier days of the Internet when there was no YouTube or Instagram to tell me how to "dress my aesthetic.")  This feeling continued well into my 20's when I did find mentors who were well-intentioned but I soon discovered victims of the same myths and pressures I was battling myself. What I would have given for some straight talk from someone who has been and there and was willing to admit, nay declare, that the Emperor is often without clothes. As my favorite British comedian Joe Lycett would say "sometimes if you want something to exist you have to make it yourself." 

If you have ever felt like you missed the day of school where they taught you how to "be" in politics this post is for you. This is not tips for networking, or resume writing or job searching. Rather this is about the smoke and mirrors I wish someone had discussed with me when I was intimidated and more or less navigating our unique social structure on my own. Let's go! 

1) Being a "consultant" doesn't mean shit. Okay maybe you all are a lot smarter than I am but when I was in my early to even mid-twenties working on campaigns and doing informational interviews in DC I assumed campaign consultants were all hyper-successful-know-it-alls joining conference calls when they deigned to from their second beach house. The truth is being a campaign consultant can mean a wide array of things. In the first place any asshole can set up a website and hang out a shingle and put up a front but that doesn't mean they are either exceptionally qualified or exceptionally successful at it. In the second place, junior associates or account executives even at well established and respected firms are not necessarily making more money than an RFD on a statewide or a manager on a city council race. (Though they should still take you out to dinner on the company's dime if they come to visit.) This also means that they last minute help that you may be lucky to get from your TV or mail firm is not necessarily deserving of the disdain with which you might be tempted to treat them (and I speak now in retrospect to my asshole of a past self) sure a lot of these DC ship-ins can have chips on their shoulders but some of them are there to earnestly learn what goes on on the ground. TL; DR all "consultants" are not equal. 

2) Campaign awards are basically a giant circle jerk. I love and respect my friends on every 40 Under 40 List, recipients of Pollies, and Reed awards. I will be excited for them every time they are nominated, slightly wistful that I am not there myself, and wholeheartedly post about how deserving they are. That said, these awards like everything else are lower case "p", political. Awards go to managers and consultants who are nominated by big firms, and those that are paying members or sponsors of the lists, publications, or organizations that are issuing them. They are great for marketing and a great way to recognize quality or enterprising work but you are not finding your way on to these lists based on merit alone. Conversely while awards are nice for marketing no one serious is counting awards when it comes to which firms to bring in on a project.

3) Selfies with principals are proof of...having access to a cell phone. My grandson, Organizer Memes, recently posted the lament of an anonymous reader who was worried they were falling behind because their contemporaries were taking pictures with "important politicians" while the poster was on the ground doing what I might call "the real work." While having your picture taken with a Member of Congress who you admire can be fun and meaningful, what it doesn't mean is anything about your relative importance. Back in my day when I had to walk uphill both ways to canvass and had exactly 0 days off a month, we were taught "no star fucking." Essentially, pictures with candidate or their surrogates are for donors and volunteers and you are there to work and MAYBE get a pic along with the rest of the staff if you are lucky.  Taking a picture with a politician means that you were there and you asked them. This could be at a rally, a fundraiser or even when you bumped into them with you boss after returning with his Dunkin' order. But just like having your picture with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland does not make you an Imagineer, having a picture with AOC on its own says only that you have a picture with AOC. 

To drive home my point,  here are some pictures of me in 2007 with Howard Dean while campaigning for disgraced Senator John Edwards and maybe the worst picture of my face in existence with Senator Tammy Baldwin when she visited the MN DFL Headquarters in 2019. 

4) Confidence does not equal competence. Maybe it is how I was raised or more likely how I was socialized but if I don't know what I'm talking about I tend not to speak on a subject. If I care to, I try to learn and ask questions. Not so for a lot, and I mean A LOT, of people in our industry. (I will leave you to infer the race and gender of most of them.) When I would visit DC in my younger times, because I was a beautiful naive ingenue, I would marvel at the way that acquaintances would casually drop the names of congressional committees and the bills before them and even more so self-assuredly offer opinions on their sponsors' potential career trajectories. It look me years (read: way longer than it should have) to realize that most of these predictions were ripped straight off of Politico and 538 at best and more likely straight out of their asses. I can't tell you how many people came to me for advice during the 2020 primaries saying "I want to work for X candidate but someone is telling me that only Y can win and I will be burned if I don't work for them." If the past several election cycles have taught us anything it's that nobody knows anything for certain and in many ways conventional wisdom is overrated. The longer I spend in this town the more I recognize overconfidence and lack of curiosity for the red flag toward Losertown that it is.  

5) All the above this advice boils down to the following: take the work seriously, don't yourself so seriously! This is not House of Cards or West Wing and anyone acting like it is, is in fact themselves desperately insecure. While the stakes of our collective work are literally life or death, the stakes of your particular career are not. Don't drive yourself crazy over your "career trajectory." Do what lights you up, that makes you feel passionate and excited to go to work with people you enjoy working with. This is the best way to gain a good reputation, make a real difference and ultimately advance your career. 

Combating Burnout with Wellness Coach, Lacey Connelly

When my friend Lacey posted that she was starting a new business to help political operatives deal with burnout, I knew I had to bring this to you. Learn more about Lacey's business and an exclusive CampaignSick discount below!

1) Who are you? Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got here.

My name is Lacey Connelly and I have been working on political campaigns for 18 years. 2022 will be my 9th campaign cycle! 

My first experience on campaigns was an internship in college working as the tracker for an Illinois Senate primary. After graduation, I got my first full time campaign job working for John Edwards in Iowa during the 2008 presidential primary (added bonus fact for your readers is that's where we met!). Since then, I have been on a nearly non-stop roller coaster of highs and lows: campaign victories and losses; meaningful employment and unemployment; good physical/mental/emotional health and not-so-good. I have been a field organizer, a direct mail production assistant, a compliance manager, a finance director, a campaign manager, a training director, and a caucus director, so I have a LOT of lived experience.

In 2018, I was the Caucus Director for the WV Democratic House Caucus and within the span of a month, I (1) helped the Caucus see its greatest gains in a decade, (2) graduated with my Yoga Teacher certification, and (3) married my best friend, Adam. I credit the time I gave myself for my yoga practice during that election cycle to being able to manage all of those tasks simultaneously; it was the first time I personally experienced balance during a campaign season and it set this whole business idea into motion. 

2) What inspired you to focus on self care?

I had a major health crisis brought about by the stress of campaigns after the 2010 election cycle. I was a compliance manager in California, working long hours to make sure my clients' financial reports had all the necessary amendments filed. I had moved to California in 2008, after Edwards withdrew from the presidential race, and it had taken me months to land steady work that paid for the cost of living increase. I was struggling and, in response to the stress, my autoimmune disease (which I had been diagnosed with back in 2000) flared up. I ignored the flare and kept pushing until my body literally shut me down. I got so sick that I had to go on disability, move back to WV to live with my parents, and get IVIG treatments to reset my immune system.  

The fact that I had allowed myself to become so stressed out that I lost an entire year was a wake up call. During my treatments, I started reading about stress management and autoimmune recovery. Once the treatments were over, I found a yoga teacher in my area that taught yoga for immune support. I prioritized sleep and started to go to trivia nights with friends so that I had something to look forward to each week. 

Then I moved to North Dakota, worked for Heidi Heitkamp's Senate campaign for two months and came back with a severe Vitamin D deficiency. I knew better, but without someone keeping me accountable, I struggled to do better. Eventually, my commitment to my yoga practice and getting my certification gave me the support and accountability that I needed to have a balanced life during a campaign cycle, which is what I'm offering to others through my coaching program. 

3) What are the services you’re offering?

