Maloney 2000
Campaign Plan
WaterburyRepublican-American
Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Maloney Wins House Race, Again
Message and Field Operation Keys to Victory
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By Susan Bibisi
2000 Republican-American
WATERBURY – U.S. Rep. Jim Maloney (D-CT 05) tonight turned back a tough challenge from former State Senator Mark Nielsen and won his third term to Congress by defeating Nielsen 51.8% to 47.9%, with the remaining one percent going to a third-party candidate.
Maloney’s victory tonight came after a bruising campaign that featured both candidates highlighting each other’s records through nasty TV ads and fliers. Maloney, standing with his family at the Portuguese Club proclaimed, “It wasn’t pretty but after the voters heard the arguments, they understood that I have been an accessible, effective congressman fighting for their views, values and concerns.”
Although the race was tight with both campaigns at different times arguing who had the lead, on this evening, it was clear that after Maloney won Waterbury with 55% of the vote and did better than expected in lower Fairfield County, that the Democrat would be returned to office. Said Maloney, “Our message, just like the work that we have done over the past two years, reached across party lines and brought independents and Republican voters over to my side.”
Many observers argue that it was Maloney’s investment in his field operation that paid the most dividends on this election night. For the last three
months, Maloney’s army seemed to be everywhere in this 27-town district. Hardly a day went by when an observer did not see a Maloney staffer – always wearing his or her blue or white Maloney 2000 t-shirt – either going door-to-door, registering voters or handing out literature. Maloney commented on his team tonight, “We gave our workers the responsibility to do this job and we instilled in them the belief that every day they were making a difference in this district. Tonight, I am pleased to say, ‘Thank you.’”
Mark Nielsen, meanwhile, was left to brood his second straight loss to Maloney. “I couldn’t tell you what bothered me more,” the challenger said, “Maloney’s tough ads, his field corps or that damn cigarette that followed me around.” Nielsen was referring to the constant presence of Butt-man, a life-sized cigarette that hounded Nielsen during the race for taking campaign contributions from the tobacco industry.
While Nielsen benefited again from a strong TV presence from his supporters at the National Republican Congressional Committee, those ads were not enough to dethrone Maloney. Maloney’s folksy positive ads demonstrated his effectiveness as a problem solver and featured constituents that he had assisted. “Maloney’s field and media redefined him,” said Tom Carusello, Waterbury Town Chair, “and that made all the difference.”
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Table of Contents
“To Hope ‘til Hope Creates, That Which It Contemplates.”
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
A.Introduction
B.Strategy/Tactics
C.Self/Opposition Research
D.Survey Research
E.Message
F.Free Media
G.Paid Media
H.Fundraising/Finance Plan
I.Field Plan
J.Staff
K.Volunteers
L.Administration
M.Calendar/Matrixes
Introduction
“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
- Albert Einstein
Now this is the Law of the Jungle – As old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, The Law runneth forward and back –
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
- Rudyard Kipling, Second Jungle Book
The following campaign plan serves as our roadmap to victory. Like a map, it charts the journey that we will take together over the next six months. It provides us with a unified vision that is the result of input received from the members of our team.
Nearly every section of the plan begins with a list of “principles,” the goals that we want to accomplish in that area. Following the principles, there is a discussion about some of the steps that we should take to accomplish those goals. But for each area of the campaign, those involved are entrusted to further build, develop and execute their own plans and programs to help us accomplish our goals and fulfill the principles of that section.
We encourage our team to find the best way for each member to do his or her job. And as we travel this road together, each of us will encounter challenges that we are, at that moment, the best person to handle that situation. By instilling our team members with trust and respect for their abilities, we will have a dynamic organization where each member of the team will contribute mightily to our success.
There are, of course, a few rules for us to follow: no one spends money without talking first to me, only members of our press team talk with the media, we learn and repeatedly articulate our campaign message to voters and that we have fun.
Mistakes are going to happen as they do in every race. But our goal in organizing this campaign is not to clamp down on all our team members because we are afraid of mistakes and as a result create timidity and uncertainty among our team. Instead, our goal is to instill in our team inclusiveness, trust and respect so that together, we will improve our team by taking the following steps:
-From myself to the rest of the staff, we must clear the hurdles and remove the obstacles for our team to perform.
-As the manager, my job is to serve as the coach of the team. Come to me with any concern, problem or question, I’ll listen and work with you and others to resolve the situation.
-We will all teach and learn from each other as well as from volunteers. This is an inclusive organization where we welcome and respect everyone’s contributions and suggestions.
