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June is the eye of the political hurricane in most parts of the country. Up to now, it probably feels as though your campaign’s momentum has been steadily building, excitement is bubbling, the volunteer list is growing, and campaign funds are beginning to flow. After the thrill of Memorial Day, however, many communities experience a lull in activities, since July and August are the hot and happening summer months, kids are still wrapping up school, and there aren’t any major holidays to celebrate. Your campaign, too, will have a sort of plateau in June. So what do you do?
- Family first – take advantage of the break in events and plan a couple of long weekends with your spouse and kids. Take off early on a Thursday and escape everything for just a few days before crazy time in July, especially if you started to feel the heat with all the hoopla at the end of May.
- Door-to-door – You should still be pounding the pavement! Go talk to voters. It’s lots of fun, and keeps you in tune with what issues resonate in your community.
- Fairs and Festivals – In some parts of the country, county fairs and 4-H events are in full swing in June. Your local Republican Party will likely have a booth where you can hang out and greet voters, and you may even be able to participate in some publicity – goat milking contest, anyone??? In other parts of the country, festivals are big fundraisers and there’s a new one every weekend, all summer long. If there’s an opportunity to meet and greet voters at any in your district, you should be there.
- Fundraising -The need for campaign cash grows ever greater as Election Day looms. Fundraising is something you’ll have to continue throughout the duration of your run for office, so you might as well get used to it.
- Start working your PR. That’s Public Relations, in case you didn’t know. This can be as simple as writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (or newspapers if your district is big enough to cover multiple papers’ areas) about current issues, or it can mean holding an official press conference to “kick-off” your campaign and layout your agenda for the media and the public. Whatever fits the bill in your district, you need to get started on it to build name recognition and lay the groundwork with reporters for future communications.