Right now, I am offering 1:1 coaching services to political operatives, volunteers, and candidates who feel like they are either burned out or on the edge of burning out. There are three different options, all with varying levels of support: (1) a one time session that consists of an hour-long Zoom call; (2) a monthly option that includes 4 hour-long Zoom calls and unlimited text/voice message support via Voxer; or (3) a three month offer that gives you three months of the monthly support at a discounted rate. 

If someone is interested in working with me, the first step is to sign up for a free 20-minute "Vibe Check" Zoom call where we can chat about what they need, how I can help, and if we hit it off where we'll work well together. Your readers can sign up for one of those calls here: https://bit.ly/20MinVibeCheckCalendar. Make sure they answer the question "How did you learn about my coaching services?" by writing in CampaignSick!

I also have a newsletter that goes out every other week, and I will be using that to announce some exciting new offers soon (including a 4-week course on mindful media consumption). If your readers are interested, they can sign up for that here: https://bit.ly/SustainableMovementsNews.

4) Who would benefit from this work? Who’s your ideal client?

My ideal client is someone who feels passionate about the work that they do and, as a result, have a habit of putting their work before their physical, mental, and emotional well being. It doesn't matter if they're on their first campaign or if they're running an entire organization -- the people who do the kind of work that we do have a tendency to martyr themselves for the "greater good." I feel like my calling in this space is to work with these folx to show them that living in such a prolonged state of stress is actually counter-productive to the results they are trying to achieve and that there are ways that they can be both impactful and happy. 

5) What does a session entail? Give us a sense of what we’d be signing up for.

I start each 1:1 coaching session with a breathing practice and some stretching. It helps my client and me let go of whatever else we've been dealing with in the moments leading up to the call so we can be fully present with each other. I then ask them what's on their mind and the session builds itself from there. My goal is to lead them towards the root of what is making them stressed so that we can address it together. I'm not a therapist, but I would say 90% of the issues my clients have brought up have been issues that I've dealt with personally, which makes addressing the problem much easier. After our session is over, I send them an email with a practice that will help them deal with their unique stress and, for monthly clients, a "homework" assignment so that we can dig even deeper the next week.

6) What general advice do you have for people in the campaign and progressive community to avoid burnout?

It's important to understand that the modern campaign environment is not built for long term sustainability -- and it's less productive as a result! Research shows that taking breaks from work is important for maxing out your job performance. Energy is limited and, just like football players take a halftime break in the middle of the Super Bowl, we need to take breaks in order to do our best work. This could be as big as giving organizers a full day off each week or it could be smaller, like encouraging our colleagues to take a lunch break (and walking the walk with them). 

If we don't address the negative energy exchange between campaigns / organizations and their employees, we will continue to burn through organizers as if they were an easily replaceable resource -- which they aren't! Any time an organizer "retires" from politics due to burnout, we're losing valuable institutional knowledge for whatever fight they were fighting. 

 

7) Why do you think these industries are especially prone to burnout?

I think they were built that way. The cyclical nature of our work allowed managers and leaders early on to ignore the fact that investing in worker's well-being brings about better results. They simply had to push their workers to get to Election Day and then the recovery was out of their purview. Once this culture was set and then glamorized in movies and TV shows (I'm going to date myself with a West Wing shout out here), we didn't stand a chance.

On top of that, the people I have had the pleasure of working with on progressive issues have all been idealists who see injustice in the world and are willing to sacrifice their own wellbeing in order to make the world a better place for others. I've seen plenty of campaigns and political organizations take advantage of that - not always consciously, but not always unconsciously either. 

8) I heard there’s a special deal for CampaignSickles. Tell me about that.

Yes! I am offering your readers 25% off of their first coaching session, whether they choose a one time coaching session (normally $150), the monthly option (normally $500), or the three month program (normally $1200). They simply need to tell me that you sent them when they sign up for their free 20 minute "Vibe Check" call. 

They will also be among the first to know about new programs that I create in response to the work I do with my 1:1 coaching clients. I've found a lot of similarities among the stressors that our folx are struggling with right now in my two months of coaching, so whenever possible, I want to take the practices that I give those folx and make them available to a bigger population.

9) How do we sign up?

The link for the 20 minute "Vibe Check" is https://bit.ly/20MinVibeCheckCalendar.

The link to sign up for the newsletter is https://bit.ly/SustainableMovementsNews. 

You can also follow me on Instagram or Linked In for smaller nuggets and links to the articles and books about stress management that I'm finding to be relevant to campaign folx.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacey.a.connelly/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceyannconnelly/ 

10) Anything else you’d like us to know?

I appreciate everything that you do, Nancy, as well as the things that your readers are out there doing. Whether they are still working on campaigns or for progressive organizations or they've "retired" to a more stable career, the people who read CampaignSick have spent time doing something to make the world a better place. And that's the only way things will ever change. 

Welcome to your informational interview

 

Hello! Welcome! Did you want to grab a cup of coffee? Oh yeah no worries feel free to put your stuff down. I'll wait. That's better. Have a seat. I'm super flattered that you want my advice. If we were in the real world I'd be asking you about you and what you want to do next, but as it is this conversation is a little one-sided. I've already gotten a bunch of 1:1 requests and am happy to fulfill as many as I can but since I tend to give a lot of the same advice I thought I would put it down on paper for those readers who I don't know. Here are 6 pieces of advice I give at nearly every informational interview.

1) DO NOT feel bad for asking for these meetings. As of the end of this year I will be unemployed as well. It's the circle of life in this industry. We've all asked people who've been doing it longer than us for their help and advice. Just remember to be respectful and appreciative. For more on informational interview etiquette...click here!

2) It really doesn't matter that much what you do next so take the job that feels fun. This is really hard work to do if you're not enjoying yourself so the number one piece of advice I have for what's next career-wise is do something that feels fun. We've all spent a ton of time hemming and hawing over what looks good on a resume, what will open more doors etc only to have that job not turn out to be what we wanted or that decision feel inconsequential in retrospect. Especially early on in your career there really is no wrong move as long as you are learning and growing and continuing to make connections so worry less about what you think you should be doing and instead do a killer job at the thing you want to be doing and that will help you advance your career.

3) Get a variety of experiences.  Moving around the country I've noticed that people tend to get stuck in their ways if they don't broaden their horizons. Even the best operative who has only worked in California has only worked in California and if even she wants to stay in California there's a lot to be learned from how we do things in other states. Same goes for people who have only ever worked for one boss, only worked on large or on small campaigns etc. Getting exposed to as many different experiences in our industry as possible makes you a more prepared, more well-rounded operative. Jobs in our industry often last less than a year so there's little risk to putting yourself out there and trying something different. It also grows your network to interact with new and different types of people. The further you get in your career the harder it is to keep from getting pigeon-holed so push yourself to have a broad base of adventures now.

4) Keep going out on the campaign trail. This was difficult advice to hear in my mid-twenties when I just wanted stability (which basically meant an apartment and a boyfriend) and was feeling exhausted and deflated. More on how that worked out for me here. But if I had not tried so desperately to find a means to backdoor my way into the DC jobs I really wanted instead of just going out and managing more races, I'd be in a much different, and much further along place in my career. As I said above every campaign you do gets you new experiences and new connections and better prepares you for whatever is next. If you want to wind up as a consultant, at a PAC or a committee the best way to get there is to keep doing campaigns for as long as you are able. (Obviously if you don't want to keep working on campaigns/in campaign life, don't keep working on campaigns but if you want to have a job as an expert in the field, you gotta put in the time.) 