-A good campaign team becomes a great one when the members trust each other enough to surrender the “me” for the “we.” The power of we is stronger than the power of me. And remember, that none of us is as smart as all of us.
-Treat fellow workers, volunteers, and the FedEx delivery people, with the same respect and courtesy you’d want yourself.
-Possessing a positive attitude during the journey that we will take together. We will all face numerous challenges but we should realize that by fulfilling our vision for the race that we will emerge victorious.
The results of these goals are found in Jim’s last name.
Maloney – Making leaders among everyone
By creating leaders throughout our entire organization, we will create a dynamic team that overcomes the barriers to success and sends Jim Maloney back to Congress so he can continue his fight for the families of the Fifth District.
Remember, at times this roadmap will only carry us so far. Like a playbook that guides a sports team, there will be times when we encounter situations not accounted for in this plan. At those times, instead of wondering how to proceed, we will be richly rewarded for creating leadership within our organization. Our team members will interpret and understand the problem and together we will move forward. It is much the same way as a quarterback who approaches the line of scrimmage and sees the opposing team mounting a surprise defense and he calls an audible. When these situations arise, we will be confident in our team members that they too can call an audible and execute a play that helps our campaign.
Strategy & Tactics
“Much strategy prevails over little strategy, so those with no strategy cannot but be defeated.
Therefore, it is said that victorious warriors win first and then go to war.”
- Sun Tzu
Principles
1. Changing the way we do business.
2. Running a pro-active campaign setting the agenda.
3. Defining Jim Maloney on our terms.
4. Defining Mark Nielsen on our terms.
This section discusses our campaign strategy – the broad approach that we will take to the race – to ensure that we are victorious on November 7. Tactics comprise of the implementation of that strategy. While tactics are mentioned here, we discuss our tactics more in-depth throughout this plan.
Our strategy is simply the prism with which we view this race. It will help us assimilate new information and react to situations while staying focused. The first element of our strategy is that this race will not be a repeat of 1998. The participants may be the same but the strategy that we have embarked upon is vastly different. We have reevaluated and improved every aspect of the campaign. Instead of tinkering at the edges, this campaign will strengthen each area of the campaign. We are in the process of completing an entire renovation of our operation. Thus, the voters and our opponent will see a different kind of campaign from us in 2000.
Changing our campaign goes to another element of our strategy – if we execute our plan, we will win on Election Day. It is always important to realize and understand what your opponent is doing, but we cannot let our opponent’s actions dictate the terms of this fight. We must consistently work to set the agenda in crucial areas – like fundraising, field, free and paid media. This race is about us setting the terms of the debate and making Nielsen follow our lead instead of just counterpunching and responding to his actions and attacks.
The first step in setting the agenda is determining what we want to tell the voters about Jim Maloney. We must communicate to them in our free and paid media and in our field efforts who Jim Maloney is and what he has done. Fortunately, the adage “good policy makes for good politics,” is true in this situation. From the focus groups, we learned that undecided voters need to have more information about Jim Maloney and what they want in a congressman is someone who is accessible, effective and represents their views, values and concerns. Although they may be unaware of his work, Jim and the congressional office have compiled a record that matches their desires. We don’t have to reinvent Jim into something he is not, but what we must do is to frame these concerns and incorporate them into our message. Then, that message must be repeatedly delivered to the voters.
Throughout the campaign, we must connect Jim’s background and record to the residents of the district. In essence, Jim’s story/record is like a young tree. For us to win this race, we must work to have the roots planted further and further into the soil. By doing this, people will have a positive, solid view of Maloney that will withstand the winds of negativity that seek to uproot this campaign.
The practical application of furthering the roots of the Maloney candidacy into the soil of the district occurs at all levels – it is done through an aggressive free media operation that highlights our effectiveness in obtaining grants and helping constituents. Growing our roots also means undertaking a field program that finds undecided voters and gives them positive information about Jim Maloney. The roots get extended every time our web site receives a hit or Jim meets people during his community office hours. Every time, we help a constituent, issue a press release, drop a piece of positive lit or be accessible, the roots of this candidate and by extension, this campaign, grow a little bit more and our operation becomes stronger.
