Lessons Learned from a Campaign

Lesson One - Politics is a dirty business. 

My husband just completed his first political campaign. We live in a tiny rural town, a "bedroom community" if you will. Our Mayor and City Council are elected without consideration to allegiance to any political party. Dirty politics abounds, however. We were quite naive, and endured some shocks along the way.

He pledged to run a "positive" campaign, focusing on changes he wants to bring to the city's government methodology and improvement to fiscal responsibility. Imagine his surprise when we received an advertisement in the mail from his opponent that claimed "others" were filling the voters' heads with "lies and innuendos". We're still trying to figure out who he was running against. Everything that my husband pointed out came from records obtained through the Open Records Act and still in our possession. We can prove everything he said. He never started a sentence with "My opponent". Instead, he told the voters what he intends to do while in office.

Lesson Two - There's no such thing as a non-partisan campaign.

Battle lines were clearly drawn as long-time incumbents were matched against a relative new-comer and two completely new-to-politics neophytes. Early on, it became evident that this would be an all or nothing election. So distinct were the lines yesterday that the three incumbents had constructed signs with all three of their campaign signs attached. On the north side of City Hall, they lined up waving to passers-by. On the south side of City Hall, my husband and his two cohorts lined up to wave. At one point, a developer who is involved in a long legal dispute with the city stopped to talk to the southerners and the northerners took photos of that exchange. We are all scratching our heads about that. Can't wait to see where the photos show up.

Lesson Three - It's not over till it's over.

I never wanted to get my hopes up. My husband is an unknown. Few people knew him, but it was time for change. When the first reports came in, he was ahead, and I still didn't want to celebrate. Finally, over three hours after the polls closed, I looked over and saw the candidate for mayor was on his phone and writing notes and said, "Look! He's taking notes." We waited with baited breath until he put down the phone and gave my husband's results first - 374 to 307. My husband had won his first public office. The other two also won and we have a new government.

Lesson Four - When the election ends, the real work begins.

We have a couple of weeks until my husband really takes office, and already we have heard from several that the hard part is just starting. Now he has to live up to what he has pledged. Now our every move will be scrutinized. Now he is no longer a regular citizen but represents every resident in this city.