5) Get comfortable with imposter syndrome. It doesn't matter how far you get in your career, you will still have moments when you ask yourself "am I really qualified to be doing this?" I guarantee you Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for all their competence and confidence have moments where they're like, "Oh wow. I'm about in charge of this mother******." (Granted the bar for that office has been significantly lowered and they are exceptionally qualified but still.) If you see a job you want, but it feels like a stretch for you, apply for it. If a friend or mentor suggests you are qualified to lead a team, or manage, or put your resume forward for something, believe them. The person who believes they have nothing new to learn entering a new job is the wrong one. It may be there are more qualified applicants than you in which case the worst thing that happens is you don't get an interview and no one thinks about it again. As someone who has done a lot of hiring over the past couple cycles I can tell you the only times I have scoffed at an application was when someone was clearly under-qualified and smugly ignorant of their lack of qualifications. I'm talking about the one-time field organizer who applied for a senior management position on our African American outreach team with "I know what it's like to be a minority because I grew up as a liberal in a mostly Republican town." Barring that level of oblivious no one is going to fault you for shooting your shot and as they say, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. 

6) Be kind, to yourself and other people. We are coming off a cycle where you could make the argument that empathy was the biggest issue at play. And the good news is that broadly speaking, we won. I've heard this expressed a variety of different ways..."self care", "assuming best intentions", "radical hospitality" and I'm a big believer in all of the above. In a lot of ways I think this starts with not taking yourself too seriously. Because these jobs can become part of our identity when we don't feel respected professionally; because we are not getting the jobs we want, because other people are moving up more quickly than we are or because we don't feel like we're being heard and empowered at work it can be emotionally devastating. And sometimes that can result in us lashing out at ourselves or others. It's important to remember that there's a whole world at play that has nothing to do with you. Maybe that job wasn't for you. Maybe you're not getting the resources you want in your position because your boss has less leeway in making decisions than you think she does. I regret the times when I let my pride keep me from seeing the best in my coworkers and even more I regret the times when I let my pride keep me from believing in myself.  

So what other questions do you have? Happy to answer anything I am able to, especially here on the blog where it might help other people. For now, I hope this helped.

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

Five Pieces of Bad Advice I've Given You

Look guys, I'm pretty smart. I'm mostly proud of the advice I've given on my blogspot, my tumblr and my social media. That said, nine years (which is how long I've had CampaignSick) is a long time and as my hero/fantasy best friend Oprah says, "When you know better you do better." I've learned and I've evolved my thinking on a number of things as I gained wisdom and life experience and since, unlike our current President, I believe in owning up to my mistakes I'm here to share 5 things I've gotten wrong either in person or on the blog throughout my career.


1) Race and gender of a candidate shouldn't matter. This one pre-dates the blog, but as many of you know, I was a Field Organizer for John Edwards in Iowa during the 2008 primary. At time I believed he was the most electable (gross) but also the most progressive of all the viable Democratic candidates. Despite the historic nature of his opponents' candidacies, I believe his policies would be better for women and communities of color than either of his rivals. In fact, I considered it sexist/racist to support another candidate "just because" of their race or gender. (I know, I can't stand myself in retrospect.) As I got older and learned more about the world, I began to see the ways in which the power structures of race and class and gender are all intertwined. I learned the value of a truly representative representative government and the ways in which a candidate's myriad identities can shape how they govern, how they lead and what they prioritize. Essentially I learned the difference between, and merit in both descriptive and substantive representation. (Disclaimer: this linked post discusses the 2016 during which I had some very strong feelings about the candidates and the ways they were running their campaigns. I'm glad to say both that I am blissfully neutral in the 2020 primary and that everyone, including the mentioned candidates, seem to have learned some very important lessons since then.) Race and gender do matter. Having candidates who look like and share experiences with the people they represent matters. And although it's certainly not the only thing that matters, correcting historical injustices and counterbalancing the racism and sexism (and homophobia and transphobia) that is still prevalent in our society factor much more strongly into my calculus when evaluating a candidate for public office.

2) Don't ever leave college or university to work on a campaign. Another SMDH. I think I maybe should've named this post "my privilege is showing." For years, I advised readers not to take time off of college (or at least no more than a semester) to work on campaigns. My logic was that you only get to be 19 once and campaigns will always be there, but college is a lot less fun if you are hanging out with teenagers when you're 29. But that was a very narrow view of what it means to go to college. I also had several friends who had left college for a semester to be field organizers and regretted never really finding their way back. Look, I had an amazing experience in college. I also went right out of high school to an elite four year institution that was paid for in full by my parents. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) As a working adult with at least a little more perspective, I realize that not everyone's experience is so idyllic. Many people are going to school later in life. People are working two jobs to put themselves through university. People are living at home and commuting to schools where their social life doesn't revolve around a quad. Some people have all the financial advantages I did but college is not working out for them at that moment in life for family, or health, or any number of other reasons. While I still believe you shouldn't throw away a shot at an education to work on campaigns, I now understand that not everyone's path is as paved or as linear as mine was.

3) Texting and social media don't work to get volunteers. While I still believe there is no substitute for a good old fashioned one on one hard ask, times and the way we communicate, are a changin'. As an elder millennial I am severely weirded out to receive an unexpected phone call and even more so if it's from a number I don't recognize. If we want to reach voters we haven't been able to reach, we need to try tactics we haven't tried. This is one reason I'm such a proponent of relational organizing. Similarly if we want authentic relationships with volunteers--and if we want to recruit volunteers in the communities we are trying to reach--we have to reach them where they are. This doesn't mean we can meet our goals by sending a mass email or blast text-targeted asks can still happen on a variety of platforms, but it's a mistake to rely on outdated modes of communication just because of traditional wisdom.

4) The long hours and demands of being a field organizer were good for me when I was sick. This seems like a weird point to make because it's so specific to me but I think it speaks to a larger misconception among my "generation" of field organizers: the idea that working ourselves into the ground was character building. When I see the quote at the top of this post making its rounds on social media, I can't help but think of the way we run field campaigns. Yes, I had transformative and rewarding experiences at the beginning of my career and I will admit a potentially unhealthy fraction of my self-esteem comes from the thrill I got from learning just how hard I could push myself and what I could achieve. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't loved it. At the same time, pushing oneself to emotional and physical exhaustion is no way to live and it probably wasn't the healthiest way for me to cope with my recent trauma. I really believe we are at a crossroads right now in our industry. If we want to attract more diverse talent to our field, if we want then we have to careers that are sustainable, then we have to reexamine our attitudes about what we expect from people when they are first starting out on campaigns. That doesn't, by any stretch, mean lower standards or goals, but assuming that workers can or should devote their entire being to their jobs is shooting ourselves in the foot and antithetical to everything we believe in.

5) You should never quit a campaign. There's a story politicians in Southern California love to tell about a party chair whose name escapes me. This man had three rules in politics:

1) Loyalty up loyalty down
2) Loyalty up loyalty down
3) They f*ck you, you f*ck them harder.

(This, by the way, was the runner up for my wedding vows.) Although I had not worked in California until last year, this was pretty much the mantra I used to live by. If you join a campaign you are making a commitment-to a candidate, to your coworkers, to yourself- and quitting is a major stain on your character. Simply put, that's bullshit. It is a not a good idea to be a perennial campaign-hopper. However, if you are not being respected, if the job is not what you were promised, if you no longer respect your candidate, if you are offered a phenomenal opportunity elsewhere or you are facing a major health or family crisis that makes your continued employment there untenable, GTFO. I had two people leave the Congressional campaign I managed in California for personal career reasons and honestly my first reaction was jealousy. Not because I didn't like that campaign, but because they had the confidence to recognize when something wasn't working for them. I promised myself I would not make the mistake of staying on a race out of blind loyalty again and later that cycle when I found myself "managing" a race with far less decision-making power than I had been promised, I left when a better opportunity came along. At the end of the day, if you were hit by a bus tomorrow the campaign you are working on would move forward with very little fanfare. Loyalty is great, and very important in many circumstances but as the say going don't cross the ocean for something that wouldn't cross the street for you.