One other aspect of our strategy is to demonstrate that Jim is neither your typical politician (accessibility, effectiveness, problem-solving) nor your typical Democrat (representing your views, values and concerns.) Nielsen’s job will made much easier if he can paint us into a “liberal” corner and repeatedly hit us on votes that run counter to the majority of the voters. We must use every opportunity that we can when Jim has voted against his more liberal colleagues (Gejdenson, DeLauro and Larson) to demonstrate that he reflects the values of his voters. There are many Democratic proposals that do well in this district but given the Reagan Democratic outlook shared by unaffiliated voters in both counties, we must promote the votes that help us overcome the Republican wedge issues. For example, on taxes, we must use every opportunity to discuss how Jim voted with Republicans to ease the tax burden our families face.
While we know that this race will be tight, and we have an opportunity to do better than we did in 1998, Mark Nielsen takes a different tack.
“I am trying to get that 1% more of the vote so I can become your next Congressman.”
- Mark Nielsen, Meriden Senior Citizen Center, April 13
Nielsen believes that when the race commences he starts relatively close to Jim in the head-to-head match-up. This is one area that we can exploit to pick-up voters. With the help of the NRCC, Nielsen did an excellent job bringing over undecided and lean-Maloney voters to his side in 1998. By executing our strategy and planting our roots, we will hold lean-Maloney voters and convert some undecideds.
Nielsen’s success in 1998 opens up a door for us to reframe this race and cast it in the light most favorable to our campaign. This year, we must define Mark Nielsen and let the voters know about his voting record in Hartford and his extreme economic proposals. Some incumbents feel that every re-election must be about them, to a certain degree this is true, but because the last race was so close, we can set the agenda and define Mark Nielsen with comparison ads because the voters have a right to know who Mark Nielsen is and what he stands for. If we had blown-out Nielsen in 1998, then defining him would be a little more difficult this time around. This is not true given our situation. In 1998, Rep. Nancy Johnson employed a similar strategy after nearly being knocked off in 1996 by Charlotte Koskoff. Rep. Johnson raised more money and revamped her entire campaign. When it came to defining Ms. Koskoff, Rep. Johnson calmly and methodically decimated her opponent by setting the paid media agenda and educating the voters more about Ms. Koskoff’s record and proposals.
We must realize that we cannot wait for Mark Nielsen to act first. It is clear that he is eager to begin the assault on Jim once again. Recently, he passed out negative literature about Jim at the Bethel train station. We must not let our anger control our response but this year, we must control the agenda and force Nielsen to rebut our criticisms. The more that Mark Nielsen is on his heels; the better off we will be on Election Day. Once again, we cannot go through another bout of being hammered by the NRCC and Nielsen, only to respond to their ads while barely promoting our agenda. This year, the debate must be on our terms.
By running a different type of campaign that is offensive-minded and pro-active, by deepening the connection between Maloney to his constituents and by defining Mark Nielsen and setting the agenda, we will win this election.
Self/Opposition Research
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
- Sun Tzu
Principles
1. Research is required for victory.
2. Jim’s legislative and constituent record must be collected and analyzed.
3. Context is crucial.
4. Nielsen’s campaign and legislative history must be collected and analyzed.
5. Nielsen research is an ongoing and daily process.
Research is one of the two foundations that every successful campaign must have mastered. The other foundation is fundraising. Without research, a campaign cannot develop a message nor it can rebut attacks from the opposing side. Research and the eventual dissemination of that information – drives every other element of the campaign. For example, research leads to the walk piece detailing Jim’s record of accomplishment and how he has helped residents in every town. Research leads to stories in the press about how much tobacco money our opponent has taken. Research enables us to provide content to our web site. Research can help us raise money especially when our opponent has taken a position opposite to the one that an association or individual cares about. For paid media, research helps us find the couple that will benefit from Jim’s plan to make Medicare cover the cost of prescription drugs. Research wins elections. Research is the river of life for a campaign; just like a mighty river creates smaller brooks and streams so too does research. Our goal in this section of the plan is to create that mighty river of research so we can bring life to the rest of the campaign.
Research, like charity, starts at home. We must look within to begin this process. Currently, the campaign has Jim’s House voting record from January 3, 1997 to Late July 1998. This research was provided to us as part of our opposition research package from the last race. We need to compile and organize Jim’s voting record from August 1998 to the present. While we can skip some of the procedural votes, we should have Jim’s attendance record and a list of all missed votes. In addition, we need to categorize the votes by subject area. For example, abortion, budget and taxes, crime, education, etc. The votes should also be viewed by using our message points as direction, for example, “Does this vote reflect that Jim Maloney is an effective Congressman?” “Does this vote demonstrate that Jim Maloney is a problem-solver and helping the district?” And, “Does this vote show that Jim Maloney is not your typical Democrat?” We must also check Committee votes and use the same prism to review those votes.