You Say It’s Your Birthday?

  • by:
  • 03/02/2023

I've long advised local political candidates to use the calendar as a guide to plan your campaign and fundraising events. For example, on April 15, you are likely to be able to latch on to some easy-to-get press coverage if you talk about, um, you guessed it...taxes!

In PR, that's called "riding the wave." Instead of swimming upstream, you figure out what the media is going to talk about anyway - and you just find a way to ride along with it.

When it comes to fundraising, the calendar can also be your friend. Birthdays and wedding anniversaries can be a good excuse to hold a fundraising event to "help the candidate celebrate..."

...Of course, the only caveat is that it's bad form to simply copy what your competitors have done in the past (particularly when they just did it).

According to Roll Call, Susan Allen (wife of Senator George Allen, R-Va.) sent out a fundraising e-mail message on Monday that was "strikingly, if not embarrassingly, similar to the one Karyn Frist sent out last month asking supporters to sign a surprise online 'birthday album' for the Majority Leader."

I know, I know, there are no "original" ideas left in politics. But couldn't they have come up with a slightly new angle?

Image:
ADVERTISEMENT

Opinion

View All

British schoolchildren more violent due to lockdown–causes developmental delays: BBC study

Nearly one in five teachers at schools across England reported being hit by a student in the past yea...

London features 'Happy Ramadan' lights throughout city over Easter weekend

The lights have drawn criticism from prominent conservatives who insisted that the council ought to s...

Polish foreign minister claims US was aware of Nord Stream pipeline attack but 'did not prevent it'

Radoslaw Sikorski suggested it was done by "someone who had a vested interest in it."...