May we all continue to reexamine our assumptions and attitudes so that we can grown and learn together in 2020!


Campaign Love and Mine,


Nancy

You're Doing It Wrong: Are You Underutilizing Your Consultants?

Consultants are more than just product producers. They are there to do what their name implies, consult. Both because they are campaign professionals and because it's good for business your consultants want you to win. As one pointed out to me recently they are making the most money on the campaign while spending the least amount of time on the ground so you may as well make them work for it. Here are five things to ask your consultants to make the most of your relationship and run your best campaign:

1) Ask them to help you find staff. The campaign world is replete with informational interviews, many of them with political consultants. Consultants are often adjunct professors in various PoliSci programs (which means students) and work on several campaigns at once all ending on different schedules. All of this means access to resumes. Helping place staff on campaigns is not only the right thing to do and good for the client, it also helps build a brand. If a consultant has helped place you on a race you are more likely to reach out to them when you are looking to hire a consulting team on that or future races. Plus consultants tend to be friends with other consultants and former colleagues who also have resumes and an interest in placing people as well. It's a win-win-win-win. Networking is the helping economy that makes our world go round and you should not be shy about playing your part in it.

2) Ask them to back you up. It's a good thing my candidate doesn't read my blog because I use this one all the time. Sometimes when I can't convince my candidate of something I know I am correct about, (call time is necessary, yard signs are stupid, you can't go on vacation during a candidate forum) I call my consulting team and talk to about it, make sure we are on the same page, and then bring it up on our consultant call. Consultants want you to win so they are usually more than happy to be your advocate and it often helps a candidate to hear it from more that one source-especially one they don't see every day. NB: Definitely make sure you check in with your consultants first so that you can explain your point of view/present a united front when the subject is broached.

3) Ask them teach you new skills. One of the best parts about managing a campaign is that you get work directly with and learn from experts. Consultants want informed clients and future colleagues so don't be shy about asking why they give you a specific piece of advice or how part of their process works. If you're looking to get experience in a particular consultant's area ask if you can take on a task like crafting a press release or an email. As long something is not particularly intensive or time-sensitive they are usually more than happy to have it off their plate.

4) Ask them to weigh in outside their own purview. Just because someone happens to be a pollster or fundraising consultant doesn't mean that this is their only area of expertise. Most consultants are long-time campaign people and its very difficult to get this far without having a variety of experience and working on a lot of different campaigns. Don't be afraid to lean on your consultants for advice even when it has to do with a project they aren't necessarily involved in.

5) Ask them to help YOU find a job. See number one. Consultants perpetually have their hands in a bunch of different campaigns and they love to embed staffers who they know will be loyal to them. Once your campaign is over, assuming you've done a good job, don't be afraid to reach out about next steps.

It Should Go Without Saying...

One of the joys of having a campaign-themed blog is that people feel encouraged to share ridiculous/inappropriate stories (keep 'em coming) about things that happen in their office. We spend plenty of time making fun of candidates and things they should know better about but there is plenty to say about campaign staff. All of the following are REAL EXAMPLES I have either witnessed or had relayed to me of things that should go without saying, but apparently don't.

It should go without saying...

Don't smoke pot in the office. Even if it's legal in your district. Even after hours. ESPECIALLY if you have a shared office space, but definitely at all.

Don't smoke cigarettes inside the office. Are you kidding me? Ew.

Don't drink alcohol in the office in front of volunteers, donors, or anyone who it might make uncomfortable. A little bottle of wine during some late night data entry is a different story.

Don't drink alcohol at formal or informal campaign events if you are under 21.

Don't serve alcohol to staff or interns who are under 21.

Don't get drunk at an official campaign event no matter how old you are. And if you are drunk (at a campaign event or not) do not drive home under any circumstances.

Do not engage in romantic relationships with staff whom you supervise. Sorry but this is non-negotiable.

You are collectively responsible for the cleanliness of the common areas in your office. If you have to be asked to do your part you are already being irresponsible. Check yourself proactively, especially if you are a man working in an office with women. (Don't @ me; It's how we're socialized.)

Do not put any campaign expense on your personal credit card that you cannot afford to float for an indefinite period of time. Similarly, do not ask staff to shell out for expenses for which they will not be reimbursed immediately.

Do not agree to any meeting, interview, expenditure, or hire on behalf of the campaign unless you are authorized to do so.

Don't promise anything you can't deliver, even to get out of an uncomfortable conversation.

Don't post anything negative--even if satirical--on social media about the campaign, your opponent or people involved with either. (This includes submissions to CampaignSick Tumblr).

Don't talk to the press without explicit permission from the Comms Director or Campaign Manager.

Don't talk about campaign secrets or make disparaging or inappropriate comments in front of volunteers. (There are spies everywhere.)

Do not put anything in electronic communication that would be embarrassing to you or the campaign if it were to find its way into a newspaper.

Don't run a paid and volunteer canvass from the same staging location.

Always provide healthcare or a healthcare stipend for long-term employees. (Practice what we preach you guys!)

Don't try to pay employees who are really employees as contractors.

Always follow up with people who have helped you find talent, connected you to a potential employer etc. Nothing annoys me more than sending someone a resume or recommending someone for a job and then never hearing what happened.

On the flip side anyone who got to a second round interview with you deserves a heads up that the position has been filled.

Let your references know that you are using them as references. It's considerate plus it allows them to prepare and give more thoughtful recommendations.

More than one person should have an office key. You don't want everyone locked out because one person is stuck in traffic.

Don't steal your opponents' lit or yard signs. Especially don't do this and throw them out behind your office. People I know have been arrested for this.

Buy the .org, .net and every version of your candidate's name and website. You don't want YourName2018.com to turn out to be a landing page for the opposition.

Make sure your opponent and his/her spouse are removed from your contact universe. Awkward and embarrassing.

Don't re-solicit someone before thanking them. Duh.

You/your candidate don't need to interview 8 consultants for the same service. Don't waste everyone's times. Stick with 2-3 max. Committees and other consultants can help make recs if you don't know where to start.

Don't have your candidate show up at another candidate's event (in candidate capacity) without permission. It's rude and tacky. The exception is if your candidate is really attending as a supporter OR if your candidate is for example a state senator attending a large annual event like the (no longer existent) Harkin Steak Fry.

What am I missing? Happy to do a round two!


Campaign Love and Mine,


Nancy

Guest Post: Starting A Relationship With Your Consultants

Ben Holse is a Junior Account Manager at The Campaign Workshop. The Campaign Workshop has recently released its latest e-book, Ready Set, Go: Jump Start Your Next Campaign. Which you can get here for free.

Any experienced campaign manager or campaign operative can recall a bad experience working with a consultant. Perhaps the consultant couldn’t deliver what they promised, they were unresponsive or didn’t hit deadlines. Undoubtedly, a lot of what goes into a successful relationship depends on the campaigns and the consultants themselves. How you start the relationship is important. As a former political organizer turned consultant, here are my tips on how to jumpstart a successful relationship your campaign consultants.

Start Early
For campaigns, it’s never too early to begin a dialogue with your campaign consultant. Depending on the service you’re hiring the consultant for and the payment structure that is in place, there often aren’t any additional costs associated with beginning the process early. Early on, consultants can be helpful in recruiting campaign staff, putting together budgets and developing campaign plans. Beginning early is also in the best interest of the consultant, as it gives them a better chance of gauging their workload and can help to avoid learning curves.

Work Hard
In order for your relationship to be a success, there needs to be hard work and dedication on both sides of the table. Campaigns will rightfully expect their consultants to work on tight deadlines with quick turnaround. However this is a two way street. Campaigns will get out of your campaign-consultant relationship what they put into it. In order for consultants to hit deadlines, they will often need campaigns to be able to work hard and be able to get materials quickly.

