Staffer outlines successful campaign
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1980
Page 7
By LYNN BLANCO
Staff Writer
A politician without an energetic,
intelligent staff has the same chance
of success as a tennis player with no
I strings in his racquet.
He may know all the rules and play
[ the game perfectly, but he’ll never
'win. No matter how hard he tries,
he’ll miss the ball and lose the match.
Political aides know a campaign is
only as good as its organizers. They
plot strategy step by step, from the
moment the candidate decides to
(run.
Alan Schoenbaum, Kent Caper-
ton’s campaign manager in the 5th
District senatorial race, said there
| are five major steps in running for a
| political office.
Step One: Become a candidate
Schoenbaum, who also worked as
-West Texas coordinator for Bob
i Krueger’s senatorial race, described
the ways people decide to run for
j public office.
The “self-motivated” candidate
I feels he really has something to offer
the people and “just jumps into the
race and runs. Most of the time this
candidate goes on a name-'
identification platform,” he said.
Other candidates are usually re
cruited by a political party or some
special interest group, Schoenbaum
said.
Step Two: Secure financial sup
port.
Some politicians are able to fi
nance a campaign themselves with
“personal wealth,” such as Gov. Bill
Clements, Schoebaum said. Others
get financial support from close
friends or people they meet while on
the campaign circuit.
One way to estimate the amount of
money it will take to finance a cam
paign is to look at returns from the
proceeding election year.
A candidate needs about $1.50-$2
per vote cast in the previous election
to finance a campaign, Schoenbaum
said. A minimum amount to start out
with is $90,000-$150,000.
“A candidate gets a substantial
amount of money and then raises the
rest along the way. You want to have
enough committed before you run,”
he said.
Campaign money can be raised
through personal contact, Schoen
baum said. The candidate is also ex-
ulfoBl
Tom Mosley is Kent Caperton’s travel aide. While campaign
ing on the road, it is his job to jot down names and addresses of
people Caperton meets and send them “follow-up” letters.
Staff photo by Lynn Blanco
pected to spend a substantial amount
of his own money on the campaign.
Step Three: See the right people.
Schoenbaum said candidates have
to seek support from area opinion
leaders — prominent businessmen,
leading senior citizens and the
“courthouse crowd.” This includes
A candidate needs about
$1.50-$2 per vote cast in the pre
vious election to finance a cam
paign, Alan Schoenbaum, Kent
Caperton’s campaign manager,
said. A minimum amount to
start out with is $90,000-
$150,000.
people in county and municipal
offices, the sheriff s office and admi
nistrative agencies.
Step Four: Hire a staff.
Caperton’s staff includes a cam
paign manager, a travel aide, a sec
retary and volunteers, Schoenbaum
siad.
One of the most important people
on a campaign staff is the campaign
manager, he said.
A campaign manager, as well as
most of the candidate’s staff, spends
as many hours on the job as the can
didate himself, Schoenbaum said.
Some of the duties of a campaign
manager are scheduling the candi
date’s time, recruiting volunteers
and organizations, controlling the
budget, raising money and trying to
present a good public image.
“A campaign manager has to be
energetic, talented and hard work
ing,” Schoenbaum said. “There are
not many managers around because
you do have to spend a lot of time on
the campaign and really believe in
the man.
Not all candidates choose to have a
campaign manager.
Don Ward, Sen. William “Bill”
Moore’s travel aide, said Moore does
not have a campaign manager. In
stead, Moore himself handles most
of the duties of a campaign manager.
Another important staff person is
the travel aide. Many times during a
campaign he sees more of the candi
date than even his wife, said Tom
Mosley, Caperton’s travel aide. It’s
the travel aide’s job to make sure the
candidate is comfortable during a 10
to 12 hour day.
Caperton spends five or six days
on the road each week. He usually
begins his day’s traveling at 7 a.m.
and ends it at 10 or 11 p.m. with
stops at dozens of businesses and
offices in the 5th District’s 19 coun
ties.
During the day, Mosley jots down
names and addresses of people
Caperton meets while he’s out on the
road. Mosley’s day ends after he
finishes writing “follow-up” letters to
each of these people.
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Step Five: Filing for office.
This is merely a formality,
Schoenbaum said. A $750 filing fee
must be paid by each senatorial can
didate either in person or by mail to
the state party campaign headquar
ters. These fees are put into escrow
and will help pay precinct costs in
each county.
After this step is completed, the
campaign really begins.
There are different times when a
campaign is the hardest, Schoen
baum said.
“For the challenger, the first
month of campaigning is the hardest
because you’re trying to establish
yourself and fund your campaign,”
he said.
For the incumbent the last month
is most difficult, he said. “This is
when the pressure hits — the chal
lengers are really taking shots at
him.
“In a close race, the ones (candi
dates) who make mistake lose.” He
said candidates must stay calm, use
the media well and concentrate on a
program which will work — one
that gets people excited and makes
them get out and vote.
Schoenbaum said in the last
months of campaigning, candidates
concentrate on the media. Press re
lations are very important. “Be nice
to reporters and don’t try to feed
them any garbage or try to put any
thing over on them — treat them like
humans. Also don’t send them any
releases that aren’t news,” he said.
Since: public relations and working
with the media are so important,
many candidates now rely on adver-
Fete Tucker, of Absolute
Advertising in College Station,
said the hardest and most time-
consuming job in a campaign is
buying media time — which in
cludes radio and television
spots, ads in newspapers and
billboards.
tising agencies to help handle cam
paigns.
Pete Tucker, co-owner of Abso
lute Advertising in College Station,
said, “The campaign is thrown onto
our shoulders when candidates de
cide to work with our agency.
“The major faux pas for a candidate
— who is an attorney and doesn’t
know how the media works — is to
learn how to buy media, learn how to
say it (in press releases), learn what
to say and still have time to shake
hands,” he said.
Tucker said the hardest and most
time-consuming job in a campaign is
buying media time — which in
cludes radio and television spots, ads
in newspapers and billboards.
Even though a candidate works
hard to get out and meet his consti
tuents, voter turnout will really tell
him if his campaign program was suc
cessful, Tucker said.
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