10 Commandments for a new campaign...

10 Commandments for a New Kind of Electoral Campaign 
Number 1: Start the work of public service now.  Don’t make an argument that you will bring change if elected.  Instead, bring change in order to get elected.  Spend campaign resources on building playgrounds, running night classes for ex-offenders, funding a mobile health care program, and taking real social action.  Instead of talking about the need to reform gun laws, hold a protest outside a gun shop tied to the sale of illegal firearms.      Why it’s the right thing to do.  It helps address the disconnect between campaigning and governing.  But more so, you’ve got all this money power and people power – why not spend it on actually making the world a better place… as opposed to posters with your picture on them?  Why it could work.  While your opponent is talking about what he might do in office, you can talk about what you (and your supporters) are already doing, even without the office.  For undecided voters, actions speak louder than words… and this is a free method of generating substantive t.v. time.  Meanwhile, your supporters get to be involved in, and energized by, real change.   
Number 2: Be honest.  When you are asked a question, tell the truth.  Don’t parse or hedge or dodge.  If you find yourself trying to hide something from the press or your opponent, instead release it publicly on your own terms… before they do.  When you want to say something, say it yourself, rather than having an operative do your dirty work.      Why it’s the right thing to do.  Read your Bible.  Or your Ben Franklin.    Why it could work.  Think Obama’s speech on race.  Think McCain, before he started to pander.  We the electorate are hungry for honesty and candor, and we reward it.   
Number 3: The spotlight is on you… share it.  Every time you speak, make sure other local leaders are speaking too.  Honor the work of the people who are doing good work now.  Seek out press attention and public recognition for your deputies and lieutenants.  Why it’s the right thing to do.  It’s not all about you.  Whether you win or lose will depend on the efforts of hundreds, even thousands, of people.  Give them the recognition they deserve, and help fight the personality cults that currently define American politics.    Why it could work.  It’s a way to energize and engage your allies and supporters.   
Number 4: Ask much of the electorate.  Most of you spend your time asking two questions above all others: can I have your vote? And: can I have your cash?  You could ask a lot more.  You could ask for our stories.  You could ask for our ideas.  You could ask for help crafting policy.  And most of all, you could ask for our time: to make calls, to join your upcoming service project or public action (see Number 1), to help organize.  Essentially, this rule means treating us voters like equals.    Why it’s the right thing to do.  This is a democracy.  We are at our best when we are all governing ourselves and taking action, not when we are waiting on you to solve our problems.    Why it could work.  When you ask for more, you get more.  More volunteers.  More support.  We want to be asked – see Dean ’06 or Ralph Reed’s Christian Coalition. 
Number 5: Listen.  Like most marketing endeavors, campaigns are currently one-directional.  You attempt to sell, convince, and cajole.  Instead, you could agitate, engage, and involve.  The trick: you’d have to listen.  When you get done asking all your questions (Number 5), make sure to listen to the answers.      Why it’s the right thing to do.  It’s your job to serve us.  The least you can do is listen.    Why it could work.  We want to be heard; we will repay your efforts to listen to us with insights and stories and ideas. 
Number 6: Don’t preach, teach.  We have heard a thousand stump speeches just like yours.  You’ve done your research, and we like what you are saying, for the most part… but the other candidate did her research too, and we like what she is saying too.  We’re bored.  Do something different.  If you have half an hour, teach us the history of an issue.  If you have an hour, teach us a skill we can use to make change in our own neighborhoods.  Teach us the way Washington (or the State Capitol or City Hall) really works.      Why it’s the right thing to do.  An educated electorate is a better electorate.     Why it could work.  You want us to see the world as you do – give us the architecture of your ideas, not just your conclusions.  Let us walk away with some new knowledge and new power.  Let us gain respect for your intellect. 
Number 7: Take risks.  Make mistakes.  Admit them.  Learn from them.  While your opponent gets lost in a quagmire of denials and obfuscations over his last mishap, you will have already moved on.  How?  You were open about your desire to take risks.  You were humble when those risks (inevitably) led to mistakes.  And you showed your strength by learning from those mistakes, and not making them again.    Why it’s the right thing to do.  Making mistakes and learning from them is the only way to get better at what you do.  Furthermore, taking the risks (that often lead to mistakes) is the only way to achieve real, big changes for the better.    Why it could work.  You accomplish little when you spend your time holding steady, desperately trying to avoid making mistakes (see Clinton, Hillary ’08).   
Number 8: Be indebted to people you want to pay back.  Take money and resources from whomever you choose, but know that at the end of the day you’ll have to dance with the one what brung you.  Not all money is created equal.  Make sure the people who are giving you their money, time, and talent are people you want in your corner, and in your ear.    Why it’s the right thing to do.  Your mother told you to pick your friends wisely.  You are running because you want to make some kind of change; don’t handicap yourself.    Why it could work.  Not only will bad choices hurt you (from 2008 alone, see Rezko, Tony; Penn, Mark; and Gramm, Phil), good ones can help you (see the efforts of Paul Wellstone to build a young cadre of progressive supporters or Barry Goldwater to build an ideological machine). 
Rule 9: Add your own commandment.  Stick to it.  To run principled campaigns, we need principles and we need candidates like you who live up to them.  What’s your non-negotiable? Surround yourself with people who disagree with you?  Treat your opponent as you would wish to be treated?  Get 8 hours of sleep every night?  Never take a penny from a lobbyist?  Say yes to every meeting requested by a constituent?  What’s the one rule you never want to break?  You choose.  Whatever you choose, make it known… so that the rest of us can hold you to it.    Why it’s the right thing to do.  Is winning worth sacrificing the thing you hold most dear?    Why it could work.  You will get energy from sticking to what you believe in, and so will we.   
Rule 10: Be willing to lose.  The best way to win is to be willing to lose.  That’s how you’ll earn our respect, and that’s the only way you change the rules of the game… by playing by a different set of rules until you win.      Why it’s the right thing to do.  Being willing to lose gives you the freedom to do real good.     Why it could work.  Being willing to lose gives you the freedom to do real good.  
“Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Obvious.”- Harvard Professor Lant Pritchett in the Atlantic Monthly describing how game-changing ideas are received.