Be Responsive
Without a doubt, campaigns can be hectic and chaotic. While being responsive can seem like a given in any professional relationship, in the crazy world of campaigns it can actually be tougher than you think. Emails from your consultant tend to get put on the backburner when you’re putting out fires elsewhere. While your consultants will largely drive the train on setting deadlines and timelines, it’s critical that campaigns are responsive. Even if you don’t have the time to shoot your consultant an email, a quick phone call or text message will often suffice.

Set Deadlines
In order for your relationship to be a success, there needs to be accountability. One of the best ways to set this accountability is by setting very clear deadlines. Most good consultants will ask for clear deadlines on when they need approval and feedback, and will follow up if they don’t hear back by the agreed time. But the campaign should also feel empowered to set these deadlines and ask for first drafts and feedback.

Push back when you need to
It’s important that your relationship is strong enough that you aren’t afraid to step on a few toes. In order for a consultant to do their job, they need to push the campaign to think in ways that they may otherwise not. And anytime you are asking someone to step outside of their comfort zone, there presents the opportunity for confrontation. If a campaign doesn’t think that a given tactic will be effective or if there are on-the-ground considerations that the consultant doesn’t know about, the campaign needs to feel empowered to speak up and push back. The campaign-consultant relationship needs to be collaborative and that includes not being afraid to be open and honest with each other.

Don’t overpromise
Campaigns are almost always built on short timelines. Within the context of these finite time constraints, there can sometimes exist the tendency to overpromise. But it’s important to remember that the campaign-consultant relationship is built on trust and there is no advantage to overpromising what you cannot deliver. This goes for both the campaign and the consultant. Overpromising will only serve to throw off timelines and deadlines and leave everyone frustrated in the process.

Don’t be a dick
While this one should also seem like a given, in the crazy world of campaigns, anyone can be a little on edge on any given day. Campaigns should of course feel empowered to push their consultants and expect high quality work. That said, for campaigns, there is little advantage to being a dick to your consultant. It won’t help move things along faster and it will only damage the relationship between you and your team.

Be up front
The relationship should, in some ways, be like the client-lawyer relationship. In order for your consultant to do their job, the campaign needs to be totally open and up front. You can’t hold back on things like not hitting field or fundraising goals just because they are embarrassing. Your consultant can’t help you fix a problem they don’t know exists. Not being upfront about any of the campaign’s potential negatives will only leave the team unprepared if and when these issues do come out.

Keep the lines of communication open.
Keeping the lines of communication open with your consultant is key. The best client-consultant relationships are communicative with a continual back and forth via email, text messages and weekly check in calls. You never know what connection your campaign consultant may have or when a second take on an issue can help bring a different perspective.

Ask An Election Nerd: Is There Such A Thing As Campaign Career Life Balance?

Hey Nancy, is there any area of the campaign world where a reasonable work-life balance is possible? I'm in my mid twenties, and for now I've made a conscious choice to forgo that balance... but I know that I can't keep that up forever. After a few years I may want some kind of personal life. Is there some niche that allows that without leaving campaigns entirely?
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This is suuuuuuch a good question and one I have asked a lot over the past few years, beginning in my own mid-twenties. It's part of the reason I went to grad school and started this blog. I think I have some really good advice on this topic, not because I am a genius but because I have been asking really smart people about it. Here's what I've learned:

1)Stay on the trail for as long as you can. When I left grad school and started doing informational interviews, maaaaaany people advised me to go back on the campaign trail just one more cycle before moving to Washington. For health, logistic, and personal reasons that is not what I decided to do and we'll get there in a second. What I have found, and was warned about, is that you can really hit a wall in your career if you don't have a big marquee race on your resume. It's not that you can't overcome that, but it makes the path much, much, much, much more difficult. As good as your instincts may be, no one wants to take advice from someone who hasn't been there. In addition, the more time I spend with colleagues who do have one or two more cycles under their belt, the more I realize there's a lot that I don't know and probably won't know until I manage another cycle.

2)Yes, but it comes with some trade-offs. I'm obviously still involved in campaign world, but I just told you I haven't been managing races. Here's why. In my experience the best work-life balance available in the electoral realm is working at endorsing organizations. In my current role, I still get to work with and advise candidates, run campaign trainings, and interact with consultants BUT I work from 9am to 6pm on most weekdays and rarely on weekends. From that perspective, it's a pretty sweet gig. The frustrating part of my job is that while I don't have the stress of managing a campaign, I also don't have the control. My candidates can make decisions that I don't agree with and I have a limited arsenal of carrots and sticks to influence that. When my candidates win, I don't get credit for it even if I basically wrote their campaign plan. It's also just not as exciting as being on the ground. I work at a desk in an office, which has a different energy than being on a campaign and most of my coworkers are not campaign people. In addition (and this is a biggie) most organizations like the one I described are non-profits, which means they probably won't be able to pay you as well as other avenues and funding for your work is often contingent on factors outside your control.

3)As you advance in your campaign career you can negotiate better work-life balance. It's true, no good campaign manager is working 9 to 6pm throughout the cycle. At the same time, most managers, finance directors and communications directors aren't working field organizer hours. Especially if you're on a campaign over a long period of time, you don't have to work weekends in the beginning. You can ask for vacation, housing (paid, not supporter) and stipends. I know a statewide campaign manager who negotiates up front that she gets time for an hour run in the middle of each day. However, the most comforting advice I got on this subject is that you are a different person at 32 than 22. You know yourself better; you know what you need to stay healthy mentally and physically; you are better equipped to advocate for yourself and you will have self-control to keep from burning yourself out.

4)You will never stop asking yourself this question. When I was considering taking a semester off grad school to go on a campaign, a friend who has been on and off the trail for the past 10 years advised me that no matter what I decided, my decision would never be final. (I wound up taking 6 weeks to go be a GOTV Director on a race he was managing.) Whether or not to go out on a race is the eternal struggle precisely for the reasons I just mentioned: races are more exciting and advance your career, but they are also unpredictable and draining. Take it from me, even if you decide to spend a couple years elsewhere, campaigns will always be in the back of your mind. Conversely when you’re campaign staff you will always hear the siren song of stability. It’s not necessarily an either/or, so if you are feeling like you need a time out, you can take a cycle to reevaluate and still go back.

Thanks for asking this question! It’s been a dialectic in the back of my mind for a long time and I’m really glad you prompted me to share some of the great advice I’ve collected. I hope it helps you as much as it’s helped me.

If YOU have a question for the blog, email me at CampaignSick@gmail.com

Campaign Love and Mine,


Nancy

What I Wish I Had Known At 30 With Michael McCall

Michael McCall, 36, Director of Campaign Services at Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund

As you may remember these were supposed to be posts leading up to my 30th birthday in November and I promise you I asked Michael to do one well in advance (I think he was actually the first person I asked), but it is a testament to how much I value his advice that Mike officially finished this post yesterday and I was willing to wait. Michael "Chris Traeger" McCall is my fellow redhead, Scorpio and Edwards alum. He is one of the most positive people I know and displays more charity and patience in a typical work day than I do in an entire financial quarter, which I know because is also my current boss. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Michael McCall.

