A young girl

A little person, perhaps two or three was wandering about boldly on her own at the Dollar Store while her mother and older sisters were in line. I talked to her briefly before getting in line, and then when her mother had finished her transaction, said, "Now, where is she?" I said, "I just saw her." She was over looking at some display or other. Her mother said to me, "You must be a teacher." I said, "No, I'm a lawyer, and I'm running for judge." An older daughter, who was 12 or 13, her eyes got wide, and I had to smile. I gave them a flyer and told them to vote for me and to tell their friends about me. I know that even now, it is odd to young girls that a woman could run for judge.

Truth in Advertising

One of my opponents has sent out a flyer declaring that various people agree he is the best choice for County Judge. But when you read the statement, it doesn't actually say that he's the best of the three candidates. In fact, the majority of his endorsements came months before anyone else was in the race, so it was difficult to compare.

Whatever, back to work.

Walking with an Entourage

Today I went door to door with a reporter and photographer from the Tallahassee Democrat following me. Needless to say, at first it was a trifle unnerving, but after the first little while it wasn't bothering me any more. The reporter has just started with the paper, and it was the photographer's last day, he's got a full time job at the Chicago Tribune. He's from Chicago, and has been on a paid internship here at the Democrat, so he was one happy fellow. He told us stories of other political campaigns he'd followed, including three months following Senatorial candidate Barack Obama. I was particularly impressed with the photographer because he is the product of the Chicago foster care system. Talk about a survivor.

A guy I know gave us all ice water in paper cups, so we could take them with us and suck the ice as we walked. He did it even though he is supporting one of my opponents, which made me feel like at least people are not opposed to my presence in the race, which was not the feeling I had when I started this process.

It was Saturday, so there were 6 of us going from house to house in the blazing heat, plus the two young people from the Democrat. People had to think we were mad.

My girlfriend Tequisha Myles is visiting from Broward, and told us stories about when her dad ran for Mayor when she was an undergraduate. I know James will always remember this summer, if only because we all worked so hard. After we walked, we wrote postcards until our arms ached. The absentee ballots go out next week. There is no time to lose.

Military Officers Association of America

Last night I was at the Military Officers Association of America dinner where Bobby Bowden was the speaker. It was essentially a full house, over 150 people were there at the Silver Slipper. There were 4 candidates there, but I was the only one that had previously spoken to the group so had better recognition. I was also the only judicial candidate, and the only person running for an open seat. Some people took signs, and five women took flyers to give to their friends or pass around at work. I am very lucky to have the support of so many people who have served their country. I also, shamelessly, tried to get Bobby Bowden to agree to give a flyer to his wife. The first game of the season is the evening before the election, but unfortunately it's out of town. Always looking for another campaign opportunity, oh well.

There was a Tallahassee Democrat reporter and photographer there. The photographer had the biggest telephoto lens I'd ever seen. At first I thought he was a protester holding a bullhorn.

http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS01/607270314/1010

Why I love canvassing

I love standing on the doorstep and telling people I'm running for judge. I'm still so proud of that, just the opportunity to run still thrills me. I'm delighted when I get good questions, curious about how everybody else lives, and generally surprised at how well received I've been received everywhere I've gone. I'm walking door to door in all sorts of neighborhoods, and although I am often (I think appropriately) observed with some curiousity, no one has questioned whether I should be allowed to go door to door asking complete strangers to vote for me. In Chris Matthews' Hardball he points out that he saw women in Washington create opportunities for themselves by persistently asking. So I'm asking people to vote for me.

Tough Decisions

Direct mail has lots of requirements and it is costly. In exchange it puts your document in the hands of someone you can target, but doesn't guarantee that they'll actually look at it, or even see it if someone else brings in the mail. Television is dispersed, and many people who are not voters, or not voters in your area see it, but you pay for them anyway. So with television, you have to pay for a good deal of coverage you don't care about, but direct mail costs more per person. With very limited funds, I'm making tough decisions now, about how many people to send mail to, and how many times. I'm evaluating how many more doors I can reasonably knock on by election day, and where those doors should be. I remain cautiously optimistic, as I see daily signs of groundswell.

