Dispatch from the trenches

Left to right: our campaign manager Vandy, candidate Jim, and party leader Elizabeth May.

My riding, North Vancouver, has been a tight race between the Liberals and Conservatives for years. The results this time: Con 42%, Lib 37%, Green 11%, NDP 9%. The Conservative was an investment banker from outside the riding who echoed Harper word-for-word; the Liberal was a popular 2-term veteran and former mayor; the Green was a personable businessman and former professor; and the NDPer was an unknown actor. So clearly the personality and competence of the candidates was not the deciding factor for voters.

Across the country, the wind in the Conservatives' sails came from Harper and only Harper. For the first month of the campaign, none of the metro Vancouver Conservative candidates would attend public debates or media interviews (!). But I realize in retrospect that the biggest difference between their campaign and ours was the quality of their campaign machinery. For the uninitiated, a traditional campaign involves the following major parts:

planning and organizing
creating and updating a website
creating and erecting highway signs
creating and distributing lawn signs, buttons, car decals, etc.
creating and distributing fliers
newspaper, radio, TV ads
bulk mailing, robodialling
media interviews and press releases
damage control
all-candidates debates
phone canvassing and supporter identification
door-to-door canvassing
pamphleteering
mainstreeting
coffee parties, open houses, meet-the-candidate, etc.
get-out-the-vote (calling supporters on voting day)
driving voters to the polls
scrutineering (observing the voting and vote counting process)
retrieving highway and lawn signs
compiling and analyzing the election results

Our riding had one of the best Green campaign teams, with a dozen very active volunteers, an extensive support network, and (eventually) $25 000 to spend. But we've never run a campaign before; our candidate ran in 2006 with a campaign team of two. The major parties have a paid, professional team. We made dozens of rookie mistakes, which cost us hundreds of votes. It seems ludicrous that our choice of government hinges on copious highway signs and glossy pamphlets, but that's the reality. In the next election, we'll be much better prepared in that respect.

I encourage anyone interested to get involved in a political campaign. It's more interesting than it seems at first glance, and it really gives you a stake in the outcome. The national leaders get all the media attention, but the local community is where the rubber meets the road. You can also donate to the local campaign rather than the central party, which not enough people do; it's 75% refundable through your taxes, so a $100 donation only costs you $25.

That's definitely enough politics for me this year...