How to Get Elected
One of the methods used by political candidates to get elected is holding Town Hall Meetings. You know, the candidate stands up there and answers any and all questions from those in attendance. Some candidates are very good at this and others aren’t.
The website WWW.LocalVictory.Com has an article How to Hold Successful Town Hall Meetings.
This is really good stuff. So, if you ever think you may be a candidate and want to hold Town Meetings you better pay attention to this …
While town hall meetings can be a great part of your grassroots strategy, they are not without risk. Any time you place your candidate in front of unscripted voters, there’s a chance things could take a wrong turn. In order to hold great, successful town hall meetings, use the following five tips:
1. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare – There’s no substitute for a well prepared candidate. During the week prior to your event, your candidate should carve out a significant amount of time to prepare
for the town hall, just as he or she would for a debate. Know the issues, write out pithy quotes and one-liners, figure out what the tough questions will be, and know how to answer them.
2. Control the Crowd – One of the main reasons you are holding a town hall meeting is to meet voters and be seen in the community, so it is unlikely that you’re going to be able to hold a “closed”
town hall meeting with just your supporters in attendance. (You could, but unless your goal is footage for an upcoming campaign ad, it will defeat the purpose of your event). Even so, you’ll want to make sure that if things get hostile, you have a clear base of support in the audience.
For that reason, be sure to hand out tickets to the event to your campaign supporters, volunteers, friends and family. A good rule of thumb is to make sure at least 25-50% of the crowd are known supporters. That way, if an ugly question or two come up, you’ll have support in the audience.
3. Make Sure They’re Comfortable – Nothing makes a crowd hostile like an uncomfortable environment. Have your campaign staff and volunteers ensure that there’s proper seating, that the temperature is right, that lighting isn’t too bright on the crowd, and that there are restrooms available for your audience.
4. Take Names, and Give Info – Town hall meetings are great opportunities to reach out to new supporters, people who may not yet be on your campaign’s radar screen. Make sure you have a
registration table to track who comes to them event – get names, addresses, e-mail addresses, etc. Ask people if they want to sign up for your campaign newsletter (this is a great way to figure out
who is a supporter, and thus ripe for additional follow-up) and be sure to hand out campaign literature to every attendee. After the event, send a thank you letter or postcard (a form letter is ok) to everyone who attended, pointing them to your campaign website for additional information.
5. Relax and Have Fun – Town hall meetings should be informal, fun events. The crowd will know if you’re uptight, nervous, and unhappy to be there. Practice in front of crowds several times to
make sure that you’re comfortable with the format… then go and have fun. You’ll enjoy the event more, and the crowd will see you as a more “likeable” candidate.
Town hall meetings can and should be a part of your campaign’s grassroots strategy. Be sure to plan for these events well in advance, practice, and remember to publicize them well – the only
thing worse than a hostile crowd is when there’s no crowd at all.
Now, go do it and get elected.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 5:22 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
2 Responses to “How to Get Elected”
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Al Arnold Says:
Yes, he was accused of hand picking attendees at town hall meetings. Recently President Obama was also accused of the same during his online Town Hall. This from the Washington Post on March 27…
President Obama has promised to change the way the government does business, but in at least one respect he is taking a page from the Bush playbook, stocking his town hall Thursday with supporters whose soft — though far from planted — questions provided openings to discuss his preferred message of the day.
Obama has said, “I think it’s important to engage your critics … because not only will you occasionally change their mind but, more importantly, sometimes they will change your mind,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs recounted to The Post’s Lois Romano in an interview Wednesday.
But while the online question portion of the White House town hall was open to any member of the public with an Internet connection, the five fully identified questioners called on randomly by the president in the East Room were anything but a diverse lot. They included: a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union, a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama among Hispanics during the primary; a former Democratic candidate for Virginia state delegate who endorsed Obama last fall in an op-ed in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; and a Virginia businessman who was a donor to Obama’s campaign in 2008.
I do not advise anyone to do such a thing.
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June 4th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Wasn’t George W. Bush known for hand-selecting everyone whom attended his town halls?