R & R

We took a few days off, to enjoy Jim's Dad's 93rd birthday, to go to the beach, to be a family. Sarah was so good the whole time, she was good with James, fun to be with, she reminded me of everything that was best about 15. I didn't realize how much I miss the beach until we were there. Jim had booked a place right on the water, and it was so nice to get up in the morning and look out and see the sea. I swam so much I had to get a haircut when I got home because my hair was so damaged from sun, salt and chlorine.

Now I'm back, going through days of e-mail, catching up on sign deliveries, reviewing the endless requirements for direct mail, writing thank you notes, and asking people to vote for me. Bob Inzer told me last week that the most intense portion of this event is just beginning, and I believe him. People I don't know are calling up asking for signs. Volunteers are calling. It's remarkable, and I am continually surprised. Today there was an article in the paper about the Attorney General, asking him about donations he'd received from a couple of private citizens from out of state, he said he didn't know them and didn't have a clue why they'd contributed. Almost all of my contributions have come from people I know, but a few have come from friends of friends. But the signs are going out broadly, and I'm very happy about that.

Friends are asking why I talked about my volunteer work before my legal work in the paper last week. I didn't. The reporter put it down that way. We've been told to muster next week for a group interview with the Tallahassee Democrat Editorial board. They aren't even saying that they'll endorse. Sunday's editorial says that they won't endorse where they're "damning with faint praise." Historically, they endorse several candidates, we'll see what happens.

Tallahassee Democrat

Two reporters from the Democrat were at the Tallahassee Bar Association forum for most of the evening, and didn't leave until after 8:30 pm, so they must have written the article that appears in this morning's paper after that. So I'm glad I'm not them, when I was done, I went home and read a novel, I didn't have to work late. Aside from mixing up my early guardian ad litem work with my current guardianship work, the article is fine, and the photo even reasonably flattering.

http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060719/NEWS01/607190316/1010

Power of the Purse

After work today I went to a United Way fundraiser called the "Power of the Purse" which invited women to come and meet and greet and bid on jewellry. There had to be a couple of hundred women there. So I mixed around and met and greeted. I saw Judge Hawkins there. One of my girlfriends has an in-law who is a judge and she says that elected judges have to stay in the public eye even after they are elected so that they can stay elected. Then I went on to the Tallahasse Bar Association's judicial forum, which was challenging. There were probably well over one hundred people there, all five of the County Judges were there, and several other judges, including a federal court judge, an appellate court judge, and some circuit judges and administrative law judges. The room was predominently Newton supporters, with a few, but enthusiastic, Flury supporters. None of the questions submitted by my friends were accepted. There was one soft ball question each for Newton and Flury. The first time I got up to speak, the Tallahassee Democrat reporter took so many flash pictures I thought I was going blind. They had this complicated system for determining who went first, I spoke first, and then answered the first question first, and then we cycled so much I frankly had trouble keeping up with who was next. The questions were not deeply taxing, in some ways, but the first question was whether the case work I had done would cause me to be biased on the bench. Which I thought was sort of a retarded question, because any lawyer of any talent knows that lawyers get ahead by knowing both sides of a case. There was a question about our committee work and pro bono work, a question about what work we had done in county court, and I forget the other two. In closing, we were asked to cover anything we felt that had not been adequately covered previously. So I talked about the opportunity to run, and the importance of applying for open judgeships and running, and how my only sadness was that there were not more people running.

On the Campaign Trail

This weekend has been largely dedicated to campaigning. Yesterday I went door to door for about three hours, and dropped off a walking list so someone else could go door to door in his neighborhood, and visited someone who goes to my church about putting up a sign, and wrote about a dozen thank you notes. Today I attended St. Eugene's Parish, and was delighted by the acapella choir.

Fundraiser

Here's a story I was told before I filed to run. A local hopeful filed, and a friend of his, an attorney, invited 300 people to a fundraiser. The attorney prepared food for 100 people. The day of the event arrived, and 3 people came. The local hopeful went on to win the election, but the initial lack of interest in his campaign kept him humble.

