Elections! I gravitated toward them because of the clear, inspiring way in which campaigns can build power in communities. They provide a launching pad to force difficult dialogue that can eventually become narrative-setting. They also allow for otherwise difficult base building, in which we can organize and unite ordinary people to facilitate long-term social change. This is not to say that the electoral outcome itself will accomplish these aims, but they do allow for the political activation of our communities, which we desperately need to transform our highly unequal, gloomy world.
Campaigns ultimately come down to three simple themes: time, money, and people. And this past CAUSE session aptly called the Arc of a Campaign, our cohort got the fine dining version of these electoral fundamentals, — with the insights, authenticity, and strong values of LA Forward’s Deputy Director Godfrey Plata, who recently captured an impressive 43% of the vote in an Assembly race against a powerful incumbent.
To explore one of these themes in particular, time, Godfrey threw us to the lions, initiating a timed exercise where breakout teams had to place various campaign activities (fundraising, kickoff, knocking on doors, etc.) on a set timeline spanning several months. The awesome collective brains of my fellow CLI Fellows Ashley Mack, Steven Nguyen, and myself ensured the haphazard plotting of each electoral shenanigan, such as when to launch your campaign website. The epic realization? Successful campaigns are highly dependent on the early stages of the election, when staff selection, fundraising, early endorsements, and basic messaging all emerge.
This stimulating activity evoked some personal stress as I found myself recalling past campaigns I’ve run when there was never enough time to do all of the listed activities:
The year was 2020 and I’ve stumbled into running a City Council campaign as an amateur managing the race of a genuinely good person, but whose humble ego would not not let them run until just five freaking months before November. The first month which would have laid a successful foundation was instead spent trying to learn the campaign basics via trial by fire. We launched with little money, few endorsements, and an initially weak volunteer network. I will never forget the mental breakdowns both myself and the candidate had on a daily basis; nights when I just wanted to quit, or even reconsider doing any electoral work altogether. The remaining months were absolute hell as a result, and we ended up coming up just a few points short.
I’m going to borrow from Godfrey's electoral timeline prescriptions here and analogize that campaigns are like a Bob Ross painting. You can always introduce new elements, and you can always have a late stage fundraising push – like Bob spontaneously dabbing in “happy little trees,” even sometimes turning “little accidents” into accessory features of his natural landscapes. But despite such flexibility, Bob has a foundational vision and focuses on seeing the larger forest through the dabbed trees. Similarly, early aspects of a campaign can serve as predictors of the late game success. You have to generate and sustain momentum.
We also explored the importance of values and messaging, guided by the backdrop of Plata’s own campaign video from 2020, in which he articulated clear motifs of representation, belief in social justice, being from and deeply connected to the community, and a willingness to be a champion for the viewer. This bundling of ideas constitutes a crucial aspect of a successful campaign: knowing what kind of candidate you are and aren’t, and therefore what lane you occupy that distinguishes you.
Bernie Sanders can’t publicly take large contributions, but a Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton can. One candidate could win with little money by knocking on every single door, while another could win by barely knocking on any doors. In the former case, Bernie is better off not wasting time on fundraising events, while a Biden could forgo organizing large rallies or high-energy events. Sometimes, lanes are basically cleared for you, such as in the case of most Dem vs GOP races, because study after study shows that most voters solely look at party ID when filling out their ballots. But in the case of a more complex Dem vs Dem race, such as Godfrey’s, your ability to win will be dictated by what you will provide that the other candidate cannot – coupled with the well-oiled machine of direct voter outreach to make sure that message is received.
I especially appreciated several aspects of campaigning that Godfrey brought up:
The complexity and importance of labor: It’s really hard to win without the supportive funds, people power, and leverage of unions. Many races in California become inseparable from tug of war fights over who secures which unions, and the unique politics and preferences of different types of unions.
Using an election to create change, even without winning: He highlighted the inclusion of language justice in all of his materials, with intentional, unprecedented outreach to the Filipino community in his district. By activating lower propensity voters left out by the process, he planted a seed for future progressive candidates.
Knowing a person for every need: Whether it’s designing a t-shirt, filing paperwork, or bypassing email spam filters, a good campaigner is resourceful and able to find someone for every service imaginable. Failure to do so can result in unfortunate circumstances; take for instance, a candidate (who actually won) hired his 14-year-old cousin as their treasurer. The FPPC smacked him with massive fines, and he risked going to jail because his kid cousin kept $43k in a literal shoebox. With the diverse experiences and multi-sector lens of CAUSE, we likely have enough skill sets to run a successful campaign together!
As we all continue to engage in elections at our various levels of comfort, whether as a small donor, or as a paid staffer, I would challenge all of us to analyze every campaign in terms of how it transforms the political landscape in the process – does it build power or shift narratives? But we can also do both: run disruptive campaigns and also WIN, especially if we implement the learnings from Godfrey’s Arc of a Campaign.
Onward! Not every campaign will be a win – after all, Godfrey mentioned a sobering stat that only 10% of first-time candidates win their races. But now each of the 2023 CLI fellows is better equipped to play a role in potentially raising that 10% to a solid 15, 20, or maybe even 40% success rate for races that align with our strong values as a cohort.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Neil Park-McClintick, Leadership Institute 2023 Fellow
The CAUSE Leadership Institute (CLI) for professionals is a 6-month-long certificate program that prepares and equips mid-career professionals with the tools, skills, and network to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community.