1) Tell us a little about your career path.
I think my path was a little different than most, in that I wasn’t very politically involved when I was younger. I would’ve characterized my high school and college self to be straddling the line between “libertarian” and “anarchist”. But while earning my Economics degree at Ohio State (go Buckeyes!), I spent a lot of time analyzing budgets and realized that I was a lot more liberal than I thought. So there I was, a graduating senior who really didn’t want to work at a bank, and I saw an ad in the school paper that said “Get rid of George Bush. Make $10/hr.” And I thought, “I like both of those things!” I worked 9 months in the 2004 cycle as a paid canvasser, hitting doors 4-5 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. I had hundreds of doors slammed in my face. I lost 50 lbs because I was eating a pair of Power Bars for dinner every night. By most measurements, it was a miserable job. But for the first time, I felt like I was doing something that mattered. It took me another year or so to decide to jump into campaign work full-time, but then I had a great opportunity in 2006. Mary Jo Kilroy in Columbus gave me an amazing opportunity on her first Congressional run and I served as her Field Director. After that race, I basically moved from state to state, campaign to campaign, until I walked into a Democratic trivia night in Loudoun County and met my future wife. After that, I started looking for something that would still allow me to work in progressive politics, without the all-consuming campaign lifestyle that seems to preclude the possibility
of grown-up relationships.

2) What are you most proud of?
I was a pack-a-day smoker for a decade, so completing Tough Mudder a couple of years ago was a big deal personally. Professionally, it was pretty cool when my friend Mary Gonzalez was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2012. It was one of the first races I worked on at Victory, and when I see what she’s accomplished and the lives she’s changed, it gives me a thrill to have been a part of that. 

3) What is the best advice you've received?
My dad always used to say, “There aren’t enough good listeners in the world. People liked to be listened to.” Like most kids, I was kind of an idiot and didn’t listen to him as much as I should. But as I’ve grown older (if not up), I think about this more and more. This is a business of talkers, and conversations can often feel like a competition to make the incisive statement, or witty bon mot. When you’re busy talking, or waiting to talk, you miss out on so much. Even if you think the person you’re speaking with doesn’t know as much as you do, or is wrong, you do yourself a disservice to shut them out.

4) What is the worst advice you've received?
Bad advice is not usually worth remembering, so I don't. I will say that I used to have this perception that to be taken seriously you had to be mean. You had to harden yourself, be sarcastic and cutthroat. A college roommate of mine showed me the power of kindness, how being accepting and kind to someone is a sign of strength because that generosity just highlights how much you have to give. I have really learned the power of being kind and that is something I didn't inherently understand. (Editor's Note: This is something Michael is SUPER good at that I strive to be.)

5) What are you still trying to learn?
Patience. Empathy. How to take the work we do seriously without taking myself too seriously.

6) What was the best thing about being in your 20s?
Everything I owned fit into the trunk of a Honda Civic. And ... that's about it. I've enjoyed my 30s way more than my 20s. I didn't start to figure out what I wanted to do with my life until my mid-twenties and I probably wasn't all that good at it until my late twenties. I look better, feel better and do better now.

7) What one thing should I absolutely do before I turn 30?
30 is not the be all and end all of anything! Age ain't nothin' but a number. I will say this – many very intelligent people grow up thinking of themselves as, essentially, brains that are supported by an unimportant meat sack. It leads to a lot of poor health habits that take a toll on anyone, but become bigger issues the older you get. My advice? Take care of yourself, physically. Find some kind of exercise that you enjoy. Learn to cook. Floss.

8) What's the best thing about being 36?
I feel like I have a good mix of childishness and adulthood. I’m a homeowner, I’m getting married in a couple of months, but I don't feel old. I always made it a point to remember what childhood is like – the wonder, the fear, the sense of possibility. I never wanted to be the guy that let that go. And now I feel like I’m in this zone where there’s still a world of possibility, and I have the freedom and financial wherewithal to actually do stuff. 

9) What are you most looking forward to?
Kids. Learning new things.

10) What else?
One thing that frankly shocks me is the number of people in our industry who treat people badly. It offends me on a moral and ideological level, but it's also a massive strategic failure. Try to treat people well - everyone has something to teach you if you're not too stubborn or stupid. Other than that? Learn to play chess. And if a consultant is taking you out for dinner, order the steak.

What I Wish I Had Known At 30 With Lucinda Guinn

Lucinda Guinn, 34, WOMEN VOTE! Director at EMILY's List

This post came in a few days before my 30th birthday, but there was that whole election thing, and then vacation and then I was sick and now it's now. Still I could not deprive you of the wisdom of the campaign powerhouse that is Lucinda Guinn. Lucinda and I worked together for about two weeks when I first moved to DC, but even from that short time she is someone whose advice and insight I value immensely. Take it away, Lucinda!

1) Tell us a little about your career path.
I was always interested in politics. My dad was the county chair of the local Republican party in the town I was born in (hissss!). In college I started volunteering for the local Democratic Party and they liked me enough to start paying me. I thought, “hey, that’s neat!” So I stuck around for a while. I tried to escape politics once to work in high tech PR (that is really funny for anyone who knows my relationship with technology) and even though it was a great experience I didn’t leave work at the end of the day feeling like I had done anything to make the world a better place. Lofty? Yes. But we all get into this business because we have a strong belief system; we have the save-the-world gene. I’ll never be the type of person who can clock in for a paycheck, and in campaigns you have to be all in.

I moved to DC, realized very quickly that I needed to be on the road and spent the next several years working on campaigns all over the country. I popped back to DC a few times to work in direct mail and issue advocacy, where I learned a ton. Eventually I did 2 stints at the DCCC, once at the independent expenditure and once as the western political director. Most recently I was the Political Director at the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and am now the WOMEN VOTE! director at EMILY’s List.

2) What are you most proud of?
Reaching Platinum status on United.

3) What is the best advice you've received?
“Go on the road while you’re young.”

Someone once told me that the only 2 industries where twenty-somethings are able to take on big responsibility are the military and political campaigns. On campaigns you manage staff at a young age, raise and spend big sums of money and encounter all kinds of personalities. The amount of professional and personal growth you can achieve on a campaign is huge.

4) What is the worst advice you've received?
There are all kinds of good and bad advice out there but something to watch out for when job hunting is folks looking to staff up a campaign quickly and push you in a direction you don’t want to go in.
There is a shortage of good finance directors and field operatives out there, so when someone is a good finance director, for example, they often get pigeon-holed into that job and have a hard time getting someone to give them their first opportunity as a manager or as a press secretary.

I think it is important when a cycle ends and when you are looking at your next job in your 20's to think about what you want to do next. Consultants, committees and candidates will often push you into a role that they need to fill instead of taking a step back to think about what would be a good fit for you. If you have the flexibility, don't jump into something just to have a job. Think about what gets you to where you want to go.

5) What lesson are you still trying to learn?
Work/life balance. Has that been everyone’s answer to this question so far? (Editor’s note: yes.)

6) What was the best thing about being in your 20's?
Throwing everything in my car and driving to a new campaign. Living all over the country. 9:30PM happy hour with fellow campaign staffers – after call time obviously. Making life-long friends and inside jokes at 2am while cutting turf. Cutting turf. (Y’all don’t do that anymore. It’s called cutting turf because we actually used to copy then cut pages of a street atlas with a pair of scissors and highlight the turf. How’s that for a throwback?) Trying to explain to my parents what I do for a living. Wait. That still happens.

7) What one thing should I absolutely do before I turn 30?
Spend time nurturing yourself. That can mean a lot of things but find a way to take care of YOUR needs and do it. Stay in touch with friends and family, read non-political books, go to the gym, make that dentist appointment, travel somewhere abroad. I sound like my mother but she is always right.

8) What's the best thing about being 34?
There were times in my 20s when I didn’t know whether the grueling 15-hour days and the time away from friends and family was worth it. I had a lot of anxiety about what came next and doubted myself a little too much. I know now that every job I had from field organizer to campaign manager to western political director helped me grow and learn and I added to a collection of wonderful friends. I can say with confidence that the role I have now will help me grow in to the next step, whatever that may be. I’m not sure I could do that in my 20s. I’ve been lucky, but I’ve also worked hard and learned that screwing up a few times was worth it.

9) What are you looking forward to?
More winning.

