Dan Ferrick | Election King
So, you’re thinking of running for a sabbatical officer in the SU. Well I have 5 tips here to help you to put yourself above the rest. My background on running campaigns includes being part of five campaign teams, acting as campaign manager for a presidential candidates and finally I ran for election myself in my final year. Of those I lost two and won three. It’s not a perfect track record, but you learn a lot from losing. There is no particular order of importance here, just the best tips I can remember and tactics I wish I knew on my first outing as a campaigner.
Tip 1: Talk to as many people as possible
This one is the probably the most important, but the rest are just behind it. Never underestimate the power of talking to people directly. I don’t mean your campaign team, I mean you the candidate. Nobody really wants to hear from that popular first year you have in a tee-shirt. If they are going to vote for you then they want to hear from you. My team made this mistake for a presidential candidate. We had the most people in tee shirts, best designed materials and really good videos. However, the other candidate talked to more students and beat us by over 200 votes. Campaign managers need to slap their candidate during those two weeks if they are talking to their team or friends. Those people are already voting for them and can only vote once! Seriously, most elections come down to this factor. Students will vote for people they have exactly met even if it’s only for a few minutes.
Tip 2: Don’t Fight with the Electoral Commission (EC)
So first here I’ll declare my bias in that i was on the EC last year as Education Officer. The whole thing is tiring enough without having to face the EC meeting every night at 6pm, particularly if you’re off campaigning in halls that night. Time and time again candidates fight fines and argue with the EC while everyone one else is off talking to students. Most candidates will get fined at least once during the elections and my advice is to roll with the punches. You will be in a better mood for it and better able to convince people to vote for your ideas. No one likes a grumpy candidate. If you’re confused about any of the rules, ASK the EC. You will not find some master loophole in the rules. The rules have been rewritten several times over several years to eliminate that possibility so don’t bother trying.
Tip 3: Go do some research
The amount of candidates who have never even read their job description is frightening. All five of the jobs have constitutional obligations and mandates which are all available to read on the SU website. Nothing looks worse than a candidate who has policies or ideas that conflict with their job. Be assured some hack will bring it up at hustings as a question.Talk to the people who are doing and have done the job. The current sabbats will be bound to remain neutral, but can answer a lot of questions. I’m sure they would be happy to arrange to meet you to discuss it. Does this mean take their word as gospel? Of course not. The best candidate will take the best of those who have done the job and add their own ideas.
Tip 4: Find a good Campaign Manager
This is no easy task and the “big names on campus” will be asked by a few people. First off, avoid the other half. These two weeks are a strain on relationships and as a candidate you will ask a lot of your CM without much in return, throw in a relationship and you’re looking for trouble. Best friends are a good pick. You want someone who will tell you the truth and isn’t afraid to snap you back to reality every now and then. Don’t pick a “yesman”. Also organization skills are key. There are budgets, timetables, deadlines and people to sort. You can have the most popular person on campus heading up your team, but if they can’t tell you where the first year nursing lecture is, don’t pick ‘em. You should be a man/woman of the people, let the CM worry about everything else.
Tip 5: Don’t just focus on one group of students
So many candidates never leave the arts block area. They account for about 1/3 of the college and less than 40% of the voters. The Hamilton may be cold, but they vote. Health student may be far away, but the polls are brought out to them too. Few elections are a landslide and these voters always feel left out. Those who make the effort with them both in appearance and policy clean up on their votes. First years are not the only voters. If you’re the only person to talk to a certain group of students and you can get them to the polls then they are going to vote for you. Everyone is going to go talk to first year BESS, and so should you, but how many will take the time to go see third year Ancient Civilizations or fourth year maths? If you don’t make the effort to go talk to them why should they bother to make the effort to go vote for you?
One Final note, there is more to running a campaign then what I have listed above. You need to organise a whole heap of other things. It’s tiring, frustrating and very emotional. Look after yourself and ask for help when you need it. The best leaders are those who can recognize their weaknesses and ask for help and advice. The worst are those who ignore them.
