What a Campaign Manager Actually Does...

For those of you who read me, you may have guessed that I run campaigns- and you guessed right. I am running several campaigns right now, and it's quite the job. One part of the job that is difficult is dealing with the "armchair quarterbacks" in the local party who have other ideas about what you should be doing. They want you to knock on every door, buy more yard signs, send more mail, put on fun events, and generally do the things they want you to do- which is a natural reaction from the outside looking in. Any manager worth their weight in pony loaf doesn't do those things though, and takes criticisms from the peanut gallery as a result. The manager is almost always right for not biting the apple, but rarely do we tell you why.

The point of elections is to get more votes, not build a party, "change the country," or any of the other things that many activists want to do. Your chief job as a manager is to marshal the available resources and choral them together in the stretch run. This means saying no a lot, and telling people to scale back their grand plans. It means knocking on the doors of people who are actually going to vote, not wasting precious volunteer hours chasing people who vote once every four years. It means not buying more yard signs, just because your opponent has more. It means sending mail to the voters you need to win over, not as many people as you humanly, possibly can. It means making sure your allies and running mates are on message, and not off talking about crazy things that are not a part of your campaign message. It means not getting involved in ballot initiatives that aren't a part of your campaign. It means being selective about what other campaigns you coordinate with, even if it hurts some feelings. In other words, you're not "Mr. Yes." That is not what this job is.

To be clear, this makes campaign staffers, especially managers, different from candidates, activists, and party leaders. You have different needs, different outcomes, and different goals. It means not worrying about always getting credit, because you know chasing credit isn't your job. It means not being everybody's friend all the time.

That's my entire response to what some newcomers to the process have had to say this week.