10) What else?
Pick an airline and a hotel chain, be loyal and start building points and miles asap. Let points and miles pay for your vacations. If you're gonna be (F)unemployed between campaigns you might as well do it on a beach.

What I Wish I Had Known At 30 With Ed Espinoza

Ed Espinoza, 41, Executive Director of Progress Texas

I have worked with Ed two times and yet somehow we don't have a picture together! Ed has always been super generous about sharing advice with me and it is my honor to share some of that with you! Some gems in here. Take it away, Ed!

1) Tell us a little about your career path.
I fell in to politics by accident when I was 19 by volunteering for a campaigns that had been tabling at my school, Santa Monica College. I loved it, changed my major from marine biology to political science and transferred to UCLA. I eventually got a job working for the Clinton/Gore re-elect, which opened the door to staying employed with the California Democratic Party in one way or another for six years. I've since worked on 51 campaigns in about 15 states. I was the western desk at the DNC from 2009-2011, I was a political analyst for CNN from 2011-2012 and now run an organization called Progress Texas based in Austin.

I left the business a few times to work for a couple of big PR firms to sharpen my media skills (you know, to have a respectable private sector career), but I always came back to politics. It took me about 10 years of working on campaigns to not be shy about the subject with my non-political friends and accept the fact that I am a political professional. It was great, it was like coming out of the closet for politics.

2) What are you most proud of?
I've been fortunate to be a part of many milestones, having a small part in the election of the first black president as a California superdelegate and as a campaign worker, and working on the passage of healthcare reform while working at the DNC. And of course being a part of the Stand With Texas Women movement supporting the Wendy Davis filibuster at the Texas Capitol during the summer of 2013. Important events, and I feel fortunate to have been a part of all three while working with very impressive people.

3) What is the best advice you've received?
Two pieces of advice have stuck with me for years. They are conflicting, but they make sense in their own ways:

Grandpa Mike: "Do what you love, otherwise you'll spend 40 years of your life just workin'."

My best friend from back home: "Do what you're good at, and know that it might not be the thing you love to do."

I guess the solution is to either fall in love with what you're good at or get really good at what you love. I really like communications and have built a fine career in it, but I'm very good manager. I don't really enjoy managing, though I like that I know I'm good at it. Lucky for me I guess that I'm currently directing a communications shop.

4) What is the worst advice you've received?
Hard to say specifically, but you'll get a lot of good and bad advice in your life - the key is in knowing the difference between the two.

5) What lesson are you still trying to learn?
How to not get too worked up over things, not letting the constant flow of electronic media keep me from paying attention to the people I'm spending time with, and most of all that whole work/life balance thing.

Hobbies are important, they keep us from becoming one dimensional and we actually use our brains better when we are able to turn them away from work for a while. It also helps you see that you are more than the sum of your day job. I try to get out on the water, see more live music, and am working on being an awesome iPhone photographer.

6) What was the best thing about being in your 20's?
Being able to make mistakes, and in general just not knowing any better. You can accomplish so much when you don't have any preconceived notions holding you back.

I started doing political analysis on national TV in my 20's because I didn't know that such commentary was supposedly reserved for experts. I went on the air and had good segments but also some bad ones, one interview was so bad they cut away from me to cover a gas leak in Missouri.

But that's the thing, you're gonna fuck something up and it's not going to be the end of the world. You learn from it and you get better.

7) What is one thing I should absolutely do before I turn 30?
I feel like an easy answer here would be to say "skydive" or "go to Tahiti!" My best suggestion on what to do before turning 30 is to develop a good sense of who are (and who you aren't). Know what you're good at, what you enjoy doing, know who you want to be. Maybe you want to be an expert on an issue, or someone who is a great fundraiser, or the next David Plouffe. Once you can visualize who you want to be, you'll figure out what to do and where you should be working.

And if you do go to Tahiti...think about going solo. You learn a lot about yourself when you're on your own (plus you get to set and change your itinerary your own way).

8) What's the best thing about being 41?
After 20+ years of doing this I know who I am and what I'm good at doing.

And if someone thinks differently, I don't let it hold me back. In general, things got a whole lot easier when I stopped giving a shit about things like that.

9) What are you looking forward to?
Packing up my carry-on and getting on a plane. Watching UCLA football. Going to see a band that I love.

But above all the one thing I always look forward to is catching up with old campaign friends. You meet a lot of smart/funny/interesting people in politics.

Coming from campaigns is like coming from a bad neighborhood - it makes you tough. And you develop a similar bond with the people you came up with, if only because you all managed to survive it.

10) What else?
Emulate people you admire. More than just what they know - learn how they think. Study the intangibles; how they make decisions, build bridges, diffuse conflict.

Return calls.

And if a bartender ever asks "what's in that?" you don't wan't him making it. Order a bottle of beer.

The Benefits To Starting In Field

(#TBT my broworkers and me at my first victory party.)

Field seems to have the stigma of being an undesirable department within a campaign. Most entry level campaign jobs are in field, and so there is a false belief that other positions are more prestigious because they're harder to come by. Don't get me wrong, there are absolutely upsides to beginning your campaign career in another department. I don't want to be guilty of advising you to take a particular path just because it is the one that I took. It's just that the benefits of starting as a field organizer are rarely discussed, while other entry level positions seem to be vaunted. So here they are. Decide for yourself.

1.)Field connects you to and prepares you for every aspect of a campaign. As one FOCS put it, "If you "get" field, you can handle just about anything a campaign throws at you. In my opinion, in field, you get the best hands-on experience because field work provides the backbone for a campaign. Want to do finance? Learning the art of the hard-ask through volunteer recruitment is essential. Want to do operations? Learning what is really needed to make sure a field team is set up for success is key. Want to do communications? Being able to develop a person's personal story through 1:1's is so important. Want to do data? You'll need to know the ins and outs of how field inputs what data."

2.)Field is the most social (and fun!) department. As I said above, field is often the biggest department on a campaign. When it comes to a high profile Senate, Gubernatorial or Presidential race, field staff can number past a hundred. Statewide trainings, regional field offices where you practically spend all day with your coworkers, and big events that pull together staff from different regions, foster the kind of fun team mentality and collegiate, collegial atmosphere that you hear campaign veterans reminisce about. The stuff that often attracts people to campaign life in the first place. Plus the ability to wear shorts to the office and work with volunteers (some of whom can be very entertaining) in a brightly decorated office all day doesn't hurt either.

3.)Field trains you to be a manager. There is no other job on a campaign where you are managing people from day one. During my first GOTV fresh out of college I had over 200 people under me. This is a very translateable bullet point no matter what you do after your first cycle. If you continue to come up through field you go from managing volunteers to managing the people who manage the volunteers to managing those people. Many finance or data people get pigeon holed in those paths, but field people go on to successive levels of management, or various other campaign departments, and ultimately to be some of the best campaign managers.

4.)Field creates a common bond. Because such a large percentage of political people start out on field campaigns, being an organizer is a common reference point among campaign people and even those who work in the administration or on the hill. Like the pledging a sorority or your freshman year on the field hockey team, being an organizer is in some ways the toughest part of campaigning, but also the most (positively) memorable.

5.)Field is what campaigns do. I always say the coolest thing about field is that no matter how much money or press goes into an election, a race can still be won by neighbors talking to neighbors. After all, what are commercials, talking points and independent expenditures for but to convince the people you interact with every day? Working in field means having your ear to the ground, which is essential if you ever want to manage, work in a government office, lobby, or be a candidate yourself one day. There is no better way to prepare for a career in politics than to start out by talking to voters.

So there you have it! FIELD FOREVER!!!!!!!! (But seriously, do whatever feels right to you just keep the above in mind.)


