POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING... DEFINITELY A RUSH
Illinois U.S. Senate Race... Go Steve Rauschenberger!

One experience I regret missing out on while in Asia is participating in U.S. political campaigns. Though I've never experienced the full-time rush, excitement, and stress that people can enjoy, I've tasted it in a few that I volunteered for and indirectly through a handful of friends that have run campaigns. My friend, Deborah, was a political campaign junky for a few years for the wrong side. The hours are like banking or consulting, especially when she's on hand. 80-120 hrs./weeks, but I think for her it was 24/7. Another good friend, Dave, is currently running Steve Rauschenberger's run for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. It's going to be a tough battle during the primaries to get the Republican bid. Kick ass, Dave!

I miss hanging out with Dave when we were in Springfield together working for Gov. Jim Edgar. We would comment and rip on various elected officials in the IL House or Senate while sitting in the legislative sessions. Dave's wit and raw comments would crack me up along with his timely rolling of the eyes.

Going back to campaigning, it's exciting because it is definitely a marathon race where anything can happen during the length of the course. Leads change, people trip, exhaustion sets in, tension builds up, rockslides occur, and a thousand different things can happen. Primary Colors, the movie with John Travolta and Emma Thompson, actually presents the tone and atmosphere in a fairly accurate manner.

One of the most memorable and informative seminars I attended was by a former chairman of the Republican National Committee discussing the history and changes in the U.S. presidential campaigns initiated during the Reagan years. The Reaganites revolutionized political campaigning. Before people would focus on simply attaining the popular vote and widespread recognition, but the braintrust of the Reagan campaign decided to focus on getting the necessary electoral votes to win the presidency. They targeted 25 states that they needed to win. These years are also where more advanced polling techniques and targeted advertising came into the picture. If Reagan was weak with women, 18-25 yrs., in the South, then an ad campaign was started to swing these women voters towards Bonzo's father. Even democratic politicos would admit that they studied these techniques and campaign management methods led by a handful of Repubicans.

In a distant way, Republicans are responsible for creating the polling monster that Clinton was. In my opinion, instead of using polling as a tool and means to learn about the public sentiment, Clinton used it to decide or strongly guide some of his policy decisions. Led by his pollster Stan Greenberg, or others like Celinda Lake, the Clinton administration was led by the people and not leading the people towards whatever principles he believed in.

Polling is another area of political campaigning that is fascinating. It's amazing what top pollsters could find out about what the public is thinking and the accuracy of their data. I don't want to bore you with this subject at this time, so I'll stop here.

The art and science of political campaigning in the U.S. is at such an incredible level of sophistication and skill that you really notice the difference when you visit other countries and see their political campaign methods. What it also comes down to is a lot of grunt work... pounding the pavement, organizing rallies, making the calls, and shaking a lot of hands. But this process is what makes democracy great.