1. Campaign 101
Some of these comments may be a bit strong, but now that you are the
nominee, you are going to be immersed in hard-core politics. You need to
have a thick skin. If you can master these, you will hands-down be the best
candidate in the race. Follow these simple guidelines and you will be miles
ahead of your opponents.
1. Ask people for their vote
You need to give people a reason to vote for YOU. Urging people to vote
against someone or something rarely ever works for a candidate. From
here on, your message should be:
"I would really appreciate your vote on election day."
It sounds simple, but many candidates from all parties forget to ask people
to vote for them.
2. ALWAYS come prepared.
Think of this as being a political preacher. A minister always has a
prepared sermon because he has a message that he wants to get across.
You should be the same way. It is your job to have a message that you
want to get across every time you speak. This allows you to control the
dialogue. When you start off taking questions, you are at the mercy of the
topics that the audience brings up, instead of addressing your topics.
3. Dress to impress
Always make sure that you are dressed one notch better than the audience
that you are addressing. For example, if you are addressing hog farmers in
overalls, you should wear an open-collar shirt and a casual jacket. If you
are addressing any other group, you should almost always be in a jacket
and a tie.
With that, the only acceptable colors for a suit should be navy, dark blue,
black, charcoal, or gray. Ties should be solid color, usually red or blue.
Shirts should be white or light blue.
4. Respond to all media within 24 hours.
Even of candidates running for the smallest offices on the ballot, the
Libertarian Party has the following requirements:
-file all paperwork on time

2. -get a digital head and shoulder photo taken for the press and the state
office
-respond to the newspaper questionnaire
This isn't much to ask. We fight so hard to get coverage that it puts us light
years behind when we have a reporter who wants to cover us and we
aren't organized enough to respond in a timely fashion.
5. Know your audience
If you are speaking to Libertarians, speak like a libertarian. If you are
speaking to any other group, speak like a person. With this, don't get
caught up in discussing the finer points of your platform with Libertarians.
Libertarians already know you, and will most likely vote for you. Don't
spend too much time going back and forth with them. They will exhaust
you, and you will have no more votes than you had to start with. Your time
is limited. You should speak to Libertarians to raise money and build the
party, but you should focus on getting in front of non-libertarian groups.
6. Have an entourage
Often times, what is not said about your campaign means more than what
you say. Try to never attend an event by yourself. If you go alone, people
will wonder if you have any support at all. If you can, invite every
Libertarian you can to non-libertarian events, and make sure that you have
a handler. It should be the handler's job to make sure that the details are
taken care of for you so that you can concentrate on wooing the audience.
That person can be your wife, or your kids, or even the neighbor kid that
you paid five bucks to go with you.
7. Win your precinct
The most effective message that you can deliver is this:
"I'm your neighbor. Vote for me. "
If you knock on every door in your neighborhood, and then stand outside of
your precinct on election day with that message, you are well on your way
to victory.
If you follow these seven rules of campaigning, you will set records for the
Libertarian Party. This is our year to shine, and you are our star!