Your campaign is too big.
Not in budget. Not in staff. In thinking.
Rick Tyler – Director of the Advanced School of Politics for the Leadership Institute – makes this case bluntly. And he’s right.
Political campaigns love big numbers. Big data. Big rallies. Big declarations of momentum from consultants who contribute nothing but invoices.
None of it helps a volunteer understand what to do Saturday morning.
Tyler quotes Fritz Rench, a founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation: think small instead.
Here’s why.
Votes arrive person by person, door by door, precinct by precinct.
The voter who decides your race has a name, an address, and a strong opinion about the new stop sign on their street. They are not a demographic.
They are a neighbor.
And your volunteer cannot “win the county.” That phrase sounds great at headquarters. It means nothing at the door.
What works? Precinct vote goals.
Every precinct gets a number. Every number gets an owner. Every owner gets a list, a deadline, and fast feedback.
Tyler’s system gives each precinct captain a one-page scorecard: expected turnout, vote goal, identified supporters, completed contacts, and the remaining gap.
Simple. Specific. Actionable.
And here’s the genius move – ditch the “winning” and “losing” vocabulary entirely. Replace it with three labels: ahead of goal, on goal, behind goal.
A precinct you expected to lose by 150 votes but only lost by 70? That’s 80 votes ahead of goal. That captain deserves praise – not a red dot on the map.
Four hundred votes fits in the human mind. Millions don’t.
“Help us win the district” draws applause. “Help me find 25 more supporters in Precinct 7 by Saturday” creates a calendar entry.
Specific goals create momentum. Visible momentum attracts volunteers. And volunteers who can see the gap closing show up again next week.
Think small. Win big. Just like Rick Tyler says.
Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of Psephology*
(homeschooled)
* Psephology (see-follow-gee): The study of campaigns and elections