MAY THE BEST MAN WIN!
   It made a lot of sense to me the first time I heard the phrase-may the best man win! I used to kickbox on an amateur team and in most cases, except for the random lucky punch, the best man or woman won the fight. The best man or woman usually was the one who trained the most, ran the most and was in the best shape. Endurance was tantamount to winning so the person who ran five miles three times a week would have an edge over someone who ran three miles twice a week.
   However, when I entered the world of politics and someone repeated that phrase with a voice that seemed certain that it was something akin to the absolute truth; I thought to myself, what have they been smoking? Unfortunately, and I really mean this, in the political arena, all too often the best man or woman doesn't win. The cold hard reality is that the best campaigner usually wins and sometimes that person is the worst person for the job. Now, if you are still shaking your head, refusing to believe in this all too simple concept, maybe you should give up on politics and try your hand at kickboxing.
   Let me give you an example. I will give you two fictitious candidates that have two different philosophies about the political arena. Both candidates have been council members in the same city for the last eight years. Both are women and they are the same age. Both of them have decided to run for the position of mayor in their city since the incumbent mayor has decided to retire. There were two other candidates for mayor in the Primary but both of them lost and only Margaret and Linda, the two incumbent council members, are left in the race. Yes, we have now given them fictitious names. There is only one position to fill so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that one is going to win, and one is going to lose. Let's do a comparison of Margaret and Linda. Margaret will be first.
   Margaret is a very nice person. Over the last eight years, she has never missed a meeting and she takes her job very seriously. She takes time out of her busy schedule to drive around her city and personally check out any item that she will vote on at the next council meeting. Margaret sometimes uses the council meeting room to study plans for development that is being proposed in her city. That way she knows everything that she needs to know to be able to cast the proper vote on the development when it comes before the council. She will make phone calls to the planning department, the fire department, the department of public service, the water department and others to garner the vital information that she needs to make the proper decisions on matters that she will vote on. Margaret spends so much of her free time working diligently at her job that she has almost no time left to spend with the voters who elected her. She repeatedly turns down invitations to graduation parties, block parties and public events so that she can dedicate her time to doing her job very well. Of course, now with the campaign for mayor heating up, she will now have to find more time to work the campaign trail. That will mean a few less late nights working hard at her job. Sounds like a pretty dedicated public servant to me. Of course, nobody sees Margaret working so hard. Margaret isn't going to call the newspapers or the television stations to let them know that she is hard at work. The average voter in town surely won't know about it. While Margaret is at the office, they are watching the game or a movie on television. Perhaps they are reading an article in the paper about another council member who helped some kids get some playground equipment for their neighborhood park. Margaret definitely sounds like someone who certainly deserves to be elected to the office of mayor, but first, let's go on to Linda.
   Linda is also a very nice person. Over the last eight years, she has missed about 25 percent of the council meetings. Most people don't notice, however. She missed those meetings so that she could go to a neighborhood party or to put on a little picnic for some of the seniors in the parks. While Margaret was at the study session about the trash hauler's contract, Linda was walking around a neighborhood knocking on voter's doors asking them if they were satisfied with the job she was doing. She would call the director of public works and get whatever information she would need for her vote on the trash hauler's contract. While Margaret was working three hours one night going over the plans for a new apartment complex, and other items that would be on the next agenda, Linda was sitting at a table at the shopping mall. Linda had some brochures on what she stood for and a survey form for people to fill out and send in. She had free coffee and cookies for the people who stopped. She smiled at everyone who noticed her and even stopped some moms with strollers so that she could say how cute the little one was. One night when Margaret was at a council meeting, Linda was at a fund-raiser she had put together to buy some playground equipment for a neighborhood park. All the parents from the surrounding area (voters) were there and they all thanked Linda for her help and concern for their kids. Linda even got a check from Margaret towards the equipment, but gee, she forgot to mention it while everyone was shaking her hand and telling her what a great person she was. Over the last eight years Linda has attended numerous graduation parties, yard parties, block parties, and events where large numbers of people (voters) were. She shook thousands of hands, kissed hundreds of babies and patted all the men on the back-at all times smiling.
