Mackinac Conference- GOPAC

Yesterday at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference I went to a workshop called GOPAC- 15 Keys for a Candidate to Win in 2010, featuring David Avella. It was interesting, and for anyone out there thinking about running for office or helping someone run for office, there were some good pieces of advice.

One piece of advice for people running for office is to think about the difference between issues and vote-deciding issues, and then focus on vote-deciding issues. There are real issues out there- like 2nd amendment, water quality, etc- but what voters want to hear from you is where you stand on vote-deciding issues, like the economy and jobs.

Another piece of advice from David Avella is that candidates must be the ones who communicate the message and raise money. All other functions can be taken care of by others, but it is the candidate who must be the point person and the main focus for communicating the message of their campaign, and they must be the person who is raising money.

Realize that what voters are voting for on election day is you- your vision and your message. The reason why Obama won the last election is that voters liked his vision and his message, and they bought that, and now many would like a refund because the product doesn't measure up to what they were sold. But they did buy it, and if you run for office, you need to learn how to sell your message and vision to voters.

Another piece of advice was that to win elections you need to understand what makes your opponent vulnerable and then put a contrast in front of voters- point to where your opponent's record is out of line with his or her districts. This doesn't mean run a negative campaign, but if your Congressman works in a district that is heavy in manufacturing and voted for the cap-and-tax bill, then your Congressman needs to be hammered on that.

Last piece of advice is that a party that ignores minorities will be a minority party. The Republican party can not afford to ignore minority groups- African Americans, Latinos, women, union workers, Ron Paul supporters- anyone who wants to promote life, liberty, and the protection of property needs to be welcomed with open arms into our party. Think big, and big results will follow.

I hope that these pieces of advice are helpful!