Dreaming of Victory
I was called by phone. They had a political job for me to do some consulting and it paid well, but I had to be on the scene within hours.
I hopped on a plane, and flew to the job site. As I walked in the doors to the campaign’s “war room” the first thing I said to the staff was that “there was no organizational structure in place,” and we needed to “fill the gaps so we had workers whenever and wherever we hit the ground….”
And then the alarm buzzer went off. I woke up this morning right when it was getting to the good part.
Yes, I’m afraid politics has made me that mentally ill - campaigning intrudes on my sleep time. But, the message my subconscious had for me this A.M. is valid, and pretty darn timely with statewide races being announced.
I think I’ve grumbled at least once or twice that many campaigns pay more attention to their stupid logo than they do their organizational structure. And they do so at their peril. If you have a strong organization in place, it can help forgive many sins and mistakes that campaigns make.
A campaign should be organized with the manager (NOT THE CANDIDATE) at the top of the structure, a volunteer coordinator with county coordinators next, and precinct workers at the bottom. In some areas, they go down to the level of block captains, but in South Dakota, the concept is so alien that I might be held for observation at the HSC for suggesting it.
These precinct workers are the front line troops who can recruit others to the cause – and be ready in an instant with phone trees, letters to the editor, posting yard signs, going door to door the weekend before the election, and any of the myriad of tasks that can be required for a winning campaign.
I don’t think anyone can master the craft of politics as much as being a perpetual student. But if there’s anyone who I admired as being the best in volunteer organization it is my friend Larry Russell.
Up until the time Larry did the honorable thing and stepped back when there were mistakes made – not by him – in his organization (Yes, I’m sure the Dem readers are going to razz me on this), for 2 elections running in South Dakota he ran the most phenomenal volunteer coordination effort I’d ever seen.
Did I always agree with him? No, because in 2002 I wanted more for my candidate and didn’t always get it. But dang, the effort he put together was great. It had not ever been done like that in South Dakota.
Personally, I think Larry ran a better show the second time around in 2004. It was “leaner” and had to do more with less. I think the lack of money made them focus more on the things they had to do, as opposed to the cool stuff or the niceties.
They had to have their precincts organized. They had to have their voters identified. They had to have a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort in place to get those voters out.
And Election Day saw that those efforts paid off.
I’m not slamming the Dems own efforts - The Democrats were not asleep at the wheel. They had their own high points in area GOTV. The Democrat turnout for 2004 in Brown County literally crushed many in its path. I was helping a candidate up there in a race farther down on the ticket. The entire election season we dominated the opponent. But that massive electoral onslaught by the Dems in that county just swept us aside like a tsunami and tipped the scales the other way.
But statewide, the Republican Victory team came through in the end and helped deliver where it counted.
During the special GOP convention, it was easy to see that those volunteers from Victory 2002 would have laid down in front of a train and died for Larry Russell. And they worked twice as hard in Victory 2004.
With 2006 around the corner and no close Senatorial race in sight, I think the days of a tightly organized statewide coordinated volunteer effort such as Victory campaign are over on either side. There’s nothing that major to challenge, nothing that major to defend.
Constitutional level candidates tend to each go their own way on races, as the competition for dollars and volunteers is that tight. So it’s going to be many small efforts as opposed to one massive push.
Nowadays, Larry Russell is spending his days working in the private sector, and paying attention to his family. Without him I don’t know that there’s another singular driving force ready to put it all together into one packaged and organized volunteer effort such as the Victory campaign.
It’s now in the past. But it was glorious to remember.
I hopped on a plane, and flew to the job site. As I walked in the doors to the campaign’s “war room” the first thing I said to the staff was that “there was no organizational structure in place,” and we needed to “fill the gaps so we had workers whenever and wherever we hit the ground….”
And then the alarm buzzer went off. I woke up this morning right when it was getting to the good part.
Yes, I’m afraid politics has made me that mentally ill - campaigning intrudes on my sleep time. But, the message my subconscious had for me this A.M. is valid, and pretty darn timely with statewide races being announced.
I think I’ve grumbled at least once or twice that many campaigns pay more attention to their stupid logo than they do their organizational structure. And they do so at their peril. If you have a strong organization in place, it can help forgive many sins and mistakes that campaigns make.
A campaign should be organized with the manager (NOT THE CANDIDATE) at the top of the structure, a volunteer coordinator with county coordinators next, and precinct workers at the bottom. In some areas, they go down to the level of block captains, but in South Dakota, the concept is so alien that I might be held for observation at the HSC for suggesting it.
These precinct workers are the front line troops who can recruit others to the cause – and be ready in an instant with phone trees, letters to the editor, posting yard signs, going door to door the weekend before the election, and any of the myriad of tasks that can be required for a winning campaign.
I don’t think anyone can master the craft of politics as much as being a perpetual student. But if there’s anyone who I admired as being the best in volunteer organization it is my friend Larry Russell.