   Linda has never worked late at the office pouring over paperwork and information regarding issues that she will cast a vote on. She does make sure that she votes on the important items and she trusts the city staff to keep her informed about the plans for development and to inform her if there are any concerns she needs to know about. Linda doesn't sound like the most dedicated public servant, although she does do her job, just not as thoroughly as Margaret does.
   Election Day comes for Margaret and Linda. Who do you think will get the most votes? The candidate who was buried under reams of paper work or the candidate who was at your daughter's graduation party? The candidate who was at every meeting or the candidate who spent time raising money for the playground equipment that your little four-year-old plays on every day? The candidate who was on the phone to the fire department checking on the sprinkler system for the apartment complex being proposed, or the candidate who was cooking and serving hot dogs and beer to your elderly mom and dad at a senior picnic? Keep in mind that you will not know about Margaret working so hard when you go into that voting booth and choose between the two of them. You only know about that because I told you about it. In reality, Margaret gets an A on her performance while Linda gets a C. However, in the election, I'm putting my money on Linda to win.
   So, what's the lesson here? Stop thinking like a normal candidate or politician and start thinking out of the box. You need to understand why people vote the way they do. Face it, voters are fickle and in many cases, they don't even consciously realize why they vote for the Lindas and not the Margarets of the world. Most voters will not take the time to study the candidates whose names appear on the ballot when they vote. They simply don't have the time or the inclination to do so. They usually will vote for whomever they think they feel comfortable with or they simply vote for the name that sounds the most familiar. Be honest about it. In your entire lifetime of voting for candidates, how many times have you walked into the voting booth, closed the curtain, looked at the list of names running for different offices, and were not sure who to vote for? How many times have you selected a name for a circuit court judge or college trustee or a district court judge and never knew who he or she was? More than once I'm sure. Of course, I want Margaret to win and I wish that everyone running for public office were more like Margaret. I would rather have you working your tail off on the job watching after my interests. The problem is that I probably won't know how hard you've been working. Be honest with yourself and think back. When is the last time you left your favorite program on television so that you could run up to city hall and see which council member was working late at the office? Most likely, never. On the other hand, when is the last time you saw a politician at a party or at a public event shaking hands and kissing babies? Who are you going to remember on Election Day? When all the people who remember meeting Linda at the mall, the parties, the events and walking through their neighborhoods, go into the voting booth and see the names Margaret and Linda, who do you think they will vote for?
   Here is a little project that you should do before you run for your reelection campaign. Go to a school or a church where there is a large blackboard and lots of chalk. Take the time to write on the blackboard as many times at you can this little eight-word sentence. The candidate who gets the most votes, wins. When you are done, start at the beginning and read each line aloud until it finally sinks so deeply into your brain that it would take the Jaws of Life to remove it.
   Okay, hopefully we have now altered your way of thinking about the world of politics. You now realize that you need to do things a little differently in order to stay in public office as long as you want to. You now need to believe in the idea that there are more effective ways to get more votes than the other candidates. I'm not suggesting that you don't do your job well, because you should. But we have all been taught the lesson that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. We all want to believe and subscribe to that theory, and in most cases, we usually do the right thing. However, many of us have learned in life that the right way is not always the best way or the most effective way.
   Think back about all the things that you have tried to do perfectly right and then think about how many times doing the absolute right thing backfired on you. You thought to yourself, if I had done that a little bit differently, I would have succeeded, and everyone would have been better off. You know what I'm talking about. It's happened to you and if not, it will.
   If we haven't altered your thinking enough, hopefully we have at least opened your mind to a new way of thinking about how to campaign. Moreover, I hope you will keep an open mind while reading the rest of this book. If you can do that, then you are in the right frame of mind to finish this book. So let's get started!