So with that as a benchmark, our fundraiser yesterday went very well, and most importantly, instead of the crowd being the usual one of my friends and relations, many people there were complete strangers to me, so I'm finally branching out. Perhaps the race is of some interest, or at least curiousity, so that people will come out to meet someone running for the post.

55 days until the election

Part of me feels like I'm not overwhelmed because I've done so much ground work in the past year. Part of me feels that I'm not overwhelmed because I don't actually understand what's going on. Early in this process I read that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your effort, but it's difficult to tell which is the 20%. I continue to be amazed by the fact that we don't even have an accurate definition of effective campaigning. I was rather pleased by my signs, until I heard that there wasn't any data to show that signs do any good at all. One of my girlfriends recently saw an advertisement for someone who is running for county commission, but we don't actually know how or if that type of advertising works, either. So you create your plan, knowing how little you know, adjust for the budget, and make a decision about how you will try to inform the voters of your qualifications and ideals.

Early Services

On Sunday morning, I'm going to a different church every week. I go to the early service, even though they are routinely less well attended than later services, because it interferes less with my family life. This is one of the compromises I make as the mother of a young child on the campaign trail. My husband and son did go to one early service with me, but since it lasted twice as long as the services at our own church, they have declined to attend another. So I'm going alone, and find it a time not just to go to new places and meet new people, but a time to worship in peace without trying to make James sit still. Funny how blessings find us where we least expect them. What I thought would be difficult has turned out to be a joy.

Busy

My colleagues are already on full time leave from their jobs. Since my immediate supervisor is leaving to go to private practice, I will take full time leave starting when he departs. There are no longer typical days. Every day I have some sort of administrative stuff to do, following up on spreadsheets, responding to e-mail, planning. Most days I also meet people, either by going to where groups of people are, or by going door to door. Some days I have several events in a day, and this happens increasingly. So it's probably time to stop trying to crush work into fewer and fewer hours a week, and just let someone else take over for a while, and help them as I can.

Yesterday I was at an volunteer event, and I met a woman who had lost her husband in the Vietnam War. She noticed my candidate's badge, and asked if I had known her son, Steve Seymoe. Steve had been the lawyer for Guardian ad Litem when I was a volunteer there. He was a lawyer at Ausley, McMullen, and a popular fellow, who died of a brain tumor a few years ago. I felt very sad that this woman had neither husband nor son, and honored that she was willing to volunteer to help others.

Targeting

I learned about marketing from Ford Motor Company's Explorer advertisements. I learned about focus groups, about how marketers follow who buys what, and attempt to get people to buy what they are selling. So it is only natural that I try to apply that to politics. It is amazing, considering that the vast majority of all elective races are local, how little controlled work has been done on what works in local elections. There is conventional wisdom, but relatively little science to sustain those conventions.

My plan is my desire tempered by budget. My plan is simple and focused, because I have figured out that people are not going to spend significant time on this, the last name in the last race on the ballot.

First Forum

These down the ballot races do not receive a lot of attention, so all three candidates were happy to be invited to a forum at the Republican Club that took place today. It was my first time hearing Ron Flury speak publicly, it was very interesting. The moderator said that all three candidates were very qualified, which is true, and with three litigators, every talk was well done. The talks were quite focused on qualifications and experience, and several people came up to me afterwards to say that they were impressed, which made me happy. I felt very strongly when I ran that it was important to have a range of voices in the campaign field, and hopefully on the bench. Based on the number of forums that I know we'll be invited to so far, less than 1% of the people who will vote in September will hear from all three judicial candidates in a forum.

Signs go up, Signs come down

I'm getting reports that some of my signs are disappearing from yards. One fellow lost two from his place, replaced them, and hasn't had any trouble since. Another family, after retrieving the sign from the ditch several times and then having it stolen altogether have started putting the sign out in the morning and taking it in every evening. They feel rather disturbed, it's not illegal for them to support a candidate for office, and they believe they should be able to have a sign in their yard without having people steal it.

I'd been given to believe that judicial races were relatively free of this sort of activity, but I suppose I was mistaken. Fortunately, I have plenty of signs.