Up until the time Larry did the honorable thing and stepped back when there were mistakes made – not by him – in his organization (Yes, I’m sure the Dem readers are going to razz me on this), for 2 elections running in South Dakota he ran the most phenomenal volunteer coordination effort I’d ever seen.
Did I always agree with him? No, because in 2002 I wanted more for my candidate and didn’t always get it. But dang, the effort he put together was great. It had not ever been done like that in South Dakota.
Personally, I think Larry ran a better show the second time around in 2004. It was “leaner” and had to do more with less. I think the lack of money made them focus more on the things they had to do, as opposed to the cool stuff or the niceties.
They had to have their precincts organized. They had to have their voters identified. They had to have a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort in place to get those voters out.
And Election Day saw that those efforts paid off.
I’m not slamming the Dems own efforts - The Democrats were not asleep at the wheel. They had their own high points in area GOTV. The Democrat turnout for 2004 in Brown County literally crushed many in its path. I was helping a candidate up there in a race farther down on the ticket. The entire election season we dominated the opponent. But that massive electoral onslaught by the Dems in that county just swept us aside like a tsunami and tipped the scales the other way.
But statewide, the Republican Victory team came through in the end and helped deliver where it counted.
During the special GOP convention, it was easy to see that those volunteers from Victory 2002 would have laid down in front of a train and died for Larry Russell. And they worked twice as hard in Victory 2004.
With 2006 around the corner and no close Senatorial race in sight, I think the days of a tightly organized statewide coordinated volunteer effort such as Victory campaign are over on either side. There’s nothing that major to challenge, nothing that major to defend.
Constitutional level candidates tend to each go their own way on races, as the competition for dollars and volunteers is that tight. So it’s going to be many small efforts as opposed to one massive push.
Nowadays, Larry Russell is spending his days working in the private sector, and paying attention to his family. Without him I don’t know that there’s another singular driving force ready to put it all together into one packaged and organized volunteer effort such as the Victory campaign.
It’s now in the past. But it was glorious to remember.
Comments
Anonymous said "Larry Russell is our future star candidate if we want to take back the U.S. House of Representatives. We can only hope and pray he decides to run again."
DEMOCRATS can only hope and pray he decides to run again. Larry Russell would be a dream candidate for the Democrats in 2006. Nationally, Republicans are getting slaughtered on their integrity and their ethics. Today's Washington Post reports, "Beyond the leak case, Americans give the administration low ratings on ethics, according to the survey, with 67 percent rating the administration negatively on handling ethical matters, while just 32 percent give the administration positive marks. Four in 10 -- 43 percent -- say the level of ethics and honesty in the federal government has fallen during Bush's presidency, while 17 percent say it has risen." And he'd be running to join Tom DeLay in the Congress -- again, not a pillar of integrtiy.
The central issue in the campaign would be about Larry Russell's involvement in the unethical fraud that occursed in the 2004 GOP Victory effort -- not a very good thing when more and more people see your party as unethical.
Larry Russell might be able to beat Maka Duta, but he sure as hell isn't going to beat Stephanie Herseth. As a Democrat, I'd love to see it -- sweet, squeaky clean Herseth versus the guy who was forced out of state to Ohio because of ethical problems.
Bring him on!
I take offense that you say he has "ethical problems". That could not be further from the truth. Larry is a devote Christian man, who is a honest as the day is long. Larry is a man of integrity, who fights for what is right.
The SD GOP threw Larry Russell under the bus, because they did not want to stand up like a real man and take responsibility. Some Republicans have hard feelings towards Larry because they are jealous of his attributes. He has what some could only wish to have...INTEGRITY!
I was one of the individuals who resigned with Larry. What happened was unfortunate. Larry did not know what was taking place until it was too late. It ended up being a procedural error. It was a five minute mistake. Everyone collected the absentee ballot request forms correctly, but unfortunately some were processed incorrectly. Sadly, politics was the sole reason the story broke. The mistakes were not made intentionally. We ended up taking the heat, while Daschle's campaign committed the same mistakes. One of his staffers was charged with the same misdemeanor as we were, but the media failed to cover the story. The only reason Democrats get away with crimes like this is because the media will protect them.
Larry showed responsibility by resigning. Even though Larry did not commit any wrong doing, he felt that he should resign because the incident happended under his watch. Democrats (and old, Republican, washed up, political dinosaurs)could learn something from Larry Russell about taking responsiblity for their (or their staffs) actions.
If Larry ever decides to run again, he will have to answer questions about what happened. It will end up being a one day story, but you can be assured Larry will be honest with the people of South Dakota. Everyone makes mistakes, but how you act after those mistakes mean more than the actual mistake. Larry is a true example of how everyone should act.
South Dakotans like individuals who stand up, tell the truth, and take responsibility for their actions.
People should not underestimate Larry's network, grassroot organization, and loyal following across the state. If Larry ever runs again, you will see an absolute ground swell across the state. Beware of the tidal wave.
Until then, saw it off!