What the Hell Kind of Campaign Are You Running, Anyway?

Well, now that I have won the primary and my campaign is well underway, it is time to answer this question. Activists, party regulars, and consultants have wanted to ask this question, but have mostly too polite to ask in such a blunt way.
OK, I will answer.
There are several elements to a traditional political campaign:
*fund raising
*campaign headquarters
*phone banks and robocalls
*precinct captains and workers
*bumper stickers and yard signs
*radio ads and other media buys
*slate cards and door hangers
*fundraising envelopes
Thus far, my campaign has none of these, and it seems that it never will. Those who have run in my district before have tried all these to little effect. This time, I am trying something different. The centerpiece of my campaign is this blog along with my website and a Facebook page.
Will it work? We shall see.

I Won the Primary!

Well, OK, I was uncontested. I will take victory any way I can get it. The number of voters who voted in my district was barely 25% of the turnout in the 2008 General Election. If the vote in November is identical to this Primary, my opponent will get 85%, and I will get 11%. This % is in line with the past half dozen elections in CD9, where the Republican gets 9-13%. The interesting point is that these were very different people with very different campaigns, but yet the results are all pretty similar.

Truthfully, I am having a blast. More seriously, right now my voice carries weight. What I say and what I believe matters, and I can influence people’s thinking. That is why my position papers have top priority with me. I am doing the best job I can to clearly and unambiguously lay out the conservative position on as many subjects as I can, especially the primacy of the Constitution. Planting the seeds of conservativism is easy; caring for the seedlings and nourishing them into mighty trees is another story.

What effect has the campaign had on my personal life? Well, I suppose you can be hyperactive about it, but I have a regular job, and my campaign fits comfortably in with my personal life at nights and on weekends, although my hobbies have been crowded out for the time being. Running is much easier than I anticipated (of course, winning is more difficult), and I recommend it highly to anyone who cares about our country and the future.

In CD9, it is important to be realistic about what is possible. This is the most Democratic district in the entire state of California, and one of the 10 most Democratic districts in the entire House of Representatives. So, if some districts do turn Republican, my district is dead last in line.

Election Day Math - a Roadmap to Victory

This is roughly how my district breaks down:
Dem = 64%
Rep = 8%
Decline to state = 20%
Ratio = 8:1
So, if we assume that the D/S are the same ratio, an election result of 85% to 10% is what we would expect in November, just as it has been in the past half dozen elections or so.

More interesting:
40% White
30% Black
15% Asian
15% Hispanic
The registration % among the last 2 groups is 5% each.
That is where the opportunity lies. Sadly, my campaign is a shoestring operation, so cannot afford fancy election consultant analysis. However, even I can see that the chance for Republican victory is Hispanic and Asian voter registration.

Currently, there are about 29,000 registered Republicans in CD9 which has a total population of 600,000, total registered voters is 350,000.
Total estimated Hispanic + Asian = 180,000.
If Republicans can register 16% of them as new Republicans, the number of registered Republicans in CD9 would double.

How I Designed My Website

It was so stupidly simply, I was able to do it by myself. It was a pre-made template, and was practically free. No, I am not getting paid, and I know that this sounds kinda like an ad, but I thought you would be interested.

A great website with rich content is central to my campaign. It is more important than everything else put together. So, I dreaded the time, expense, and trouble it would take to design it. I had reserved my domain name, and was exploring options for web hosting and design. Low and behold, I got an email from the company I used to reserve my domain name. Webhosting was ten bucks a month, which I thought was reasonable (there are cheaper places); but this company also offered free templates for website design (well, OK, it was 2 bucks more per month for this service along with email).

A bargain, so I signed up. Better, when I went into their do it yourself website service, they recommended a pre-made, patriotic template. I was delighted with this design, and used it. All I had to do was start typing in text and uploading pictures (yes, I know, I still do not have pictures of myself yet on the website). Within 2 hours, my website was up and running.

My website today is pretty much the same one I designed myself that night. Who is this company? You will have to visit my website to find out (heh, heh).
www.geraldforcongress.com

Political parties are controlled by special interests? Not me!

I heard one of those idiotic radio commercials supporting Calif Prop 14. It claims that political parties are controlled by special interest. What nonsense.

I am the Republican candidate for Congress in my district. I shall now expose exactly how many special interests and lobbyists have contacted me:
None; zip, zero, zilch, nada.

True, I will probably get pounded in the general election, which may explain why I am being ignored by ‘special interests’, and if I win I expect the usual cavil of lobbyists to beat a path to my door. However, to claim that we are ‘controlled’ is simply not true, especially during the election cycle.

Republicans are Rich? Not Me!!

C'mon people. I am THE Republican candidate for Calif CD9, inasmauchas I am running unopposed in my district. Truthfully, my job hours have been cut back for the most part of a year, and I occassionally have trouble making ends meet at the end of the month. I sometimes use my credit cards to buy groceries, OK?

Nevertheless, I have a clear political philosophy and I want to be your congressman. It is high time to send someone with practical sensibilities to Congress from my district. I am sick and tired of Democrats promising pie-in-the-sky using MY tax dollars. There is no way in hell that I will allow this to happen ever again.

I am grateful to the Republican Party in my district: they have given me maximum possible support.

Yes, I could do with a few more political contributions from my website, but make no mistake: traditional fund raising and traditional media buys is NOT what my campaign is about. My campaign is about ideas and truth and liberty. Frankly, if I can communicate my message, I could care less what the results are on election night.

C'mon: when was the last time you heard this message from a politician?

how badly does my district usually lose?

In 2008, the Republican in Calif CD9 lost 86%-9%. I was pretty sure that this was the biggest losing margin in the entire House of Representatives.
Well, almost. My district lost by the biggest margin in all Calif.
However, nationwide, there were a few districts where the losing margin was actually larger:
Illinois, 1 district
New York, 6 districts
Pennsylvania, 3 districts
Texas, 1 district
That makes a total of 11 congressional districts that actually lost bigger than mine.
(I have exluded those cases where a major party was running unopposed).
Well, now I don't feel so bad (I think).