Dissecting an Election

I got the call today. It wasn’t anything too serious. I knew everything would be okay, there might be some stressful days ahead. But I would live, that is the important thing. Regardless, the eight campaign signs would run me $410 total. Ten would have run me $500 even. One single sign would cost $60, all the more reason to order in bulk, if eight could be considered such. With that, my first real expenditure of the 2007 Tribal Council elections was in.
All of this got me thinking. Just what does it cost a person to run for Tribal Council these days? What better way to know than to break down my own costs.
So my eight new signs cost $51.25 each. Whether they are worth that price is as yet to be determined. Corrugated cardboard, colored lettering, white background—the salesman assured me these babies were all-weather, and could last a good year without fading or deteoirating. In other words, this was really an investment, a long term one. Should I fail to be re-elected this year, I’ll have these signs for 2008. Of course, signs are recyclable. You can always buy new vinyl lettering should your name change or you decide to support a different candidate the following year. Changing them is pretty easy.
That is good, because the most expensive part of waging a Tribal Council campaign consists largely of one-time, non-reusable money spent. What I am referring to of course is that most important campaign tool, other than having a large family, letters. Postage just went up this year, and everybody is probably totally aware of that. Two cents might not seem like much, but when you plan on mailing out thousands of letters, you and your wallet notice.
Mailing out a campaign letter to all eligible voters in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde ends up costing at least $1000 per round, and that is just in postage. So you can guess how candidates who prefer to mail out more than one letter are taking on a little debt. Postage is but one facet as well, since copying a few thousand letters and tri-folding them costs quite a bit. You can always pay someone, like Staples, to do that, because if you don’t, what you save in money is lost in time. In previous years, I would hold a barbeque or something similar, invite friends, and basically spend a few hours stuffing envelopes, stamping return addresses, and wetting the back flaps of those same envelopes. Can you say “tedium”? Nowadays, I opt to pay someone else. With all that saved time, I do stuff like…blogging.
By the time this election is over, win or lose, I will probably spend at least $3000. It all goes on the VISA, but still stings. The money though tends to pale in comparison to the sheer amount of time spent just in election mode. Often times your letters draw different responses, from a media standpoint. If you leave an email address as a point of contact, the letters average at least a dozen or so responses, many of them from people you’ve never met, and most of them with questions that aren’t answered easily or quickly. But you always respond. Phone calls are more time-consuming.
When you consider all this, what becomes obvious is that there are more advantages to running as a slate other than pooling votes and constituents. One of them is a cutback in costs. If you can mail out one individual letter and then multiple “slate” letters, there is extra exposure and lessened costs. The greatest risk really is that one or two people in your “slate” taint it for whatever reason, thus diminishing one’s own chances. Pick your running mates carefully, I guess.
I also guess that being an incumbent carries its own advantages chiefly among them that unless you’ve completely failed to distinguish yourself, most people will know your name and face. Plus whether you like it or not, there is an attention that just comes with being on Council. I suppose whether you believe all publicity is good publicity tends to get tested, and either proven or disproved.
Elections tend to bring the “American Idol” out in everybody, although this year has been rather quiet. What I mean by that is candidates have often borderline been obligated to stand up in Council meetings and raise some sort of issue, regardless of relevance or magnitude. Draw attention to yourself this time of year, even if you normally wouldn’t. One former Council member years ago complemented me for speaking at meetings year round, not just in election season. I guess I’m not the only one who notices, and keeps track.
It is all this that makes elections so darn interesting. And it is also all this that makes watching an election as a bystander so vastly different from a participant.