Peace, Love and Walk Lists,

Nancy

What I Wish I Had Known At 30 With Jessica Post

Jessica Post, 34, Political Advisor at EMILY's List

I don't want to say this is the best turning 30 advice post yet, because I feel that way every time I get one, but it is seriously really good. In addition to helping me get my current job and introducing me to my boyfriend, Jessica Post is a field/political badass of universal acclaim. My favorite thing about Post (besides validating my desire to go to bed at 11pm on weekends) is that she believes, like I do, in the importance of mentorship on campaigns, especially among women. That's probably why this advice is so good! Thank you, Jessica, for this and everything.

1)Tell us a little about your career path.
I started volunteering on campaigns in college, as a College Democrat at Truman State, in Kirksville, Missouri. From there, I managed a state legislative race in rural Missouri, then went on to work for the Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee, where I desked the state house candidates in Eastern Missouri. I moved all around the country then moving to Iowa to be a field organizer for Congressman Dick Gephardt’s presidential campaign, doing dozens of campaign jobs, starting with a Regional Field Director for the 2004 Colorado Coordinated Campaign in Boulder, working for the Minnesota Senate DFL Caucus in 2006, managing a hospital bond initiative in 2007, after running part of GOTV for a Utah anti-school voucher initiative, Field Director for the Minnesota DFL Coordinated, directing the Southern Minnesota recount staff, that helped elect Al Franken in 2008, then to DLCC as the National Field Director and Political Director in 2010-2012, then on to EMILY’s List as a Political Advisor for federal and gubernatorial candidates in 2014.

In between cycles, I helped fight state beer tax increases as a consultant for Anheuser-Busch from 2003-2010, which was a great and rewarding contract. I also did a ton of off cycle work for FieldWorks, including working for Save Darfur Coalition on a divestment campaign in San Francisco, fighting a new casino in a state, and directing statewide signature gathering drives to put paid sick days on the ballot in Ohio for SEIU and a renewable portfolio standard for Renew Missouri. The off cycle work gained me great contacts, and experience across multiple states.

2)What are you most proud of?
I think I’m much more proud of moments in my career than key accomplishments, since you are always only a component of a win on a campaign. The Franken recount and ensuing win was a huge highlight of my life, but I was a small part of a giant team. One of the best moments for me during that race was driving down to a recount site in a Republican county, and seeing a high-powered Republican lobbyist try to intimidate one of our staffers, who we hired as an organizer at 19. Our training program and trust with this staffer was so strong, he was our site lead, and he refused to back down.

I’m also really proud of the field program we put together at DLCC. Last cycle, Dave Griggs, Graham Wilson, and I were able to launch the Grassroots Victory Program, which sent trained field organizers into legislative races, using field best practices, and emphasizing the findings of Analyst Institute for GOTV. Some of my proudest moments last cycle were walking into field offices, and watching volunteers explain the Analyst Institute GOTV best practices, such as the plan to vote script to other volunteers, and knowing they had that knowledge because of the program we ran at DLCC.

Finally, the achievements of fellow staffers I mentors, from interns on the ’04 campaign in Colorado, to the accomplishments of my regionals. I think we have an obligation to develop fellow staff and help them with their careers.

3)What is the best advice you've received?
There are so many great pieces of advice I’ve received across my career—one was to start my career managing a state house race, so I could decide what aspects of the job I liked.

Probably the best though, was to think more about what I would learn in a job, and if I would like doing it, then worrying about the title or salary early in my career. For that reason, I had a small role on a St. Louis Alderman’s race in 2007, essentially an FO, after working as a Statewide Field Director, and I learned a ton about working directly with candidates and city politics. I’m drawing on some of those lessons in my job today.

Campaigns are also a small world, so treat people well. Ultimately, we are all on the same team here.

4)What is the worst advice you've received?
I’d been told so many times to stop working at the state legislative level, to do more federal work instead—from 2006 when I went to Minnesota with the Senate DFL Caucus to 2010, when I joined the team at DLCC. State legislative work is fascinating, and some of the most innovative work I’ve seen on campaigns is by very good legislative caucus campaign directors and staff, who are absolutely not doing this work because their aunt knows the name of their candidate, or for their planned MSNBC commentator deal. State legislative campaigns are also professional, and disciplined in many caucus operations, which I think is underappreciated here in Washington. Working with the Minnesota House and Senate DFL Caucuses last cycle to regain the majority, and then seeing them pass marriage equality in Minnesota was one of the best moments of my career, and I would have missed out on that had I followed that advice.

In the same vein, I’ve often been told to take a job just for the money, which is also terrible advice. Take jobs and work that you find interesting and rewarding, where the work makes you light up like a pinball machine when you think about it. That’s how you know you are on the right track.

Career advice you receive is rarely objective, so know that most people giving you advice think you want their career or life, and advise accordingly. That’s where a lot of bad advice comes from, from folks trying to fill roles on campaigns or thinking you want to follow the same path as them.

5)What lesson are you still trying to learn?
To trust my instincts and speak up. So many decisions made on campaigns are based in the moment, without a ton of data points, still unfortunately, despite the great work being done by Analyst Institute and the growing list of tremendous analytics firms. I am continuing to work on trusting my gut.

6)What was the best thing about being in your 20s?
I loved being able to move around the country, work in different states, quickly make deep friendships on campaigns and do campaign work. I also felt like I could easily work 14 hour days, and still go to the bar some nights with my colleagues. I loved the freedom to learn, take on short projects, and have my engine running always. I loved how campaigns made learn new skills and made me take on new projects and responsibility quickly. I loved staying at the DFL office until 1 a.m. talking to then voter file manager Jaime Tincher about data, and then applying our conversations immediately, running VAN searches late into the evening to update our field and mail universes. While I didn’t love the moving, I became good at it, and I was fortunate to live in some amazing places, like St. Paul, Truckee (a California town near North Lake Tahoe),
and Boulder. To me, this felt like really living.

7)What one thing should I absolutely do before I turn 30?
I think you should try to accomplish some sort of personal, nonprofessional challenge—be it running a 10K, raising an amount for charity, or improving your yoga headstand. I think achieving some sort of milestone outside of work strengthens and renews you. I didn’t race my first triathlon until I was 31, but that is what it did for me.

Find a method of self-care, be it meditation, exercise, or binge watching Netflix that refills your tank for work, and makes you fired up to make a tracking spreadsheet after a few tough days.

I’d also take a trip where you stay out late drinking and cavorting in a major European city. And go out on U Street or Adams Morgan until 2 a.m., and eat Jumbo Slice. This gets much harder after 30. Those two things might not go together, however.

8)What's the best thing about being 34?
I think a lot of the anxiety about career choices that I felt in my mid-twenties has dissipated—where I would worry about taking one job over another—or if I was on the right path.

There’s no more fear of missing out. I am often happier at home on a Friday night than out, or walking my dog on Sunday morning, then working at home, than doing a multi-hour brunch. While I’m not perfect at it, I’m getting better at balancing being healthy with the obligations of this work.

9)What are you looking forward to?
I cannot imagine a better place to work than EMILY’s List. I am looking forward to our August primary season, and working with our candidates through the 2014 election cycle. We are so proud of their work responding to the Hobby Lobby case, and shining a light on sexual assault in the military and on campuses. Without our women in Congress, these issues would not have been brought to light. I can’t wait to see what the women we elect in 2014 will do in Congress.

10)What else?
We need more women campaign managers. If you are a young woman out there, no one is going to tell you are ready to manage. You will have to blaze that trail, and tell people you are ready. Don’t doubt yourself. I’d also say to the Campaignsickles, who are reading and have not taken the plunge yet, go out there to go take that campaign job.
There’s only so much you will learn if you don’t go out on the path.

If you are looking, check out jobbank.emilyslist.org, and create a profile and upload your resume. (Nancy's note: this is how I got my first job!)

Great advice! Thank you SO MUCH, Jessica. Campaign love and mine!

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